Method and apparatus for calibrating a display using an array of cameras
First Claim
1. A rear projection display system comprising:
- a screen having a projection side and a viewing side;
an imaging means for producing an image on the projection side of the screen;
a camera means positioned on the projection side of the screen for capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the projection side of the screen;
determining means coupled to said camera means for receiving said capture image, and for determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristic;
said determining means further identifying a transformation function that can be applied to an input video signal to reduce the non-desirable characteristics; and
processing means coupled to said imaging means and to said determining means for processing the input video signal using the transformation function to provide a transformed input video signal to said imaging means such that one or more of the non-desirable characteristics are reduced.
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Abstract
The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a display that can be calibrated and re-calibrated with a minimal amount of manual intervention. To accomplish this, the present invention provides one or more cameras to capture an image that is projected on a display screen. In one embodiment, the one or more cameras are placed on the same side of the screen as the projectors. In another embodiment, an array of cameras is provided on either or both sides of the screen for capturing a number of adjacent and/or overlapping capture images of the screen. In either of these embodiments, the resulting capture images are processed to identify any non-desirable characteristics including any visible artifacts such as seams, bands, rings, etc. Once the non-desirable characteristics are identified, an appropriate transformation function is determined. The transformation function is used to pre-warp the input video signal to the display such that the non-desirable characteristics are reduced or eliminated from the display. The transformation function preferably compensates for spatial non-uniformity, color non-uniformity, luminance non-uniformity, and/or other visible artifacts.
167 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A rear projection display system comprising:
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a screen having a projection side and a viewing side;
an imaging means for producing an image on the projection side of the screen;
a camera means positioned on the projection side of the screen for capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the projection side of the screen;
determining means coupled to said camera means for receiving said capture image, and for determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristic;
said determining means further identifying a transformation function that can be applied to an input video signal to reduce the non-desirable characteristics; and
processing means coupled to said imaging means and to said determining means for processing the input video signal using the transformation function to provide a transformed input video signal to said imaging means such that one or more of the non-desirable characteristics are reduced. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A tiled display system comprising:
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first display means for displaying a first discrete image into a screen;
second display means for displaying a second discrete image onto the screen, the first and second discrete images forming at least part of a composite image;
first camera means for capturing a first capture image of a first portion of the composite image;
second camera means for capturing a second capture image of a second portion of the composite image including at least a portion of the second discrete image;
determining means coupled to said first and second camera means for determining if the composite image has one or more non-desirable characteristic; and
processing means coupled to said first and second display means and to said determining means for processing an input video signal and providing a first processed input video signal to said first display means and a second processed input video signal to said second display means such that one or more of the non-desirable characteristics of the composite image are reduced. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for calibrating a rear projection display comprising the steps of:
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providing a screen that has a projection side and a viewing side;
projecting an image onto the projection side of the screen;
capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the projection side of the screen;
determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristic;
identifying a transformation function that can be applied to an input video signal to reduce the non-desirable characteristics; and
processing the input video signal using the transformation to providing a transformed input video signal such that one or more of the non-desirable characteristics are reduced.
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27. A method for reducing non-desirable characteristics in a tiled projection display, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing a first projector and a second projector;
providing a first camera means and a second camera means;
projecting a first discrete image onto a screen using the first projector;
projecting a second discrete image onto the screen using the second projector, wherein the first and second discrete images form at least part of a composite image;
capturing a first capture image of a first portion of the composite image, including at least a portion of the first discrete image, using said first camera means;
capturing a second capture image of a second portion of the composite image, including at least a portion of the second discrete image, using said second camera means;
determining if the composite image has one or more non-desirable characteristic; and
processing an input video signal and providing a first processed input video signal to said first projector means and a second processed input video signal to said second projector means such that one or more of the non-desirable characteristics of the composite image are reduced. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
identifying a first transformation function that can be used to process the input video signal and provide the first processed input video signal to reduce selected nondesirable characteristics in the composite image.
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30. A method according to claim 29, wherein said processing step includes the steps of:
- identifying a second transformation function that can be used to process the input video signal and provide the second processed input video signal to reduce selected non-desirable characteristics in the composite image.
Specification