Ambient light sensors with infrared compensation

• US 9,129,548 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2012
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Zheng, Dong
• Primary Examiner(s): Amadiz, Rodney
• Application Number:
  US13/678,349
• Publication Number:
  US 20140132578A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,027 Days
• Field of Search: 345/102, 345/207, 345/690
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 1/4204 with determination of ambient light solar light G01J2001/4266
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 1/4228 arrangements with two or more detectors, e.g. for sensitivity compensation
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 2001/4242 Modulated light, e.g. for synchronizing source and detector circuit
• CPC Class Codes: G01J 3/513 having fixed filter-detector pairs
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13318 Circuits comprising a photodetector
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/58 Arrangements comprising a monitoring photodetector
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0626 for control of overall brightness
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2360/144 the light being ambient light
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/10 Intensity circuits

Abstract

An electronic device may have a display with a brightness that is adjusted based on ambient light data from one or more ambient light sensors. An ambient light sensor may include at least one silicon-based photosensor. The silicon-based photosensor may generate a corresponding raw sensor reading. Processing circuitry associated with the ambient light sensor may analyze the raw sensor reading to determine the type of light source that is present by comparing measurements from at least two different photosensors, by determining the color temperature of the light source, and/or by determining the modulation frequency of the light source. A compensation factor may then be selected by referring to a lookup table. The processing circuitry may compute a compensated sensor reading based on the raw sensor reading and the selected compensation factor. The brightness of the display may be adjusted based on the compensated sensor reading computed in this way.

Claims

1. A method of adjusting display brightness for a display in an electronic device that has an ambient light sensor and control circuitry while the electronic device is operated in an environment in which the electronic device is exposed to ambient light, the method comprising:

with a first silicon photosensor in the ambient light sensor, outputting a first sensor reading indicative of how much visible light and infrared light are contained in the ambient light;

with a second silicon photosensor in the ambient light sensor, outputting a second sensor reading indicative of how much infrared light is contained in the ambient light;

processing ambient light data from the ambient light sensor to identify a lighting type associated with the ambient light; and

with the control circuitry, processing the sensor reading using the identified lighting type to produce a visible light reading indicative of how much visible light is contained in the ambient light, wherein the visible light reading is produced by applying a compensation factor to only the first sensor reading, and wherein the compensation factor is selected using the first sensor reading and the second sensor reading.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein processing the ambient light data from the ambient light sensor comprises computing a ratio based on the first sensor reading and the second sensor reading.

3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein the compensation factor is selected using the ratio.

4. The method defined in claim 1, wherein identifying the lighting type associated with the ambient light further comprises identifying a modulation frequency of the ambient light.

5. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the visible light reading is a product of the sensor reading and the compensation factor.

6. An electronic device, comprising:

a display having an adjustable brightness level;

an ambient light sensor configured to receive ambient light, wherein the ambient light sensor comprises;

a first photosensor that generates a first sensor output that represents an amount of visible light and infrared light in the ambient light;

a second photosensor that generates a second sensor output that represents an amount of infrared light in the ambient light; and

control circuitry configured to compute a compensated sensor output based on the first sensor output and a selected compensation factor by applying the selected compensation factor directly to the first sensor output, wherein the selected compensation factor is selected based on the first sensor output and the second sensor output, and wherein the compensated sensor output is used to control the brightness level of the display.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to identify a lighting type associated with the ambient light.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to identify a modulation frequency associated with the ambient light.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 6, wherein control circuitry is further configured to store a lookup table from which the selected compensation factor is selected.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to compute the compensated sensor output by calculating a product of the first sensor output and the selected compensation factor.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to compute a ratio based on the first sensor output and the second sensor output, and wherein the selected compensation factor is selected based on the ratio.

12. A method of adjusting display brightness for a display in an electronic device that has an ambient light sensor and control circuitry while the electronic device is operated in an environment in which the electronic device is exposed to ambient light from at least a given one of a plurality of light sources each producing a different respective ratio of infrared light to visible light, wherein the ambient light sensor includes a first and second silicon photosensors, the method comprising:

using the control circuitry to receive a raw sensor output from the ambient light sensor, wherein the raw sensor output includes a first sensor output generated from the first silicon photosensor and a second sensor output generated from the second silicon photosensor;

characterizing the ambient light to determine which of the plurality of light sources produced the ambient light;

computing a compensated sensor output based on the raw sensor output without performing a subtraction operation based on the first and second sensor outputs; and

with the control circuitry, adjusting the display brightness based on the compensated sensor output.

13. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the plurality of light sources comprises a dominant ambient light source, and wherein characterizing the ambient light comprises identifying the ratio of infrared light to visible light for the given light source.

14. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the plurality of light sources comprises a dominant ambient light source, and wherein characterizing the ambient light comprises identifying a color temperature of the dominant ambient light source.

15. The method defined in claim 12, wherein the plurality of light sources comprises a dominant ambient light source, and wherein characterizing the ambient light comprises identifying a modulation frequency of the dominant ambient light source.

16. The method defined in claim 12, wherein characterizing the ambient light with the ambient light sensor comprises determining whether the given light source has a lighting type selected from the group consisting of:

light-emitting-diode light, fluorescent light, solar light, incandescent light, and tungsten light.