Image reproduction apparatus and method for simultaneously displaying multiple moving-image thumbnails

Abstract

An image reproduction method and apparatus are provided for simultaneously displaying multiple moving-image thumbnails. A controller of the image reproduction apparatus generates a moving-image contents list including moving-image thumbnails corresponding to one or more moving-image contents, when a request for displaying the moving-image contents list is input. A multi-image reproducer of the image reproduction apparatus simultaneously reproduces the moving-image thumbnails. The moving-image contents list including the simultaneously reproduced moving-image thumbnails is displayed at a display unit of the image reproduction apparatus.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An image reproduction apparatus for simultaneously displaying multiple moving-image thumbnails, the image reproduction apparatus comprising:
 a multi-image reproducer for simultaneously reproducing moving-image thumbnails corresponding to one or more moving-image contents;   a display unit for displaying the simultaneously reproduced moving-image thumbnails; and   a controller for generating a moving-image contents list including the moving-image thumbnails when a request for displaying the moving-image contents list is input, controlling the multi-image reproducer to simultaneously reproduce the moving-image thumbnails, and displaying the moving-image contents list including the simultaneously reproduced moving-image thumbnails through the display unit.   
     
     
         2 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an image converter for generating the moving-image thumbnails by converting the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         3 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the moving-image thumbnails are generated while the image reproduction apparatus is in one of a charging mode or sleep mode. 
     
     
         4 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more moving-image contents are converted into the moving-image thumbnails having a resolution, a file format, and a compression scheme desired by a user. 
     
     
         5 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each of the moving-image thumbnails has a preset size that is smaller than a size of the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         6 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the moving-image contents list further comprises image information comprising at least one of a title, a reproduction time, a producer, a creator, and a description of the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         7 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the controller controls the multi-image reproducer to reproduce section-based moving-image thumbnails for particular moving-image contents when a request for displaying the section-based moving-image thumbnails is input, and displays the reproduced section-based moving-image thumbnails through the display unit. 
     
     
         8 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the image converter divides the particular moving-image contents into moving-image sections according to a preset condition, and generates a moving-image thumbnail corresponding to each of the moving-image sections. 
     
     
         9 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the preset condition comprises at least one of time, motion detection, face detection, facial expression detection, voice detection, and scene change. 
     
     
         10 . The image reproduction apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein, when a selection of one of the section-based moving-image thumbnails displayed through the display unit is input, the controller reproduces and displays moving-image contents of a moving-image section corresponding to the selected one of the moving-image thumbnails. 
     
     
         11 . An image reproduction method for simultaneously displaying multiple moving-image thumbnails in an image reproduction apparatus, the image reproduction method comprising the steps of:
 generating, at a controller of the image reproduction apparatus, a moving-image contents list including moving-image thumbnails corresponding to one or more moving-image contents, when a request for displaying the moving-image contents list is input;   simultaneously reproducing, at a multi-image reproducer of the image reproduction apparatus, the moving-image thumbnails; and   displaying the moving-image contents list including the simultaneously reproduced moving-image thumbnails, at a display unit of the image reproduction apparatus.   
     
     
         12 . The image reproduction method of  claim 11 , further comprising generating the moving-image thumbnails by converting the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         13 . The image reproduction method of  claim 12 , wherein the moving-image thumbnails are generated while the image reproduction apparatus is in one of a charging mode or sleep mode. 
     
     
         14 . The image reproduction method of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more moving-image contents are converted into the moving-image thumbnails having a resolution, a file format, and a compression scheme desired by a user. 
     
     
         15 . The image reproduction method of  claim 11 , wherein each of the moving-image thumbnails has a preset size that is smaller than a size of the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         16 . The image reproduction method of  claim 11 , wherein the moving-image contents list further comprises image information comprising at least one of a title, a reproduction time, a producer, a creator, and a description of the one or more moving-image contents. 
     
     
         17 . The image reproduction method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 reproducing section-based moving-image thumbnails for particular moving-image contents, when a request for displaying the section-based moving-image thumbnails is input; and   displaying the reproduced section-based moving-image thumbnails through the display unit.   
     
     
         18 . The image reproduction method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 dividing the particular moving-image contents into moving-image sections according to a preset condition; and   generating a moving-image thumbnail corresponding to each of the moving-image sections.   
     
     
         19 . The image reproduction method of  claim 18 , wherein the preset condition comprises at least one of time, motion detection, face detection, facial expression detection, voice detection, and scene change. 
     
     
         20 . The image reproduction method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 when a selection of one of the section-based moving-image thumbnails displayed through the display unit is input, reproducing and displaying moving-image contents of a moving-image section corresponding to the one of the selected moving-image thumbnails.