Method, apparatus, and system for image projection lighting
First Claim
1. A lighting system comprising:
- a central controller;
a digital communications path comprising a plurality of content transfer channels having respective unique content transfer channel addresses and being individually selectable in accordance with the content transfer channel addresses thereof; and
a plurality of image projection lighting devices having respective unique device addresses and being interconnected by the digital communications path for communicating content on a selected one or more of the content transfer channels in response to commands from the central controller.
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Abstract
A central controller and a number of image projection lighting devices (“IPLD”), a type of multiparameter light, are interconnected by an enhanced performance communications path that is capable of simultaneously carrying different digital signals on various bidirectional channels, such as various content signals, including continuous video and/or audio, in digital form on respective content transfer channels, a command signal on a control channel, and a control or content signal in digital form on an auxiliary channel. In accordance with commands transmitted from the central controller over the control channel, content signals may be sent from any of the IPLDs to any other of the IPLDs, or from the central controller to any of the IPLDs, or from any of the IPLDs to the central controller. The IPLDs have respective unique device addresses, and the control channel, the auxiliary channel, and the content transfer channels also have respective unique channel addresses.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1. A lighting system comprising:
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a central controller; a digital communications path comprising a plurality of content transfer channels having respective unique content transfer channel addresses and being individually selectable in accordance with the content transfer channel addresses thereof; and a plurality of image projection lighting devices having respective unique device addresses and being interconnected by the digital communications path for communicating content on a selected one or more of the content transfer channels in response to commands from the central controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A lighting system comprising:
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a first digital communications path compliant with a DMX protocol; a second digital communications path having a bandwidth sufficient for transferring content in digital form; a plurality of light fixtures interconnected by the first digital communications path, the light fixtures including a plurality of image projection lighting devices having respective unique device addresses and being interconnected by both the first and second digital communications paths; and a DMX controller interconnected with the light fixtures by the first digital communications path; wherein the second digital communications path is a bi-directional path comprising a plurality of addressable content transfer channels individually selectable by the DMX controller in accordance with the addresses thereof. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A multiparameter light comprising:
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an internal control system; a light valve; an image control interface coupling the light valve to the internal control system; a communications port coupled to the internal control system; wherein the internal control system comprises; a component for recognizing a unique device address received at the communications port on a control channel; and a component for selectively accessing a plurality of content transfer channels having respective unique content transfer channel addresses to communicate content in digital form thereon in response to receipt of the unique device address and at least one of the content transfer channel addresses at the communications port on the control channel. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path with a bandwidth sufficient for communicating a plurality of content signals in digital form on respective transfer channels having respective unique channel addresses, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices interconnected by the digital communications path and having respective unique device addresses, the method comprising:
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selecting a first one of the image projection lighting devices by the unique device address thereof; instructing the first image projection lighting device to communicate a first content signal on a first one of the transfer channels of the digital communications path by the unique channel address thereof; selecting a second one of the image projection lighting devices by the unique device address thereof; and instructing the second image projection lighting device to communicate a second content signal on a second one of the transfer channels of the digital communications path by the unique channel address thereof. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A lighting system comprising:
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a central controller; an image projection lighting device comprising a housing, a light valve contained within the housing, and at least one communications connector mounted to the housing; and a digital communications path comprising a plurality of content transfer channels having respective unique content transfer channel addresses, the digital communications path being coupled to the central controller and further being coupled to the image projection lighting device via the communications connector. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A lighting system comprising:
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a central controller; an image projection lighting device comprising a housing, a light valve contained within the housing, an external video input mounted to the housing, an external audio input mounted to the housing, and at least one communications connector mounted to the housing; and a digital communications path comprising a plurality of content transfer channels having respective unique content transfer channel addresses, the digital communications path being coupled to the central controller and further being coupled to the image projection lighting device via the communications connector. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path and a plurality of image projection lighting devices interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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instructing a first one of the image projection lighting devices by a first device address to transmit an image-containing signal to the digital communications path, the first device address being unique to the first image projection lighting device; and instructing a second one of the image projection lighting devices by a second device address to receive an image-containing signal from the digital communications path, the second device address being unique to the second image projection lighting device; wherein transfer of an image from the first image projection lighting device to the second image projection lighting device occurs when the first image projection lighting device is transmitting and the second image projection lighting device is receiving, regardless of when the first image projection lighting device instructing step occurs relative to the second image projection lighting device instructing step.
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34. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path and a plurality of image projection lighting devices interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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transmitting an image-containing signal from a first one of the image projection lighting devices to the digital communications path, the image-containing signal containing an image from a source disposed with the first image projection lighting device; and receiving the image-containing signal at a second one of the image projection lighting devices from the digital communications path. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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37. A lighting system comprising:
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a digital communications path having a control channel; a plurality of image projection lighting devices having respective unique device addresses and being interconnected by the digital communications path; and a central controller interconnected with the image projection lighting devices by the digital communications path; wherein at least one of the image projection lighting devices comprises a camera; and wherein the image projection lighting devices are individually selectable by their respective device addresses to receive a camera control signal from the control channel of the digital communications path. - View Dependent Claims (38)
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39. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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instructing a first one of the image projection lighting devices by a first device address to transmit an image-containing signal to the digital communications path, the first device address being unique to the first image projection lighting device; and enabling the central controller to receive an image-containing signal from the digital communications path; wherein transfer of an image from the first image projection lighting device to the central controller occurs when the first image projection lighting device is transmitting and the central controller is receiving, regardless of when the first image projection lighting device instructing step occurs relative to the central controller instructing step. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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instructing a first one of the image projection lighting devices by a first device address to receive a first image-containing signal from the digital communications path, the first device address being unique to the first image projection lighting device; instructing a second one of the image projection lighting devices by a second device address to receive a second image-containing signal from the digital communications path, the second device address being unique to the second image projection lighting device; transmitting the first image-containing signal to the digital communications path from the central controller; and transmitting the second image-containing signal to the digital communications path from the central controller, wherein transfer of a first image is enabled after both the first image projection lighting device instructing step and the first image-containing signal transmitting step occur, regardless of the order thereof; and wherein transfer of a second image is enabled after both the second image projection lighting device instructing step and the second image-containing signal transmitting step occur, regardless of the order thereof.
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44. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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transmitting a first image-containing signal to the digital communications path from the central controller; receiving the first image-containing signal from the digital communications path at a first one of the image projection lighting devices based on a first device address, the first device address being unique to the first image projection lighting device; transmitting a second image-containing signal to the digital communications path from the central controller; and receiving the second image-containing signal from the digital communications path at a second one of the image projection lighting devices based on a second device address, the second device address being unique to the second image projection lighting device; wherein transfer of a first image occurs after both the first image-containing signal transmitting step and the first image-containing signal receiving step occur, regardless of the order thereof; and wherein transfer of a second image occurs after both the second image-containing signal transmitting step and the second image-containing receiving step occur, regardless of the order thereof.
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45. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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transmitting an instruction from the central controller to a first one of the image projection lighting devices to receive and store an image-containing signal from the digital communications path, the instruction including a first device address unique to the first image projection lighting device; receiving the image-containing signal from the digital communications path with the first image projection lighting device; and storing an image from the image-containing signal received in the receiving step in a memory of the first image projection lighting device. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48)
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49. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communication path, the method comprising:
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receiving an image-containing signal from the digital communications path with a first one of the image projection lighting devices; transmitting an instruction from the central controller to the first image projection lighting device, by a first device address unique to the first image projection lighting device, to act upon the image-containing signal from the receiving step; and acting upon the image-containing signal from the receiving step in accordance with the instruction from the transmitting step under control of a microprocessor in the first image projection lighting device. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. A method of controlling a lighting system comprising a digital communications path, a central controller, and a plurality of image projection lighting devices, the central controller and the image projection lighting devices being interconnected by the digital communications path, the method comprising:
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selecting a channel bandwidth from among a plurality of channel bandwidths to establish a level of image quality; transmitting an instruction from the central controller to a first one of the image projection lighting devices by a first device address to receive an image-containing signal at the selected bandwidth from the digital communications path, the first device address being unique to the first image projection lighting device; and transmitting the image-containing signal to the digital communications path at no greater than the selected bandwidth.
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55. An apparatus comprising
a first image projection device comprising: -
a first housing comprising; a first light source; a first light valve disposed along a first light path from the first light source; a first lens device disposed along the first light path, the first lens device including a first focusing device; a first memory for storing data; a first digital communications port for receiving bidirectional network communications; wherein the bidirectional network communications comprise a plurality of address signals, a plurality of command signals, and a plurality of video signals for a plurality of projection devices wherein the plurality of projection devices includes the first image projection device; wherein the plurality of address signals includes a first address signal unique to the first image projection device; wherein the housing further comprises a first control device coupled to the first digital communications port and to the first memory; wherein the first control device is programmed to respond to the first address signal; wherein the first control device is programmed to respond to a first command signal of the plurality of command signals; wherein after the first control device responds to the first command signal, the first control device is programmed to cause the first image projection device to project a first video derived from a first video signal of the plurality of video signals; the apparatus further comprising a second image projection device of the plurality of projection devices, said second image projection device comprising; a second housing comprising; a second light source; a second light valve disposed along a second light path from the second light source; a second lens device disposed along the second light path, the second lens device including a second focusing device; a second memory for storing data; a second digital communications port for receiving the same bidirectional network communications as the first image projection device, wherein the plurality of address signals of the bidirectional network communications include a second address signal unique to the second image projection device; the second housing further comprising a second control device coupled to the second digital communications port and to the second memory, wherein the second control device is programmed to respond to the second address signal; wherein the second control device is programmed to respond to a second command signal of the plurality of command signals; wherein after the second control device responds to the second command signal the second control system is programmed to cause the second image projection device to project a second video derived from a second video signal of the plurality of video signals; and wherein the first video signal and the second video signal are different. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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Specification