BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a flexible display apparatus and method displaying a User Interface (UI), and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a UI that differs according to a state of a flexible display apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

Portable terminals have generally been developed to provide various functions, such as, a movie reproducing function, a Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) receiving function, a message sending/receiving function, etc. Accordingly, various types of UIs are required to effectively display and control various data corresponding to such functions in a portable terminal.

Also, in order for a UI to include various types of display screens and various manners for controlling the display screens, a size of the UI necessarily increases. Accordingly, it becomes difficult to effectively display the UI to a user when a size of the display screen is changed.

Meanwhile, Korean Patent Application No. KR 2008-0035709, for example, refers to a technology for displaying an image in a mobile phone having a multi-panel stack. In such a multi-panel stack type mobile phone having a three-stage zigzag body, when the multi-panel stack type mobile phone is closed, in a display window area, only an area coupled to an upper panel is activated to display an image.

However, in the above-described technology, the phone must sense which area of a screen area is exposed, and a differentiated UI may not be effectively provided based on a size of the exposed screen area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to address at least the problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. An aspect of the present invention provides a flexible display apparatus capable of distinctively providing a User Interface (UI) according to a folding extent of the flexible display apparatus, and a method of displaying the UI using the flexible display apparatus.

Another aspect of the present invention also provides a flexible display apparatus capable of displaying a UI by stages according to a folding extent of the flexible display apparatus, and a method of displaying the UI.

Another aspect of the present invention also provides a flexible display apparatus capable of successively changing a UI according to a folding extent of the flexible display apparatus, and a method of displaying the UI.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a flexible display apparatus is provided. The flexible display apparatus includes an exposed area determining unit for determining an exposed screen area facing outwards with respect to the flexible display apparatus; a User Interface (UI) generating unit for generating a UI corresponding to the outwardly facing exposed screen area; and a display unit for displaying the generated UI on the outwardly facing exposed screen area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of displaying a User Interface (UI) using a flexible display apparatus is provided. The method includes determining an exposed screen area facing outwards with respect to the flexible display apparatus; and displaying a UI corresponding to the outwardly facing exposed screen area on the exposed screen area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method for displaying a User Interface (UI) using a flexible display apparatus is provided. The method includes determining an exposed screen area facing outwards with respect to the flexible display apparatus; and displaying a UI corresponding to the outwardly facing exposed screen area on the exposed screen area.

