Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Plural physical display element control system – Display elements arranged in matrix
Patent
1997-02-11
1999-08-17
Brier, Jeffery
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Plural physical display element control system
Display elements arranged in matrix
345 56, 345121, 345473, 345474, G06K 1520
Patent
active
059400510
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a improved display system particularly, although not exclusively, envisaged for use as a sign for displaying moving and static graphics.
In the context of the present invention the term "graphic" includes sequences of any length made up of letters, words, numbers and idiographs. The term "graphic" also includes any combination of the above sequences, wether in monochrome or in colour.
Also, in the context of the present invention the term "pixel" is used as an abbreviation of the term "picture element". Then a group of pixels spread out over an area are referred to as a "picture cell". In the drawings the pixels are referred to as "lights" and the picture cells are referred to as "tiles". A plurality of the picture cells arranged together are herein referred to as a "display board". The display board can be in the form of a single row, a single column or a matrix of rows and columns.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In Australian Patents 493,435 and 573,024 there are shown two previous forms of display systems which are of a similar type as the present invention. In these two patents (and the present invention) the displays rely on a process known in psycho-physics as "the beta effect". Basically, the beta effect is that the human visual system (which is a combination of the eyes and the brain) relies upon integrals of light images over time rather than instantaneous light images and hence the human visual system has the capacity to "fill in" missing information. Hence, the human visual system can resolve a given resolution in an image which has a large part of the image missing (such as up to about 90% of the image missing)--provided the image is moving.
In Patents 493,435 and 573,024 this effect was used to reduce the number of pixels required to provide a given resolution of moving image. However, both of these prior art displays rely upon columns which are spaced relatively far apart. A result of this is that at slower rates of data transmission across the display the viewer becomes aware that there are vertical black bands in the resultant image. This also manifests as flicker.
We have found that these problems can be overcome by taking the pixels in the columns and distributing the pixels over the area which in the Patents 493,435 and 573,024 were blank.
A comparison of these 3 systems is shown in FIGS. 1.1.1 to 1.3.4. These Figures show that a static graphic in the systems of Patents 493,435 and 573,024 is virtually unrecognisable and a moving graphic in the same systems experiences flicker. Whereas the same graphics, on the system of the present invention, are recognisable (for static graphics) and free of flicker (for moving graphics). Each system has the same number of pixels, but in the present invention the pixels are distributed over the area between the adjacent columns of the previous systems (that is, distributed over the picture cell). Also, the two previous systems are not able to show a graphic moving in a vertical direction.
In FIGS. 2.1 to 2.12 there is shown a comparison of the display system of the present invention (upper third of each Figure) with those of a full matrix display system (middle third of each Figure) and either of the systems of Patents 493,435 and 573,024 (lower third of each Figure). It can be seen that the full matrix display and the display system of the present invention both show a ball rising and falling. If the 12 Figures could be overlayed it would also be seen that the display system of the present invention shows the motion of the ball at substantially the same resolution as that of the full matrix display. In contrast the display systems of 493,435 and 573,024 show only 2 or 3 line segments rising and falling over the display.
Hence, the display system of the present invention has the same number of pixels as the systems of 493,435 and 573,024 but distributed across the picture cell to provide a display which has better resolution and is able to show graphics with vertical, as well as horizontal, compo
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Sala Mickey Andrew
Sala Oscar Gotlieb
Brier Jeffery
Dr. Sala & Associates PTY Ltd.
Kovalick Vincent E.
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