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 .
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.
Claims 1, 4-11 and 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ichikawa et al., US PGPUB 20090103053 hereinafter referenced as Ichikawa in view of Urey et al., US PGPUB 20220317463 hereinafter referenced as Urey.
As to claim 1, Ichikawa discloses a picture generation apparatus comprising: a light source configured to generate and transmit light (light source 1001, fig. 2);
a spatial light modulator (SLM) configured to output an image using light transmitted from the light source (spatial light modulator 1004, fig. 2); and
a control unit configured to: determine a gamma value based on at least one of an illuminance of surroundings and content of the image (spatial light modulator controller 5530, fig. 23A); and
control the light source and the SLM to adjust a gradation of the image based on the determined gamma value ([0454] Controlling the variable light source 5210 by means of the light source pulse pattern 5812 makes it possible to attain a display gray scale with finer gradations than the single gray scale display of the spatial light modulator 5100).
Ichikawa does not specifically disclose a picture generation apparatus.
However, in the same endeavor, Urey discloses a picture generation apparatus ([0194] In another aspect, each of the at least one picture generation unit (106) is configured to form an exit pupil (16) on an exit pupil plane (17) for viewing the head-up display content).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Ichikawa to further include Urey’s picture generation arrangement, in order to display a high quality image.
As to claim 11, Ichikawa discloses a method of controlling a picture generation apparatus comprising a light source (light source 1001, fig. 2) and a spatial light modulator (SLM) (spatial light modulator 1004, fig. 2),
the method comprising: determining a gamma value based on at least one of an illuminance of surroundings or content of an image (spatial light modulator controller 5530, fig. 23A); and
controlling the light source and the SLM to adjust, based on the gamma value, a gradation of the image and output the image ([0454] Controlling the variable light source 5210 by means of the light source pulse pattern 5812 makes it possible to attain a display gray scale with finer gradations than the single gray scale display of the spatial light modulator 5100).
Ichikawa does not specifically disclose a picture generation apparatus.
However, in the same endeavor, Urey discloses a picture generation apparatus ([0194] In another aspect, each of the at least one picture generation unit (106) is configured to form an exit pupil (16) on an exit pupil plane (17) for viewing the head-up display content).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the disclosure of Ichikawa to further include Urey’s picture generation arrangement, in order to display a high quality image.
2. (Cancelled).
3. (Cancelled).
As to claim 4, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the gamma value comprises first, second and third gamma values (Ichikawa, e.g., gamma correction curve, fig. 47).
As to claim 5, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses the image comprises a plurality of areas, and the control unit is configured to determine the gamma value for each of the plurality of areas (Ichikawa, [0567] The visual recognition capability of human being is greater in discerning the difference between gradations in darker areas of a display than that in brighter areas of a display, and therefore a person tends to recognize even a minute difference in the brightness of a dark scene as a line).
As to claim 6, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 5. The combination further discloses the light source comprises a plurality of light sources disposed corresponding to the plurality of areas of the image, respectively (Ichikawa, [0569] The top half of FIG. 56 shows the case of making the variable light sources 5210 (i.e., the red 5211, green 5212, and blue laser light source 5213) emit light continuously at a constant emission intensity).
As to claim 7, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 6. The combination further discloses the control unit is configured to control the plurality of light sources based on a distribution of gradation of each of the plurality of areas (Ichikawa, [1277] Furthermore, the control circuit for a spatial light modulator is preferred to control a semiconductor light source based on the total lengths of time of an individual sub-frame of the illumination light of each wavelength to control the ratio of brightness of the illumination light of each wavelength corresponding to the distribution of the relative visibility).
As to claim 8, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 6. The combination further discloses the control unit is configured to compare the gamma value of each of the plurality of areas to a plurality of gamma values of other areas to correct the gradation of the image (Ichikawa, [0242] Further, lowering the output of the laser light makes it possible to vary the dynamic range of an image and to darken the entire screen in response to a dark image).
As to claim 9, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 8. The combination further discloses the control unit is configured to corrects the gradation of the image using a linear interpolation method (Ichikawa, [1287] In such an event, an interpolation image is generated for displaying an interpolated image between frames).
As to claim 10, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the picture generation apparatus of claim 1. The combination further discloses a timing controller (Ichikawa, [0338] The sequencer 5540, implemented by a microprocessor to control the operation timing of the entire control unit 5500 and spatial light modulators 5100).
12. (Cancelled)
13. (Cancelled)
As to claim 14, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the method of claim 11. The combination further discloses determining the gamma value comprises determining the gamma value for each of a plurality of areas of the image (Ichikawa, [0569] The top half of FIG. 56 shows the case of making the variable light sources 5210 (i.e., the red 5211, green 5212, and blue laser light source 5213) emit light continuously at a constant emission intensity).
As to claim 15, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses the method of claim 14. The combination further discloses comparing gamma values of the plurality of areas to correct the gradation of the image (Ichikawa, [0242] Further, lowering the output of the laser light makes it possible to vary the dynamic range of an image and to darken the entire screen in response to a dark image).
As to claim 16, the combination of Ichikawa and Urey discloses a head-up display comprising: a picture generation apparatus of claim 1; and one or more reflection members configured to reflect the image output from the picture generation apparatus (Ichikawa, [0045] FIG. 8B is a diagram delineating the state in which incident light is reflected towards a projection optical system by deflecting the mirror of a mirror element).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hu et al., US PGPUB 20220224869 discloses a projection display device for displaying a time period of one frame of stereo image as a first modulation period. The projection display device includes: a light source for emitting illumination light; a spatial light modulator for modulating the illumination light according to a plurality of frames of two-dimensional images corresponding to a stereo image to be displayed, and sequentially emitting, within the first modulation period, image light corresponding to the plurality of frames of the two-dimensional images; an angle deflection apparatus arranged in an emergent optical path of the image light and used for deflecting the image light corresponding to the plurality of frames of two-dimensional images to different angles for emission; and a projection screen for displaying the image light deflected by the angle deflection apparatus.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/SAHLU OKEBATO/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2625
3/10/2026