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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Examiner cites particular columns or paragraphs, and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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 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.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the average picture level of the output image” in lines 7-8, and “the average picture level of the input image” in lines 8-9, which appear to be “an average picture level of the output image” and “an average picture level of the input image”, respectively. Appropriate corrections are required.
Regarding claims 2-15, these claims are objected based on their dependence from claim 1.
In addition, claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “a contrast ratio of the first area” in line 4, which appears to be “the contrast ratio of the first area”, and “a luminance level of the second area” in lines 4-5, which appears to be “the luminance level of the second area” . Appropriate corrections are required.
In addition, claim 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “a contrast ratio of the first area” in line 2, which appears to be “the contrast ratio of the first area”. Appropriate correction is required.
In addition, claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the segmentation” in line 3, which appears to be “a segmentation”. Appropriate correction is required.
In addition, claim 11 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “a contrast ratio of the foreground area” in line 4, which appears to be “the contrast ratio of the foreground area”, and “a luminance level of the background area” in lines 4-5, which appears to be “the luminance level of the background area” . Appropriate corrections are required.
In addition, claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “and decrease the luminance level…” in line 3, which appears to be “and to decrease the luminance level…”. Appropriate correction is required.
In addition, claim 15 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “performs” in line 2, which appears to be “perform”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 16 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the average picture level of the output image” in lines 5-6, “the average picture level of the input image” in line 6, and “the contrast ratio of the first area” in line 9, which appear to be “an average picture level of the output image”, “an average picture level of the input image”, and “a contrast ratio of the first area”, respectively. Appropriate corrections are required.
Regarding claims 17-18, these claims are objected based on their dependence from claim 16.
In addition, claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the luminance level of the second area” in line 3, which appears to be “a luminance level of the second area”. Appropriate correction is required.
In addition, claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: the claim recites “the segmentation” in line 3, which appears to be “a segmentation”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-14 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hsieh et al. (WO 2023/177398), provided on the record by the applicant.
Regarding claim 1, Hsieh discloses an image display apparatus (para[0021]-para[0022]; para[0036]; para[0043]; e.g. an electronic device 200/300 comprising a display panel) comprising:
a display (para[0022]; see e.g. in Figs. 2B and 3, a display panel 202B/306);
a signal processing device configured to perform signal processing of an input image and output an image signal corresponding to an output image to the display (para[0021]; para[0023]; para[0043]; para[0045]; see e.g. a controller 302 (Fig. 3); “the electronic device receives an image for display via the display panel… from an application executing on the electronic device…, implemented via machine-readable instructions, which, when executed by a controller of the electronic device, causes the controller to perform specified operations” to output an image via the display panel accordingly),
wherein, in response to an importance level of a first area in the input image being a first level and an importance level of a second area in the input image being a second level lower than the first level (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas), the signal processing device is configured to control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image by increasing a contrast ratio of the first area and decreasing a luminance level of the second area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such “that a brightness of a central region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (first area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (second area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 2, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses wherein the signal processing device is configured to change amount of increase in the contrast ratio of the first area or amount of decrease in the luminance of the second area based on a target power consumption level (para[0040]; para[0057]; in response to a determination that the average contrast deviation for a pixel and the surrounding pixels is equivalent to or greater than a contrast threshold, in order to increase contrast ratio e.g. in the central region, the electronic device determines a multiplier by which to reduce brightness of the surrounding pixels based on determining a target power consumption for the display panel; also, “the electronic device 200 determines a multiplier by which to reduce brightness within the peripheral region”, based on “determining a target power consumption for the region”).
Regarding claim 3, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to change amount of increase in the contrast ratio of the first area or amount of decrease in the luminance of the second area, based on a proportion of the first area or a proportion of the second area (para[0051]; e.g. regarding Fig. 3, “The controller 302 determines a number of peripheral regions by determining a target power consumption for the display panel 306”; “in response to the target power consumption for the display panel 306 being less than a first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is one”; and “In response to the target power consumption for the display panel being less than a second target threshold that is less than the first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is two”; thus, the amount of decrease in the luminance/brightness of the peripheral area is based on a proportion/size of the peripheral area).
Regarding claim 4, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses in eco mode or in low power consumption mode, the signal processing device is configured to control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image, by increasing a contrast ratio of the first area and decreasing a luminance level of the second area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”, and thus in eco mode or in low power consumption mode; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such “that a brightness of a central region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (first area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (second area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 5, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to control a contrast ratio of the first area to be a higher than a contrast ratio of the second area, and amount of decrease in the luminance of the second area to be greater than amount of decrease in the luminance of the first area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; when in processing an input image signal by the controller, e.g. the edge dimming is used such that “a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased” and dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image” to output a corresponding image signal, it is clear that consequently, a contrast ratio of the central area is higher than a contrast ratio of the peripheral area, and the amount of decrease in the luminance of the peripheral area is greater than the amount of decrease in the luminance of the central area).
Regarding claim 7, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to separate between a foreground area and a background area in the input image (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas, and thus, the central region taken as a foreground area, and the peripheral areas taken as a background area, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed limitations), and in response to the importance level of the foreground area being the first level and the importance level of the background area in the input image being the second level, control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image by increasing a contrast ratio of the foreground area and decreasing a luminance level of the background area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such that “a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (foreground area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (background area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 8, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to control amount of decrease in the luminance of the foreground area to be lower than amount of decrease in the luminance of the background area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; when in processing an input image signal by the controller, e.g. an edge dimming is used such that “that a brightness of a central region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased” to output a corresponding image signal, it is clear that consequently, an amount of decrease in the luminance of the central/foreground area is lower than amount of decrease in the luminance of the peripheral/background area), wherein an importance level of the foreground area is higher than an importance level of the background area (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” (foreground area) taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral (background) areas).
Regarding claim 9, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to change amount of increase in the contrast ratio of the foreground area or
amount of decrease in the luminance of the background area, based on a proportion of the foreground area or a proportion of the background area (para[0051]; e.g. regarding Fig. 3, “The controller 302 determines a number of peripheral regions by determining a target power consumption for the display panel 306”; “in response to the target power consumption for the display panel 306 being less than a first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is one”; and “In response to the target power consumption for the display panel being less than a second target threshold that is less than the first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is two”; thus, the amount of decrease in the luminance/brightness of the peripheral/background area is based on a proportion/size of the peripheral/background area).
Regarding claim 10, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to increase the luminance level of the foreground area (para[0028]; since “a user of the electronic device specifies the brightness range as a subset of the brightness range determined at
the time of manufacture utilizing an application” executed by the controller, the user can decrease and increase the luminance level of the image which includes the central/foreground area).
Regarding claim 11, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 7). In addition, Hsieh discloses in eco mode or in low power
consumption mode, the signal processing device is configured to control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image, by increasing a contrast ratio of the foreground area and decreasing a luminance level of the background area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”, and thus in eco mode or in low power consumption mode; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such “that a brightness of a central [foreground] region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral [background] region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (foreground area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (background) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 12, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to separate between a far area and a near area in the input image (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas, and thus, the central region taken as a near area, and the peripheral areas taken as a far area, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed limitations), and in response to the importance level of the near area being the first level and the importance level of the far area in the input image being the second level, control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image by increasing a contrast ratio of the near area and decreasing a luminance level of the far area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such that “a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (near area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (far area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 13, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is
configured to separate between an in-focus area and an out-of-focus area in the input image (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas, and thus, the central region taken as an in-focus area, and the peripheral areas taken as an out-of-focus area, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed limitations), and in response to the importance level of the in-focus area being the first level and the importance level of the out-of-focus area in the input image being the second level, control the average picture level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image by increasing a contrast ratio of the in-focus area and decreasing a luminance level of the out-of-focus area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such that “a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (in-focus area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (out-of-focus area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image).
Regarding claim 14, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). In addition, Hsieh discloses the signal processing device is configured to control such that, the higher the first level, the higher the contrast ratio of the first area, and decrease the luminance level of the second area as the second level decreases (para[0013]; para[0051]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas;
“The controller 302 determines a number of peripheral regions by determining a target power consumption for the display panel 306”, which affects the size of the central region; e.g., “in response to the target power consumption for the display panel 306 being less than a first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is one”, and “In response to the target power consumption for the display panel being less than a second target threshold that is less than the first target threshold, the controller 302 determines that the number of peripheral regions is two”; thus, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed limitations, as the size of the central area increases, the higher the contrast ratio of the central area, and as the size of the peripheral area decreases, the lower the luminance/ brightness of the peripheral area).
Regarding claim 16, Hsieh discloses an image display apparatus (para[0021]-para[0022]; para[0036]; para[0043]; e.g. an electronic device 200/300 comprising a display panel) comprising:
a display (para[0022]; see e.g. in Figs. 2B and 3, a display panel 202B/306);
a signal processing device configured to perform signal processing of an input image and output an image signal corresponding to an output image to the display (para[0021]; para[0023]; para[0043]; para[0045]; see e.g. a controller 302 (Fig. 3); “the electronic device receives an image for display via the display panel… from an application executing on the electronic device…, implemented via machine-readable instructions, which, when executed by a controller of the electronic device, causes the controller to perform specified operations” to output an image via the display panel accordingly),
wherein the signal processing device is configured to control the average picture
level of the output image to be lower than the average picture level of the input image (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; the controller of the electronic device “utilizes a power conservation ratio of an image for display via a display panel to determine whether to enable a first power saving feature, a second power saving feature, or a combination thereof”; “The first power saving feature is edge dimming” and “The second power saving feature is dynamic contrasting”; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such “that a brightness of a central region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, and/or dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (first area) is increased and a luminance level of the peripheral region (second area) is decreased, and consequently, it is clear that in achieving power saving with both of the above approaches which require decreasing the brightness of the pixels, average pixel level (APL) for both approaches is lower for the output image than it is for the input image), separate between a plurality of areas in the input image based on importance level (para[0013]; regarding e.g. Figs. 2B and 3, see an area of a “center of the image, where the user's gaze focuses” taken as being of higher importance than edge/peripheral areas), and in response to the importance level of a first area in the input image being a first level, increase the contrast ratio of the first area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; in processing an input image signal by the controller, dynamic contrasting is used such that “a contrast within the image is increased by decreasing a brightness… of pixels that surround brighter pixels of an image”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a contrast ratio of the central region (first area with higher importance) is increased).
Regarding claim 17, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 16). In addition, Hsieh discloses in response to the importance level of a second area in the input image being a second level lower than the first level, the signal processing device is configured to decrease the luminance level of the second area (para[0013]; para[0017]; para[0049]; para[0068]; para[0070]; para[0072]-para[0073]; in processing an input image signal by the controller, an edge dimming is used such “that a brightness of a central region of the display panel is maintained while a brightness of a peripheral region of the display panel is decreased”, to output a corresponding image signal; based on this, a luminance level of the peripheral region (second area with lower importance) is decreased).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 6 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al. (WO 2023/177398), in view of Bae et al. (US 2021/0352307).
Regarding claim 6, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). However, Hsieh does not appear to expressly disclose the signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image.
Bae discloses a signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image (para[0039]-para[0040]; para[0094]; para[0165]; para[0169]; see Fig. 7; “determining a first level of spatial importance for a first region of a background of the picture based on an image segmentation technique”; “determining a second level of spatial importance for a second region of the picture based on the image segmentation technique, wherein the second level of spatial importance is higher than the first level of spatial importance, and the second region is… a region of interest of the picture”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings in Hsieh’s invention, with the teachings in Bae’s invention, to have the signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image, for the advantage of a suitable technique that improves image quality for more important portions, while computational costs are not greatly increased and suboptimal quality of less important portions can be subjectively unnoticeable to the viewer (para[0040]; para[0094]).
Regarding claim 18, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 16). However, Hsieh does not appear to expressly disclose the signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image.
Bae discloses a signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image (para[0039]-para[0040]; para[0094]; para[0165]; para[0169]; see Fig. 7; “determining a first level of spatial importance for a first region of a background of the picture based on an image segmentation technique”; “determining a second level of spatial importance for a second region of the picture based on the image segmentation technique, wherein the second level of spatial importance is higher than the first level of spatial importance, and the second region is… a region of interest of the picture”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings in Hsieh’s invention, with the teachings in Bae’s invention, to have the signal processing device is configured to calculate importance levels of a plurality of areas in the input image, based on at least one of the segmentation, depth, light field, or prominence in the input image, for the advantage of a suitable technique that improves image quality for more important portions, while computational costs are not greatly increased and suboptimal quality of less important portions can be subjectively unnoticeable to the viewer (para[0040]; para[0094]).
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hsieh et al. (WO 2023/177398), in view of Park et al. (US 2021/0342982), and further in view of Tsai et al. (US 2022/0108454).
Regarding claim 15, Hsieh discloses all the claim limitations as applied above (see claim 1). However, Hsieh does not appear to expressly disclose the signal processing device is configured to downscale the input image, performs segmentation based on the downscaled input image, separate between a foreground image and a background image based on the segmentation, and increase the contrast ratio of the separated foreground image and decrease the luminance level of the background image.
Tsai discloses a signal processing device is configured to downscale an input image, perform segmentation based on the downscaled input image, separate between a foreground image and a background image based on the segmentation (para[0073]-para[0074]; para[0076]; para[0085]; regarding Figs. 1 and 3A, “The image processing system 100 can use image 302 and image 304 to perform foreground prediction 310”, to “generate a probability map 312 for image 302 and a probability map 314 for image 304”; “The probability map 312 can contain a probability of each pixel or superpixel (e.g., group of pixels) in image 302 belonging to the target 306 to be identified as the foreground and/or separated from the background”; “The probability map 314 can contain a probability of each pixel or superpixel in image 304 belonging to the target 306 to be identified as the foreground and/or separated from the background”; “superpixels can represent different segments or regions of an image (e.g., image 302 or image 304)” which comprises downscaling, based on the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claimed limitations; “Since the probability map 312 and the probability map 314 complement each other, the image processing system 100 can use both the probability map 312 and the probability map 314 to generate a refined probability map and segmentation result”; “the image processing system 100 can use the refined probability map 328 and the image 304 as the inputs for generating the segmentation mask 330”, and “to classify each pixel in the refined probability map 328 as a background pixel or a foreground pixel”; “The white portions of the segmentation mask 330 can correspond to pixels classified as foreground pixels and the black portions of the segmentation mask 330 can correspond to pixels classified as background pixels”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings in Hsieh’s invention, with the teachings in Tsai’s invention, to have the signal processing device is configured to downscale the input image, performs segmentation based on the downscaled input image, separate between a foreground image and a background image based on the segmentation, for the advantage of more accurate, flexible, and consistent segmentation results, which can also improve quality and performance of image processing tasks and visual effects that rely on image segmentation such as, for example and without limitation, depth-of-field effects, computer graphics effects, image recognition tasks, image stylization, feature extraction tasks, and machine vision, among others (para[0039]).
However, Hsieh and Tsai do not appear to expressly disclose increasing the contrast ratio of the separated foreground image and decrease the luminance level of the background image.
Park discloses increasing a contrast ratio of a separated foreground image and decrease a luminance level of a background image (para[0389]; “object stereoscopic effect enhancement unit 745 may extract an object area and a background area from a received image signal, perform contrast enhancement in the object area, and reduce luminance of the background area”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings in Hsieh’s and Tsai’s combination, with the teachings in Park’s invention, to have the signal processing device is configured to increase the contrast ratio of the separated foreground image and decrease the luminance level of the background image, for the advantage of discovering an object and e.g. enhancing a stereoscopic effect of the object (para[0388]-para[0389]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GLORYVID FIGUEROA-GIBSON whose telephone number is (571)272-5506. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am-5pm, Monday -Friday, Eastern Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nitin Patel can be reached on 571-272-7677. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GLORYVID FIGUEROA-GIBSON/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2628
/NITIN PATEL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2628