Method and system for LED calibration

• US 7,542,861 B1
• Filed: 10/01/2008
• Issued: 06/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Opto Tech Corporation (OptoTech Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Opto Tech Corporation (OptoTech Corp.)
• Inventors: Liao, Wei-Chih, Chang, Chien-Feng, You, Ju-Yuan, Lee, Zong-Huai
• Primary Examiner(s): Dunn; Drew A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cherry; Stephen J
• Application Number:
  US12/243,958
• Time in Patent Office: 244 Days
• Field of Search: 702/85, 702/90, 702/104, 702/105, 382/312, 382/317, 382/321, 345/39, 345/40, 345/44, 345/45, 345/77, 345/82, 345/84, 345/589, 345/597
• US Class Current: 702/85
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 18/00 Testing or calibrating apparatus or arrangements provided for in groups G01D1/00 - G01D15/00

Abstract

A method and system for LED calibration is provided for a plurality of LED modules cascaded in a series. Each LED module includes a plurality of LEDs, a driver and a controller. The control signal from a calibration host is transmitted to all the modules to light all LEDs in the LED module. Through the controller of the LED module, the calibration data transmitted from the calibration host is stored in the memory inside the driver so that all the LEDs will emit light according to the calibration. The present invention improves the uniformity of the light emission and improves the module maintenance convenience.

Claims

1. An LED calibration system, comprising:

a calibration host, for generating an image capturing control signal and using a calibration computation to generate an instruction data input signal;

an image capturing device, for receiving said image capturing control signal to perform image capturing and to generate an image capturing data; and

a plurality of LED modules, each said LED module having a self-test enabling signal, an instruction data input signal and an instruction data output signal, said instruction data input signal of a said LED module being connected to said instruction data input signal of said calibration host, and said LED modules being connected in cascaded manner, said instruction data output signal of a previous said LED module being connected to said instruction data input signal of a next said LED module, said LED module further comprising;

a controller, for receiving said self-test enabling signal and said instruction data input signal to perform an appropriate processing to generate a driver control signal or a memory access signal;

a plurality of drivers, each said driver having an instruction data input end and an instruction data output end, and generating a driving signal, said instruction data input end of a said driver being connected to said driver control signal of said controller, and said drivers being connected in cascaded manner, said instruction data output end of a previous said driver being connected to said instruction data input end of a next said driver, said instruction data output end of

a last said driver being connected to said instruction data output signal of said LED module;

a memory, connected to said memory access signal of said controller, for providing said controller to access data; and

an LED array, comprising a plurality of LEDs, each said LED receiving said driving signal from said corresponding driver to emit light;

wherein said instruction data input signal of said calibration host comprising an instruction byte and a plurality of data bytes, based on said self-test enabling signal, said controller determining whether to enter a self-test mode, and said controller further determining whether to enter a calibration mode or a normal display mode in accordance with said instruction byte.

2. The LED calibration system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said self-test enabling signals of said controllers are grounded so that said LED modules enter said self-test mode.

3. The LED calibration system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said appropriate process of said controller comprises:

when in said self-test mode, automatically sending a default image to said drivers so that said drivers light all said LEDs to display said default image;

when in said calibration mode, extracting an image data from received said instruction data input signal, generating said driving signal to drive said LEDs, and then image capturing data of said image capturing device being received by said calibration host, said image capturing data being LED calibration data, through said instruction data input signal, said calibration data being transmitted to said controllers of said LED modules, said controllers extracting said calibration data and storing to said memory; and

when in said normal display mode, extracting an image data from received said instruction data input signal, capturing said calibration data from said memory, using an appropriate computation on said image data and said calibration data to generate a calibration image driving signal as said driver control signal, and transmitting said driver control signal to said drivers for driving said LEDs.

4. The LED calibration system as claimed in claim 3, wherein said appropriate computation of said controller is a computation matching said calibration computation of said calibration host.

5. An LED calibration method, for using a calibration host to control an image capturing device and a plurality of cascaded LED modules, each said LED module comprising a controller, a plurality of drivers, a memory and an LED array, said LED array having a plurality of LEDs, for obtaining and storing calibration data of said LEDs to said memory, said method comprising the steps of:

Step A;

switch on, enter step B;

Step B;

said controller obtains original data from said memory and transmits to said driver, and enter step C;

Step C;

said controller determines whether entering self-test mode, when a self-test enabling of said controller is high, said controller enters self-test mode, and enter step D;

if said self-test enabling is low, then enter step E;

Step D;

said controller transmits a default image data to said drivers for said LEDs to display said default image, and returns to step C;

Step E;

said controller uses an instruction byte of an instruction data input signal to determine whether entering normal display mode, if to enter normal display mode, then enter step F, otherwise, enter step G for calibration mode;

Step F;

capture memory data and transmit to said drivers for performing image calibration to make said LEDs display calibration image and return to step C;

Step G;

capture a plurality of data bytes of said instruction data input signal as calibration data of said LEDs and enter step H; and

Step H;

store said calibration data into said memory and return to step C to repeat the above steps.

6. The LED calibration method as claimed in claim 5, wherein said calibration host generates an image capturing control signal and use a calibration computation to generate an instruction data input signal;

said image capturing device receives said image capturing control signal to perform image capturing and to generate an image capturing data;

each said LED module of said plurality of LED modules has a self-test enabling signal, an instruction data input signal and an instruction data output signal, said instruction data input signal of a said LED module are connected to said instruction data input signal of said calibration host, and said LED modules are connected in cascaded manner, said instruction data output signal of a previous said LED module are connected to said instruction data input signal of a next said LED module, said controller of said LED module receives said self-test enabling signal and said instruction data input signal and performs said steps A-H to generate a driver control signal or a memory access signal transmitted to said drivers and said memory, respectively;

said controller has an instruction data input end and an instruction data output end, and generates a driving signal;

said instruction data input end of a said driver is connected to said driver control signal of said controller, and said drivers being connected in cascaded manner, said instruction data output end of a previous said driver being connected to said instruction data input end of a next said driver, said instruction data output end of a last said driver being connected to said instruction data output signal of said LED module;

said memory of said LED module is connected to said memory access signal of said controller, for providing said controller to access data; and

said LEDs receive said driving signal from said corresponding driver to emit light.

7. The LED calibration method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said calibration computation of said calibration host is a computation matching said appropriate computation of said controller.