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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 12 recites ‘apply a second low-frequency filter when based on interval’. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of examination this limitation will be interpreted as applying ‘a second low-frequency filter to the input image based on the interval…’
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.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 11-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (US 2023/0362339 A1) in view of Mori (JP 2014-135677 A), Machine translation in English provided by examiner.
Regarding claims 1, 14 and 20, Chen teaches a projector (120, figure 1);
A fisheye lens (paragraph 0026);
A memory storing one or more instructions (paragraph 0028); and
At least one processor including processing circuitry (110, figure 1),
Wherein the memory stores instructions for calibration of the projector (paragraph 0028-0029).
Chen does not specify the generating a correction image that corrects distortion of an input image projected onto a screen through the fisheye lens, wherein the correction image is generated by:
Calculating a plurality of reference locations, each calculated reference location of the plurality of reference locations based respectively on pixel coordinates of a pixel of a plurality of pixels of the generated correction image; and setting a pixel value of each pixel of the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image by referencing a pixel value of the input image corresponding to each respective calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations; and
Control the projector to project the generated correction image onto the screen through the fisheye lens.
Mori teaches the generating a correction image that corrects distortion of an input image projected onto a screen through the lens, wherein the correction image is generated by:
Calculating a plurality of reference locations, each calculated reference location of the plurality of reference locations based respectively on pixel coordinates of a pixel of a plurality of pixels of the generated correction image (paragraph 0077); and setting a pixel value of each pixel of the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image by referencing a pixel value of the input image corresponding to each respective calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations (paragraph 0079-0080); and
Control the projector to project the generated correction image onto the screen through the lens (paragraph 0080, 171, figure 1).
To apply the technique for keystone distortion to a similar region for radial distortions would require not undue experimentation for one having ordinary skill in the art, and the combination would yield projecting through a fisheye lens as the projection optic and correcting for radial distortion since this is the projection system of Chen being modified.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Mori teaches calculating the plurality of reference locations based on at least one of the pixel coordinates of the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image (paragraph 0077).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 3, Mori teaches an intervale between calculated reference locations of the plurality of calculated reference locations corresponds to an interval between projection points as the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image are transmitted through the lens (paragraph 0051).
To apply the technique for keystone distortion to a similar region for radial distortions would require not undue experimentation for one having ordinary skill in the art, and the combination would yield projecting through a fisheye lens as the projection optic and correcting for radial distortion since this is the projection system of Chen being modified.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 4 and 16, Mori teaches calculate the plurality of reference locations respectively corresponding to each pixel of the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image (paragraph 0079-0080),
Based on a calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations being within a pixel coordinate range of the input image, set a pixel value of the generated correction image corresponding to the calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations by referencing the pixel value of the input image corresponding to the calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations (paragraph 0079);
Generate an effective pixel area (650, paragraph 0080) of the generated correction image by referencing the pixel value of the input image corresponding to the calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 5, Mori teaches the effective pixel area of the generated correction image represents the revers deformation to distortion in an image generated by the lens (figure 8).
To apply the technique for keystone distortion to a similar region for radial distortions would require not undue experimentation for one having ordinary skill in the art, and the combination would yield projecting through a fisheye lens as the projection optic and correcting for radial distortion since this is the projection system of Chen being modified.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 6 and 17, Mori teaches calculate the plurality of reference locations respectively corresponding to each pixel of the plurality of pixels of the generated correction image (paragraph 0079-0080),
Based on a calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations being outside a pixel coordinate range of the input image, set a pixel value of the generated correction image corresponding to the calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference location to a defined value (black, paragraph 0079),
Generate a black area of the generated correction image corresponding to the calculated reference location of the plurality of calculated reference locations to the defined value (paragraph 0079).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 7 and 18, Mori teaches the one or more instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the projection device to determine a size of an effective pixel area of the generated correction image based on a distance parameter for determining an interval between calculated reference locations of the plurality of calculated reference locations (paragraph 0051-0053).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 8, Mori teaches the effective pixel area of the generated correction image decreases as the distance parameter increases and the effective pixel area of the generated correction image increases as the distance parameter decreases (implicit, inasmuch as the density of the pixels in the first place will be smaller so less of the native resolution can be used in the modulator, and the density of the pixels in the second case will be higher and so more of native resolution of the modulator could be used).
Regarding claim 11 and 19, Mori teaches the generated correction image includes a first pixel and a second pixel adjacent to the first pixel (paragraph 0051); and
Wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the at least one processor cause the projection device to:
Calculate an interval between a first reference location corresponding to the first pixel and a second reference location corresponding to the second pixel (paragraph 0053);
Determine a low-frequency filter based on the calculated intervale between the first reference location and the second reference location (330, paragraph 0054); and
Calculate the pixel value of the first pixel of the generated correction image by applying the low-frequency filter to the input image (paragraph 0055-0056).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the display of Chen to use the correction image generation of Mori in order to improve image quality in the projection system.
Regarding claim 12, Mori teaches applying a first low-frequency filter to the input image based on the interval between the first reference location and the second reference location being greater than a threshold value; and apply a second low-frequency filter based on an interval between the first reference location and the second reference location being less than the threshold value (paragraph 0054),
Wherein a transmission frequency of the first low frequency filter is lower than a transmission frequency of the second low frequency filter (paragraph 0054).
Regarding claim 13, Mori teaches the interval between the first reference location and the second reference location includes at least one of a first direction line segment length connecting the first reference location to the second reference location (paragraph 0051).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 9, prior art (Chen in view of Mori) teaches at least one sensor and an implicit relationship between the screen and the projector based on the sensor (see Chen, figure 1). Chen in view of Mori does not specify adjusting a distance parameter of determining an interval between the calculated reference locations of the plurality of calculated reference locations based on the positional relationship information and determining a size of an effective pixel area of the generated correction image by adjusting the distance parameter. Claim 10 contains allowable subject matter at least inasmuch as it depends from claim 9.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN D HOWARD whose telephone number is (571)270-5358. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5:00.
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/RYAN D HOWARD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2882 9/11/2026
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