Low resolution acquisition method and device for controlling a display screen

• US 20040263497A1
• Filed: 05/25/2004
• Published: 12/30/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Eldim Co.
• Original Assignee: Eldim Co.
• Inventors: Gibour, Veronique, Leroux, Thierry
• Application Number:
  US10/496,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20040263497A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/204
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1309 Repairing; Testing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4053 based on super-resolution, i.e. the output image resolution being higher than the sensor resolution
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4084 in the transform domain, e.g. fast Fourier transform [FFT] domain scaling
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/006 Electronic inspection or testing of displays and display drivers, e.g. of LED or LCD displays testing individual LED's G01R31/2635; testing lamps G01R31/44; testing of optical features of LCD displays G02F1/1309

Abstract

The invention relates to a device and a control process for a display screen with:

means (14) of checking the display screen (E) so as to display a test pattern on the screen,

means (18) of forming an image of the test pattern on an electronic camera (12) with a resolution less than the resolution of the display screen,

means (10, 20, 22) of offsetting the image of the test pattern on the camera, and

means (14) of analyzing several offset images output by the camera to localize defective pixels on the display screen.

Claims

1. Process for checking a display screen comprising the following steps:

a) the screen (E) to be checked is controlled so as to display at least one test pattern with at least one spatial period P,

b) acquisition of a sequence of simple images (I) of the test pattern using an electronic camera (12) with a definition lower than the definition of the screen to be checked, the successive simple images being offset from each other,

c) construction of an over sampled image (S) of the test pattern starting from the simple images,

d) calculation of spectral components of the over sampled image using a first Fourier transform,

e) compensation of spectral alterations resulting from the previous steps by deletion and/or weighting of spectral components,

f) calculation of spatial components of a new image of the test pattern using a second Fourier transform of the spectral components resulting from step e),

g) analysis of the new image.

2. Process according to claim 1, in which one of the first and second Fourier transforms is made in an adapted manner by adjusting the spectral sampling pitch as a function of the spatial period P of the test pattern.

3. Process according to claim 2, in which a number of spectral samples N is adjusted such that the product Nτ

_s is a multiple of the spatial period P of the test pattern, where τ

_s is the spatial resolution of the over sampled image.

4. Process according to claim 1, in which the sampling pitch τ

_s of the over sampled image is adjusted during step c) such that the product Nτ

_s is a multiple of the spatial period of the test pattern, where N is the number of samples in the over sampled image participating in the calculation of the first Fourier transform.

5. Process according to claim 1, in which registration is done to substantially align the center of an image of the screen to be checked with the center of the camera and/or to make at least one edge of the image parallel to an edge of the camera and/or to compensate for optical distortion of an optical system (18) associated with the camera (12).

6. Process according to claim 5, comprising a deliberate display of several pixels with known coordinates in the test pattern to simulate defects and to form a registration system.

7. Process according to claim 5, in which registration takes place by calculation in step c), during construction of the over sampled image.

8. Process according to claim 5, in which screen pixels simulating defects on a row and/or a column of the test pattern with period P are controlled, and the phase of the spectral components is modified so as to make the spectrum phase recorded for the said row and/or column symmetric about a value ½

P.

9. Process according to claim 1, in which the offset between successive simple images acquired in step b) of the process is not a multiple of the relative distance between two camera pixels.

10. Process according to claim 1, in which a test pattern is displayed on the screen and provided, in two directions x and y with periods P_x and P_y, such that

11. Process according to claim 1, in which step g) includes the localization of defective pixels in the new image.

12. Process according to claim 11, in which step g) includes a comparison of the intensity of the pixels of the new image with threshold values to localize abnormally on and/or abnormally off pixels.

13. Process according to claim 11, in which step g) comprises:

i) selection of a region in the new image surrounding a defective pixel,

ii) the calculation of spectral components in this region using a Fourier transform,

iii) adjustment of spectral components by adding a phase correction term tending to make the phase symmetric for the selected region,

iv) the calculation of new spatial components using a Fourier transform, to form a new image of the region,

v) creation of coordinates of the defect starting from the new image of the region.

14. Process according to claim 12, in which step g) includes adjustment of the phase by a value u=knπ

/P, where k is a natural integer, and iteration of steps i) to iv) until the area in space of the defective pixel is minimized in the new image of the region.

15. Process according to claim 11, in which the coordinates of the defective pixels are established by a center of gravity calculation on adjacent pixels above or below predetermined luminosity thresholds.

16. Process according to claim 1, in which spectral harmonics are created by replication of the spectral components before step f).

17. Device for checking a display screen comprising:

means (14) of controlling the display screen (E) so as to display a test pattern on the screen,

means (18) of forming an image of the test pattern on an electronic camera (12) with a resolution less than the resolution of the display screen,

means (10, 20 22) of offsetting the image of the test pattern on the camera, and

means of analyzing (14) several offset images output by the camera to localize defective pixels on the display screen.

18. Device according to claim 17, in which the offset means comprise a positioning table (10) on which the screens (E) to be checked will be placed, and means (20) of making a relative movement between the table and the camera.

19. Device according to claim 17, in which the offset means comprise at least one transparent strip (22) with parallel faces installed free to pivot and associated with the image formation means.