Visible light communication method in information display device having LED backlight unit and the information display device

• US 9,275,586 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2012
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Bae, Tae-Han, Won, Eun-Tae, Son, Jae-Seung
• Primary Examiner(s): Amini, Javid A
• Application Number:
  US13/560,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20130027423A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,313 Days
• Field of Search: 345/619
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3413 Details of control of colour illumination sources
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3426 the different display panel areas being distributed in two dimensions, e.g. matrix

Abstract

A method provides additional information from a server to a visible light communication terminal through visible light communication in an information display device having a Light Emitting Diode (LED) backlight unit. To this end, if content data regarding an image output through a screen of an information display device is provided from a server, it is determined whether additional information regarding an object of the image is included in the content data, and if so, the additional information is acquired from the content data. The information display device controls light emission of an LED backlight unit of a display unit based on the additional information, thus performing visible light communication. As such, various additional information regarding an object of an image displayed at a particular position of a current screen of the information display device can be provided to a visible light communication terminal.

Claims

1. A method for visible light communication in an information display device comprising a Light Emitting Diode (LED) backlight unit, the method comprising:

receiving, by the information display device, content data from a server;

determining, by the information display device, whether additional information regarding an object of an image displayed on the information display device is included in the received content data;

extracting, by the information display device, the additional information from the content data if the additional information is included in the content data; and

outputting, by the information display device, the additional information in a form of a visible light signal through an LED in the LED backlight unit corresponding to a position at which the object is displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of an identifier of the object, a position of the object in the image for which the additional information is to be output, detailed information about the object, and a version of the additional information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the additional information is included comprises:

determining, by the information display device, whether a plurality of additional information is included in the content data.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein outputting the additional information in the form of the visible light signal comprises:

controlling, by the information display device, light emission of each LED corresponding to a position at which each additional information is to be output, if the plurality of additional information is included.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting the additional information in the form of the visible light signal comprises:

controlling, by the information display device, light emission of all LEDs in the LED backlight unit if single additional information is included.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the information display device, a request for information in a visible light form from the visible light communication terminal; and

transmitting, by the information display device, a request for additional information corresponding to the information request to the server.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the received content data comprises at least one of an address indicating a place where the information display device is located, an identifier for identifying the information display device, an image to be output through the screen, and the additional information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a message indicating a state of the information display device to the server; and

receiving content data comprising customized additional information corresponding to the state of the information display device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the message indicating the state of the information display device comprises at least one an address indicating a location of the information display device, an identifier of the information display device, and a type of an LED backlight unit of the information display device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional information is Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information indicating a position at which information regarding the object is stored.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is one of a figure, an article, an icon, a mark, and a symbol displayed on the image.

12. An information display device for visible light communication, the information display device comprising:

a controller configured to determine whether additional information regarding an object of an image displayed on a display unit is included in content data received from a server, and to extract image information and the additional information from the content data if the additional information is included in the content data and to output the additional information in a form of a visible light signal through an LED in the LED backlight unit corresponding to a position at which the object is displayed;

the display unit configured to display an image comprising at least one objects by using the image information;

a Light Emitting Diode (LED) backlight unit comprising a plurality of LEDs positioned on a rear side of the display unit; and

a backlight driver configured to output the additional information in a form of a visible light signal by controlling light emission of an LED corresponding to a position of the object under control of the controller.

13. The information display device of claim 12, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of an identifier of the object, a position of the object in the image for which the additional information is to be output, detailed information about the object, and a version of the additional information.

14. The information display device of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to determine whether a plurality of additional information is included in the content data.

15. The information display device of claim 14, wherein the backlight driver is configured to control light emission of each of the at least one LEDs corresponding to a position at which each additional information is to be output, if the plurality of additional information is included.

16. The information display device of claim 12, wherein the backlight driver is configured to control light emission of all of the at least one LEDs in the LED backlight unit if single additional information is included.

17. The information display device of claim 12, further comprising a light-receiving element configured to receive a request for information in a visible light form from the visible light communication terminal.

18. The information display device of claim 17, wherein the controller, upon receiving the information request, is configured to transmit a message indicating a state of the information display device to the server and receive content data comprising customized additional information corresponding to the state of the information display device.

19. The information display device of claim 12, wherein the object is one of a figure, an article, an icon, a mark, and a symbol displayed on the image.

20. The information display device of claim 12, wherein the additional information is Uniform Resource Locator (URL) information indicating a position at which information regarding the object is stored.