Operating system supporting mixed 2D, stereoscopic 3D and multi-view 3D displays

• US 9,124,885 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Issued: 09/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bennett, James D., Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K
• Application Number:
  US12/982,124
• Publication Number:
  US 20110157169A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 345/102, 345/419, 348/51, 348/55, 348/59, 348/564, 348/56, 349/15
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/00 Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 35/24 using apertured or refractive resolving means on screens or between screen and eye
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2300/023 Display panel composed of stacked panels
• 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 2370/04 Exchange of auxiliary data, i.e. other than image data, between monitor and graphics controller
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/003 to produce spatial visual effects
• 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: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/00 Stereoscopic video systems; Multi-view video systems; Details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/139 Format conversion, e.g. of frame-rate or size
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/161 Encoding, multiplexing or demultiplexing different image signal components for multi-view video sequence encoding H04N19/597
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/189 Recording image signals; Reproducing recorded image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/194 Transmission of image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/305 using lenticular lenses, e.g. arrangements of cylindrical lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/31 using parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/312 the parallax barriers being placed behind the display panel, e.g. between backlight and spatial light modulator [SLM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/315 the parallax barriers being time-variant
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/332 : Displays for viewing with the aid of special glasses or head-mounted displays [HMD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/351 : for displaying simultaneously
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/359 : Switching between monoscopic and stereoscopic modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/361 : Reproducing mixed stereoscopic images; Reproducing mixed monoscopic and stereoscopic images, e.g. a stereoscopic image overlay window on a monoscopic image background
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/366 : using viewer tracking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/383 : for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 : Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/403 : the images being monoscopic
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2013/405 : the images being stereoscopic or three dimensional
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/235 : Processing of additional data, e.g. scrambling of additional data or processing content descriptors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4122 : additional display device, e.g. video projector digital output for controlling a plurality of local displays G06F3/1423
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/435 : Processing of additional data, e.g. decrypting of additional data, reconstructing software from modules extracted from the transport stream
• CPC Class Codes: H04S 7/303 : Tracking of listener position or orientation

Abstract

Operating systems are described that interface applications and display screens capable of displaying two-dimensional and three-dimensional content. In one aspect, an operating system includes an application programming interface (API), a display driver interface, and a display driver. The API enables one or more applications to deliver requests that define a screen region and either a two-dimension indicator or a three-dimension indicator. The display driver interface passes configuration commands corresponding to the requests. The display driver is associated with a display screen. The display driver receives the configuration commands and responds by generating screen control signals to adjust the display screen to support the screen region.

Claims

1. A method performed by one or more processors and used in an operating system to support simultaneous display on a screen of both two-dimensional content and three-dimensional content, the method comprising:

receiving, by the operating system, from a first application a first command directing display of the two-dimensional content within a first region of the screen;

responding, by the operating system, to the first command by sending a first control signal that places the screen in a two-dimensional mode within the first region;

receiving, by the operating system, from a second application a second command directing display of the three-dimensional content within a second region of the screen;

responding, by the operating system, to the second command by sending a second control signal that places the screen in a three-dimensional mode within the second region, wherein the first region of the screen is configured to display the two-dimensional content and the second region of the screen is configured to display the three-dimensional content simultaneously with the two-dimensional content;

receiving an input signal from a user input interface;

generating a third control signal in response to the input signal, the third control signal relating to a configurable depth of the three-dimensional content; and

delivering the third control signal to cause the adjustment of the configurable depth of the three-dimensional content being displayed within the second region of the screen.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving user input directing movement of the three-dimensional content from the second region of the screen to a third region of the screen, and sending a third control signal directing the movement via corresponding modifications to the screen.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising delivering three-dimensional content to a pixel array of the screen that corresponds with the second region of the screen in which an adaptable light manipulator of the screen is operating in the three-dimensional mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first command and second command are part of an application program interface.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication from the screen of whether the second control signal was successful;

generating a response to the second command based on the indication; and

providing the response to the second application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said providing comprises:

providing a window handle in the response to the second application, the window handle being a handle for a window opened in the second region to display the three-dimensional content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second command includes one or more parameters, wherein said receiving comprises:

generating the second control signal to configure the screen based on the one or more parameters.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second command is configured to cause a window that displays the three-dimensional content to be opened in the second region.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said generating comprises:

filtering out a parameter of the one or more parameters that is incompatible with the screen.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from the second application for an indication of at least one characteristic of the screen; and

providing the requested indication of the at least one characteristic to the second application.

11. An operating system that supports a plurality of software applications that are at least partially executed by one or more processors and at least one of a plurality of screens, a first of the plurality of screens supporting at least three-dimensional display on a first screen region of the first of the plurality of screens and at least two-dimensional display on a second screen region of the first of the plurality of screens simultaneously, and a second of the plurality of screens supporting at least two-dimensional display, the operating system comprising:

an application programming interface through which a first of the plurality of software applications can deliver at least one first request to the operating system that defines the first screen region and a three-dimension indicator that causes the displaying of three-dimensional content in the first screen region, at least one second request to the operating system that defines the second screen region of the first of the plurality of screens and a two-dimension indicator that causes the displaying of two-dimensional content in the second screen region, the three-dimensional content in the first screen region and the two-dimensional content in the second screen region being caused to be displayed simultaneously, and at least one third request to the operating system configured to cause the displaying of three-dimensional content in the second of the plurality of screens;

a display driver interface through which at least one configuration command corresponding to at least one of the at least one first request, the at least one second request, and the at least one third request are passed;

a first display driver, associated with the first screen of the plurality of screens, that receives the at least one configuration command and responds by generating one or more screen control signals to adjust the first screen to support the first screen region of the first of the plurality of screens; and

a second display driver, associated with the second of the plurality of screens, that receives and responds to the at least one configuration command by translating incoming three-dimensional data to two-dimensional data for display on the second screen of the plurality of screens.

12. The operating system of claim 11, wherein the at least one configuration command causes the display driver to manipulate incoming pixel data before delivery to the plurality of screens.

13. The operating system of claim 11, wherein the display driver is configured to receive an indication from the first screen of whether a screen control signal was successful, to generate a response to the at least one request that includes the indication, and to transmit the response to the first application via the application programming interface.

14. The operating system of claim 11, wherein a first request of the at least one request defines the first screen region, and includes the three-dimension indicator and one or more parameters.

15. The operating system of claim 14, wherein the display driver interface is configured to filter out a parameter of the one or more parameters that is incompatible with the first screen.

16. The operating system of claim 14, wherein the first request is an open window command, and the one or more parameters includes at least one of a window size parameter, a window position parameter, a display resolution parameter, a window type parameter, a three-dimensional display type parameter, or a three-dimensional content source indication parameter.

17. The operating system of claim 11, further comprising:

a user input interface configured to receive a user input directed to three-dimensional content displayed in the first screen region, to generate a second configuration command based on the user input, the second configuration command being configured to adjust a three-dimensional characteristic of three-dimensional content displayed by the first screen region, the display driver interface being configured to pass the second configuration to the first display driver, the first display driver receiving the generated configuration command and generating a screen control signal to adjust the three-dimensional characteristic of the three-dimensional content being displayed within the first screen region.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions embodied in said computer readable storage medium for enabling a processor to execute an operating system to support simultaneous display on a screen of both two-dimensional content and three-dimensional content, the computer program instructions including instructions executable to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the operating system, from a first application a first command directing display of the two-dimensional content within a first region of the screen;

responding, by the operating system, to the first command by sending a first control signal that places the screen in a two-dimensional mode within the first region;

receiving, by the operating system, from a second application a second command directing display of the three-dimensional content within a second region of the screen;

responding, by the operating system, to the second command by sending a second control signal that places the screen in a three-dimensional mode within the second region, wherein the first region of the screen is configured to display the two-dimensional content and the second region of the screen is configured to display the three-dimensional content simultaneously with the two-dimensional content;

receiving an input signal from a user input interface;

generating a third control signal in response to the input signal, the third control signal relating to a configurable depth of the three-dimensional content; and

delivering the third control signal to cause the adjustment of the configurable depth of the three-dimensional content being displayed within the second region of the screen.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising receiving user input directing movement of the three-dimensional content from the second region of the screen to a third region of the screen, and sending a third control signal directing the movement via corresponding modifications to the screen.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising delivering three-dimensional content to a pixel array of the screen that corresponds with the second region of the screen in which an adaptable light manipulator of the screen is operating in the three-dimensional mode.