Automated presentation equipment testing

• US 10,425,627 B2
• Filed: 05/09/2017
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhang, Zhengyou, Liu, Zicheng, Florencio, Dieni Afonso Ferreira, Junuzovic, Sasa
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Michael
• Application Number:
  US15/590,501
• Publication Number:
  US 20180332261A1
• Time in Patent Office: 868 Days
• Field of Search: 348181
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/12 Test circuits or failure detection circuits included in a display system, as permanent part thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/145 the light originating from the display screen
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/006 Electronic inspection or testing of displays and display drivers, e.g. of LED or LCD displays testing individual LED's G01R31/2635; testing lamps G01R31/44; testing of optical features of LCD displays G02F1/1309
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/20 for presentation of an assembly of a number of characters, e.g. a page, by composing the assembly by combination of individual elements arranged in a matrix no fixed position being assigned to or needed to be assigned to the individual characters or partial characters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6044 involving a sensor integrated in the machine or otherwise specifically adapted to read the test pattern
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/00 Diagnosis, testing or measuring for television systems or their details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 17/045 Self-contained testing apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41415 involving a public display, viewable by several users in a public space outside their home, e.g. movie theatre, information kiosk
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4424 Monitoring of the internal components or processes of the client device, e.g. CPU or memory load, processing speed, timer, counter or percentage of the hard disk space used error monitoring in general G06F11/30; arrangements for monitoring conditions of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/32; diagnosis, testing or measuring for television receivers H04N17/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3194 including sensor feedback

Abstract

An apparatus that automatically monitors a display device includes a photo sensor configured to receive light from a display screen of the display device. The photo sensor provides signals representing detected light levels to a processor. The processor is coupled to the display device and is configured to cause the display device to present a test sequence including a plurality of images on the display screen. The processor is configured to capture data from the photo sensor during the presentation of the test sequence and to compare the captured data to an expected sequence corresponding to the test sequence displayed by a well-functioning display. The processor is further configured to report any mismatch between the captured data and the expected sequence as a possible malfunction of the display device.

Claims

1. Apparatus for monitoring a display device in a venue, the apparatus comprising:

a processor coupled to the display device having a display screen and to a photo sensor that points away from the display screen to capture an image of at least a portion of the venue without capturing an image of the display screen the processor configured to;

cause the display device to display a test sequence of image frames on the display screen;

receive data representing light from the display screen captured by the photo sensor during display of the test sequence of image frames the data including data representing light reflected by the venue and not including an image of the display screen;

compare the received data to data associated with a calibration sequence of expected image frames to detect a mismatch between the received data and the data associated with the calibration sequence of expected image frames to identify an error in the displayed test sequence of image frames;

record the detected error; and

report the detected error to cause servicing of the display device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the processor is configured to determine whether the received data indicates an error in the displayed test sequence of image frames by detecting a mismatch between the received data and data representing the calibration sequence of expected image frames; and

the processor is configured to record the detected mismatch.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the apparatus further comprises the display device and the photo sensor; and

wherein the photo sensor includes an electronic imager that provides image pixels corresponding to an image of the venue as the captured data.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the test sequence of image frames includes successive monochromatic image frames having different colors; and

the processor is configured to;

separate the received data into color component parts; and

compare the separated color component parts to corresponding color component parts in the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein:

the electronic imager includes an active pixel sensor (APS) imager that captures image data using a rolling shutter;

the processor is configured to;

combine pixels in lines of pixels provided by the electronic imager to generate the data representing light from the display screen captured by the photo sensor during display of the test sequence of image frames; and

process the combined pixel values to detect the mismatch between the combined pixels and corresponding combined pixel values in the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to average the received data representing a plurality of the pixels of each component part of the data from each image frame of the test sequence of image frames to generate a sequence of average values for each component and to compare the average values to corresponding average values in the image frames of the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:

the photo sensor includes a photodetector;

the apparatus further includes an analog-to-digital converter, configured to digitize output signals provided by the photodetector; and

the processor is configured to compare the digitized samples to corresponding successive values of the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive motion data from a motion detector in the venue and to receive the data representing the light from the display screen when the motion data indicates that there is no motion in the venue.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is responsive to a time signal indicating time of day to receive the data representing the light captured by the photo sensor from the display screen when the time signal indicates a time of day that the venue is likely to be unoccupied.

19. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the calibration sequence of expected image frames is generated using the display device in the venue.

10. A method for monitoring a display device in a venue comprises:

generating a display of a test sequence of image frames on a display screen;

receiving data representing light from the display screen during display of the test sequence of image frames, the light being captured by a photo sensor that points away from the display screen to capture an image of at least a portion of the venue without capturing an image of the display screen, the data including data representing light reflected by the venue and not including an image of the display screen;

comparing the received data to data associated with a calibration sequence of expected image frames to detect a mismatch between the received data and the data associated with the calibration sequence of expected image frames;

recording the detected mismatch; and

reporting the detected error to cause servicing of the display device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the data representing light from the display screen includes receiving image pixels corresponding to an image of the venue.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

displaying successive monochromatic images as the test sequence;

separating the received data into color component parts; and

comparing the separated color component parts to corresponding component parts of the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving lines of pixel data representing the light from the display screen from an active pixel sensor (APS) imager that captures image data using a rolling shutter;

combining the pixel data in respective lines of the pixel data provided by the APS imager; and

processing the combined pixel data to detect the mismatch between the combined signals of the captured image data and corresponding combined signals of the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

separating the received pixel data into color component parts;

averaging a plurality of the pixels of each color component part from an image frame to generate a sequence of average values for each color component part; and

comparing the average values to corresponding average values of the calibration sequence of expected image frames.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying the test sequence of image frames at a frame rate between 0.1 Hz and 3 Hz or between 60 Hz and 200 Hz.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a signal from a motion detector representing motion in the venue; and

receiving the data representing the light from the display screen, when the signal from the motion detector indicates that there is no motion in the venue.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a time signal indicating time of day; and

displaying the test sequence of image frames and receiving the data representing the light from the display screen when the time signal indicates a time of day that the venue is likely to be unoccupied.

20. The method of claim 10, wherein comparing the received data to data associated with a calibration sequence of expected image frames includes comparing the received data to a calibration sequence of expected image frames that was generated using the display device in the venue.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, configured for use with a processor coupled to a display device that displays images on a display screen and to a photo sensor pointed away from the display screen to capture an image of the venue without capturing an image of the display screen, the computer readable medium including program instructions configured to configure the processor to:

cause the display device to display a test sequence of image frames on the display screen;

receive, from the photo sensor pointed away from the display screen, data representing light from the display screen during display of the test sequence of image frames, the data including data representing light reflected by the venue and not including data representing an image of the display screen and not including an image of the display screen;

compare the received data to data associated with a calibration sequence of expected image frames to detect a mismatch between the received data and data associated with the calibration sequence of expected image frames;

record the detected mismatch; and

report the detected error to cause servicing of the display device.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions that configure the processor to compare the received data to data associated with a calibration sequence of expected image frames include instructions that configure the processor to compare the received data to a calibration sequence of expected image frames that was generated using the display device in the venue.