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 § 112
1. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
2. Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
3. It is unclear what the applicant means in the claim limitation in stating “the projector receiving “an image signal” from an image output device. The applicant’s specification describes at 0015 – “The image output device 102 transmits “image signals” to the projector 104 through High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Video Graphics Array (VGA) or Universal Serial Bus (USB). The Office is confused as to what is being received as images signals transmitted together are commonly referred to as video or a plurality of images.
It is unclear what the applicant means in the claim limitation in stating “the image signal having a refresh rate”. The Office is under the belief that an image signal itself does not have a refresh rate, rather the refresh rate is the number of times per second that a display device displays a new or updated image.
It is unclear what the applicant means in the claim limitation in stating “the projector generating a synchronization signal, a frequency of the synchronization signal being generated according to the refresh rate” The applicant specification does not clarify the claims as according to an embodiment of the applicant’s specification – “The driver 406 can drive the motor and generate a synchronization signal to the external image capturing device 416 according to the VSYNC signal. [at 0023]”. The applicant’s specification does not appear to support that the synchronization signal is “according to” the refresh signal.
The last limitation of the claim suggests an image “was projected” but the image signal is being projected continuously according to the specification and at no time does the claim state definitely state that the projector is actually outputting the image signal received by converting an image signal projected real time to an actual display unit.
No where in the claim does the claim actually state a series of images are being projected. The claim does state “the projector receiving an image signal … to project an image” but it does not clearly state that received series of image(s) received are actually displayed on a display from which the video capturing device records at a synchronous signal. It is unclear what the external capturing unit would be capturing at any refresh rate, if the video images are not being reproduced by a display. The Office suggests a correction of “the projector receiving which are converted to project images onto a display” to clarify the invention.
Claims 2-14 depend upon Claim 1 and as such they suffer from the same deficiencies and appropriate correction is required to clarify claim 1.
Possible Allowable Subject Matter
4. Should the applicant traverse or otherwise overcome the above 35 USC 112 rejections, claims 6-11 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Priority
5. Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Claim(s) 1-5 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chang Taiwan Patent Publication (M347573), hereinafter “Chang”, Nalibotski US Patent Application (20110157318), hereinafter “Nalibotski” and Chen et al., US Patent Application (20100149414), hereinafter “Chen”
Regarding claim 1 Chang teaches a method for synchronizing peripheral devices of a projector, comprising: the projector receiving an image signal from an image output device The signal processor 111 processes the video signal 71 into an image signal 72, a horizontal synchronization signal 73, and a vertical synchronization signal 74. [Chang] to project an image, The image signal 72 is directly transmitted to the DLP (Digital Light Processing) projector 3 and projected onto the screen 4. [Chang] The horizontal synchronization signal 73 and the vertical synchronization signal 74 are transmitted to the horizontal signal generator 112 and the vertical signal generator 113, respectively. The generated 60Hz horizontal signal 75 and vertical signal 76 are then sent to the synchronization signal processing circuit 114. [Chang]
Chang does not teach but Nalibotski teaches the projector outputting the synchronization signal Display controller 102 generates a vertical blanking signal 106 (VSYNC) marking the beginning of a vertical blanking interval. Display driver 104 translates said signal to signal processor 108. In response to vertical blanking signal 106, signal processor 108 sends a software trigger command 110 to video capture driver 112 [Nalibotski para 0020] to an external image capturing device via a wired interface or a wireless interface Software trigger command 110 generated by the signal processor is sent to an input/output device 128 through an associated input/output driver 126. Said input/output device 128 generates a hardware trigger signal 130 [Nalibotski para 0029]; and the external image capturing device capturing the image projected by the projector according to the synchronization signal. This causes camera 116 to capture an image frame and to start transmitting image data to memory stack 118 through video interface controller 114 and video capture driver 112. [Nalibotski para 0020]
Chang discloses an external box for a stereoscopic imaging module, specifically an external box for a stereoscopic imaging module with a polarization control switching liquid crystal module and a synchronization control circuit. The stereoscopic imaging module includes a first projector, a second projector, and a screen. The first projected light ray L1 is a primary polarized light or P-polarized light, and the second projected light ray L2 is a secondary polarized light or S-polarized light, wherein the polarization directions of the P-polarized light and the S-polarized light are perpendicular to each other.
Nalibotski discloses a method and system for presenting artifact-free live video from video capture devices on a computer display including the step of using the vertical blanking interrupt signal of a display controller to generate a software trigger command for the video capture devices. The vertical blanking signal is further used to transfer acquired image frames to the graphic memory of the display controller during the vertical blanking interval.
Prior to the effective date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Chang and Nalibotski in the art of displays with embedded sensors as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable as the combined teachings and technologies were well known in the art. Nalibotsk improves Chang’s systems, methods and/or apparatus by presenting artifact-free live video from video capture devices on a computer display using the vertical blanking interrupt signal to generate a software trigger command for external devices
Neither Chang nor Nalibotski teaches but Chen teaches the image signal having a refresh rate In step 110, at least one frame rate of the video is detected [Chen para 0023]; and a frequency of the synchronization signal being generated according to the refresh rate an apparatus 400 for processing video according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 400 comprises a detection unit 402 and a first control unit 410. The detection unit 402 can detect at least one frame rate of the video; the first control unit 410 can adjust a refresh rate of a display 500 to about 96 Hz when the frame rate is about 24 fps. [Chen para 0054];
Chen discloses a method for processing video is disclosed. The method comprises the following steps: at least one frame rate of the video is detected, and a refresh rate of a display is adjusted to about 96 Hz when the frame rate is about 24 fps. Moreover, an apparatus for processing video is also disclosed in the specification and drawing.
Prior to the effective date of the invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Chang, Nalibotski and Chen in the art of displays with embedded sensors as one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable as the combined teachings and technologies were well known in the art. Chen improves Chang’s and Nalibotski combined systems, methods and/or apparatus by adjusting the triggering command of a synchronizing signal using the refresh rate it allows for an output image with vivid color images on external devices.
Regarding Claim 2 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Nalibotski teaches wherein the image output device is a personal computer, a television, a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, a mobile phone or a tablet. The preceding discussion has presented several embodiments of the method and system for presenting artifact-free live video from video capture devices on a computer display. [Nalibotski para 0034]
Regarding Claim 3 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Chen teaches wherein the refresh rate is between 23 Hz and 240 Hz. the refresh rate of the display is set for about 96 Hz when the frame rate of the video is changed to about 24 fps [Chen para 0028]
Regarding Claim 4 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Chen teaches further comprising rounding the refresh rate to an integer to generate the frequency of the synchronization signal. as the frame rate of the video is about 24 fps, that is to say the video shows 24 frames per second; … Thus, the refresh rate of the display is adjusted to about 96 (24.times.4) Hz. [Chen para 0028]
Regarding Claim 5 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Chenteaches further comprising rounding the refresh rate to an integer and using a multiple of the integer as the frequency of the synchronization signal. as the frame rate of the video is about 24 fps, that is to say the video shows 24 frames per second; … Thus, the refresh rate of the display is adjusted to about 96 (24.times.4) Hz. [Chen para 0028]
Regarding Claim 12 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Nalibotski teaches wherein the external image capturing device is a camera triggered by an external signal. video capture driver 112 continues transferring the incoming image frame from camera 116 [Nalibotski para 0020]
Regarding Claim 13 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Nalibotski teaches wherein the external image capturing device is a video recorder triggered by an external signal. This causes camera 116 to capture an image frame and to start transmitting image data to memory stack 118 [Nalibotski para 0020]
Regarding Claim 14 Chang, Nalibotski and Chen teach claim 1 in addition Nalibotski teaches wherein the image signal is a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) signal, a video graphics array (VGA) signal or a universal serial bus (USB) signal. As known to those familiar with the art, modern video cameras with standardized interfaces (such as USB, IEEE-1394, GigE, CameraLink) can be triggered by a software trigger command sent to a camera interface driver, or by a hardware trigger signal applied to the external trigger port of the camera. [Nalibotski para 0010]
Conclusion
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/ROBERT J MICHAUD/Examiner, Art Unit 2622