Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice to Applications
This communication is in response to the Application filed on June 28, 2023.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6, 8, and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable of Asanuma et al., US 20170132488 A1, (hereinafter “Asanuma”) in view of Kauffmann et al., US 20220294996 A1, (hereinafter “Kauffmann”).
Regarding claim 1, Asanuma teaches an apparatus comprising:
an image processor circuitry to:
receive image data for an image to be rendered on a display ([0006] “An image display apparatus according to the aspect of the embodiments includes a display unit configured to display an image,”);
determine a region of interest (ROI) of the image ([0056] “The diagnosis target region acquisition unit 208 can acquire an interest region designated by a user via the user interface 205 from the medical image acquired by the image acquisition unit 209. In this respect, the diagnosis target region acquisition unit 208 is functionally operable as a region acquisition unit configured to accept a user instruction that designates an interest region in a medical image.”);
identify a first set of pixels that corresponds to the ROI, and a second set of pixels that are outside of the ROI ([0007] “An image display method according to the aspect of the embodiments causes a processor to perform processing for acquiring data to identify an interest region in an image displayed by an image display unit configured to control light emission luminance, acquiring a second region, which is an image region excluding a first region that includes at least the interest region, and causing the image display unit to reduce the light emission luminance of a region corresponding to the second region.” wherein a first set is the first region including the interest region and a second set is the second region that excludes the first region);
apply a first dimming scheme to the first set of pixels ([0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a first dimming scheme is the present luminance through local dimming processing);
apply a second dimming scheme to the second set of pixels ([0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a second dimming scheme is lower than the present luminance through local dimming processing)
Asanuma does not specifically disclose generating a first and second set of processed pixels; and
merge the first set of processed pixels with the second set of processed pixels to generate processed image data; and
a display engine to render the image on the display based on the processed image data.
However, Kauffmann teaches generating a first and second set of processed pixels ([0012] “The image data includes a set of pixel values. The method further includes defining a first subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The first subset of pixel values corresponds to at least one region of interest in the image data. The method further includes defining a second subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The second subset of pixel values is complementary to the first subset of pixel values.” wherein a first set of processed pixels is a first subset of pixel values and a second set of processed pixels is a second subset of pixel values) ([0051] “The ISP 206 may further define a second subset of pixel values S2 from the set of pixel values ST. The second subset of pixel values S2 may be complementary to the first subset of pixel values S1. In other words, the second subset of pixel values S2 may include the pixel values 402 of the set of pixel values ST that do not belong to the first subset of pixel values S1, i.e., S2=ST−S1. FIG. 4C illustrates the first subset of pixels S1 and the second subset of pixels S2 separated from each other.”); and
merge the first set of processed pixels with the second set of processed pixels to generate processed image data ([0012] “The method further includes merging the first and second sub-images to generate an output image. The method further includes displaying the output by a display device disposed on the vehicle.”); and
a display engine to render the image on the display based on the processed image data ([0012] “The method further includes merging the first and second sub-images to generate an output image. The method further includes displaying the output by a display device disposed on the vehicle.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to generate different processed pixel subsets of Kauffmann in the regional image display control method of Asanuma because generating pixel subsets allows for more adaptive segmentation that can handle more complex structures and variations in provided images, thereby reducing power consumption via specific brightness distribution and maintaining the display quality of the region of interest.
Regarding claim 2, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein to apply the second dimming scheme includes to apply dimming to all pixels of the second set of pixels (Asanuma - [0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a second dimming scheme is lower than the present luminance through local dimming processing) (Kauffmann - [0012] “The image data includes a set of pixel values. The method further includes defining a first subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The first subset of pixel values corresponds to at least one region of interest in the image data. The method further includes defining a second subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The second subset of pixel values is complementary to the first subset of pixel values.” wherein a second set of processed pixels is a second subset of pixel values).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 2, wherein to apply the second dimming scheme further includes to increase a saturation level of the pixels of the second set of pixels (Asanuma - [0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a second dimming scheme is lower than the present luminance through local dimming processing) (Kauffmann - [0045] “The ISP 206 may provide for various image processing steps, such as defective pixel detection/correction, lens shading correction, demosaicing, high dynamic range (HDR) processing, image sharpening, noise reduction, gamma correction, image enhancement, color-space conversion, image compression, chroma sub-sampling, color shifting, edge enhancement, image scaling operations, other types of pixel manipulation, and so forth.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 4, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first dimming scheme includes to selectively apply dimming to only some pixels of the first set of pixels based on a luminance of the respective pixels of the first set of pixels (Asanuma - [0075] “As mentioned above, the first region (i.e., the interfering backlight region) is the region including the interest region 310 designated by the user, which is wider than the interest region 310. Therefore, the video signal correction unit 222 can reduce the pixel values of the partial image region of the first region excluding the interest region 310. Therefore, the region other than the interest region 310 becomes darker. The user can concentrate on observation of the interest region 310.”) (Kauffmann - [0012] “The image data includes a set of pixel values. The method further includes defining a first subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The first subset of pixel values corresponds to at least one region of interest in the image data. The method further includes defining a second subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The second subset of pixel values is complementary to the first subset of pixel values.” wherein a first set of processed pixels is a first subset of pixel values).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 5, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second dimming scheme is applied to the second set of pixels based on a determination that a percentage of the pixels of the second set of pixels that are within a predefined luminance range is greater than a threshold (Asanuma - [0052] “The backlight control unit 226 can control the light emission luminance of the backlight, for each predetermined backlight emission region, based on the video signal acquired from the video signal input unit 221. The video signal correction unit 222 can correct the video signal based on the backlight luminance value determined by the backlight control unit 226.” wherein a threshold is a predetermined backlight emission region) (Asanuma - [0073] “Therefore, the video signal correction unit 222 acquires the backlight emission region information and the information to identify the second region from the backlight control unit 226. The video signal correction unit 222 is an image correction unit configured to perform image correction processing on an image in such a way as to reduce pixel values in a boundary region of the acquired second region, which is positioned within a predetermined range from the first region. The predetermined range is a region where the second region is overlapped with the backlight emission influence region.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 6, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ROI is determined based on a power saving setting of the apparatus or an application being run by the apparatus (Asanuma - [0043] “If the user operates the viewer to designate an interest region (i.e., an observation target) on a displayed image, the image display apparatus reduces the light emission luminance of a backlight in a region that does not include the interest region. Accordingly, it becomes feasible to prevent light emission in the region other than the interest region from interfering with user's diagnostic observation. Further, electric power consumption in the image display apparatus can be reduced.” wherein a power saving settings is reducing electric power consumption).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 8, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising one or more of:
application circuitry to provide the image data to the image processor circuitry (Asanuma - [0148] “Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).”); or
a memory to store instructions for the first dimming scheme and the second dimming scheme (Asanuma - [0148] “The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 10, Asanuma teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable media (NTCRM) having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed by one or more processors of a device configure the device to ([0148] “Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s)”):
obtain image information associated with an image to be displayed on a display of the device ([0006] “An image display apparatus according to the aspect of the embodiments includes a display unit configured to display an image,”) ([0009] “Another mode of the aspect of the embodiments is a program that causes a computer to realize each step of the above-mentioned method. The program may be provided as a part of a firmware incorporated in a device to perform a basic control for a hardware resource (e.g., a calculator or a display apparatus).”);
allocate pixels of the image to a first subset of pixels and a second subset of pixels, wherein the first subset of pixels corresponds to a region of interest (ROI) of the image ([0007] “An image display method according to the aspect of the embodiments causes a processor to perform processing for acquiring data to identify an interest region in an image displayed by an image display unit configured to control light emission luminance, acquiring a second region, which is an image region excluding a first region that includes at least the interest region, and causing the image display unit to reduce the light emission luminance of a region corresponding to the second region.” wherein a first set is the first region including the interest region and a second set is the second region that excludes the first region);
apply dimming to all pixels of the second subset of pixels ([0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a second dimming scheme is lower than the present luminance through local dimming processing)
Asanuma does not specifically disclose merge the pixels of the second subset of pixels with the first subset of pixels for display.
However, Kauffmann merge the pixels of the second subset of pixels with the first subset of pixels for display ([0012] “The method further includes merging the first and second sub-images to generate an output image. The method further includes displaying the output by a display device disposed on the vehicle.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 4 but in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable media. Therefore, claim 11 recites similar limitations to claim 4 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 4 above).
Regarding claim 12, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 3 but in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable media. Therefore, claim 12 recites similar limitations to claim 3 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 3 above).
Regarding claim 13, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 5 but in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable media. Therefore, claim 13 recites similar limitations to claim 5 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 5 above).
Regarding claim 14, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the one or more NTCRM of claim 10, wherein the number of pixels included in the first subset of pixels is based on an aggressiveness level, and wherein the aggressiveness level is user selectable (Asanuma - [0075] “As mentioned above, the first region (i.e., the interfering backlight region) is the region including the interest region 310 designated by the user, which is wider than the interest region 310. Therefore, the video signal correction unit 222 can reduce the pixel values of the partial image region of the first region excluding the interest region 310. Therefore, the region other than the interest region 310 becomes darker. The user can concentrate on observation of the interest region 310.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 10.
Regarding claim 15, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 7 but in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable media. Therefore, claim 15 recites similar limitations to claim 7 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 7 above).
Regarding claim 16, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 9 but in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable media. Therefore, claim 16 recites similar limitations to claim 9 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 9 above).
Regarding claim 17, Asanuma teaches a device comprising:
a display ([0006] “An image display apparatus according to the aspect of the embodiments includes a display unit configured to display an image,”);
an image processor coupled to the display, the image processor to ([0047] “FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a functional configuration of the image display system 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment. The image display control apparatus 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a video signal output unit 202, a communication control unit 203, a memory 204, a user interface 205, a storage unit 206, and an internal bus 207. The image display apparatus 102 includes a video signal input unit 221, a video signal correction unit 222, a communication control unit 223, a control region acquisition unit 224, a storage unit 225, a backlight control unit 226, a backlight 227, and a display unit 228.”):
receive image information associated with an image to be displayed on the display; determine a region of interest (ROI) associated with the image ([0006] “An image display apparatus according to the aspect of the embodiments includes a display unit configured to display an image,”) ([0056] “The diagnosis target region acquisition unit 208 can acquire an interest region designated by a user via the user interface 205 from the medical image acquired by the image acquisition unit 209. In this respect, the diagnosis target region acquisition unit 208 is functionally operable as a region acquisition unit configured to accept a user instruction that designates an interest region in a medical image.”);
allocate pixels of the image to a first subset of pixels and a second subset of pixels, wherein the first subset of pixels corresponds to the ROI and the second subset of pixels is outside of the ROI ([0007] “An image display method according to the aspect of the embodiments causes a processor to perform processing for acquiring data to identify an interest region in an image displayed by an image display unit configured to control light emission luminance, acquiring a second region, which is an image region excluding a first region that includes at least the interest region, and causing the image display unit to reduce the light emission luminance of a region corresponding to the second region.” wherein a first set is the first region including the interest region and a second set is the second region that excludes the first region);
apply a selective power saving scheme to the first subset of pixels based on a luminance of respective pixels of the first subset of pixels ([0075] “As mentioned above, the first region (i.e., the interfering backlight region) is the region including the interest region 310 designated by the user, which is wider than the interest region 310. Therefore, the video signal correction unit 222 can reduce the pixel values of the partial image region of the first region excluding the interest region 310. Therefore, the region other than the interest region 310 becomes darker. The user can concentrate on observation of the interest region 310.”);
apply dimming to all pixels of the second subset of pixels ([0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.” wherein a second dimming scheme is lower than the present luminance through local dimming processing);
Asanuma does not specifically disclose generating a processed ROI frame and a non-ROI frame;
merge the ROI frame with the non-ROI frame to generate a merged frame; and
provide the merged frame to the display.
However, Kauffmann teaches generating a processed ROI frame and a non-ROI frame ([0012] “The image data includes a set of pixel values. The method further includes defining a first subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The first subset of pixel values corresponds to at least one region of interest in the image data. The method further includes defining a second subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The second subset of pixel values is complementary to the first subset of pixel values.” wherein a processed ROI frame is a first subset of pixel values) ([0051] “The ISP 206 may further define a second subset of pixel values S2 from the set of pixel values ST. The second subset of pixel values S2 may be complementary to the first subset of pixel values S1. In other words, the second subset of pixel values S2 may include the pixel values 402 of the set of pixel values ST that do not belong to the first subset of pixel values S1, i.e., S2=ST−S1. FIG. 4C illustrates the first subset of pixels S1 and the second subset of pixels S2 separated from each other.” wherein a non-ROI frame is a second subset of pixel values);
merge the ROI frame with the non-ROI frame to generate a merged frame ([0012] “The method further includes merging the first and second sub-images to generate an output image. The method further includes displaying the output by a display device disposed on the vehicle.”); and
provide the merged frame to the display ([0012] “The method further includes merging the first and second sub-images to generate an output image. The method further includes displaying the output by a display device disposed on the vehicle.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 3 but in the form of a device. Therefore, claim 18 recites similar limitations to claim 3 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 3 above).
Regarding claim 19, the claim recites similar limitations to claim 5 but in the form of a device. Therefore, claim 19 recites similar limitations to claim 5 and is rejected for similar rationale and reasoning (see the analysis for claim 5 above).
Regarding claim 20, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the device of claim 17, further comprising one or more of:
application circuitry to provide the image information to the image processor (Asanuma - [0148] “Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s).”);
a memory to store media content associated with the image (Asanuma - [0148] “The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.”); or
interface circuitry to interface the image processor with the display (Asanuma - [0047] “FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a functional configuration of the image display system 1 according to the first exemplary embodiment. The image display control apparatus 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 201, a video signal output unit 202, a communication control unit 203, a memory 204, a user interface 205, a storage unit 206, and an internal bus 207. The image display apparatus 102 includes a video signal input unit 221, a video signal correction unit 222, a communication control unit 223, a control region acquisition unit 224, a storage unit 225, a backlight control unit 226, a backlight 227, and a display unit 228.”).
The motivation for combining Asanuma and Kauffmann is the same motivation as used for claim 17.
Claims 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable of Asanuma et al., US 20170132488 A1, (hereinafter “Asanuma”) in view of Kauffmann et al., US 20220294996 A1, (hereinafter “Kauffmann”) in further view of Jerripothula et al., US 20240331107 A1, (hereinafter “Jerripothula”).
Regarding claim 7, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 6, wherein the application is a video (Asanuma - [0102] “In step S1307, the backlight control unit 226 sets the luminance of the backlight 227 in the second region to a value lower than the present luminance, through the local dimming processing, based on the received backlight control request signal, thereby realizing image luminance value control in the second region.”) (Kauffmann - [0012] “The image data includes a set of pixel values. The method further includes defining a first subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The first subset of pixel values corresponds to at least one region of interest in the image data. The method further includes defining a second subset of pixel values from the set of pixel values. The second subset of pixel values is complementary to the first subset of pixel values.” wherein a second set of processed pixels is a second subset of pixel values).
Asanuma in view of Kauffmann does not specifically disclose a video conferencing application and a blurred background region.
However, Jerripothula teaches a video conferencing application and a blurred background region ([0090] “The client application may instruct control circuitry 804 to determine whether processing should be offloaded. In some embodiments, the video conference may correspond to one or more of online meetings, virtual meeting rooms, video calls, Internet Protocol (IP) video calls, etc.”) ([0045] “In some embodiments, the image processing system may generate bounding shape 106 as a bounding circle encircling a region of the image foreground and/or background. In some embodiments, bounding shape 106 may correspond to a region of interest (ROI), and automated radial blurring may be performed based at least in part on such ROI.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the regional image display control method of Asanuma in view of Kauffmann to an application like video conferencing of Jerripothula to reduce overall power consumption and uphold visual quality within the video application.
Regarding claim 9, Asanuma in view of Kauffmann teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the display is a
Asanuma in view of Kauffmann does not specifically disclose an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display.
However, Jerripothula teaches an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display ([0095] “Display 812 may be one or more of a monitor, a television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) for a mobile device, amorphous silicon display, low-temperature polysilicon display, electronic ink display, electrophoretic display, active matrix display, electro-wetting display, electro-fluidic display, cathode ray tube display, light-emitting diode display, electroluminescent display, plasma display panel, high-performance addressing display, thin-film transistor display, organic light-emitting diode display,”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display of Jerripothula in the regional image display control method of Asanuma in view of Kauffmann because OLED displays provide several advantages including a lower profile and better visual quality.
Conclusion
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/AMANDA H PEARSON/Examiner, Art Unit 2666
/MING Y HON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2666
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