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 .
Claims 1, 3, 5, 12, 14, and 16 are amended. Claims 2, 10-11, 15, and 20 are cancelled. Claims 1, 3-9, 12-14, and 16-19 are currently under review.
Oath/Declaration
An oath/declaration has still not been filed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed December 26, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 3-9, 12-14, and 16-19 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made with Huang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2022/0284553 A1) in view of Chiang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2008/0037897 A1).
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.
Claims 1, 3-9, 12, 14, and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Huang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2022/0284553 A1) hereinafter referred to as Hwang in view of Chiang et al. (Pub. No.: US 2008/0037897 A1) hereinafter referred to as Chiang.
With respect to Claim 1, Hwang teaches a display device (fig. 12, item 1200; ¶97, “processing system 1200 is a mobile phone, smart phone, tablet computing device”), comprising: a display (fig. 12, item 1211); and a controller (fig. 12, item 1202; ¶98, “one or more processors 1202 each include one or more processor cores 1207 to process instructions which, when executed, perform operations for system and user software”) configured to: perform tone mapping to adjust luminance of input image data to obtain luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 2, item 204; ¶57, “global tone mapping is applied to the input image prior to performing local tone mapping”); generate a histogram to determine contrast gain curves (fig. 2, item 206; ¶61-62; ¶65); and cause the display to output an output image based on local tone mapping (¶57).
Hwang does not teach generating a histogram to determine contrast gain curves corresponds to lower a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale; perform local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the display device of Hwang, to replace generating a histogram to determine contrast gain curves with lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale; performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 3, claim 1 is incorporated, Hwang teaches wherein the controller is configured to extract histogram information of the input image data on which the tone mapping is performed (¶60-62).
With respect to Claim 4, claim 3 is incorporated, Hwang does not mention wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the display device of Hwang, wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 5, claim 4 is incorporated, Hwang teaches wherein the controller is configured to: generate a base mapping curve for an entire area of the input image data comprising a plurality of local areas (fig. 2, item 204); extract local area information for each of a plurality of local areas of the entire area, and perform the tone mapping by generating a local mapping curve in which the local area information is reflected for each local area (fig. 2, item 212; ¶53; ¶57, “global tone mapping is applied to the input image prior to performing local tone mapping”).
With respect to Claim 6, claim 4 is incorporated, Hwang does not mention wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72); wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation (fig. 4; ¶73, “the Histogram Redistribution 104 distributes pixels of the histogram bins within the peak region 304 symmetrically away from the peak position 301” – shifting histogram values).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the display device of Hwang, wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 7, claim 4 is incorporated, Hwang does not mention wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72); wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation (fig. 4; ¶73, “the Histogram Redistribution 104 distributes pixels of the histogram bins within the peak region 304 symmetrically away from the peak position 301” – spreading histogram values).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the display device of Hwang, wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 8, claim 7 is incorporated, Hwang teaches further comprising an HDR processor configured to perform HDR processing on the input image data (fig. 2; since the image is an HDR image, the input image subject to the method of figure 2 in any of the steps is HDR processing; ¶51; ¶53; ¶64).
With respect to Claim 9, claim 1 is incorporated, Hwang teaches wherein the input image data includes image data on which HDR processing has been performed (fig. 2; since the image is an HDR image, the input image subject to the method of figure 2 in any of the steps is HDR processing; ¶51; ¶53; ¶64).
With respect to Claim 12, claim 5 is incorporated, Chiang does not teach wherein the controller is configured to generate an adaptive local contrast curve for each local area from the base mapping curve based on the extracted local area information.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72); wherein the controller is configured to generate an adaptive local contrast curve for each local area based on the extracted local area information (¶47, “The Adaptive Gain Computation process 105 calculates a contrast gain in accordance with extracted peak density, peak position and peak distribution”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the display device of Hwang, wherein the controller is configured to generate an adaptive local contrast curve resulting in wherein the controller is configured to generate an adaptive local contrast curve for each local area from the base mapping curve based on the extracted local area information, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 14, Hwang teaches an operating method (fig. 1, item 100; ¶58) of a display device (fig. 12, item 1200; ¶97, “processing system 1200 is a mobile phone, smart phone, tablet computing device”), comprising: performing tone mapping to adjust luminance of input image data to obtain luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 2, item 204; ¶57, “global tone mapping is applied to the input image prior to performing local tone mapping”); generate a histogram to determine contrast gain curves (fig. 2, item 206; ¶61-62; ¶65); and cause the display to output an output image based on local tone mapping (¶57).
Hwang does not teach generating a histogram to determine contrast gain curves corresponding to lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale; performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Hwang, to replace generating a histogram to determine contrast gain curves with lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale; performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 16, claim 15 is incorporated, Hwang teaches further comprising: extracting histogram information of the input image data on which the tone mapping is performed (¶60-62).
Hwang does not mention performing the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Hwang to further comprise performing the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 17, claim 16 is incorporated, Hwang teaches further comprising: generating a base mapping curve for an entire area of the input image data comprising a plurality of local areas (fig. 2, item 204); extracting local area information for each of the plurality of local areas of the entire area; and generating a local mapping curve in which the local area information is reflected for each local area, wherein the tone mapping is performed based on the generated local mapping curve (fig. 2, item 212; ¶53; ¶57, “global tone mapping is applied to the input image prior to performing local tone mapping”).
With respect to Claim 18, claim 16 is incorporated, Hwang does not mention wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72); wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation (fig. 4; ¶73, “the Histogram Redistribution 104 distributes pixels of the histogram bins within the peak region 304 symmetrically away from the peak position 301” – shifting histogram values).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Hwang, wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises shifting histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
With respect to Claim 19, claim 16 is incorporated, Hwang does not mention wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation.
Chiang teaches a contrast enhancement process (fig. 1; ¶48) that includes lowering a saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data through histogram equalization processing (fig. 1, item 104; ¶72, “applying histogram equalization to the entire histogram region, risk of unwanted distortion exists. Further, having a flatter histogram shape over the entire histogram, the noise may be enhanced in un-uniformly colored areas of the image. Thus, in accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the histogram modification for contrast enhancement is performed in a selective area of the histogram”) performed only for images of the input image data having preset grayscale values excluding grayscale values representing low grayscale and high grayscale (fig. 4; ¶73-74; ¶76-77) and performing local tone mapping after lowering the saturation level of the luminance-adjusted image data (fig. 1, item 106; fig. 8; ¶91, “the Transfer Curve Generation 106 generates transfer curves as shown in FIG. 8. The X-axis represents the grayscale of an input image and the Y-axis represents the grayscale of an output image, generally known as tone map”); wherein the controller is configured to perform the histogram equalization processing based on the extracted histogram information (fig. 4; ¶58; ¶72); wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation (fig. 4; ¶73, “the Histogram Redistribution 104 distributes pixels of the histogram bins within the peak region 304 symmetrically away from the peak position 301” – spreading histogram values).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the method of Hwang, wherein the histogram equalization processing comprises spreading histogram values from the extracted histogram information according to a histogram distribution to reduce saturation, as taught by Chiang so as to preserve peak regions to provide an overall natural output video (¶76).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang and Chiang as applied to claim 5 above, and further in view of Kim et al. (Pub. No.: US 2025/0148957 A1) hereinafter referred to as Kim3.
With respect to Claim 13, claim 5 is incorporated, Hwang and Chiang combined do not mention wherein the local area information is extracted from a detail map generated based on pixel information of the entire area, and the detail map includes average picture level (APL) information and sharpness information for each local area.
Kim3 teaches a display device (figs. 1-2, item 100; ¶41), comprising: a display (figs. 1-2, item 110; ¶46); and a controller (figs. 1-2, item 120; ¶47-48) configured to: generate a base mapping curve (¶54); perform local tone mapping (¶66; ¶166); and cause the display to output an output image based on the tone mapping (fig. 3, output image); wherein local area information is extracted from a detail map generated based on pixel information of the entire area (¶97-100), and the detail map includes average picture level (APL) information and sharpness information for each local area (¶43 – improved contrast = improved perceived sharpness; ¶95; ¶100, “The local image analysis unit may divide the input image into a plurality of areas of M in width and N in height, and obtain the average pixel level for the area of m rows and n columns as LocalAPL_((m,n))”).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combined display device of Hwang and Chiang, wherein the local area information is extracted from a detail map generated based on pixel information of the entire area, and the detail map includes average picture level (APL) information and sharpness information for each local area, as taught by Peng Kim3 so as to reduce power consumption (¶2).
Conclusion
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/DONNA V Bocar/ Examiner, Art Unit 2621