Dynamic Viewport Alignment for Mobile Document Zooming

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Solution Overview

Problem

Portable electronic devices with smaller screens face challenges in displaying structured documents, such as webpages, due to inconveniently sized or scaled elements, which can be too small for legibility or excessively large, consuming too much display area, and existing solutions may reduce display size to fit within the viewport, compromising legibility.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a method on electronic devices to scale and zoom structured documents dynamically, using user commands and dominant alignment analysis to adjust the viewport alignment and reflow text content, ensuring legible text without horizontal scrolling, by identifying a dominant alignment within the region to be scaled and adjusting the viewport accordingly.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If structured documents are displayed at original size on portable devices, then document content is complete, but text elements are too small for legibility

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetext legibilityVSAvoiddisplay area utilization
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the document into a visible region and a hidden region, allowing the visible region to be magnified for legibility while the hidden region contains the remaining content. This segmentation enables partial zooming without requiring the entire document to be scaled, thus improving text legibility in the visible area while maintaining efficient use of display space.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a spatial dimension by creating an overlay interface that positions the visible region at a first location and the hidden region at a second location (typically below the first location). This dimensional arrangement allows users to access both magnified content and additional content without compromising legibility or display efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Measurement precision

If structured documents are scaled up for legibility, then text is more readable, but display area is consumed excessively

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetext legibilityVSAvoidavailable display area
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by magnifying only the visible region that requires legibility while keeping other regions (hidden region) at original or reduced scale. This localized scaling ensures that text legibility is improved where needed without unnecessarily consuming display area for entire document scaling.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

By dividing the document into visible and hidden regions, the patent enables selective scaling where only the visible region benefits from magnification. This segmentation prevents excessive consumption of display area while maintaining text legibility in the focused viewing area.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Stability of the object's composition

If viewport is aligned with document left edge, then document structure is preserved, but text may not be optimally positioned after scaling

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedocument structureVSAvoidtext positioning
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements dynamic alignment by determining the dominant alignment (left, right, or center) of the visible region and adjusting the viewport alignment accordingly. This dynamic adjustment ensures that text is optimally positioned after scaling while maintaining the logical document structure, improving both readability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the alignment parameter of the viewport based on the dominant alignment of the visible region. By adjusting this parameter dynamically, the system optimizes text positioning after scaling operations, making the interface easier to operate while preserving document structure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentEP2592574B1Improved block zoom on a mobile electronic device
Publication Date: 2020.03.18 BLACKBERRY LTD
  • EP2592574B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP2592574B1 patent drawingFigure 3A
  • EP2592574B1 patent drawingFigure 3B

AI summary

A device, system and method are provided for processing structured documents, such as webpages, for display. Various elements within the structured document are parsed and rendered by an electronic device for outputting to an external or integrated display. In response to a detected scaling instruction, such as a zoom in instruction, a selected region of the displayed document indicated by the instruction is scaled to a first scaled size, including any text content therein. Any text content contained within the region may be reflowed according to the bounds of its containing element or a viewport. A dominant alignment is determined from the element or elements contained within the selected region, and the portion of the scaled region to be output to the display is determined based on the dominant alignment.