Electronic timepiece, display control method, and program

Abstract

To provide an electronic timepiece, a display control method, and a program which enable a user to more easily confirm an acquisition state of time information.SOLUTION: An electronic timepiece (1) includes a plurality of rotatable hands (31), a CPU (11), and an acquisition unit for acquiring time information from the outside. The CPU (11) controls the rotation operation of the plurality of pointers (31). The CPU (11) changes the timing of rotating at least one hand (312) of the plurality of hands (31) according to the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece, a display control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes an electronic timepiece that displays the time by rotating hands and receives radio waves containing time information from an external device to correct the time it counts. Patent Document 1 also describes a technology in which the electronic timepiece moves one of the hands in response to a specific operation by the user, and indicates whether reception was successful and the reception level based on the indicated position. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-250801 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, after the hands move to the position indicating whether reception was successful and the reception level, they remain fixed in that position, which creates the problem that it is difficult for the user to recognize the status of time information acquisition when looking at the watch.

[0005] The present invention has been made to improve and solve such problems, and aims to provide an electronic timepiece, a display control method, and a program that make it easier for the user to check the acquisition status of time information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides A plurality of pointers that can rotate; a control unit that controls the rotation of the plurality of hands; an acquisition unit that acquires time information from an external source; Equipped with the control unit changes the timing of the rotation of at least one of the plurality of hands depending on the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit. It is an electronic watch. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an effect that the user can more easily check the acquisition status of time information in the electronic watch. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a front view of the electronic timepiece. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the electronic timepiece. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the operation timing of the hands. [Figure 4] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of indication positions of the pointers. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a control procedure for a time information acquisition control process executed by the electronic timepiece. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, electronic timepiece 1 is a pointer-type timepiece, and may be, for example, a wall clock. Electronic timepiece 1 is located within a frame 2 and has a dial 4 with hour markers and scales that indicate the time, and a plurality of hands 31 that can rotate in a plane parallel to the dial 4. The top surfaces of the dial 4 and hands 31 may be covered by a transparent crystal (not shown). The hands 31 include, for example, a second hand 311 (first hand), a minute hand 312 (second hand), and an hour hand 313.

[0010] The electronic timepiece 1 may also have push button switches or rotary operation units (not shown) on the back or sides. These may be used, for example, for resetting the time or for receiving commands to execute the time adjustment operation described below.

[0011] As shown in the block diagram of Figure 2, the electronic watch 1 includes a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (control unit), a RAM 12 (Random Access Memory), a memory unit 13, an operation reception unit 15, a communication unit 16 (wireless communication unit), a radio wave receiving unit 17, an oscillator circuit 21, a frequency divider circuit 22, a timing unit 23, hands 31, a stepping motor 32, a drive unit 33, and the like.

[0012] The CPU 11 is a processor that performs arithmetic processing and controls the overall operation of the electronic timepiece 1. The CPU 11 may be a dedicated microcomputer or the like. The CPU 11 may have multiple processors.

[0013] The RAM 12 provides a working memory space for the CPU 11 and stores temporary data. The RAM 12 stores a minute hand operation deviation amount 121, which will be described later.

[0014] The storage unit 13 is, for example, a flash memory, and stores a program 131 and setting data related to the operation of the electronic watch 1. The program 131 includes the time information acquisition control process described below. The CPU 11, RAM 12, and storage unit 13 together constitute a computer main body that controls the operation of the electronic watch 1 of this embodiment.

[0015] The operation reception unit 15 receives an input operation from the outside and outputs an electrical signal according to the content of the received operation to the CPU 11. The operation reception unit 15 may have, for example, a push button switch.

[0016] The communication unit 16 controls communication with external devices. The communication here refers to wireless communication, particularly short-range wireless communication, such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), but is not limited to this. The external device may be, for example, a portable electronic device such as a smartphone owned by a user of the electronic watch 1. Alternatively, the external device may be a stationary PC (Personal Computer) located in the same room as the electronic watch 1 or an adjacent room. Identification information of the external device may be set in advance by pairing / bonding operations or the like and stored in the memory unit 13. The CPU 11 can acquire predetermined information, including time information, from the external device via the communication unit 16.

[0017] The radio wave receiving unit 17 receives radio waves from a transmitter that transmits time information and demodulates the signal. The transmitter is, for example, a positioning satellite of the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) or a base station that transmits standard radio waves. When the radio wave receiving unit 17 receives radio waves from a positioning satellite, the radio wave receiving unit 17 may also have an arithmetic module that performs arithmetic processing to determine the date and time. The communication unit 16 and the radio wave receiving unit 17 constitute an acquisition unit of this embodiment that acquires time information.

[0018] The oscillator circuit 21 includes a vibrating element having a certain resonant frequency and generates and outputs a clock signal of that resonant frequency. The frequency divider circuit 22 divides the clock signal to an appropriate frequency and outputs the divided signal. The frequency divider circuit 22 may include a logical slow-down / fast-down circuit that thins out the signal at an appropriate rate to measure time more accurately. The clock unit 23 detects the time counting signal output from the frequency divider circuit 22 and measures time by sequentially increasing a value corresponding to the time. Some of the operations of the clock unit 23 may be performed by the CPU 11, and the numerical value corresponding to the time may be stored in the RAM 12. The clock unit 23 may also include an RTC (Real Time Clock). Note that the "time" described in this disclosure may include date information.

[0019] The hands 31 rotate by a predetermined angle via a gear train mechanism, which is a gear train, in response to the operation of the stepping motor 32. As described above, the hands 31 include a second hand 311, a minute hand 312, and an hour hand 313. When displaying time, the second hand 311 rotates, for example, six degrees every second (first time interval), completing one rotation per minute, and indicates the seconds (time component) according to the direction it points. The minute hand 312 rotates at a wider time interval than the second hand 311, for example, one degree every 10 seconds (second time interval), completing one rotation per hour, and indicating the minutes according to the direction it points. When the hour hand 313 is configured to rotate in conjunction with the minute hand 312, it rotates 1 / 12 of the distance of the minute hand 312, completing one rotation per 12 hours, and indicating the hours according to the direction it points. When the hour hand 313 is configured to rotate independently of the minute hand 312, the hour hand 313 may rotate, for example, one degree every two minutes, completing one rotation per 12 hours.

[0020] The stepping motor 32 rotates the rotor by a set angle relative to the stator in response to switching of the drive signal from the drive unit 33. The type of the stepping motor 32 is not particularly limited as long as it can obtain the torque required to rotate the train wheel mechanism and the hands 31.

[0021] The drive unit 33 outputs a drive signal to the stepping motor 32 at an appropriate timing under the control of the CPU 11. Depending on the control content, the drive signal can be output to one or more hands 31 in order at appropriate intervals that avoid overlapping.

[0022] Next, we will explain the time adjustment operation. The electronic watch 1 periodically acquires time information from an external source and adjusts the time counted by the timer unit 23. As described above, the date and time obtained by counting the signal from the frequency divider circuit 22 can deviate by about 0.5 seconds per day under normal use. By acquiring time information once a day, or more frequently about once every six hours, and adjusting the time in the timer unit 23, the possibility of the displayed time being significantly off is reduced.

[0023] The time information may be acquired from, for example, a positioning satellite, a standard time signal, or an external device such as a smartphone or a PC (Personal Computer). The radio wave reception unit 17 periodically operates to receive the radio waves transmitted from the positioning satellite and the standard time signal. If time information acquisition fails, the CPU 11 may, for example, cause the radio wave reception unit 17 to retry reception of the radio waves up to a maximum number of times per hour. For example, the re-reception operation may be performed up to six times at one-hour intervals, starting from 1:05 and ending at 6:05. If the communication unit 16 is constantly connected to an external device via BLE as described above, the CPU 11 of the electronic watch 1 may periodically request time information from the external device, for example, once every six hours. If the communication connection with the external device is disconnected, the electronic watch 1 may request and acquire time information when the connection is reestablished. Alternatively, the CPU 11 may cause the communication unit 16 to transmit a request for communication connection to the external device.

[0024] After an attempt to acquire time information has been made in the electronic watch 1, the status of the acquisition of the date and time information, such as whether the acquisition was successful, is indicated by the movement of the hands 31 until the next time the date and time information is acquired or for a predetermined duration. In other words, whether the acquisition of the time information was successful or not is indicated automatically without any special input operation being accepted.

[0025] For example, in the display control method of this embodiment, whether or not acquisition of date and time information has been successful may be indicated by a change in the operation timing of one of the hands 31, such as the minute hand 312. As indicated by the arrow position in FIG. 3( a), the minute hand 312 normally rotates when the seconds digits of the displayed time are "0," i.e., at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 seconds. While date and time information is not being acquired, the operation of the minute hand 312 at this timing is maintained. In contrast, if acquisition of date and time information is successful, the minute hand 312 may be changed and controlled to rotate when the seconds digits of the displayed time are "5," as shown in FIG. 3( b). The timing when the seconds digits are "0" is used as a reference timing, and the amount of deviation from this reference timing to the timing at which the minute hand 312 rotates (the timing at which the minute hand moves) is stored and retained in RAM 12 as minute hand operation deviation amount 121. This value may be sent to the drive unit 33, which may then change the timing at which the drive signal is output to the stepping motor 32 that moves the minute hand 312.

[0026] As described above, when the minute hand 312 rotates in 1-degree increments every 10 seconds, the possible deviation of the minute hand 312 is 1 degree, or 1 / 6 of a minute, so the possibility of the user misjudging the time is low. On the other hand, the electronic watch 1 indicates whether or not the time information has been acquired by varying the timing of the rotation, rather than by a specific position. Therefore, the user can easily tell whether or not the acquisition was successful as long as they know whether or not the operation occurred when the single-digit second is 0 or 5.

[0027] As shown in Figure 4(a), if the most recent date and time information has not been successfully acquired at 7:08:00, the minute hand 312 will point toward 8:00 at this time. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4(b), if the most recent date and time information has been successfully acquired, the minute hand 312 will not move at this time and will point toward 7:50. Then, as shown in Figure 4(c), at 7:08:05, the minute hand 312 will rotate and point toward 8:00.

[0028] The time information acquisition control process shown in FIG. 5(a) includes the display control method of this embodiment. This time information acquisition control process may be executed by reading and executing the program 131 each time the time acquisition timing occurs. The CPU 11 starts the time acquisition operation (S1). The CPU 11 determines whether the time acquisition was successful (S2). If it is determined that the time acquisition was successful (S2; Y), the CPU 11 corrects the time counted by the timing unit 23 based on the acquired time. The CPU 11 corrects the time displayed by the hands 31 based on the corrected time. The CPU 11 sets the minute hand operation deviation amount 121 to the amount of deviation in the movement timing of the minute hand 312, for example, "5 seconds" (S3). The CPU 11 then ends the time information acquisition control process. If it is determined that the time acquisition was not successful (S2; N), the setting of the minute hand operation deviation amount 121, which relates to the amount of deviation in the movement timing of the minute hand 312, is canceled (S4). That is, the minute hand operation deviation amount is set to "0 seconds." Then, the CPU 11 ends the time information acquisition control process. Processes S2 to S4 correspond to the operation as the display control means of this embodiment.

[0029] 3(a) and 3(b) may correspond to the opposite relationship between the success or failure of acquisition and the operation timing shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). That is, if time information is acquired normally, the minute hand 312 may rotate when the seconds digit of the displayed time reaches "0." Alternatively, if time information is not acquired, the minute hand 312 may rotate when the seconds digit of the displayed time reaches "5." By moving the minute hand 312 at a different timing than normal when time information acquisition fails, the user can more intuitively determine whether acquisition was successful.

[0030] Furthermore, the setting of the operation deviation amount of the minute hand 312 may be performed only for a reference time, for example, 1 to 3 hours, after successful acquisition. After the reference time has elapsed, the minute hand operation deviation amount 121 may be initialized, and the minute hand 312 may be returned to a state in which it rotates at the reference timing relative to the second hand 311, that is, when the seconds digit is "0."

[0031] Furthermore, if time information acquisition fails, the timing of the rotation of the minute hand 312 may vary depending on whether failures have continued since the previous period, i.e., the previous day. That is, if failures to acquire time information continue (poor acquisition conditions), the timing of the rotation may be shifted more significantly. As shown in FIG. 3(c), if time acquisition was successful the previous day, the minute hand 312 may rotate when the seconds digits indicate "3." As shown in FIG. 3(d), if time information acquisition has failed since the previous day, the minute hand 312 may rotate when the seconds digits indicate "6."

[0032] As shown in Figure 5(b), in one embodiment, the time information acquisition control process includes steps S11 to S13 instead of step S4 in the time information acquisition control process shown in Figure 5(a) above, and includes step S3a instead of step S3. Also, the direction of branching in step S2 is reversed. The other processing contents are the same between the two time information acquisition control processes. The same processing contents are assigned the same reference numerals and detailed explanations will be omitted.

[0033] If it is determined in process S2 that acquisition of time information was successful (S2; Y), CPU 11 corrects the time counted by timing unit 23 based on the acquired time. CPU 11 corrects the time displayed by hands 31 based on the corrected time. CPU 11 cancels the setting of minute hand operation deviation amount 121, which relates to the deviation amount of the operation timing of minute hand 312 (S3a). If it is determined that acquisition of time information failed (S2; N), CPU 11 determines whether acquisition of time information also failed in the previous period (S11). If it is determined that acquisition of time information also failed in the previous period (S11; Y), CPU 11 sets the minute hand operation deviation amount (large), for example, to 6 seconds (S12). CPU 11 then ends the time information acquisition control process. If it is determined that the previous time information acquisition did not fail, i.e., was successful (S11; N), the CPU 11 sets the minute hand operation deviation amount (small) (S13). The minute hand operation deviation amount (small) may be 3 seconds as described above. Then, the CPU 11 ends the time information acquisition control process.

[0034] Alternatively, the electronic watch 1 may change and control the amount of deviation in the rotational movement of the minute hand 312 depending not only on whether time information was acquired but also on the radio wave reception level. That is, the electronic watch 1 may define multiple reception levels depending on the radio wave reception strength, the amount of noise, and the like. For example, four levels may be displayed: when radio waves are received at high level H, when radio waves are received at medium level M, when radio waves are received at low level L, and when the radio wave reception is at level N, where the time cannot be determined. For example, when radio waves are received at high level H, the electronic watch 1 may move the minute hand 312 when the seconds digits are "0." When radio waves are received at medium level M, the minute hand 312 may move when the seconds digits are "1." When radio waves are received at low level L, the minute hand 312 may move when the seconds digits are "2." When the reception is at level N, the minute hand 312 may move when the seconds digits are "5."

[0035] In this way, by making it possible to know the reception level in multiple stages, the user can more appropriately determine the installation location of the electronic clock 1. In such cases, the deviation amount at each level when time information is successfully acquired may be clearly different from the deviation amount when time information acquisition fails. In particular, the deviation amount may be set so that the user can easily distinguish whether the time adjustment was successful or not.

[0036] As described above, the electronic timepiece 1 of this embodiment includes multiple rotatable hands 31, a CPU 11, and a communication unit 16 and / or radio wave receiving unit 17 as an acquisition unit that acquires time information from an external device. The CPU 11 controls the rotation of the multiple hands 31. The CPU 11 changes the timing of the rotation of at least one of the multiple hands 31, such as the minute hand 312, depending on the status of time information acquisition by the acquisition unit. This allows the user to determine whether the time was acquired based on the timing of the movement of some of the hands. Meanwhile, differences in the positions indicated by the hands are difficult to discern, meaning that there is little impact on the user's ability to tell the time. Furthermore, because the number of operations is the same as in conventional operations, shifting the operation timing has almost no effect on power consumption; in other words, this operation does not increase power consumption.

[0037] Furthermore, conventional electronic watches with pointers have limited operating devices, making it difficult to perform complex operations or even avoiding operations altogether, which can lead to users being unable to check the status of time information acquisition. Furthermore, with wall-mounted watches in particular, there is the issue that it is difficult to perform the operation to check the acquisition status. However, the present invention can improve and solve these issues.

[0038] Furthermore, CPU 11 may vary the timing depending on whether the acquisition unit has successfully acquired the time information. In other words, whether or not the time information has been acquired is simply indicated by differences in the operation timing of minute hand 312, so the user does not need to interpret various operation patterns and can easily determine whether or not the acquisition has been successful.

[0039] The multiple hands 31 include a first hand that rotates at a first time interval and a second hand that rotates at a second time interval that is wider than the first time interval. For example, the first hand is a second hand 311 that rotates at one-second intervals. The second hand is a minute hand 312 that rotates at ten-second intervals. The CPU 11 may change the timing at which the second hand rotates relative to the time component represented by the first hand, i.e., the second, depending on the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit. This allows the rotation of the first hand to serve as a reference timing for the user to determine the timing at which the second hand rotates. This allows the user to more easily determine the timing at which the second hand rotates.

[0040] Furthermore, the longer the time information acquisition conditions remain poor, the greater the deviation in the timing of the rotation of the second hand from the reference timing may be. This allows the user to intuitively sense the degree of deviation in the displayed time. Furthermore, if it is possible to detect multiple consecutive failures in reception, the user can consider whether there is an object near or near the electronic watch 1 that is interfering with radio wave reception.

[0041] Alternatively, when time information is acquired, the CPU 11 may shift the timing of the rotation of the second hand from the reference timing. In this case, the display will be the same when the movement timing of the minute hand 312 is not shifted and when the time acquisition operation was not performed properly. Therefore, it is easy to know that the electronic timepiece 1 is not operating properly.

[0042] The second hand may also be minute hand 312, and the reference timing may be when the seconds digit of the displayed time is 0. By using minute hand 312 as the second hand, rather than second hand 311, whose movement will essentially cause the displayed time to be off if the hand movement timing is off, or hour hand 313, whose movement the user normally pays little attention to, the user can be properly informed of the status of time information acquisition.

[0043] The acquisition unit may also include a radio wave receiving unit 17. The CPU 11 may acquire the time information by operating the radio wave receiving unit 17 to receive radio waves containing the time information. This allows the electronic clock 1 to properly acquire the time information even when operating independently.

[0044] Alternatively, the acquisition unit may include a communication unit 16. The CPU 11 may acquire time information by having the communication unit 16 receive radio waves containing time information from an external device. By enabling communication with electronic devices used by the user, time information can be easily acquired even indoors or underground, where it is difficult to receive external radio waves. Furthermore, because the time can be determined through short communication periods, it is less susceptible to changes in communication conditions during the process, and shortening the communication time also facilitates reducing power consumption.

[0045] Furthermore, the display control method of this embodiment changes the timing of the rotation of at least one of the multiple hands 31, for example, the minute hand 312, depending on the status of time information acquisition by the acquisition unit. This display control method allows the user to know the status of time information acquisition without requiring additional operations or increasing power consumption. Furthermore, since the user can obtain the status of time information acquisition from the operation timing of some of the hands, there is no need to read the specific positions of the hands. Furthermore, since the hand positions do not change significantly due to timing shifts alone, the impact on the actual time reading can be reduced.

[0046] Furthermore, the program 131 relating to the above-described display control method can be installed and executed on the computer of the electronic watch 1. This allows the electronic watch 1 to easily notify the user of the status of time information acquisition with little change in power consumption.

[0047] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above description, the amount of deviation in the operation timing of the minute hand 312 is set to "0" whether the time information is successfully acquired or not, but this is not limited to this. In either case, the amount of deviation may be other than "0" and may be different from each other.

[0048] Although the above description assumes that time information is acquired from one of positioning satellites, standard time signals, or external devices, this is not limited to this. A reception priority order may be set in advance, and if time information acquisition from a certain source fails, the source may be switched. In this case, the amount of deviation in the timing of the rotation of the minute hand 312 may be determined based on the order of priority from which time information was acquired or not acquired. The priority order may be changed empirically by the electronic watch 1 or set by a user input operation. Furthermore, the standard time signal transmitter may be selected based on the results of satellite positioning or the local time setting corresponding to the current location. Furthermore, reception of the standard time signal may be omitted depending on the estimated current location. Alternatively, the electronic watch 1 may have only one of the communication unit 16 and the radio wave receiver 17. Furthermore, the radio wave receiver 17 may be capable of receiving only one of radio waves from positioning satellites and standard time signals.

[0049] In the above embodiment, the minute hand 312 rotates at a timing when the seconds digit of the displayed time is "0" as shown in FIG. 3(a) while time information is not being acquired. However, if time information is successfully acquired, the minute hand 312 is controlled to rotate at a timing other than when the seconds digit of the displayed time is "0" as shown in FIG. 3(b). When the user unpacks the product, i.e., when using it for the first time, radio wave reception is not possible. This control ensures that the hands move in a natural manner and look good. However, the electronic timepiece 1 is not limited to this configuration. The minute hand 312 may rotate at a timing other than when the seconds digit of the displayed time is "0" as shown in FIG. 3(b) while time information is not being acquired. However, if time information is successfully acquired, the minute hand 312 may be controlled to rotate at a timing other than when the seconds digit of the displayed time is "0" as shown in FIG. 3(a). This control ensures that the hands move in a natural manner and look good when radio wave reception is successful. Conversely, if radio wave reception is unsuccessful, the hands look worse than when radio wave reception is successful. This has the effect of making it easier for the user to visually recognize the result that radio wave reception has failed.

[0050] Furthermore, while the above example illustrates the second hand 311 rotating in one-second increments, this is not limiting. For example, it may also rotate in 0.5-second increments. Meanwhile, the minute hand 312 may rotate in 20-second, 30-second, or 60-second increments. Furthermore, the success or failure of time information acquisition does not have to be indicated at every operation timing of the minute hand 312. For example, at the 0th second of every minute, the success or failure of time information acquisition may not be indicated, and the minute hand 312 may always operate at a reference timing, and the success or failure of time information acquisition may be indicated at other times. This prevents the position of the hands from shifting unnaturally at the 0th minute of every hour, especially at 0:00.

[0051] Furthermore, although the above description has been given of a case in which the minute hand 312 and the second hand 311 move substantially simultaneously, this is not a limitation. The movement timing of the two hands 31 may be different from the beginning. In this case, the movement intervals of the two hands 31 may be the same. For example, if there is no adverse effect on the time display, the acquisition status of the time information may be indicated by matching the movement timing of the two hands 31 that originally moved with a 0.5 second difference.

[0052] Furthermore, although the operation timing of the minute hand 312 has been described above, when the hour hand 313 rotates in conjunction with the minute hand 312, the hour hand 313 also rotates with the same amount of deviation. When the minute hand 312 and the hour hand 313 rotate independently, the timing of the rotation of the hour hand 313 does not need to be changed, or it may be changed together with the minute hand 312.

[0053] In the above description, it is possible to display whether or not acquisition of time information has failed two consecutive times, but this is not limited to this. It is also possible to display separately whether or not acquisition of time information has failed three or more consecutive times up to a predetermined upper limit.

[0054] Furthermore, if the electronic timepiece 1 has hands 31 other than the second hand 311, minute hand 312, and hour hand 313, the difference in operation timing may be indicated by a combination other than the second hand 311 and minute hand 312. Furthermore, in this case, at least one of the hands 31 does not need to have a rotation axis near the center of the dial 4 of the electronic timepiece 1.

[0055] Furthermore, in an electronic timepiece that is easy for the user to operate, such as a wristwatch, the user may be able to reset the operation timing of the minute hand 312 to the reference timing at any time by performing a certain input operation.

[0056] The communication unit 16 may also acquire time information by performing wireless communication according to a communication standard other than Bluetooth. The radio wave receiving unit 17 may also receive radio waves that transmit time information other than radio waves from positioning satellites and standard radio waves.

[0057] In the above description, the storage unit 13 is described as being composed of a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory as an example of a computer-readable medium for storing the program 131 related to the time information acquisition control of the present invention, but this is not limiting. Other computer-readable media may include other nonvolatile memories such as MRAM, and portable recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD discs. Furthermore, a carrier wave may also be used as a medium for providing program data related to the present invention via a communication line.

[0058] In addition, the specific configurations, contents and procedures of the processing operations, etc. shown in the above embodiments can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 1 Electronic clock, 11 CPU, 131 Program, 16 Communication unit, 17 Radio wave receiving unit, 31 Hand, 311 Second hand, 312 Minute hand

Claims

1. A plurality of pointers that can rotate; a control unit that controls the rotation of the plurality of hands; an acquisition unit that acquires time information from an external source; Equipped with the control unit changes the timing of the rotation of at least one of the plurality of hands depending on the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit. Electronic clock.

2. The electronic timepiece according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit changes the timing depending on whether the acquisition unit has successfully acquired the time information.

3. the plurality of hands include a first hand that rotates at a first time interval and a second hand that rotates at a second time interval that is wider than the first time interval; the control unit changes the timing of the rotation of the second hand relative to the time component indicated by the first hand in accordance with the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit.

2. The electronic watch according to claim 1.

4. 4. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3, wherein the control unit shifts the timing of the rotation of the second hand from the reference timing to a greater extent the longer the time information acquisition condition remains poor.

5. 4. The electronic timepiece according to claim 3, wherein the control unit shifts the timing at which the second hand rotates from a reference timing when the time information is acquired.

6. the second hand is a minute hand, and the reference timing is a timing when the seconds digit of the displayed time is 0; 6. The electronic watch according to claim 5.

7. the acquisition unit has a radio wave receiving unit, the control unit operates the radio wave receiving unit to receive radio waves including time information, thereby acquiring the time information.

2. The electronic watch according to claim 1.

8. the acquisition unit has a wireless communication unit, the control unit acquires the time information by causing the wireless communication unit to receive radio waves including the time information from an external device.

2. The electronic watch according to claim 1.

9. A display control method for an electronic timepiece equipped with a plurality of rotatable hands and an acquisition unit that acquires time information from an external source, comprising: changing the timing at which at least one of the plurality of hands rotates in accordance with the acquisition status of the time information by the acquisition unit; Display control method.

10. An electronic timepiece computer having a plurality of rotating hands and an acquisition unit that acquires time information from an external device, a display control means for changing the timing at which at least one of the plurality of hands rotates in accordance with the acquisition status of time information by the acquisition unit; A program that functions as a

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