Modification of images based on orientation

• US 9,215,405 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2011
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Atkinson, Lee Warren
• Primary Examiner(s): Anwah, Olisa
• Application Number:
  US14/351,263
• Publication Number:
  US 20140267541A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,467 Days
• Field of Search: 348/14.01, 348/14.02, 348/14.07, 348/14.12
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2628 Alteration of picture size, shape, position or orientation, e.g. zooming, rotation, rolling, perspective, translation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/141 between two video terminals, e.g. videophone telephonic communication systems combined with television receiver for reception of entertainment or information matter H04M11/085

Abstract

An image sensor can have a first orientation. If the first orientation differs from a second orientation, values can be read from the image sensor in a manner so as to generate image data having the second orientation.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising:

a camera to generate image data;

a communication interface configured to receive a display orientation and display aspect ratio from a second computing device; and

a controller to modify an image orientation and an image aspect ratio of the image data to the display orientation and display aspect ratio received from the second computing device if determined that the image orientation is different from the display orientation,

the communication interface further configured to transmit the modified image data to the second device.

2. The computing device of claim 1,

wherein the image orientation is landscape and the display orientation is portrait,

wherein the image aspect ratio is a ratio represented by a width of an image represented by the image data by a height of the image when the image is oriented according to the image orientation, and

wherein the display aspect ratio is a ratio represented by a width of a display area of a display of the second computing device by a height of the display area when the display is oriented according to the display orientation.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine the image orientation by applying object recognition techniques to determine an orientation of an object represented in the image data.

4. The computing device of claim 1, further comprising:

an accelerometer to determine an orientation of the computing device,

wherein the controller is configured to determine the image orientation of the image data using a value from the accelerometer.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the computing device is a smart phone, a tablet computer, or a slate computer.

6. A method performed by a first device during a video call with a second device, the method comprising:

sensing an image having a first orientation and a first size associated with the first orientation using an image sensor of the first device;

determining a second orientation expected by the second device, the second orientation having an associated second size;

modifying the image so that the image has the second orientation and the second size if the first orientation differs from the second orientation; and

transmitting the modified image to the second device as part of a video stream associated with the video call.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein modifying the image so that the image has the second orientation and the second size comprises rotating the image.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein modifying the image so that the image has the second orientation and the second size further comprises at least one of scaling the image and cropping the image.

9. The method of claim 8,

wherein the image comprises a depiction of a face, and

wherein the at least one of scaling the image and cropping the image is performed such that the depiction of the face is retained in the modified image.

10. The method of claim 8, comprising:

setting the second orientation expected by the second device at a beginning of the video call.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the second orientation expected by the second device corresponds to an orientation of a display of the second device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving an indication from the second device that the orientation of the display of the second device has changed to a different orientation; and

updating the second orientation expected by the second device to be the different orientation.

13. The method of claim 6, wherein the second size associated with the second orientation corresponds to dimensions of a display of the second device when the display of the second device is in the second orientation.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by a processor of a first communication device, the machine-readable medium comprising:

instructions to generate an image using a sensor of the first communication device;

instructions to determine a first orientation of the image;

instructions to determine a second orientation associated with a second communication device;

instructions to modify the image by rotating the image and changing the resolution of the rotated image if determined that the first orientation and the second orientation differ; and

instructions to transmit the modified image to the second communication device.

15. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions to change the resolution of the rotated image comprise at least one of scaling the rotated image and cropping the rotated image so that the rotated image has a resolution associated with the second orientation.

16. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the first orientation is landscape and the second orientation is portrait.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to receive, using a communication interface of the first communication device, the second orientation associated with the second communication device.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to determine a display aspect ratio of the second computing device.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising instructions to receive, using a communication interface of the first communication device, the display aspect ratio of the second computing device.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising instructions to determine the first orientation by applying object recognition techniques to determine an orientation of an object represented in the image.