AUTOMATIC SWITCHING OF A MULTI-MODE DISPLAY FOR DISPLAYING THREE-DIMENSIONAL AND TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES

• US 20120314024A1
• Filed: 06/08/2011
• Published: 12/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: City University of Hong Kong
• Original Assignee: City University of Hong Kong
• Inventors: Tsang, Peter Wai Ming
• Granted Patent: US 9,041,771 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/43
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0613 The adjustment depending on the type of the information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/356 having separate monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices that control switching of a multi-mode barrier component for efficiently displaying various types of 2-D content and 3-D content are presented. A barrier control component detects an optical signal in a control region of a display screen that is providing visual content to the barrier component, and identifies the type of visual content, such as 2-D content, 3-D stereoscopic content, or 3-D autostereoscopic content, based at least in part on the optical signal. The barrier control component identifies a specified control signal based at least in part on the identified content type, and transmits the specified control signal to the barrier component via a wireline or wireless connection. The barrier component is controlled to automatically switch to a specified mode, such as 2-D mode, 3-D stereoscopic mode, or 3-D autostereoscopic mode, and employ a specified barrier pattern, in response to the received specified control signal.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a barrier control component configured to dynamically generate a control signal in real time, based at least in part on a signal sensed from a control region of a display screen component that presents video content, and transmit the control signal to a barrier component to facilitate control of selection of a barrier pattern and a barrier pattern mode that correspond to the control signal and a type of video content being presented, wherein the signal is indicative of the barrier pattern and the barrier pattern mode to use to process the video content; and

a sensor component configured to monitor the control region and sense the signal emitted from the control region.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the signal is a first optical signal of a plurality of available optical signals, and wherein the barrier control component is further configured to analyze the first optical signal to identify the control signal from a plurality of available control signals.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the first optical signal is in the form of a first optical pattern, and wherein the barrier control component is further configured to analyze the first optical pattern to identify the control signal from the plurality of available control signals.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the barrier control component is further configured to identify the control signal by an analysis of a mapping of respective optical signals to respective control signals, wherein the first optical signal is mapped to the control signal.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the sensor component is further configured to face and be aligned with the control region of the display screen component to facilitate sense of the control signal, wherein the sensor component is further configured to comprise one or more light sensors that are configured to sense the optical signal.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the barrier pattern is a first barrier pattern of a plurality of available barrier patterns, and the barrier pattern mode is a first barrier pattern mode of a plurality of available barrier pattern modes.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the type of video content is two-dimensional video content, wherein the first barrier pattern mode is a transparent barrier pattern mode of the first barrier pattern, wherein the transparent pattern mode causes the first barrier pattern to be transparent to allow the two-dimensional video content to pass through without the two-dimensional video content being altered by the first barrier pattern, and the two-dimensional video content is output from the first barrier pattern and presented to be viewed.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the type of video content is a first type of enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising multiple respective two-dimensional views that are combined to produce a reconstructed three-dimensional scene, wherein the first barrier pattern mode is at least one of a partially opaque stereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode of the first barrier pattern or a partially opaque autostereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode of the first barrier pattern, wherein the at least one of the partially opaque stereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode or the partially opaque autostereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode causes the first barrier pattern to be partially opaque wherein, in response to the enhanced two-dimensional video content being received by the first barrier pattern, the first barrier pattern directs respective illuminating pixels along respective directions corresponding to the respective two-dimensional views of the reconstructed three-dimensional scene represented by the respective two-dimensional views, and the reconstructed three-dimensional scene is output from the first barrier pattern and presented to be viewed.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the enhanced two-dimensional video content comprises stereoscopic content that has two two-dimensional views of each scene portion of a three-dimensional scene being reconstructed to form the reconstructed three-dimensional scene, and wherein the first barrier pattern comprises a series of repeated columns of evenly spaced vertical opaque strips with a transparent space between adjacent vertical opaque strips.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the enhanced two-dimensional video content comprises autostereoscopic content that has more than two two-dimensional views of each scene portion of a three-dimensional scene being reconstructed to form the reconstructed three-dimensional scene, and wherein the first barrier pattern comprises a plurality of slanted opaque strips that are repetitive or regularly spaced with a transparent space between adjacent slanted opaque strips.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the barrier component is further configured to receive the control signal and dynamically select in real time at least one of the barrier pattern mode or the barrier pattern, based at least in part on the control signal, and wherein the barrier component is further configured to be aligned in relation to the display screen component to facilitate reception of the video content by the barrier component.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the barrier component is further configured to analyze the control signal and identify the at least one of the barrier pattern mode or the barrier pattern that corresponds to the control signal.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the barrier component is further configured to identify the at least one of the barrier pattern mode or the barrier pattern via an analysis of a mapping of respective control signals to respective barrier pattern modes or respective barrier patterns, wherein the control signal is mapped to the at least one of the barrier pattern mode or the barrier pattern.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the barrier component is further configured to control an amount of voltage applied to the barrier pattern to control selection of the barrier pattern mode in response to the control signal.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the barrier component is an active parallax barrier.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the display screen component configured to contain a two-dimensional display screen and form the control region in a portion of the two-dimensional display screen.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the two-dimensional display screen is a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) display, a combination LCD-LED display, a plasma display, a plasma display panel (PDP), a digital light processing (DLP) display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT) display.

18. A method, comprising:

detecting a specified signal, which is associated with a video image that is part of video content, in a control region associated with the video image;

selecting a specified control signal, of a plurality of available control signals, based at least in part on information contained in the specified signal; and

dynamically transmitting the specified control signal in real time to a barrier component to facilitate controlling selecting a specified barrier pattern mode and a specified barrier pattern for processing the video image from a plurality of available barrier pattern modes and a plurality of available barrier patterns.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

forming a control region in the video image;

selecting the specified signal from a plurality of available signals based at least in part on type of video content that is in the video image, wherein the type of video content comprises one of normal two-dimensional video content, enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising stereoscopic video content, or enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising autostereoscopic video content;

embedding the specified signal in the control region; and

presenting the specified signal.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

monitoring information being presented by the control region;

receiving the video image associated with video content;

automatically detecting the specified signal presented by the control region in real time; and

dynamically identifying the specified control signal from a plurality of available control signals in real time, based at least in part on analyzing the specified signal.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

mapping respective signals of a plurality of available signals to respective control signals of a plurality of control signals, wherein each of the respective control signals corresponds to a respective barrier pattern mode of a plurality of available barrier pattern modes or a respective barrier pattern of a plurality of available barrier patterns; and

analyzing the specified signal and the mapping of the respective signals of the plurality of available signals to the respective control signals of the plurality of control signals in order to facilitate identifying the specified control signal.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving the specified control signal;

dynamically selecting at least one of the specified barrier pattern mode or the specified barrier pattern, based at least in part on the specified control signal; and

processing the video image using the specified barrier pattern in the specified barrier pattern mode to generate processed video content comprising a two-dimensional scene or a reconstructed three-dimensional scene depending in part on a type of video content of the video image, wherein the type of video content is one of normal two-dimensional video content, enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising stereoscopic video content, or enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising autostereoscopic video content; and

presenting the processed video content.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

dynamically selecting the at least one of the specified barrier pattern mode or the specified barrier pattern when the type of video content of the video image is normal two-dimensional video content, wherein the specified barrier pattern mode is a transparent barrier pattern mode that causes the specified barrier pattern to be transparent to allow the video image to pass through the specified barrier pattern without the video image being altered by the specified barrier pattern; and

presenting the video image, which is two-dimensional video content, as an output from the specified barrier pattern to facilitate viewing of the video image.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

dynamically selecting the at least one of the specified barrier pattern mode or the specified barrier pattern when the type of video content of the video image is enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising stereoscopic video content comprising two respective two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional scene associated with the video image, wherein the specified barrier pattern mode is a stereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode that causes the specified barrier pattern to be a stereoscopic-type barrier pattern, wherein the stereoscopic-type barrier pattern is a partially opaque barrier pattern comprising a series of repeated columns of evenly spaced vertical opaque strips with a transparent space in between adjacent vertical opaque strips;

directing respective illuminating pixels associated with the enhanced two-dimensional video content of the video image along respective directions corresponding to the respective two-dimensional views of the reconstructed three-dimensional scene that the respective two-dimensional views represent; and

presenting the processed video content comprising the reconstructed three-dimensional scene as an output from the specified barrier pattern to facilitate viewing of the processed video content.

25. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

dynamically selecting the at least one of the specified barrier pattern mode or the specified barrier pattern when the type of video content of the video image is enhanced two-dimensional video content comprising autostereoscopic video content comprising more than two respective two-dimensional views of a three-dimensional scene associated with the video image, wherein the specified barrier pattern mode is an autostereoscopic-type barrier pattern mode that causes the specified barrier pattern to be an autostereoscopic-type barrier pattern, wherein the autostereoscopic-type barrier pattern is a partially opaque barrier pattern comprising a plurality of slanted opaque strips which can be repetitive and/or regularly spaced with a transparent space in between adjacent slanted opaque strips;

directing respective illuminating pixels associated with the enhanced two-dimensional video content of the video image along respective directions corresponding to the respective two-dimensional views of the reconstructed three-dimensional scene that the respective two-dimensional views represent; and

presenting the processed video content comprising the reconstructed three-dimensional scene as an output from the specified barrier pattern to facilitate viewing of the processed video content.

26. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

in response to the specified control signal, controlling an amount of voltage applied to the specified barrier pattern; and

controlling selection of the specified barrier pattern mode based at least in part on the amount of voltage applied to the specified barrier pattern.

27. A system, comprising:

means for sensing a specified signal, which is associated with a video image that is part of video content, in a control region associated with the video image; and

means for dynamically transmitting a specified control signal, of a plurality of available control signals, in real time to a barrier component to facilitate controlling selecting a specified barrier pattern mode and a specified barrier pattern most suitable for processing the video image from a plurality of available barrier pattern modes and a plurality of available barrier patterns, wherein the specified control signal is selected based at least in part on information contained in the specified signal.

28. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that, in response to execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

detecting a signal, associated with a video image of video content, in a control region associated with the video image;

selecting a control signal of a plurality of available control signals based at least in part on information contained in the signal; and

transmitting the control signal in real time to a barrier component for selecting a specified barrier pattern mode and a specified barrier pattern for processing the video image from a plurality of available barrier pattern modes and a plurality of available barrier patterns.