Touch Screen Control Icons for Digital Imaging Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital imaging devices face challenges in conveniently and accurately controlling image properties due to the complexity and bulk of mechanical switches, which hinder user experience and increase size, weight, and cost, especially in harsh environments.
Innovation Solution
A digital imaging device with a touch-sensitive display screen featuring a toolbar of icons that allows users to select and control image properties by tapping or touching, using control icons with multiple portions for incremental adjustments, enabling intuitive and precise manipulation of image properties like brightness, color balance, and surface temperature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional mechanical switches are used to control image properties, then the device can provide precise control over image properties, but the device size, weight, and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical switches with a touch-sensitive display screen that uses software-based control icons. This substitution eliminates the need for physical mechanical components while maintaining control functionality, thereby reducing device complexity, size, and weight while preserving ease of operation for adjusting image properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The touch-sensitive display screen serves multiple functions: it displays the captured image and simultaneously provides control interfaces for adjusting various image properties. This multi-functionality consolidates what would otherwise require separate mechanical controls into a single universal interface, reducing the overall number of components needed.
2Ease of operation
If multiple individual switches are provided for each image property, then the user can accurately control specific properties, but the device becomes larger and more expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces multiple individual mechanical switches with a touch-sensitive display that presents control icons for different image properties. This allows accurate property selection through visual icons on the screen without requiring physical switches for each property, thereby maintaining control precision while significantly reducing device weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses visual icons displayed on the screen as representations of the control functions. These graphical copies of control elements allow users to select and control image properties without physical switches, eliminating the weight of multiple mechanical components while preserving the ability to accurately control specific properties.
3Reliability
If mechanical switches are used in harsh environments, then the device can provide durable control, but the reliability decreases due to mechanical wear and failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical switches with a touch-sensitive display screen that has no moving parts. This eliminates mechanical wear and failure modes that would be exacerbated by harsh environmental conditions such as dust, moisture, and vibration, thereby improving reliability while maintaining control durability through a solid-state interface.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a large number of control elements are provided, then the user can control all image properties, but the ease of carriage and portability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The touch-sensitive display screen serves as both the display medium and the control interface for multiple image properties. This universal interface consolidates what would otherwise require numerous separate control elements into a single integrated system, maintaining full control coverage while minimizing the device's weight and improving portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses graphical icons displayed on the screen as virtual representations of control functions. These digital copies replace physical control elements, allowing comprehensive control of all image properties without adding physical bulk or weight, thereby maintaining adaptability while enhancing portability.
Data Source
AI summary
A digital imaging device is provided with a touch sensitive display screen 10. The screen 10 displays an image 12 captured by the imaging device. Along one side of the screen is a toolbar 14 upon which is provided a plurality of individual icons 16. The icons 16 represent particular control functions that may be selected by a user. Examples of such control functions represented by the icons 16 include but are not limited to save, send, retrieve or discard image; rotate, reflect, crop, resize or edit image; compare images; process image (e.g. sharpen, blur, emboss, edge detect, pixelise, apply filter or similar); or vary image properties (e.g. brightness, colour balance, colour depth, contrast, convert to greyscale/black and white, effective surface temperature displayed (for infrared images) or similar). The user can select icons by touching the screen either directly or more preferably by tapping the screen with a suitable implement such as a pen, a stylus or similar. Once a user has selected an icon, further icons may be displayed on the screen to allow the user to operate the selected function as desired.