CONTEXTUAL MATTE BARS FOR ASPECT RATIO FORMATTING

• US 20140204127A1
• Filed: 01/23/2013
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc., Manu Rehani, Warren L. Wolf
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Tann, Christopher P., Pintz, Sandro H., Ridenour, Robert L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,215,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440272 for performing aspect ratio conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0122 the input and the output signals having different aspect ratios

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for adding contextual matte bars to format image data to another aspect ratio are provided. For example, a method may include receiving image data of a first aspect ratio into a processor. The processor may receive a characteristic of a destination display of a second aspect ratio, an indication of ambient lighting, an indication of a characteristic of the image data, or any number of these factors. The processor may add matte bars to the image data to cause the image data to be formatted to the second aspect ratio. The appearance of the matte bars may depend on the factors received by the processor. The formatted image data with these contextual matte bars then may be sent from the processor to the destination electronic display.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving first image data of a first aspect ratio into a processor;

receiving, into the processor, an indication of a characteristic of a destination electronic display, an indication of an ambient condition of the destination electronic display, or an indication of a characteristic of the image data, or any combination thereof, wherein the destination electronic display comprises a second aspect ratio;

adding matte bars to the first image data or a scaled version of the first image data in the processor to obtain second image data of the second aspect ratio, wherein an appearance of the matte bars depends on the indication of the characteristic of the destination electronic display, the indication of the ambient condition of the destination electronic display, or the indication of the characteristic of the image data, or any combination thereof and

providing the second image data from the processor to the destination electronic display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the destination electronic display comprises:

a color of a bezel of the electronic display;

a texture of the bezel of the electronic display;

an indication of a proclivity of the electronic display for image burn-in;

or

any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the ambient condition of the electronic display comprises:

an ambient brightness;

a color temperature of ambient light;

or

a feedback image from a camera facing the destination electronic display;

or

any combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the appearance of the matte bars comprises:

a color of the matte bars;

a visual texture of the matte bars;

a gradient of the matte bars;

a variability of the matte bars over time;

or

a relationship between a user interface and the matte bars;

or

any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic of the image data comprises:

an amount of motion of the image data;

a prominent color of the image data;

or

a media type of the image data;

or

any combination thereof.

6. A system comprising:

a first electronic device configured to convert image data of a first aspect ratio into image data of a second aspect ratio at least in part by generating and adding matte bars to the image data; and

a destination electronic display of the second aspect ratio configured to display the image data of the second aspect ratio;

wherein the first electronic device is configured to generate an appearance of the matte bars when generating the matte bars, wherein the appearance depends on a characteristic of the destination electronic display, an ambient condition of the destination electronic display, or a characteristic of the image data, or any combination thereof.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the destination electronic display is a component of the first electronic device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first electronic device is configured to generate the image data of the first aspect ratio.

9. The system of claim 7, comprising a second electronic device configured to generate the image data of the first aspect ratio and provide the image data of the first aspect ratio to the first electronic device.

10. The system of claim 6, comprising:

a second electronic device configured to generate the image data of the first aspect ratio and provide the image data of the first aspect ratio to the first electronic device; and

a third electronic device configured to receive the image data of the second aspect ratio from the first electronic device and provide the image data of the second aspect ratio to the destination electronic display, wherein the destination electronic display is a component of the third electronic device.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the first electronic device is configured to vary the appearance of the matte bars by varying a hue of the matte bars based on the ambient condition, wherein the ambient condition comprises an ambient light level around the destination electronic display.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein the first electronic device is configured to vary the appearance of the matte bars by varying a hue of the matte bars based on the ambient condition, wherein the ambient condition comprises an ambient light level around the destination electronic display.

13. A method for manufacturing an electronic display, the method comprising:

providing a display panel of a first aspect ratio;

providing a display controller configured to;

receive image data of a second aspect ratio;

convert the image data of the second aspect ratio into image data of the first aspect ratio by adding matte bars having a programmed appearance to the image data of the second aspect ratio; and

program the display panel using the image data of the first aspect ratio;

providing a storage device configured to store the programmed appearance of the matte bars;

when the electronic display is configured to be installed in a first frame having a first bezel having a first bezel appearance, storing the programmed appearance to be a first matte bar appearance; and

when the electronic display is configured to be installed in a second frame having a second bezel having a second bezel appearance, storing the programmed appearance to be a second matte bar appearance.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first matte bar appearance has a light color than the second matte bar appearance when the first bezel appearance is lighter or more reflective, or both, than the second bezel appearance.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the first matte bar appearance has a first visual texture and the second matte bar appearance has a second visual texture when the first bezel appearance has a first physical texture and the second bezel appearance has a second physical texture.

16. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to:

convert image data of a first aspect ratio into image data of a second aspect ratio at least in part by adding matte bars to the image data; and

provide the image data of the second ratio to a destination display of the second aspect ratio;

wherein the matte bars have a first appearance when the destination display has a first destination display characteristic and a second appearance when the destination display has a second destination display characteristic.

17. The computer-readable media of claim 16, comprising instructions to receive the destination display characteristics from the destination display, a storage, or a memory, or any combination thereof.

18. The computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions to convert the image data of the first aspect ratio into image data of the second aspect ratio comprise instructions to scale the image data to a resolution of the destination display.

19. The computer-readable media of claim 16, comprising instructions to generate the image data of the first image data using a window server that receives image information from one or more application programs.

20. The computer-readable media of claim 16, comprising instructions to receive the image data of the first image data from an external source electronic device.

21. An electronic device comprising:

an electronic display of a first aspect ratio; and

a processor configured to convert image data of a second aspect ratio to image data of the first aspect ratio by adding contextual matte bars, wherein the contextual matte bars have an appearance selected automatically based at least in part on a characteristic of the electronic display, an ambient condition of the electronic device, or a characteristic of the image data, or any combination thereof.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, comprising input/output circuitry configured to receive the image data of the second aspect ratio from a source electronic device configured to generate the image data of the second aspect ratio.

23. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the electronic device comprises a television, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, a handheld device, a portable media player, a cellular phone, a gaming device, or any combination thereof.

24. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the ambient condition of the electronic device comprises an ambient light level comprising an ambient light sensor configured to detect the ambient light level.