MULTILAYER DISPLAY DEVICE

• US 20110175902A1
• Filed: 01/20/2010
• Published: 07/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Mahowald, Peter H.
• Application Number:
  US12/690,660
• Publication Number:
  US 20110175902A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/419
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1431 using a single graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1438 using more than one graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/147 using display panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3208 organic, e.g. using organic light-emitting diodes [OLED]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/395 with depth sampling, i.e. the volume being constructed from a stack or sequence of 2D image planes

Abstract

A multilayer display system includes a first layer operable to display a first display signal comprising a first group of data, a second layer positioned in front of the first layer and operable to display a second display signal comprising a second group of data, and a first graphics processing unit connected to the first layer. The first graphics processing unit may be configured to transmit the first display signal to the first layer. The multilayer display system further includes a second graphics processing unit connected to the second layer. The second graphics processing unit may be configured to transmit the second display signal to the second layer.

Claims

1. A multilayer display system, comprising:

a first layer operable to display a first display signal comprising a first group of data;

a second layer positioned in front of the first layer and operable to display a second display signal comprising a second group of data;

a first graphics processing unit connected to the first layer, the first graphics processing unit configured to transmit the first display signal to the first layer; and

a second graphics processing unit connected to the second layer, the second graphics processing unit configured to transmit the second display signal to the second layer.

2. The multilayer display system of claim 1, wherein the second layer is a transparent OLED display device.

3. The multilayer display system of claim 1, further comprising at least one processor configured to display the first and second groups of data on the second layer and turn off the first layer.

4. The multilayer display system of claim 3, further comprising a battery configured to supply power to the first and second layers, wherein the at least one processor is configured to turn off the first layer based on a battery level of the battery.

5. The multilayer display system of claim 1, further comprising at least one processor configured to determine whether a third group of display data can be processed to obtain separate display signals.

6. The multilayer display system of claim 5, wherein, if the at least one processor determines that the third group of data cannot be processed to obtain separate display signals, the third group of data is displayed on the second layer.

7. The multilayer display system of claim 1, further comprising a third layer operable to display a third display signal, the third layer positioned behind the first layer, wherein the first layer and the second layer are separated by a first distance and the first layer and the third layer are separated by a second distance, and the first distance is different from the second distance.

8. A method for displaying a three-dimensional image, comprising:

receiving a computer program;

separating a set of graphical elements of the computer program into a first data set and a second data set based on a characteristic of the computer program;

processing the first data set to obtain a first display signal corresponding to the first data set and a second display signal corresponding to the second data set; and

transmitting the first display signal to a first layer of a multilayer display system and the second display signal to a second layer of the multilayer display system, the first layer overlaying the second layer.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first layer is a transparent OLED device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the computer program comprises an application running on an operating system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the characteristic includes whether the application is active or inactive.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising displaying the application on the first layer if the application is active and displaying the application on the second layer if the application is inactive.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the characteristic includes whether the application is a window or a menu bar.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the application on the first layer if the application is a menu bar.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising separating the computer program into a third data set based on a characteristic of the computer program;

processing the third data set to obtain a third display signal corresponding to the third data set; and

transmitting the third display signal to a third layer positioned behind the first and second layers.

16. A display system, comprising:

a memory device storing an operating system running a first application and a second application;

at least one processor connected to the memory device and configured to separate the first and second applications into a first data set corresponding to the first application and a second data set corresponding to the second application based on a characteristic of the first and second applications and process the first and second data sets to obtain a first display signal and a second display signal;

a first display layer connected to the memory device and configured to display the first display signal; and

a second display layer connected to the memory device and configured to display the second display signal.

17. The display system of claim 16, wherein the first display layer is positioned in front of the second display layer.

18. The display system of claim 16, wherein the first display layer is configured to display the first display signal at a higher brightness level than the second display layer displays the second display signal.

19. The display system of claim 16, wherein the first application is an active application and the second application is an inactive application.

20. The display system of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to combine the first and second display signals and transmit the combined display signals to the first layer.