Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Plural display systems – Tiling or modular adjacent displays
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-17
2001-04-17
Hjerpe, Richard (Department: 2674)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Plural display systems
Tiling or modular adjacent displays
C345S004000, C345S207000, C348S383000, C348S745000, C348S750000, C348S751000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219011
ABSTRACT:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electro-optical display apparatus. The invention is particularly useful in large interactive displays of the type enabling one or more persons to interact with the display, by adding to, deleting from, or otherwise changing the displayed information; and the invention is therefore described below with respect to such an application.
Various types of interactive displays are known, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,269 and WO 95/34881. Such known displays are generally constructed with the appropriately-sized screen according to the particular application. Each display must therefore be specially designed for the respective screen size. Moroever, the depth of the display generally increases with the size of its screen.
OBJECTS AND BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide displays which can be constructed so that they may be assembled in different sizes according to the respective application. Another object of the invention is to provide display apparatus which can be assembled to provide a relatively large size display but having relatively small depth. A further object of the invention is to provide an electro-optical device which can be used in an interactive manner by a user without the user obstructing the screen. A still further object of the invention is to provide a method of producing electro-optical displays of the interactive type.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided electro-optical display apparatus, comprising: a plurality of modular units each including a projector for receiving electrical signals, converting them to optical images, and projecting the optical images via an optical projection system onto the screen; the plurality of modular units being arranged in a side-by-side array such as to produce a combined display on a screen; the image sensor and imaging means being located on the same side of the screen as the projectors; the apparatus further comprising a calibration system including an image sensor for sensing an optical image on the screen, and imaging means, such as an imaging lens, for imaging the screen on the image sensor for detecting distortions in the combined display caused by the projection system of each modular unit and for modifying the electrical signals applied to the projector of each modular unit to correct the combined display with respect to the detected distortions.
According to further features in the described preferred embodiment, the screen is constituted of a plurality of modular unit screens, one provided on each of the modular units; and imaging means as set forth above for imaging the screen on the image sensor.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the screen is of a size and configuration to overlie all the modular units. In addition, the calibration system may also include a two-dimensional array of reference points of known locations on the face of the screen.
In one described preferred embodiment, the two-dimensional array of reference points is defined by the intersection points of a plurality of horizontal reference lines and a plurality of vertical reference lines on the screen. In a second described embodiment, the two-dimensional array of reference points are the ends of optical fibers on the screen. The reference lines may also be the joint border lines of the individual module screens. In any case, the selected calibration technique may be used for on-line calibration or only for off-line calibration.
It will thus be seen that the foregoing features of the invention permit display apparatus to be constructed from one or more modular units of the same design, size and configuration, and to be assembled according to the particular application. For example, apparatus can be assembled with two modular units arranged in a straight line, four modular units arranged in a 2×2 array, nine modular units arranged in a 3×3 array, etc., according to the size of the screen desired for the particular application. It will also be seen that the depth of the overall display will be the same irrespective of the size of the screen.
Such an apparatus is capable of grabbing any image that appears on the screen, including images projected on the screen by a light projector or any hand-written script using dry-erase markers, electronic pens, etc. The apparatus can also grab the image of any object, e.g., documents, placed against the screen. Thus, the apparatus can be used not only for displaying documents, but also for storing or transmitting documents. Since the combined screen is not obstructed by the user, the user can conduct a natural flowing presentation. Since the system is modular, the configuration and the size of the combined screen can be fitted to any application; and since the system depth is relatively small, it may be used in office-like environments, or other space-limited environments, such as conference rooms, airport aisles (corridors), etc.
The calibration system is preferably built into the apparatus as an integral part of the apparatus so that it can be conveniently used to recalibrate the system as frequently as may be desired, e.g., to compensate for the tendency of the opto-mechanical systems to drift with time and temperature. While the calibration system is particularly useful with respect to a large viewing area apparatus constructed of a plurality of modular units as described above, the calibration system could also be used in a single-unit setup.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments of both the multiple-unit and single-unit setup, the calibration system generates an image path correction table for each unit for correcting discrepancies between the known locations of the two-dimensional array of reference points on the screen and the corresponding locations of the two-dimensional array of reference points as imaged on the screen. It also generates a projector-path correction table for each unit for correcting discrepancies between the known locations of the two-dimensional array of reference points on the screen and the corresponding locations of the two-dimensional array of reference points as projected on the screen.
According to a yet further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of producing an electro-optical display comprising: providing a plurality of modular units each including a projector for receiving electrical signals, converting them to optical images, and projecting the optical images via an optical projection system on a screen; arranging the plurality of modular units in a side-by-side array such as to combine their respective displays to produce a combined display; imaging the screen via imaging means, such as a lens, onto an image sensor for detecting distortions in the combined display; and modifying the electrical signals applied to the projector of each modular unit to correct the combined display with respect to the detected distortions.
Electro-optical display apparatus constructed in accordance with the foregoing features may be used in a large number of applications, including conference rooms, control centers, and electronic bill-boards, as well as in front/rear large projection systems.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.
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Aloni Meir
Elmaliah Nissim
Livni Avinoam
Rosenthal Amir
Barish Benjamin J.
ComView Graphics, Ltd.
Hjerpe Richard
Tran Henry N.
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