Remote color characterization for delivery of high fidelity images

• US 7,092,008 B1
• Filed: 06/23/2000
• Issued: 08/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lightsurf
• Inventors: Engeldrum, Peter G., Bernard, Peter, Strother, Thomas L., Hilliard, William J., Mattox, Joel D., van Prooijen, Cornelis P., Deutch, James Ellis
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DESIR, JEAN WICEL
• Application Number:
  US09/603,520
• Time in Patent Office: 2,244 Days
• Field of Search: 348/177, 348/179, 348/180, 348/189, 348/575, 348/577, 348/612, 348/722, 348/181, 348/182, 348/650, 348/652, 348/745, 348/807, 348/184, 348/188, 348/191, 345/589, 345/581, 345/590, 345/591, 345/594, 345/904, 345/600, 345/700, 345/719, 345/722, 382/162, 382/167, 358/518
• US Class Current: 348/180
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/02 for colour television signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2343 involving reformatting operations of video signals for distribution or compliance with end-user requests or end-user device requirements video transcoding H04N19/40; media packet handling at the source H04L65/762
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/641 Multi-purpose receivers, e.g. for auxiliary information H04N9/642 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention provides a technique for providing color corrected images to a user over a network. The user'"'"'s computer and its associated devices may be remotely calibrated and or characterized and the data made available over the network to permit multiple image providers to provide color corrected images to a user. A notification technique is also provided to notify a user when the image or images being displayed is color corrected. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for determining and calibrating color display characteristics of a remote user'"'"'s display so as to be able to provide color corrected images to the user over a network, comprising the steps of:

remotely calibrating the remote user'"'"'s display based solely on user feedback without using calibration devices, by performing substeps of;

receiving a request at a server for characterizing the remote user'"'"'s display;

transferring images selected to assist with remote calibration of the remote user'"'"'s display to the remote user'"'"'s display upon initiation of color display characterization, said server functioning to permit multiple image providers to provide color corrected images to the user for determining and calibrating color display characteristics of different displays;

processing choice data provided by the user in response to the test images to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display; and

automatically notifying the user when a particular image being displayed is color corrected in accordance with said calibration.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transferring images to the remote user'"'"'s display upon initiation of color display characterization further comprises the step of:

transferring the images to the remote user'"'"'s display before transferring information processing code to the remote user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of processing information related to the user'"'"'s interactions with the images to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

processing the information at a server to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transferring images to a remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

transferring the images to the remote user'"'"'s display from a server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of processing information related to the user'"'"'s interactions with the images to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

processing the information at the server to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the remote user is a client computer connected to a network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the user'"'"'s display is a monitor, a projector, a printer, or a plotter.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the images comprise test images or test patterns.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of transferring images to the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

selecting the images based on parameters including desired level of thoroughness of characterization, known hardware characteristics of the user, known software characteristics of the user, known characteristics of the network connection to the user, or characteristics of the images transferred to the user.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of selecting the images based on parameters further comprises the step of:

selecting test images or test patterns based on the parameters.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of selecting test images or test patterns based on the parameters further comprises the step of:

selecting the order in which the test images or test patterns are transferred to the user'"'"'s display based on the parameters.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of processing the information at the server to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

transferring to the server information related to image selection by the user in response to the images transferred by the server to the user'"'"'s display.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of transferring to the server information related to image selection by the user in response to the images transferred by the server to the users display further comprises the step of:

transferring information indicative of test images or test patterns selected by the user from among alternative test images or test patterns, respectively, transferred by the server.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the test images or test patterns selected by the user are selected by a person viewing the user'"'"'s display.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the test images or test patterns selected by the user are selected by a user calibrator.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the user calibrator further comprises:

executable code running on a client computer connected to the server through a network to receive the images from the server and display the images on the user'"'"'s display.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of transferring images to the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

selecting the images based on the information indicative of test images or test patterns selected by the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the step of selecting the images based on the information indicative of test images or test patterns selected by the user transferred to the server further comprises the step of:

selecting the order in which the images are transferred to the user'"'"'s display.

19. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of:

initiating color display characterization of the remote user'"'"'s display in response to a request to the server.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of initiating color display characterization of the remote user'"'"'s display in response to a request to the server further comprises the step of:

initiating color display characterization of the remote user'"'"'s display in response to a request from the remote user to the server.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the request from the remote user to the server further comprises:

an indication of the remote user'"'"'s desired level of thoroughness of characterization.

22. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of processing the information at the server to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of:

creating a user'"'"'s display characterization file comprising the color display characteristics of the user'"'"'s display.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of processing the information at the server to determine color display characteristics of the remote user'"'"'s display further comprises the step of providing an algorithm at the server to analyze the information to determine the color display characteristics of the user'"'"'s display.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the algorithm further comprises:

executable code running on a server computer to execute the algorithm.

25. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of:

providing the characterization file to the user.

26. The method of claim 22, comprising the further step of:

providing the characterization file to an image provider.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein:

the image provider is the server.

28. The method of claim 25, comprising the further step of:

adjusting images distributed by the image provider to the user in accordance with the characterization file.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the step of adjusting images in accordance with the characterization file further comprises the step of:

color correcting the images in accordance with the characterization file.

30. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of transferring images to the remote user'"'"'s display from a server further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program on the server to transfer images to the user'"'"'s display.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the characterization program further comprises:

executable code running on a server computer connected to a network to transfer images to the user'"'"'s display.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of providing a characterization program further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program to select the images based on parameters including desired level of thoroughness of characterization, known hardware characteristics of the user, known software characteristics of the user, known characteristics of the connection to the user, or characteristics a-f the images provided to the user.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the step of providing a characterization program further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program to select the order in which the images are provided to the user for display on the user'"'"'s display based on the parameters.

34. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of providing a characterization program further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program to receive information from the user related to image selection by the user in response to the images transferred to the user'"'"'s display.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of providing a characterization program further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program to transfer images to the user'"'"'s display based on the selection information received from the user.

36. The method of claim 30, wherein the step of providing a characterization program further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program to create a user'"'"'s display characterization file comprising the color display characteristics of the user'"'"'s display.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the step of providing a characterization program to create a user'"'"'s display characterization file further comprises the step of:

providing a characterization program including an algorithm to analyze the selection information received from the user to determine the color display characteristics of the user'"'"'s display.

38. A method of providing color corrected images on a client computer comprising:

calibrating the client computer by;

sending a plurality of test images to the client computer;

prompting a user at the client computer to indicate color differences between the test images; and

calculating a correction to be applied to images based on the user responses to the test images;

receiving images from third parties; and

applying the correction to the images, to provide color corrected images.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the third parties are remote servers providing data.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

displaying a notification to the user when an image being displayed is a color corrected image.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein the notification comprises an icon displayed alongside the color corrected image.

42. The method of claim 38, further comprising:

adding a cookie to the client computer, the cookie indicating the color correction to be performed.

43. The method of claim 42, further comprising

receiving an image request;

determining if the cookie is resident on the client computer; and

if the cookie is not resident on the client computer, calibrating the client computer.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

connecting to a web page at a domain with the client computer;

downloading data from the web page, including one or more images; and

receiving an image request to download the one or more images.

45. An apparatus comprising:

a client computer including a display to display images to a user;

a color calibration mechanism including

the display to display a plurality of test images to a user;

a user interface to receive choice data from the user, the choice data indicating responses of the user to the plurality of test images; and

a characterization program to take the choice data and create a characterization file, characterizing the display.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the characterization program runs on a remote server.

47. The system of claim 45, further comprising:

a cookie placed on the client computer with the characterization file.

48. The system of claim 47, further comprising:

a server, upon request of a correctable image, to determine whether the client computer system includes the cookie, and if the client computer system does not include the cookie, invoking the color calibration system.

49. The system of claim 48, wherein if the server finds the cookie on the client computer system, the system automatically performs color correction on the correctable image.

50. The system of claim 45, further comprising:

an icon added to an image, to indicate that the image has been color corrected.

51. The system of claim 45, further comprising:

the user interface enabling the user to select a thoroughness of characterization, the thoroughness of characterization determining a number of test images viewed, and a more thorough characterization resulting in more accuracy.