Methods and apparatus for improving the quality of displayed images through the use of display device and display condition information

• US 6,674,436 B1
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 01/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dresevic, Bodin, Hill, William, Keely, Leroy B., Hitchcock, Gregory, Whitted, J. Turner, Platt, John C.
• Primary Examiner(s): BRIER, JEFFERY A
• Application Number:
  US09/364,649
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: 345/112, 345/327, 345/88, 345/418, 345/581, 345/471, 345/472, 345/472.1, 345/472.2, 345/745, 345/1.1, 345/3--, 345/10, 345/87, 345/667-671
• US Class Current: 345/472
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1607 Arrangements to support accessories mechanically attached to the display housing G06F1/1603, G06F1/1605 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/02 Improving the quality of display appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0276 for the purpose of adaptation to the characteristics of a display device, i.e. gamma correction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/028 by changing the viewing angle properties, e.g. widening the viewing angle, adapting the viewing angle to the view direction
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/043 Preventing or counteracting the effects of ageing
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/06 Adjustment of display parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0606 Manual adjustment
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0666 for control of colour parameters, e.g. colour temperature
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0673 for control of gamma adjustment, e.g. selecting another gamma curve
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0693 Calibration of display systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/08 Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0457 Improvement of perceived resolution by subpixel rendering
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/005 Adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/006 Details of the interface to the display terminal specific for a display terminal using a CRT G09G1/167; using a flat panel G09G3/2096; circuits for interfacing with colour displays G09G5/04
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/02 characterised by the way in which colour is displayed details of colour display specific for CRTs G09G1/28; specific for flat matrix panels other than liquid crystal displays G09G3/2003; specific for liquid crystal displays G09G3/3607

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for increasing the perceived quality of displayed images. This is achieved in a variety of ways including the use of a plurality of device specific display characteristics when preparing images for display. It is also achieved through the monitoring of display device and/or ambient light conditions, e.g., on a periodic basis, and using the obtained information when controlling display output. Another approach to improving the perceived quality of displayed images involves the use of information relating to a specific user'"'"'s ability to perceive image characteristics such as color. By customizing display output to an individual user'"'"'s own physical perception capabilities and/or viewing characteristics it is possible to enhance the image quality perceived by the individual viewer as compared to embodiments which do not take into consideration individual user characteristics.

Claims

1. In a computer system including a processing unit and a display device having a plurality of pixels, wherein the perceived quality of an image displayed on the display device may be affected by a variety of factors including i) physical attributes of the display device, for example type of display device, white point, pixel pattern, and/or method of light modulation, and ii) a user'"'"'s ability to perceive the displayed image, for example human color sensitivity and/or viewing angle, and wherein the physical attributes tend to vary from one display device to another and the user'"'"'s ability to perceive tends to vary front one user to another, a method of increasing the perceived quality of a displayed image by compensating for at least one physical attribute of a display device and user profile information, the method comprising the steps for:

storing information about the at least one physical attribute of said display device, wherein the step for storing the at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing display type information, the display type information indicating whether the display is a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display or another type of display;

storing user profile information about at least one user'"'"'s ability to perceive a displayed image on said display device;

using the stored physical attribute and user profile information to define at least one display device parameter;

when processing a representation of an image to be displayed on said display device, using the display device parameter to alter the output of one or more pixels of said display device in order to increase the perceived quality of the resulting image when displayed on the display device; and

displaying the processed image on said display device.

2. The display method of claim 1, wherein the image is a character image and wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information includes the act of:

scaling the representation of the character image as a function of the display type information.

3. The display method of claim 2, wherein said act of scaling the representation of the character image includes the act of:

selecting, based on the display type information, which one of a plurality of scaling methods should be used to scale the representation of the character image, the representation of the character image being scaled differently when the display type information indicates a liquid crystal display than when the display type information indicates a cathode ray tube display.

4. The display method of claim 1, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of:

storing information about two physical attributes of the display device from the group of display attribute information consisting of;

resolution information, pixel pattern information, light emitter shape information and method of light modulation information.

5. The display method of claim 4, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information includes the act of:

scaling a representation of a character image as a function of the stored information about the two physical attributes.

6. The display method of claim 5, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information further includes the act of:

performing a scan conversion operation as a function of the stored information about at least one of the two physical attributes.

7. The display method of claim 5, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information further includes the act of:

performing a hinting operation as a function of the stored information about at least one of the two physical attributes.

8. The display method of claim 1, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of:

storing information about a physical attribute of the display device from the group of attribute information consisting of;

gamma information, gamut information and white point information.

9. The display method of claim 1, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device further includes the act of:

storing information about a physical attribute of the display device from the group of display attributes consisting of;

resolution information, pixel pattern information, light emitter shape information and method of light modulation information.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step for:

measuring said physical attribute of the display device; and

wherein the step for storing information includes the act of storing information obtained from said measuring step.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step for:

periodically updating said stored attribute information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step for periodically updating said stored attribute information includes the acts of:

estimating a change in a value included in said stored attribute information corresponding to estimated physical change in at least one physical display device attribute; and

modifying the stored attribute information as a function of the estimated change in value.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step for periodically updating said stored attribute information includes the acts of:

periodically measuring said physical attribute of the display device; and

modifying at least some of the stored attribute information so that it includes the most recently measured attribute information.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a user gamma value preference; and

performing a gamma value correction operation on the data representing the image to be displayed using the stored user gamma value preference information.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a user'"'"'s ability to perceive color; and

performing a color filtering operation on the data representing the image to be displayed using said stored information about a user'"'"'s ability to perceive color.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a preferred viewing position of a user; and

performing a display response correction operation on the representation of the image as a function of the stored information about a preferred viewing position.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the stored information about a preferred viewing position includes at least one of viewing angle and viewing distance information.

18. In a computer system including a processing unit and a display device having a plurality of pixels, wherein the perceived quality of an image displayed on the display device may be affected by a variety of factors including i) physical attributes of the display device, for example type of display device, white point, pixel pattern, and/or method of light modulation, and ii) a user'"'"'s ability to perceive the displayed image, for example human color sensitivity and/or viewing angle, and wherein the physical attributes tend to vary from one display device to another and the user'"'"'s ability to perceive tends to vary from one user to another, a method of increasing the perceived quality of a displayed image by compensating for at least one physical attribute of a display device and user profile information, the method comprising the steps for:

storing at least one physical attribute of said display device, and wherein the step for storing at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing display type information, the display type information indicating whether the display is a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display or another type of display;

determining at least one light output characteristic of said display device;

storing display device light output characteristic information for said display device using a digital recording media;

determining user profile information about at least one user'"'"'s ability to perceive a displayed image on said display device depending on the user'"'"'s color sensitivity;

storing the user profile information for said user using a digital recording media;

supplying the stored physical attribute information, the light output characteristic information and the stored user profile information to a computer system coupled to said display device;

using the computer system to process the stored physical attribute, light output and user profile information in order to define at least one display device parameter;

when processing a representation of an image to be displayed on said display device, using the display device parameter to alter the output of one or more pixels of said display device in order to increase the perceived quality of the resulting image when displayed on the display device; and

displaying the processed image on said display device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said light output characteristic of said display device includes at least one of the output characteristics from the group consisting of gamut, white point and gamma characteristics.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of determining at least one light output characteristic includes the act of:

using a measuring device to measure said light output characteristic of said display device.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step for:

storing physical display device attribute information using said digital recording media, the physical display device attribute information including at least one of the physical display device attributes from the group consisting of resolution, display element shape and date of manufacture.

22. The method of claim 21,

wherein said digital recording media is a magnetic disk;

and

wherein the step of storing physical display device attribute information includes the step of storing said display device attribute information on the magnetic disk.

23. The method of claim 21,

wherein said digital recording media is non-volatile memory;

and

wherein the step of storing physical display device attribute information includes the step of storing said display device attribute information in the non-volatile memory.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

periodically measuring said light output characteristic of said display device; and

updating the stored information with said periodic light characteristic measurement.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of:

using said measuring device to measure ambient light conditions.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising the steps of:

estimating a change in said at least one output characteristic as a function of time; and

updating said stored display device light output characteristic information as a function the estimated change in said at least one output characteristic.

27. A computer program product for use in a computer system including a processing unit and a display device having a plurality of pixels, wherein the perceived quality of an image displayed on the display device may be affected by a variety of factors including i) physical attributes of the display device, for example type of display device, white point, pixel pattern, and/or method of light modulation, and ii) a user'"'"'s ability to perceive the displayed image, for example human color sensitivity and/or viewing angle, and wherein the physical attributes tend to vary from one display device to another and the user'"'"'s ability to perceive tends to vary from one user to another, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium carrying computer executable instructions for implementing a method of increasing the perceived quality of a displayed image by compensating for at least one physical attribute of a display device and user profile information, the method comprising the steps for;

storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device, wherein the step for storing at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing display type information, the display type information indicating whether the display is a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display or another type of display;

storing user profile information about at least one user'"'"'s ability to perceive a displayed image on said display device;

using the stored physical attribute and user profile information to define at least one display device parameter;

when processing a representation of an image to be displayed on said display device, using the display device parameter to alter the output of one or more pixels of said display device in order to increase the perceived quality of the resulting image when displayed on the display device; and

displaying the processed image on said display device.

28. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, wherein the image is a character image and wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information includes the act of scaling the representation of the character image as a function of the display type information.

29. A computer program product as recited in claim 28, wherein said act of scaling the representation of the character image includes the act of selecting, based on the display type information, which one of a plurality of scaling methods should be used to scale the representation of the character image, the representation of the character image being scaled differently when the display type information indicates a liquid crystal display than when the display type information indicates a cathode ray tube display.

30. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing information about two physical attributes of the display device from the group of display attribute information consisting of:

resolution information, pixel pattern information, light emitter shape information and method of light modulation information.

31. A computer program product as recited in claim 30, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information includes the act of sealing the representation of a character image as a function of the stored information about the at least two physical attributes.

32. A computer program product as recited in claim 31, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information further includes the act of performing a scan conversion operation as a function of the stored information about at least one of the two physical attributes.

33. A computer program product as recited in claim 31, wherein said step for using the stored physical attribute information further includes the act of performing a hinting operation as a function of the stored information about at least one or the two physical attributes.

34. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing information about a physical attribute of the display device from the group of attribute information consisting of:

gamma information, gamut information and white point information.

35. A computer program product as recited in claim 34, wherein the step for storing information about at least one physical attribute of said display device further includes the act of storing information about a physical attribute of the display device from the group of display attributes consisting of:

resolution information, pixel pattern information, light emitter shape information and method of light modulation information.

36. A computer program product as recited in claim 34, wherein the method further comprises the step for measuring said physical attribute of the display device, and wherein the step for storing information includes the act of storing information obtained from said measuring step.

37. A computer program product as recited in claim 36, the method further comprising the step for periodically updating said stored attribute information.

38. A computer program product as recited in claim 37, wherein the step for periodically updating said stored attribute information includes the acts of:

estimating a change in a value included in said stored attribute information corresponding to estimated physical change in at least one physical display device attribute; and

modifying the stored attribute information as a function of the estimated change in value.

39. A computer program product as recited in claim 37, wherein the step for periodically updating said stored attribute information includes the acts of:

periodically measuring said physical attribute of the display device; and

modifying at least some of the stored attribute information so that it includes the most recently measured attribute information.

40. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, the method further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a user gamma value preference; and

performing a gamma value correction operation on the data representing the image to be displayed using the stored user gamma value preference information.

41. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, the method further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a user'"'"'s ability to perceive color; and

performing a color filtering operation on the data representing the image to be displayed using said stored information about a user'"'"'s ability to perceive color.

42. A computer program product as recited in claim 27, the method further comprising the steps for:

storing information about a preferred viewing position of a user; and

performing a display response correction operation on the representation of the image as a function of the stored information about a preferred viewing position.

43. A computer program product as recited in claim 42, wherein the stored information about a preferred viewing position includes at least one of viewing angle and viewing distance information.

44. A computer program product for use in a computer system including a processing unit and a display device having a plurality of pixels, wherein the perceived quality of an image displayed on the display device may be affected by a variety of factors including i) physical attributes of the display device, for example type of display device, white point, pixel pattern, and/or method of light modulation, and ii) a user'"'"'s ability to perceive the displayed image, for example human color sensitivity and/or viewing angle, and wherein the physical attributes tend to vary from one display device to another and the user'"'"'s ability to perceive tends to vary from one user to another, the computer program product comprising a computer readable medium carrying computer executable instructions for implementing a method of increasing the perceived quality of a displayed image by compensating for at least one physical attribute of a display device and user profile information, the method comprising the steps for:

storing at least one physical attribute of said display device, and wherein the step for storing at least one physical attribute of said display device includes the act of storing display type information, the display type information indicating whether the display is a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display or another type of display;

determining at least one light output characteristic of said display device;

storing display device light output characteristic information for said display device using a digital recording media;

determining user profile information about at least one user'"'"'s ability to perceive a displayed image on said display device depending on the user'"'"'s color sensitivity;

storing the user profile information for said user using a digital recording media;

supplying the stored physical attribute information, the light output characteristic information and the stored user profile information to a computer system coupled to said display device;

using the computer system to process the stored physical attribute, light output and user profile information in order to define at least one display device parameter;

when processing a representation of an image to be displayed on said display device, using the display device parameter to alter the output of one or more pixels of said display device in order to increase the perceived quality of the resulting image when displayed on the display device; and

displaying the processed image on said display device.

45. A computer program product as recited in claim 44, wherein said light output characteristic of said display device includes at least one of the output characteristics from the group consisting of gamut, white point and gamma characteristics.

46. A computer program product as recited in claim 45, wherein the step for determining at least one light output characteristic includes the act of using a measuring device to measure said light output characteristic of said display device.

47. A computer program product as recited in claim 46, the method further comprising the step for storing physical display device attribute information using said digital recording media, the pixel pattern information including at least one of the physical display device attributes from the group consisting of pixel pattern, resolution, display element shape and date of manufacture.

48. A computer program product as recited in claim 47, wherein said digital recording media is a magnetic disk, and wherein the step for storing physical display device attribute information includes the step for storing said display device attribute information on the magnetic disk.

49. A computer program product as recited in claim 47, wherein said digital recording media is non-volatile memory, and wherein the step for storing physical display device attribute information includes the step for storing said display device attribute information in the non-volatile memory.

50. A computer program product as recited in claim 46, the method further comprising the steps for:

periodically measuring said light output characteristic of said display device; and

updating the stored information with said periodic light characteristic measurement.

51. A computer program product as recited in claim 46, the method further comprising the step for using said measuring device to measure ambient light conditions.

52. A computer program product as recited in claim 51, the method further comprising the steps for:

estimating a change in said at least one output characteristic as a function of time; and

updating said stored display device light output characteristic information as a function of the estimated change in said at least one output characteristic.