Spatial scan replication circuit

• US 7,822,284 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2004
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Technology Licensing Corporation
• Original Assignee: Carl Cooper
• Inventors: Cooper, Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): COUSO, YON JUNG
• Application Number:
  US10/793,882
• Publication Number:
  US 20040197026A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,329 Days
• Field of Search: 382/205, 382/254, 382/258, 382/260, 382/300, 382/267, 382/266, 382/307, 348/607, 348/616, 348/625, 348/245, 348/246, 348/267, 348/269, 358/426.1, 358/1.2, 358/3.07, 358/3.27
• US Class Current: 382/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/113 using oscillating or rotating mirrors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/409 Edge or detail enhancement; Noise or error suppression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0458 Additional arrangements for improving or optimising scanning resolution or quality
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 3/26 Modifications of scanning arrangements to improve focusing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 3/34 Elemental scanning area oscillated rapidly in direction transverse to main scanning direction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/0135 involving interpolation processes interpolation-based image scaling G06T3/4007; interpolation for video coding H04N19/587, H04N19/59

Abstract

In an image replication circuit, the improvement of replicating a given element at a certain location with the most similar of surrounding sets of image elements.

Claims

1. An improved signal processing circuit for filling a void in an image, the void being located at a position in said image whereat the void has image elements at least partially surrounding the void, said circuit comprising:

a circuit to provide at least two sets of image elements, partially surrounding the void;

a comparison circuit to compare each set of image elements to each other set to determine similarity between elements within each set and to select a set of most similar image elements; and

a fill logic circuit configured to fill the void with at least one image element from the set of most similar image elements, wherein the fill logic circuit is an electronic circuit configured to do at least one of;

a) change an address of one or more image elements to alter the void,

b) correct one or more image elements to alter the void,

c) improve one or more image elements to alter the void,

d) replace one or more image elements to alter the void,

e) substitute one or more image elements to alter the void,

f) add to one or more image elements to alter the void,

g) provide additional elements to one or more image elements to alter the void,

h) create one or more new image elements spatially located between two of the other image elements to alter the void,

i) turn an off pixel on or an on pixel off to alter the void,

j) reduce the bandwidth of the signal to alter the void, and

k) generate one or more new image elements to alter the void.

2. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the fill logic circuit provides for temporally improving the apparent resolution of the displayed image and is a component of an element fill calculator.

3. The circuit of claim 1 wherein a central element is located at a stair stepped edge in the image and the stair stepped edge is uneven.

4. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the comparison circuit includes a pattern derived from a logic equation and the comparison circuit compares at least one of said sets of surrounding image elements with the pattern.

5. A method of improving the quality of an image for display on a flat panel display device, which image contains a stair-stepped edge having a neighboring void, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a plurality of elements of the image;

b) comparing at least one of the selected elements to at least one other of the selected elements; and

c) altering the void in response to the comparing step by filling the void with the at least one of the selected elements using a fill logic circuit, so as to improve the apparent resolution of the stair-stepped edge in the displayed image.

32. The method of claim 5 wherein the comparing step includes comparing at least two of said plurality of elements to at least one pattern.

6. A method of improving the quality of an image for display on a flat panel display device, which image includes a stair-stepped edge having a neighboring void, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a plurality of elements in the image;

b) comparing the plurality of elements with a pattern in memory; and

c) altering the void in response to the comparing step by filling the void with one of the plurality of elements using a fill logic circuit in response to the comparing step so as to improve the apparent resolution of the stair-stepped edge in the displayed image.

7. An improved signal processing circuit for filling a void in an image for display on a flat panel display device, which void has neighboring image elements, comprising:

a) a first circuit to provide at least two sets of image elements from the neighboring image elements;

b) a second circuit to compare each said set of image elements to a pattern and to select the set that is most similar to the pattern; and

c) a fill logic circuit to fill said void in response to said comparison means by filling the void with an element of said set of image elements, in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image, wherein the fill logic circuit is an electronic circuit configured to do at least one of;

a) change an address of one or more image elements to alter the void,

b) correct one or more image elements to alter the void,

c) improve one or more image elements to alter the void,

d) replace one or more image elements to alter the void,

e) substitute one or more image elements to alter the void,

f) add to one or more image elements to alter the void,

g) provide additional elements to one or more image elements to alter the void,

h) create one or more new image elements spatially located between two of the other image elements to alter the void,

i) turn an off pixel on or an on pixel off to alter the void,

j) reduce the bandwidth of the signal to alter the void, and

k) generate one or more new image elements to alter the void.

8. The circuit of claim 7 wherein the void is located at a stair stepped edge in the image and the stair stepped edge is uneven.

9. The circuit of claim 7 wherein the pattern derives from a logic equation.

10. A method of filling a void in an image for display on a flat panel display device, the void having a plurality of neighboring elements that represent a stair stepped edge, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image, the image including said void and said plurality of elements;

b) comparing at least two of said plurality of elements with at least one pattern stored in memory;

c) generating an element at least in part responsive to said step of comparing; and

d) filling the void with said element using a fill logic circuit thereby modifying an appearance of the stair-stepped edge in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image.

22. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements includes one or more voids.

23. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the at least one of said plurality of elements is located along a stair stepped edge in the image.

24. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, or 16 wherein the plurality of elements are at least partially adjacent to the void or at least partially surrounding the void.

25. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 or 18 wherein the stair stepped edge is located along an edge of the image.

26. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, or 18 wherein the stair stepped edge includes one or more voids.

27. The method of claims 6, 10, 11, 12 or 16 wherein the void is located adjacent to a stair stepped edge in the image.

29. The method of claims 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12 or 16, wherein the void is at least one of:

a) a defective element,

b) a defective portion of the image,

c) an unwanted element,

d) an improper element,

e) a corrupted element,

f) a valid but replaceable element,

g) a location with no image information,

h) an element that needs improvement to more closely match at least one neighboring pixel,

i) at least in part a portion of a space occupied by another image element,

j) a pixel that is turned off,

k) a pixel that is turned off that is subsequently turned on in response to a fill signal,

l) a pixel that is turned on, or

m) a pixel that is turned on that is subsequently turned off in response to a fill signal.

30. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the pattern is stored in a ROM or a PROM.

31. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements are stored in a RAM.

33. The method of claim 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the method further comprises the step of determining if the pattern comprises element values and whether the element values match other elements.

34. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 16, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements are coupled to a ROM or PROM to provide a comparison circuit or to provide a pixel fill calculator circuit.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein the PROM or ROM outputs a ranking value to cause modification of the value of a central element thereby providing a modified version of the image.

36. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the comparing step includes matching the elements by similarity or disregarding dissimilar elements.

37. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the comparing step includes comparing a first group of elements and at least one other group of elements and ranking the groups according to similarity of the elements in each group.

38. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements comprise element values and the method further comprises the step of determining whether the element values match other known elements.

42. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the image is displayed on a matrix type or on a scanned display.

44. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the filling step causes the displayed version of the original stair stepped edge of the image to appear to be smooth or even.

45. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the element is provided by an image fill signal.

46. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 further comprising the step of scan modulation of the image which is displayed by scanning.

47. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the electronic signal includes a vertical fill signal and the filling step includes vertical modulation of the scanning of the displayed image in response to the vertical fill signal.

48. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the electronic signal includes a horizontal fill signal and the filling step includes horizontal modulation of the scanning of the displayed image in response to the horizontal fill signal.

49. The method of claims 10, 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the filling step includes at least one of the following steps:

a) at least one of;

replicating, creating and altering one of more elements,

b) reducing the bandwidth of the signal,

c) at least one of;

changing the size, shape, value, intensity and brightness of an element,

d) repeating one or more elements,

e) generating a new edge, and

f) at least one of;

spatially and temporally modifying the void.

52. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 or 16 wherein the plurality of elements are at least one of:

a) elements neighboring the void on one or more sides but less than all sides,

b) elements neighboring the void on all sides,

c) elements adjacent to the void,

d) elements separated from the void by intervening elements, and

e) elements separated from the void by intervening elements and the method further comprising an interlaced field scan device wherein alternating fields are paired.

53. The method of claims 10, 11, 12 or 16 wherein the element is:

a) a spaced element which has a statistical capability of being similar to the void,

b) of a greater than minimal statistical probability of being similar to the void, or

c) of a greater than minimal statistical probability of being similar to the void and the percentage of similarity is over 50%.

61. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the image is represented by three signal components conveying brightness and color having only two brightness levels for each color.

62. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements include at least three adjacent elements, three neighboring elements, three groups of elements or three elements from multiple fields.

64. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the plurality of elements provides digital data for systems including one of JPEG compression, MPEG compression, fax, modem, laser printer or digital video.

65. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 19 wherein improving the apparent resolution of the image includes enhancing the apparent resolution of the displayed image, increasing the apparent resolution of the displayed image, spatially improving the apparent resolution of the displayed image or temporally improving the apparent resolution of the displayed image.

66. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the displayed image is an interlaced display or a progressive display.

67. The method of claims 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the display device is monitor or a television.

68. The method of claim 67 wherein the monitor is an LCD or a digital video display.

69. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the pattern derives from a logic equation.

70. The method of claims 6, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein the pattern comprises a template and the method comprises the additional step of determining if the template matches elements in the image.

72. The method of claims 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17, 18 or 19 wherein said elements form pixels.

11. A method of altering a void in an image for display on a flat panel display device, the void having a plurality of neighboring elements that form a stair stepped edge, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image, the image including said void and said plurality of elements;

b) generating an element at least partially in response to said plurality of neighboring elements; and

c) altering the void with said element by filling the void with said element using a fill logic circuit, thereby modifying the appearance of the stair-stepped edge in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image.

28. The method of claims 5, 6 or 11 wherein the void is altered by changing the value of an element.

50. The method of claims 5, 6 or 11 wherein the altering step includes at least one of the following steps:

a) filling the void,

b) repeating one or more elements to alter the void,

c) moving one or more elements to alter the void,

d) changing the address of one or more elements to alter the void,

e) replicating one or more elements to alter the void,

f) correcting one or more elements to alter the void,

g) improving one or more elements to alter the void,

h) processing one or more elements to alter the void,

i) modifying one or more elements to alter the void,

j) replacing one or more elements to alter the void,

k) substituting one or more elements to alter the void,

l) adding to one or more elements to alter the void,

m) providing additional elements to one or more elements to alter the void,

n) creating one or more new elements spatially located between two of the other elements to alter the void,

o) modifying the void,

p) changing the size, shape, location, value, brightness or intensity of one or more elements to alter the void,

q) spatially modulating the void,

r) temporally modulating the void,

s) turning an off pixel on or an on pixel off to alter the void,

t) reducing the bandwidth of the signal to alter the void, and

u) generating one or more new elements to alter the void.

51. The method of claims 5, 6 or 11 wherein the step of altering the void causes the displayed image of the stair stepped edge to appear to be more smooth or even.

71. The method of claims 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 or 18 wherein the stair stepped edge is jagged or uneven.

12. A method of creating an element to fill a void in an image for display on a matrix type display device, which image contains a plurality of elements with a stair-stepped edge, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image;

b) providing the plurality of elements;

c) generating an element to fill the void at least in part responsive to said plurality of elements; and

d) filling the void with the element using a fill logic circuit thereby modifying an appearance of the stair-stepped edge in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image.

43. The method of claims 12, 13, 16 or 17 wherein the matrix type display includes a matrix of displayed pixels, the method further comprising the steps of scanning the displayed pixels via address selection and generating new displayed pixels between the original elements of the image.

13. A method of creating an image fill element for an image for display on a matrix type display device, which image includes a stair-stepped edge, comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image;

b) providing a plurality of elements of said image;

c) generating an image fill element using a fill logic circuit at least in part in response to an image content of at least one of the said plurality of elements so as to improve the apparent resolution of the stair-stepped edge; and

d) displaying said image including the image fill element on the matrix type display.

54. The method of claims 13 or 17 further comprising the step of ranking the elements so that the image fill element is generated in response to the ranking of the elements.

55. The method of claims 13 or 17 further comprising the step of finding a difference between select ones of the plurality of elements so that the image fill element is generated in response to the difference between the select ones of the plurality of elements.

56. The method of claims 13 or 17 further comprising the step of generating a plurality of image fill elements, wherein a quantity of the image fill elements in a frame is greater than an original quantity of the elements in said frame.

57. The method of claims 13 or 17 further comprising the steps of calculating the image fill element stored in a field of a frame and displaying new frames of video in at least one of:

a prior time sequence, and a prior space sequence.

58. The method of claims 13 or 17 wherein the image content is generated by at least one of:

a comparison of neighboring elements including elements from at least one field occurring in time before or after the field being displayed; and

from at least one frame occurring in time before or after the frame being displayed.

59. The method of claims 13 or 17 wherein the image fill element is generated by comparison of neighboring elements including elements from at least one frame occurring in time before or after the frame being displayed.

60. The method of claims 13 or 17 wherein the location of the image fill element is at least one of:

between two horizontally aligned original image elements;

between vertically aligned original image elements;

between spatially coincident and time sequential original image elements with respect to its position when displayed.

14. A method for displaying, on a flat panel display device, a modified version of an image conveyed by a signal, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a calculator means;

b) receiving and storing a plurality of elements of the image including a central element, which plurality of elements includes a stair-stepped edge;

c) comparing at least two of the plurality of elements, including the central element, with at least one pattern via the calculator means;

d) determining if the at least two of the plurality of elements, including the central element matches the at least one pattern;

e) modifying the central element in response to the determining step using a fill logic circuit, thereby providing a modified version of the image that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image; and

f) displaying the modified version of the image.

20. The method of claims 14, 15, 18 or 19 wherein the central element includes a void.

21. The method of claims 14, 15, 18 or 19 wherein the central element is located along a stair stepped edge in the image.

39. The method of claims 14, 15, 18 or 19 wherein the modifying step includes adding a pixel to the central element or extending the central element.

40. The method of claims 14, 15, 18 or 19 wherein the modified version of the image includes at least one more element than the central element.

41. The method of claims 14, 15, 18 or 19 wherein the modified version of the image is displayed using a deflected light beam which deflection includes a video fill circuit.

63. The method of claims 14 and 18 wherein the determining step includes matching at least two of the plurality of elements with at least one pattern by similarity or by disregarding dissimilar elements.

15. A method for displaying, on a flat panel display device, a modified version of an image conveyed by a signal, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a calculator means;

b) receiving and storing a plurality of elements including a central element and neighboring elements;

c) receiving and storing at least one pattern of data;

d) using the calculator means to compare at least two of the neighboring elements to the at least one pattern of data;

e) modifying the central element at least in part in response to said step of comparing using a fill logic circuit, thereby providing a modified version of the image that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image; and

f) displaying the modified version of the image.

16. A method of creating an element to fill a void in an image for display on a type flat panel display device, which image contains a plurality of elements with a stair-stepped edge, the method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image;

b) comparing at least two of said plurality of elements to a pattern;

c) generating an element at least in part responsive to said step of comparing; and

f) filling the void with the element using a fill logic circuit, thereby modifying the appearance of the stair-stepped edge in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the displayed image.

17. A method of creating an image fill element for an image for display on a type flat panel display device, which image includes a stair-stepped edge, comprising the steps of:

a) receiving an electronic signal carrying the image;

b) providing a plurality of elements in the image;

c) comparing at least two elements of said plurality of elements with at least one pattern stored in memory;

d) generating an image fill element using a fill logic circuit, at least in part in response to said comparison step so as to improve the apparent resolution of the stair-stepped edge; and

e) displaying the image fill element on the matrix type display.

18. A method for displaying, on a flat panel display device, a modified version of an image conveyed by a signal, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a calculator means;

b) receiving and storing a plurality of elements of the image, including a central element, which plurality of elements includes a stair-stepped edge;

c) comparing at least two of the plurality of elements, including the central element, with at least one pattern via the calculator means;

d) determining if the at least two of the plurality of elements, including the central element, matches the at least one pattern;

e) modifying the central element in response to the determining step using a fill logic circuit thereby providing the modified version of the image in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the stair-stepped edge; and

f) displaying the modified version of the image.

19. A method for displaying, on a flat panel display device, a modified version of an image conveyed by a signal, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing a calculator means;

b) receiving and storing a plurality of elements including a central element and neighboring elements;

c) receiving and storing at least one pattern of data;

d) using the calculator means to compare the neighboring and central elements to the at least one pattern of data;

e) modifying the central element at least in part in response to said step of comparing using a fill logic circuit, thereby providing the modified version of the image in a manner that improves the apparent resolution of the image; and

f) displaying the modified version of the image.