Method of and system for controlling an ambient light and lighting unit

• US 7,369,903 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2003
• Issued: 05/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/04/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Peters, Ralph Hubert, Meinders, Erwin Rinaldo, Diederiks, Elmo Marcus Attila, Van Lier, Edwin
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Thomas K
• Application Number:
  US10/519,059
• Publication Number:
  US 20060058925A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,782 Days
• Field of Search: 700/28, 700/32, 700/52, 165/254, 250/205, 250/214.AL
• US Class Current: 700/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/70 Media network packetisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4131 home appliance, e.g. lighting, air conditioning system, metering devices home automation data switching networks exchanging configuration information on appliance services H04L12/2807
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43074 of additional data with content streams on the same device, e.g. of EPG data or interactive icon with a TV program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43615 Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/58 in dependence upon ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 47/165 following a pre-assigned programmed sequence; Logic control [LC]

Abstract

The invention relates to the on-line analysis of meta-data that is received together with a video signal. This analysis results in an adaptation of the lighting surrounding the presentation device (110). One or more characteristics of the meta-data are filtered out and translated into lighting settings of one or more light elements (102, 104, 106, 108), which in turn can contain one or more light sources.

Claims

1. Method of controlling an ambient light, the method comprising:

receiving main program data and additional data by a receiver;

setting a property of the ambient light based upon the additional data;

including descriptive information about the main program data in the additional data;

filtering the descriptive information from the additional data;

setting a sensitivity of the ambient light to the main program data; and

setting the property of the ambient light based upon the descriptive information and the sensitivity to enhance perception of the main program data, wherein a lower sensitivity results in less changes to the property of the ambient light over time than a higher sensitivity for the main program data.

2. Method of controlling an ambient light according to claim 1, the method comprising presenting the main program data by a presentation device and setting the property of the ambient light that is in proximity of the presentation device.

3. Method of controlling an ambient light according to claim 2, wherein setting the property of the ambient light is substantially synchronously with presenting the main program data by the presentation device.

4. Method of controlling an ambient light according to claim 1, wherein setting the property of the ambient light is configurable.

5. Method of controlling an ambient light according to claim 1, wherein setting the property of the ambient light is configurable by a user preference.

6. System of controlling an ambient light, the system comprising:

receiving means to receive main program data and additional data;

setting means to set a property of the ambient light based upon the additional data,

characterized in that;

the additional data comprises descriptive information about the main program data and the system comprises;

filtering means to filter this descriptive information from the additional data; and

setting means to set the property of the ambient light based upon the descriptive information and a sensitivity to enhance perception of the main program data, wherein a lower sensitivity results in less changes to the property of the ambient light over time than a higher sensitivity for the main program data.

7. System of controlling an ambient light according to claim 6, the system comprising presenting means to present the main program data on a presentation device and setting means to set the property of the ambient light that is in proximity of the presentation device.

8. System of controlling an ambient light according to claim 7, the system comprising synchronization means to synchronize the presenting means with the setting means.

9. Lighting unit comprising a light armature and the system according to claim 6.