KVM Switch GUI Menu with Preview Images
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional KVM systems with pure text-based on-screen display (OSD) menus are cumbersome and inefficient for managing large numbers of connected computers, requiring users to navigate multiple levels to find a specific computer, wasting time and lacking humanized interface functionality.
Innovation Solution
A KVM system with a graphic user interface (GUI) menu apparatus that captures real-time video signals from computers to construct preview images, pre-stores them in memory, and selectively outputs menu data or video signals to the monitor, allowing users to easily select and control connected computers through a user-friendly interface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple KVM switches are connected in daisy chain or cascade to increase the number of connected computers, then the number of computers that can be controlled increases, but the operational complexity and time required to navigate through multiple levels of OSD menus increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a traditional hierarchical text-based OSD menu structure to a graphical user interface that displays computer icons and preview images in a two-dimensional visual layout. This dimensional change allows users to perceive and navigate the expanded network of computers spatially rather than through sequential text menus, effectively resolving the operational complexity issue while maintaining support for a large number of connected computers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates visual copies (preview images) of computer displays and represents computers as graphical icons rather than text labels. These visual copies provide immediate visual identification of computers and their current display content, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple text menu levels to identify and select a desired computer, thus simplifying operation while supporting extensive system expansion.
2Device complexity
If a traditional text-based OSD menu is used to display computer options, then the system structure remains simple, but the user interface lacks humanized functionality and requires excessive manual navigation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical text-menu navigation system with a graphical user interface that uses visual icons, preview images, and mouse-based interaction. This substitution transforms the interaction paradigm from sequential text selection to visual recognition and point-and-click selection, dramatically improving user interface friendliness while the underlying system structure remains manageable through standardized graphical rendering protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes visual display elements including color-coded icons, highlighted selections, and graphical representations of computer display content. These visual and chromatic elements provide intuitive feedback and identification, making the interface more humanized and easier to operate compared to monochromatic text-based menus, while the complexity is managed through software-based graphical rendering rather than hardware complexity.
3Productivity
If users manually navigate through multiple levels of OSD menus to find a specific computer, then the system maintains basic functionality, but significant time is wasted in the selection process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by capturing and storing preview images of computer displays and generating visual icons representing each computer before the user needs to select them. These pre-prepared visual representations are immediately available for display in the graphical interface, eliminating the time required for users to navigate through menu levels to identify computers, thus dramatically reducing access time while maintaining system productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables users to skip directly to the desired computer selection by providing a visual overview of all connected computers with their current display content. Users can immediately identify and select a target computer from the graphical display without sequentially navigating through intermediate menu levels, effectively rushing through the traditional navigation path and significantly reducing the time to access desired computers.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for connecting a console device to computers comprising a graphic user interface menu apparatus for controlling the computers. The system comprises a user-side circuit, a central crosspoint switch, a plurality of computer-side circuits, a menu generating unit and a first switching device. The user-side circuit coupled to the console device receives electronic signals produced by the keyboard and cursor control device and creates a data packet. The central crosspoint switch is coupled to the user-side circuits, receives the data packets and routes the data packets. The computer-side circuits coupled to the central crosspoint switch and the computers receive the data packets from the central crosspoint switch for supplying the data packets to the computers. The menu generating unit generates a menu to be displayed. The first switching device alternately outputs a video signal of the menu data and a video signal from the computers to the video monitor according to a vertical synchronization signal.