Variable resolution seamless tileable display

• US 9,368,070 B2
• Filed: 10/07/2013
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jepsen, Mary Lou, Bastani, Behnam
• Primary Examiner(s): Tryder, Gregory J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sonners, Scott E
• Application Number:
  US14/047,741
• Publication Number:
  US 20150097837A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/026 Video wall, i.e. juxtaposition of a plurality of screens to create a display screen of bigger dimensions
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/0426 Layout of electrodes and connections
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/12 Overlay of images, i.e. displayed pixel being the result of switching between the corresponding input pixels
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/04 Display device controller operating with a plurality of display units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3406 Control of illumination source illumination devices structurally associated with liquid crystal cells G02F1/1336
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/377 for mixing or overlaying two or more graphic patterns G09G5/02, G09G5/397 take precedence

Abstract

A tileable display panel includes an illumination layer, a display layer, and a screen layer. The display layer is disposed between the screen layer and the lamp layer and includes pixelets separated from each other by spacing regions. Each of the pixelets is positioned to be illuminated by lamp light from the illumination layer and to project a magnified image sub-portion onto the backside of the screen layer such that the magnified image sub-portions collectively blend together to form a unified image on the screen layer which covers the spacing regions on the display layer. Each of the pixelets includes core pixels having a common size and a first separation pitch and peripheral pixels surrounding the core pixels on two or more sides which provide a higher image resolution in overlap regions on the screen layer when the magnified image sub-portions overlap on the screen layer.

Claims

1. A tileable display panel, comprising:

a screen layer upon which a unified image is projected from a backside;

an illumination layer to generate lamp light; and

a display layer disposed between the screen layer and the lamp layer, the display layer including a plurality of pixelets separated from each other by spacing regions, wherein each of the pixelets is positioned to be illuminated by the lamp light from the illumination layer and to project a magnified image sub-portion onto the backside of the screen layer such that the magnified image sub-portions collectively blend together to form the unified image which covers the spacing regions on the display layer, wherein each of the pixelets includes an array of transmissive pixels comprising;

core pixels each having a common size and having a first separation pitch that is constant; and

peripheral pixels surrounding the core pixels on two or more sides which provide a higher image resolution in overlap regions on the screen layer when the magnified image sub-portions projected from adjacent pixelets overlap on the screen layer.

2. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein each of the peripheral pixels has a transmissive aperture that is smaller in area than that of the core pixels.

3. The tileable display panel of claim 2, wherein the peripheral pixels have a constant separation pitch that is equivalent to the first separation pitch of the core pixels.

4. The tileable display panel of claim 2, wherein a size of the transmissive apertures of the peripheral pixels is selected such that the lamp light transmitted to the backside of the screen layer in the overlap regions through the peripheral pixels has substantially uniform brightness to the lamp light transmitted to the back side of the screen layer in core regions of the screen layer through the core pixels.

5. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral pixels are smaller than the core pixels and have a second separation pitch that is shorter than the first separation pitch of the core pixels.

6. The tileable display panel of claim 5, wherein a density of the peripheral pixels is selected such that the lamp light transmitted to the backside of the screen layer in the overlap regions through the peripheral pixels has substantially uniform brightness to the lamp light transmitted to the back side of the screen layer in core regions of the screen layer through the core pixels.

7. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral pixels extend between three to ten pixels deep around a perimeter of each of the pixelets.

8. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to exterior perimeter sides of the tileable display panel have smaller separation pitch, transmissive aperture, or pixel size than the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to interior perimeter sides of the pixelets to provide increased blending across adjacent tileable display panels relative to adjacent pixelets within the tileable display panel.

9. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral pixels of different pixelets on the display layer provide variable increases in the image resolution in the overlap regions across the screen layer.

10. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to exterior perimeter sides of the tileable display panel have a smaller separation pitch than the core pixels while the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to interior perimeter sides of the pixelets have a smaller transmissive aperture than the core pixels.

11. The tileable display panel of claim 1, further comprising:

a display controller coupled to the core and peripheral pixels to reduce image sharpness of the peripheral pixels relative to the core pixels to reduce the appearance of a seam in the overlap regions.

12. The tileable display panel of claim 1, wherein one or both of a separation pitch or transmissive aperture size of the peripheral pixels is non-uniform and decreases with closer proximity to a perimeter of a given pixelet.

13. A display system, comprising:

a plurality of display panels each housed within a bezel that permits the display panels to be aligned relative to each other and communicatively coupled to collectively display a multi-panel unified image across the display panels, wherein each of the display panels includes;

a screen layer;

an illumination layer to generate lamp light; and

a display layer disposed between the screen layer and the lamp layer, the display layer including a plurality of pixelets separated from each other by spacing regions, wherein each of the pixelets is positioned to be illuminated by the lamp light from the illumination layer and to project a magnified image sub-portion onto a backside of the screen layer such that the magnified image sub-portions of all the display panels collectively blend together to form the multi-panel unified image which covers the spacing regions and the bezels separating adjacent display panels, wherein each of the pixelets includes an array of transmissive pixels comprising;

core pixels each having a common size and having a first separation pitch that is constant; and

peripheral pixels surrounding the core pixels on two or more sides which provide a higher image resolution in overlap regions on the screen layer when the magnified image sub-portions projected from adjacent pixelets overlap on the screen layer.

14. The display system of claim 13, wherein each of the peripheral pixels has a transmissive aperture that is smaller in area than that of the core pixels.

15. The display system of claim 14, wherein the peripheral pixels have a constant separation pitch that is equivalent to the first separation pitch of the core pixels.

16. The display system of claim 14, wherein a size of the transmissive apertures of the peripheral pixels is selected such that the lamp light transmitted to the backside of the screen layer in the overlap regions through the peripheral pixels has substantially uniform brightness to the lamp light transmitted to the back side of the screen layer in core regions of the screen layer through the core pixels.

17. The display system of claim 13, wherein the peripheral pixels are smaller than the core pixels and have a second separation pitch that is shorter than the first separation pitch of the core pixels.

18. The display system of claim 17, wherein a density of the peripheral pixels is selected such that the lamp light transmitted to the backside of the screen layer in the overlap regions through the peripheral pixels of adjacent pixelets has substantially uniform brightness to the lamp light transmitted to the back side of the screen layer in core regions of the screen layer through the core pixels.

19. The display system of claim 13, wherein the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to exterior perimeter sides of a given display panel have a smaller separation pitch than the core pixels while the peripheral pixels that are adjacent to interior perimeter sides of the pixelets have a smaller transmissive aperture than the core pixels.

20. The display system of claim 13, further comprising:

a display controller coupled to the core and peripheral pixels to reduce image sharpness of the peripheral pixels relative to the core pixels to reduce the appearance of a seam in the overlap regions.