DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
1. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/27/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Drawings
2. The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they do not include the following reference sign(s) mentioned in the description: 16 of ¶ [0018], lines 4 and 5. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
3. The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In ¶ [0018], lines 4 and 5, "of interest 16" should read "of interest 106"
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
4. Claims 12-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claims 12-15, line 1, "computer readable storage medium" should read "non-transient computer readable storage medium"
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-4, 6-8, and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN-104575443-A) in view of Kallamballe et al. (US-2020/0234450-A1, hereinafter "Kallamballe"). (Examiner’s note: Citations to Sun use the original CN-104575443-A document locations.)
7. As per claim 1, Sun discloses: A display monitor comprising:
a display panel; (Sun, page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area …”)
an embedded processor [[communicatively coupled to the display panel; and]]
a non-volatile memory [[communicatively coupled to the embedded processor,]] the memory storing instructions that when executed cause the embedded processor to: (Sun, page 6-7, [0037], “The present invention can be implemented at least in part in computer program code of tangible machine-readable storage media (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROMs), optical discs, digital laser discs, Blu-ray discs, hard disk drives, flash memory or other tangible machine-readable storage media), wherein when the computer program code is loaded and executed on a computer, the computer becomes a device for implementing the present invention. The present invention can be implemented at least in some form of computer program code, whether loaded and/or executed on a computer, and when the computer program code is loaded and executed on a computer, the computer becomes a device for implementing the present invention. When a processor is implemented for general purposes, computer program code distinguishes the configuration of the processor to create a specific logic circuit. This invention can be implemented, at least in part, in digital signal processors constructed from application-specific integrated circuits, thereby fulfilling the purpose of this invention.”)
[[receive an enable signal corresponding to an onscreen display input; and]]
adjust an area of the display panel corresponding to a user selection. (Sun, page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10. The user sets the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R through the setting method provided by the electronic device 100, such as through software setting, and the storage unit 18 stores the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R.” and page 6, [0032], “Referring to Figures 1 and 3, when a user presses the touch point P1 on the touch display panel 32, the detection unit 14 detects, for example, the capacitance change of the electrode (not shown) on the touch display panel 32 to determine the position of the touch point P1.” and page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area; the brightness adjustment unit is used to adjust the brightness value of the touch display area, wherein the brightness adjustment operation further includes: adjusting the brightness value of the touch display area to a minimum brightness value, and when a touch point in the touch display area is pressed, the brightness adjustment unit increases the brightness value of an area formed based on the touch point to a preset brightness value.” and page 6, [0035], “Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a partial adjustment of screen brightness according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, starting from step S0, enter the local screen brightness adjustment mode. Step S2: The user sets the preset radius R and the preset brightness. Then, in step S4, the brightness adjustment unit 12 adjusts the brightness value of the touch display area A1 to a minimum brightness value. When a touch point P1 of the touch display area A1 is pressed, i.e., in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8, whereby the brightness adjustment unit 12 increases the brightness value of the circular area C1 formed with the position of the touch point P1 as the center and according to the preset radius R to the preset brightness value. … Conversely, if the touch display area A1 is pressed within a certain time, the brightness value of the circular area C1 will continue to be maintained at the preset brightness value.”)
8. Sun doesn't explicitly disclose but Kallamballe discloses: [[A display monitor comprising:
a display panel;
an embedded processor]] communicatively coupled to the display panel; and
[[a non-volatile memory]] communicatively coupled to the embedded processor, [[the memory storing instructions that when executed cause the embedded processor to:]] (Kallamballe, [0008], “An apparatus for adjusting a display is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.” and [0011], “Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a number of pixels of a background region of the display and a gray level value that corresponds to the background region based on the source surface pipe programming, where the first histogram may be determined based on the number of pixels and the gray level value.” and [0089], “The various illustrative blocks, components, and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device …”)
receive an enable signal corresponding to an onscreen display input; and (Kallamballe, [0006], “In other examples, a device may determine a region of interest (e.g., pixel rows and pixel columns of the display that correspond to the image or frame), and determine the histogram based on the ROI (e.g., without considering pixels and gray level values of the background filler). … That is, video enable signal information from a video pipeline may be used to compute the ROI histogram, such that pixels and gray levels of the ROI, obtained or identified from the video enable signal, may be considered when determining the histogram. As the video enable signal obtained from the source surface pipe programming may not include background filler information, the histogram may be determined based on the pixels within the image aspect ratio.”)
[[adjust an area of the display panel corresponding to a user selection.]]
9. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the display monitor of Sun to include the disclosure of an embedded processor communicatively coupled to the display panel, a non-volatile memory communicatively coupled to the embedded processor and receiving an enable signal for display input, of Kallamballe. The motivation for this modification could have been to accommodate many display types as well as store user settings. In addition, the enable signal helps to ensure that display content is being supplied to the display and is properly connected. Typically, these are standard features in displays.
10. As per claim 2, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The display monitor of claim 1, the adjust instructions further comprising increase a backlight value of the display panel of the area. (Sun, page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area; the brightness adjustment unit is used to adjust the brightness value of the touch display area, wherein the brightness adjustment operation further includes: adjusting the brightness value of the touch display area to a minimum brightness value, and when a touch point in the touch display area is pressed, the brightness adjustment unit increases the brightness value of an area formed based on the touch point to a preset brightness value.” and page 6, [0035], “Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a partial adjustment of screen brightness according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, starting from step S0, enter the local screen brightness adjustment mode. Step S2: The user sets the preset radius R and the preset brightness. Then, in step S4, the brightness adjustment unit 12 adjusts the brightness value of the touch display area A1 to a minimum brightness value. When a touch point P1 of the touch display area A1 is pressed, i.e., in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8, whereby the brightness adjustment unit 12 increases the brightness value of the circular area C1 formed with the position of the touch point P1 as the center and according to the preset radius R to the preset brightness value. … Conversely, if the touch display area A1 is pressed within a certain time, the brightness value of the circular area C1 will continue to be maintained at the preset brightness value.”)
11. As per claim 3, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The display monitor of claim 1, the adjust instruction further comprising apply a color histogram analysis of the area. (Kallamballe, [0006], “In other examples, a device may determine a region of interest (e.g., pixel rows and pixel columns of the display that correspond to the image or frame), and determine the histogram based on the ROI (e.g., without considering pixels and gray level values of the background filler). For example, a device may determine the histogram based on ROI information read from a video pipeline. That is, video enable signal information from a video pipeline may be used to compute the ROI histogram, such that pixels and gray levels of the ROI, obtained or identified from the video enable signal, may be considered when determining the histogram. As the video enable signal obtained from the source surface pipe programming may not include background filler information, the histogram may be determined based on the pixels within the image aspect ratio.” and [0031], “In some cases, it may be desirable to control the display panel 105 drivers in order to adjust the display panel 105 of a device 102 (e.g., to enhance a displayed image). As discussed above, such display processing techniques may determine a histogram of display information, which may be read from a display hardware pipeline, and may use the information from the histogram to compute and adjust backlighting, brightness settings, pixel tone mapping settings, etc.” and [0077], “In other cases, the I/O controller 515 may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 515 may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user may interact with the device 505 via the I/O controller 515 or via hardware components controlled by the I/O controller 515.”)
12. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the display monitor of claim 1 of Sun to include the disclosure that the adjust instruction applies a color histogram analysis of the area, of Kallamballe. The motivation for this modification could have been to allow a user or display to make adjustments to the display if necessary. For instance, if the color histogram analysis indicates a saturated (or desaturated) color, the user or display could adjust that color to compensate, bringing it more into balance with other colors. In addition, by performing histogram analysis on different display areas, adjustments could be targeted to enhance visuals depending on the content.
13. As per claim 4, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The display monitor of claim 1, the instructions further comprising:
provide a user a predetermined plurality of areas within the display panel; (Sun, page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10.”; Examiner’s note: Any point on the touch display area would be considered a “predetermined plurality of areas.”)
receive the user selection of the predetermined plurality of areas; and (Sun, page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area; the brightness adjustment unit is used to adjust the brightness value of the touch display area, wherein the brightness adjustment operation further includes: adjusting the brightness value of the touch display area to a minimum brightness value, and when a touch point in the touch display area is pressed, the brightness adjustment unit increases the brightness value of an area formed based on the touch point to a preset brightness value.” and page 6, [0032], “Referring to Figures 1 and 3, when a user presses the touch point P1 on the touch display panel 32, the detection unit 14 detects, for example, the capacitance change of the electrode (not shown) on the touch display panel 32 to determine the position of the touch point P1.”)
store the user selection. (Sun, page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10. The user sets the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R through the setting method provided by the electronic device 100, such as through software setting, and the storage unit 18 stores the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R.”)
14. As per claim 6, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: A display monitor comprising:
a display panel;
a touch-based input system corresponding to a complete surface area of the display panel; (Sun, page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area …” and page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10.”)
an embedded controller communicatively coupled to the display panel and the touch-based input system; and (Kallamballe, [0008], “An apparatus for adjusting a display is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.” and Kallamballe, [0011], “Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a number of pixels of a background region of the display and a gray level value that corresponds to the background region based on the source surface pipe programming, where the first histogram may be determined based on the number of pixels and the gray level value.” and Kallamballe, [0089], “The various illustrative blocks, components, and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device …” and Sun, page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area …”)
a memory storing instructions that when executed cause the embedded process to: (Sun, page 6-7, [0037], “The present invention can be implemented at least in part in computer program code of tangible machine-readable storage media (e.g., random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROMs), optical discs, digital laser discs, Blu-ray discs, hard disk drives, flash memory or other tangible machine-readable storage media), wherein when the computer program code is loaded and executed on a computer, the computer becomes a device for implementing the present invention. … This invention can be implemented, at least in part, in digital signal processors constructed from application-specific integrated circuits, thereby fulfilling the purpose of this invention.”)
receive a user selection from the touch-based input system, corresponding to an area of interest of the display panel;
store the area of interest in a non-volatile memory; (Sun, page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10. The user sets the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R through the setting method provided by the electronic device 100, such as through software setting, and the storage unit 18 stores the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R.” and page 6, [0032], “Referring to Figures 1 and 3, when a user presses the touch point P1 on the touch display panel 32, the detection unit 14 detects, for example, the capacitance change of the electrode (not shown) on the touch display panel 32 to determine the position of the touch point P1.”)
receive an enable signal corresponding to an onscreen display input; (Kallamballe, [0006], “In other examples, a device may determine a region of interest (e.g., pixel rows and pixel columns of the display that correspond to the image or frame), and determine the histogram based on the ROI (e.g., without considering pixels and gray level values of the background filler). … That is, video enable signal information from a video pipeline may be used to compute the ROI histogram, such that pixels and gray levels of the ROI, obtained or identified from the video enable signal, may be considered when determining the histogram. As the video enable signal obtained from the source surface pipe programming may not include background filler information, the histogram may be determined based on the pixels within the image aspect ratio.”)
retrieve the area of interest from the non-volatile memory; and
adjust an area of the display panel corresponding to the area of interest. (Sun, page 6, [0035], “Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a partial adjustment of screen brightness according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, starting from step S0, enter the local screen brightness adjustment mode. Step S2: The user sets the preset radius R and the preset brightness. Then, in step S4, the brightness adjustment unit 12 adjusts the brightness value of the touch display area A1 to a minimum brightness value. When a touch point P1 of the touch display area A1 is pressed, i.e., in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8, whereby the brightness adjustment unit 12 increases the brightness value of the circular area C1 formed with the position of the touch point P1 as the center and according to the preset radius R to the preset brightness value. … Conversely, if the touch display area A1 is pressed within a certain time, the brightness value of the circular area C1 will continue to be maintained at the preset brightness value.” and page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area; the brightness adjustment unit is used to adjust the brightness value of the touch display area, wherein the brightness adjustment operation further includes: adjusting the brightness value of the touch display area to a minimum brightness value, and when a touch point in the touch display area is pressed, the brightness adjustment unit increases the brightness value of an area formed based on the touch point to a preset brightness value.”)
The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
15. Claim 7, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 2 and independent claim 6, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above.
16. Claim 8, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 3 and independent claim 6, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 3.
17. As per claim 11, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: A non-transient computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause an embedded controller to: (Kallamballe, [0008], “An apparatus for adjusting a display is described. The apparatus may include a processor, memory in electronic communication with the processor, and instructions stored in the memory.” and [0011], “Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described herein may further include operations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a number of pixels of a background region of the display and a gray level value that corresponds to the background region based on the source surface pipe programming, where the first histogram may be determined based on the number of pixels and the gray level value.” and [0089], “The various illustrative blocks, components, and modules described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device …”)
receive an enable signal corresponding to an onscreen display input; (Kallamballe, [0006], “In other examples, a device may determine a region of interest (e.g., pixel rows and pixel columns of the display that correspond to the image or frame), and determine the histogram based on the ROI (e.g., without considering pixels and gray level values of the background filler). … That is, video enable signal information from a video pipeline may be used to compute the ROI histogram, such that pixels and gray levels of the ROI, obtained or identified from the video enable signal, may be considered when determining the histogram. As the video enable signal obtained from the source surface pipe programming may not include background filler information, the histogram may be determined based on the pixels within the image aspect ratio.”)
retrieve a user selection corresponding to an area of a display panel; and (Sun, page 6, [0032], “The detection unit 14 detects the position of the pressed touch point P1, which is any point on the touch display area A1 displayed by the touch display device 10. The user sets the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R through the setting method provided by the electronic device 100, such as through software setting, and the storage unit 18 stores the minimum brightness value and the preset radius R.” and page 6, [0032], “Referring to Figures 1 and 3, when a user presses the touch point P1 on the touch display panel 32, the detection unit 14 detects, for example, the capacitance change of the electrode (not shown) on the touch display panel 32 to determine the position of the touch point P1.”)
adjust a displayed image in the area of the display panel corresponding to the user selection. (Sun, page 6, [0035], “Figure 4 shows a flowchart of a partial adjustment of screen brightness according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figures 1 and 4, starting from step S0, enter the local screen brightness adjustment mode. Step S2: The user sets the preset radius R and the preset brightness. Then, in step S4, the brightness adjustment unit 12 adjusts the brightness value of the touch display area A1 to a minimum brightness value. When a touch point P1 of the touch display area A1 is pressed, i.e., in step S6, the process proceeds to step S8, whereby the brightness adjustment unit 12 increases the brightness value of the circular area C1 formed with the position of the touch point P1 as the center and according to the preset radius R to the preset brightness value. … Conversely, if the touch display area A1 is pressed within a certain time, the brightness value of the circular area C1 will continue to be maintained at the preset brightness value.” and page 4, [0007], “In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides an electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen. The electronic device for locally adjusting the brightness of its own screen includes: a touch display device and a brightness adjustment unit; the touch display device is used to display a touch display area; the brightness adjustment unit is used to adjust the brightness value of the touch display area, wherein the brightness adjustment operation further includes: adjusting the brightness value of the touch display area to a minimum brightness value, and when a touch point in the touch display area is pressed, the brightness adjustment unit increases the brightness value of an area formed based on the touch point to a preset brightness value.”)
The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 1.
18. Claims 5, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN-104575443-A) in view of Kallamballe et al. (US-2020/0234450-A1, hereinafter "Kallamballe"), and further in view of Micro-Star International (MSI) Co. (NPL: "Optix Series LCD Monitor: Optix MPG321UR-QD (3DC0), Optix MPG321QRF-QD (3DB8) User Guide," Revision, V1.0, 2021/09., hereinafter "MSI").
19. As per claim 5, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The display monitor of claim 4, wherein one of the predetermined plurality of areas comprises an area of the display panel [[corresponding to a targeting reticule rendered in a video stream.]] (See rejection for claim 4.)
20. Sun in view of Kallamballe doesn't explicitly disclose but MSI discloses: [[The display monitor of claim 4, wherein one of the predetermined plurality of areas comprises an area of the display panel]] corresponding to a targeting reticule rendered in a video stream. (MSI, page 13, “Smart Crosshair … Through AI algorithm, this function enhances the visibility of in-game crosshair. Users can select the color and position of the crosshair.” and page 14, “Optix Scope … The center point will zoom in when Optix Scope is enabled, user can adjust the details through the Scope Size and Scope Ratio settings. Smart Crosshair and Optix Scope can be enabled at the same time. ... Screen Size 1:1 will be set to Auto while Optix Scope function is enabled.”; Examiner’s note: A user is able to enable and select a position for a “smart crosshair.” The position can be chosen so that it matches the targeting reticule area in a video stream. The MSI monitor also has the ability to perform automatic adjustment based on the selected position, such as enhancing the visibility of the crosshair in real-time. Lastly, if the targeting reticule in the video stream is in the center of the screen (like for many video games), the Optix Scope feature allows the center point to be zoomed in by a scope ratio in real-time.)
21. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the display monitor of claim 4 of Sun in view of Kallamballe to include the disclosure that one of the predetermined plurality of areas of the display panel corresponds to a targeting reticule rendered in a video stream, of MSI. The motivation for this modification could have been to focus adjustments of the display to a region that likely has a user’s attention, the targeting reticule. If a user is playing a first-person shooter (FPS) style game, they are likely watching the region surrounding the targeting reticule closely. Thus, it could be beneficial to have the display region around the targeting reticule dynamically adjusted to assist the user see the video stream clearly and for enhanced visuals.
22. Claim 13, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 5 and independent claim 11, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 5.
23. As per claim 14, Sun in view of Kallamballe, and further in view of MSI discloses: The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the video stream corresponds to a rendering of a sequenced plurality of frames rendered of a video game. (MSI, page 14, “Night Vision … This function optimizes background brightness and is recommended for FPS games.” and page 21, “HDMI CEC … When Sony PlayStation®, Nintendo® Switch™, or Xbox Series X/S is connected, Game and Pro Mode will be automatically set to User mode (Default) and can be adjusted to users’ preferred modes later.” and page 21, “HDMI 2.1 (for Optix MPG321UR-QD) 4K 120Hz – Console” and page 22, “Refresh rate ... 144Hz“; Examiner’s note: The Optix MPG321UR-QD and MPG321QRF-QD are gaming monitors released by MSI. There are numerous references to connecting the monitors to games or video game consoles. In addition, the refresh rate of both monitors is at least 144Hz which means it is capable of displaying a plurality of rendered video game frames.)
24. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 11 of Sun in view of Kallamballe to include the disclosure that the video stream corresponds to a rendering of a sequenced plurality of frames rendered of a video game, of MSI. The motivation for this modification could have been to allow for region adjusted display to benefit video gaming. Modern video game consoles can run games that produce dynamic HDR colors at high resolutions. By using dynamic region display adjustment, this can make modern games visually even more immersive by making “brights” look brighter and “darks” look darker.
25. Claims 9 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN-104575443-A) in view of Kallamballe et al. (US-2020/0234450-A1, hereinafter "Kallamballe"), and further in view of Lim et al. (US-2018/0262727-A1, hereinafter "Lim").
26. As per claim 9, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The display monitor of claim 6, the instructions further comprising:
[[evaluate a video stream for high dynamic range metadata; and
adjust color values corresponding to the video stream in the area of interest based on the metadata.]] (See rejection for claim 6.)
27. Sun in view of Kallamballe doesn't explicitly disclose but Lim discloses: [[The display monitor of claim 6, the instructions further comprising:]]
evaluate a video stream for high dynamic range metadata; and (Lim, [0015], “According to an aspect of an example embodiment, there is provided a display apparatus which processes and displays an image signal, comprising: an image receiver configured to receive an image data; a decoder configured to divide the received image data into an image signal and metadata; and an image processor configured to acquire information relating to an area of interest by using the metadata and to perform a high dynamic range (HDR) processing with respect to the area of interest by using the acquired information relating to the area of interest.”)
adjust color values corresponding to the video stream in the area of interest based on the metadata. (Lim, [0016], “The information relating to the area of interest may include a coordinate corresponding to the area of interest and color range information relating to a front view and background included in the area of interest.” and [0043]-[0044], “The image processor 130 may acquire information relating to the area of interest by using the metadata acquired via the decoder 120. In addition, the image processor 130 may perform an HDR processing with respect to the area of interest by using the acquired information relating to the area of interest. For example, the image processor 130 may acquire information relating to the area of interest by using the metadata acquired via the decoder 120. In this regard, the information relating to the area of interest may include a coordinate corresponding to the area of interest, a color range information relating to a front view included in the area of interest and color range information relating to the background, to represent the area corresponding to the area of interest. … In addition, the color range information with respect to the front view and background included in the area of interest may include information relating to at least one range from among maxRGB, red (R), green (G), and blue (B). In addition, the color range information with respect to the front view and background included in the area of interest may be information relating to a hue saturation value (HSV) and an Ycbcr range.”)
28. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the display monitor of claim 6 of Sun in view of Kallamballe to include the disclosure of evaluating a video stream for high dynamic range metadata and adjusting color values corresponding to the video stream in the area of interest based on the metadata, of Lim. The motivation for this modification could have been to supply HDR metadata so that the display can dynamically adjust colors in various regions of the display. This is beneficial because only certain regions of the display will need to be adjusted at any given time, improving bandwidth and response time.
29. Claim 12, which is similar in scope to dependent claim 9 and independent claim 11, is thus rejected under the same rationale as described above. The motivation for this modification is the same as claim 9.
30. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN-104575443-A) in view of Kallamballe et al. (US-2020/0234450-A1, hereinafter "Kallamballe"), further in view of Lim et al. (US-2018/0262727-A1, hereinafter "Lim"), and further in view of Ward et al. (US-8248486-B1, hereinafter "Ward").
31. As per claim 10, Sun in view of Kallamballe, and further in view of Lim discloses: The display monitor of claim 9 the instructions further comprising:
receive a signal in the metadata; and (Lim, [0042], “The decoder 120 may decode the received image data and separate the image signal from the metadata. For example, in response to an image data including metadata being received via the image receiver 110, the decoder 120 may parse a message included in the received image data and acquire metadata.”)
[[revert an adjustment of the area of the display panel to correspond with the video stream.]]
32. Sun in view of Kallamballe, and further in view of Lim doesn't explicitly disclose but Ward discloses: [[The display monitor of claim 9 the instructions further comprising:
receive a signal in the metadata; and]]
revert an adjustment of the area of the display panel to correspond with the video stream. (Ward, col. 1, lines 27-36, “To support backwards compatibility as well as new HDR display technologies, an HDR image may be represented by a tone-mapped image with additional metadata comprising grayscale luminance ratios. On one hand, the tone-mapped image may be used to present a normal dynamic range image (e.g., on a legacy display). On the other hand, the additional metadata may be used with the tone-mapped image to generate, recover, or present an HDR image (e.g., by an HDR display).”; Examiner’s note: Additional metadata is used to “recover” (or revert) an HDR image)
33. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the display monitor of claim 9 of Sun in view of Kallamballe, and further in view of Lim to include the disclosure of reverting an adjustment of an area of the display panel corresponding with a video stream with HDR metadata, of Ward. The motivation for this modification could have been to adjust the display due to user preference or to a different display device. By reverting the effect of HDR metadata, this would display the video stream content in a more “standard” way, such as on a non-HDR screen. A user could simply turn HDR off, if preferred, or a change to a non-HDR display could revert the content to a non-HDR version.
34. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (CN-104575443-A) in view of Kallamballe et al. (US-2020/0234450-A1, hereinafter "Kallamballe"), and further in view of Furihata et al. (US-2022/0223080-A1, hereinafter "Furihata").
35. As per claim 15, Sun in view of Kallamballe discloses: The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the adjust instruction comprising [[manipulation a gamma curve corresponding to the displayed image.]] (See rejection for claim 11.)
36. Sun in view of Kallamballe doesn't explicitly disclose but Furihata discloses: [[The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, the adjust instruction comprising]] manipulation a gamma curve corresponding to the displayed image. (Furihata, [0002], “In such implementations, the user may be asked to put the user's finger on a predetermined region of the display panel, and the display device may be configured to increase the brightness level of the predetermined region to illuminate the user's finger.” and [0023], “A display device may be configured to display a part of an image with a brightness level higher than that of the remaining part of the image. In one implementation, the display device may be configured to increase the display brightness level of a predetermined region of a display panel than that of the region external to the predetermined region. Hereinafter, the predetermined region may be also referred to as local high brightness (LHB) region, and the region external to the LHB region may be also referred to as background region.” and [0025]-[0027], “The LHB region may be used for other purposes. For example, the LHB region may be used to emphasize a desired portion of an image displayed on the display panel. The emphasizing may be performed under control of an entity external to the display device and/or in response to a user operation. In one or more embodiments, disposing an LHB region on the display panel may include adjusting a gamma transformation applied to input image data in a display driver configured to provide output voltages to pixel circuits of the display panel to update the pixel circuits. ... The input-output property of the gamma transformation may be represented by a gamma curve. The gamma curve may correlate input graylevels with output voltage levels. In such embodiments, the gamma curve may be adjusted to increase luminances of the pixel circuits disposed in the LHB region.”; Examiner’s note: User can choose a predetermined region with their finger and can be used to “emphasize a desired portion of an image displayed on the display panel.” This can then include a gamma transformation that may be represented by a gamma curve.)
37. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the non-transient computer readable storage medium of claim 11 of Sun in view of Kallamballe to include the disclosure of manipulating a gamma curve corresponding to the displayed image, of Furihata. The motivation for this modification could have been to allow a user to either increase or decrease the brightness of the gamma. Depending on the gamma curve, this could saturate or desaturate certain colors on the display. The gamma curve could be used to optimize the image, preventing images that are either too dark or washed out.
Conclusion
38. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW CLOTHIER whose telephone number is (571)272-4667. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:00am-4:00pm.
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/MATTHEW CLOTHIER/Examiner, Art Unit 2614
/KENT W CHANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2614