Television – Image signal processing circuitry specific to television – Display controlled by ambient light
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-06
2001-09-18
Kostak, Victor R. (Department: 2611)
Television
Image signal processing circuitry specific to television
Display controlled by ambient light
C348S656000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06292228
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display devices, and more particularly to a device and method for automatically adjusting image conditions on a display. The present invention automatically adjusts the image condition with consideration of a condition set initially by a user when the brightness around the display and color temperature vary.
2. Background of the Related Art
Ceaseless developments of technologies for automatic adjustment of a displayed image condition have been made to provide a convenient and better viewing environment for a user. The technology for automatically adjusting the image condition is applied to displays such as a television (TV) or a computer monitor, and may be implemented in variety of forms. For such displays, the image conditions of brightness, contrast, and color temperature may be automatically adjusted according to an environmental luminance and color temperature utilizing a pre-established look-up table.
The look-up table is established by experimentally obtaining image conditions, i.e. contrast and brightness with respect to outputs of color signals detected from actual environmental luminance and color temperatures, and color signals from theoretical brightness and color temperatures. The look-up table is stored in a memory, and according to a detected environmental luminance and color temperature, a contrast and brightness of an image corresponding to the detected values are output from the look-up table. Thus, the contrast and brightness of the image is adjusted based upon the detected color signals of an actual environment.
Generally, a TV is viewed by a user from a certain distance during the evenings after sunset under an illumination, while a computer monitor is viewed by a user from a close range during the day in an office. Thus, the image conditions for the TV and the monitor are different. Also, a slightly poor focus and resolution does not greatly affect watching the TV because moving pictures are displayed on the TV. However, the focus and resolution affects the viewing of a monitor because most of the work on the monitor is conducted by viewing a still image such as a text or a graphic. Thus, the required image condition for the monitor varies, depending on the work.
Although an image condition is adjusted to an optimal condition for an environmental brightness and color temperature, because the adjustment is made utilizing a look-up table, an image of high quality cannot be provided. Particularly, the adjustment is made automatically according to a preset data without any consideration to a user's preferences or set values, which results in differences between the adjusted values and the actual environimental conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve at least the problems and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device and method for automatically adjusting image conditions in a display allowing an optimal image condition regardless of varied environmental luminance conditions.
Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the objects and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a device for automatically adjusting an image condition of a display includes a color signal sensing unit sensing a color signal of an environmental luminance around a display; a recognition unit processing the color signal of the environmental luminance sensed by the color signal sensing unit and recognizing an environmental brightness and an environmental color temperature of the display; a storage unit storing a brightness, a contrast and a color temperature of an image set by a user, and the environmental brightness and the environmental color temperature of the display recognized by the recognition unit; a comparison unit calculating an average of the environmental brightness and the environmental color temperature of the display for a predetermined period, and comparing the average data to a reference data of the environmental brightness and environmental color temperature of the display stored in the storage unit to obtain variations of the calculated average data; and a control unit storing the environmental brightness and environmental color temperature recognized through the recognition unit as the reference data when the user selects an automatic adjusting mode, and reflecting the respective variations of the brightness and the color temperature calculated by the comparison unit to the brightness, the contrast, and the color temperature of the image set by the user, thereby adjusting an image condition.
In the preferred embodiment, the color signal sensing unit may be a photosensor providing two outputs of cyan and yellow. Also, the recognition unit recognizes a sum of the cyan and the yellow from the color signal sensing unit as the environmental brightness of the display and a ratio of the cyan to the yellow from the color signal sensing unit as the environmental color temperature of the display.
A method for automatically adjusting image conditions of a display according to the present invention includes (1) storing a brightness, a contrast, and a color temperature of an image set by a user; (2) determining execution of an automatic adjustment mode in which the brightness, the contrast, and the color temperature of the image are adjusted automatically according to a variation of an environmental brightness; (3) upon determining an execution of the automatic adjustment mode in (2), sensing the environmental brightness and the color temperature, storing the sensed environmental brightness and the color temperature as the reference data of the environmental brightness and the color temperature, and calculating the average data on the environmental brightness and the color temperature for a predetermined period; (4) comparing the average data on the environmental brightness and the color temperature calculated in (3) to the reference data on the environmental brightness and the color temperature, and calculating respective variations, and (5) reflecting the respective variations calculated in (4) to the brightness, the contrast, and the color temperature set by the user in (1), to adjust an image condition.
The execution of automatic adjustment mode in (2) includes both an execution of automatic adjustment mode in which the brightness and the contrast of the image are adjusted, and an execution of automatic adjustment mode in which the color temperature of the image is adjusted, wherein the user is allowed to select at least one of the automatic adjustment modes. Also, the reflection in (5) further includes the step of gradually adjusting the image condition by taking a linear intermediate value when a difference of the value set by the user and a value to which the relative variation is reflected is over a preset level.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4742387 (1988-05-01), Oshima
patent: 5325195 (1994-06-01), Ellis et al.
patent: 6081254 (2000-06-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 0 700 218 A2 (1996-06-01), None
patent: 0 863 677 A1 (1998-09-01), None
patent: 10174017 (1998-06-01), None
Fleshner & Kim LLP
Kostak Victor R.
LG Electronics Inc.
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