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 Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claims 12 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 12 recites the limitation "the sampling phase information" in the first line. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
35 U.S.C. 101 requires that a claimed invention must fall within one of the four eligible categories of invention (i.e. process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter) and must not be directed to subject matter encompassing a judicially recognized exception as interpreted by the courts. The four eligible categories of invention include: (1) process which is an act, or a series of acts or steps, (2) machine which is an concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices, (3) manufacture which is an article produced from raw or prepared materials by giving to these materials new forms, qualities, properties, or combinations, whether by hand labor or by machinery, and (4) composition of matter which is all compositions of two or more substances and all composite articles, whether they be the results of chemical union, or of mechanical mixture, or whether they be gases, fluids, powders or solids.
Claims 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as not falling within one of the four statutory categories of invention because the claimed invention is directed to computer program per se. A claim directed toward a non-transitory computer-readable medium having the program encoded thereon establishes a sufficient functional relationship between the program and a computer so as to remove it from the realm of “program per se”. Hence, adding the limitation of “stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium” would resolve this issue.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Charles Benjamin Dieterich [US 6100940 A].
A bit stream generated by a method, the method comprising… is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bit stream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. MPEP §2113 recites “Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the method steps). The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the steps.
“To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP §2111.05(III). The storage medium storing the claimed bitstream in claim 20 merely serves as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefor the structure bitstream, which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Charles which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream (Col 16, line 50-55).
Claims 1, 2, 4, 9-11, 13 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Sheng Qu et al. [US 20170164008 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Sheng teaches:
1. A signal processing method (i.e. The present invention relates generally to video coding systems and more particularly to systems that encode, decode, and represent visual dynamic range images- ¶0002… The VDR decoder may be configured to perform decoding operations on the BL data, EL data, RPU data, inter-layer prediction data and intermediate media data in accordance with the coding syntax- ¶0118, fig. 10), comprising:
obtaining a first baseline image (i.e. As used herein, the term “backwards compatibility” refers to whether BL data comprises SDR images optimized for viewing on SDR displays- ¶0042), a first gain map (i.e. the residual values (130)- ¶0056), and metadata (i.e. Coding syntaxes in compliance with same or different VDR specifications may be signaled by upstream coding devices such as VDR encoders to downstream coding devices such as VDR decoders in a common vehicle in the form of RPU data units- Abstract… The coding syntax may comprise a plurality of syntax elements in compliance with a specific VDR specification supported by the VDR encoder 102 and may include, but are not limited to any of, inter-layer prediction coefficients, residual non-linear dequantization parameters, chroma resampling filter coefficients, color space transform indicators, or other VDR syntax elements (e.g., flags and descriptors of functions and/or operations performed by a VDR encoder to generate the BL and EL data and VDR decoder to decode BL and EL data)- ¶0054), wherein the first baseline image corresponds to a first dynamic range (i.e. the term “VDR” or “visual dynamic range” may refer to a dynamic range wider than a standard dynamic range, and may include, but is not limited to, a wide dynamic range up to the instantaneously perceivable dynamic range and color gamut which human vision can perceive at an instant- ¶0030);
processing the first baseline image (i.e. SDR images optimized for viewing on SDR displays- ¶0042) based on the metadata to obtain a second baseline image (i.e. These decoded BL samples to be used for prediction may be stored or buffered within a reference picture store (for base layer) 114- ¶0051… the RPU processing module 112 may perform operations such as inverse mapping such as SDR-VDR mapping, chroma upsampling, one or more video data processing operations (e.g., filtering, interpolation, rescaling, etc.), or non-linear quantization (NLQ), as specified in the coding syntax. As a result, prediction reference values may be generated by the RPU processing module 112- ¶0055);
processing the first gain map based on the metadata (i.e. enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag) to obtain a second gain map (i.e. Similarly, a flag “enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag” may indicate whether a residual resampling filter operation should be performed in reconstructing a VDR image based on received BL and EL data. An indicator “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may indicate which chroma resampling filter should be used in reconstructing a VDR image based on received the BL and EL data. In the RPU decoding/parsing process itself, each of these flags is also used to determine whether a particular processing path should be taken- ¶0093… In some embodiments, a coding syntax in compliance with a specific VDR specification may specify chroma resampling and/or spatial upsampling (e.g., 1:2) to be performed on residue data- ¶0115); and
obtaining a target image (i.e. output VDR image that corresponds to an input VDR image encoded, for example, by a VDR encoder (e.g., 102 of FIG. 1)- ¶0119) based on the second baseline image (i.e. Inverse-mapping may be performed on the BL data (now in the 4:4:4 chroma format as well as in the same mapping color space as in the mapping color space) in the mapping color space to generate inter-layer predicted values in the mapping color space. Color transformation may be performed on the inter-layer predicted values from RGB to YCbCr, for the purpose of generating EL data- ¶0117) and the second gain map (i.e. up-sampled residual- fig. 10), wherein the target image corresponds to a second dynamic range, and the second dynamic range is different from the first dynamic range (i.e. the term “VDR” or “visual dynamic range” may refer to a dynamic range wider than a standard dynamic range, and may include, but is not limited to, a wide dynamic range up to the instantaneously perceivable dynamic range and color gamut which human vision can perceive at an instant- ¶0030).
Regarding claim 2, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein processing the first gain map based on the metadata comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the metadata to obtain the second gain map (i.e. enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag) to obtain a second gain map (i.e. Similarly, a flag “enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag” may indicate whether a residual resampling filter operation should be performed in reconstructing a VDR image based on received BL and EL data. An indicator “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may indicate which chroma resampling filter should be used in reconstructing a VDR image based on received the BL and EL data. In the RPU decoding/parsing process itself, each of these flags is also used to determine whether a particular processing path should be taken- ¶0093… In some embodiments, a coding syntax in compliance with a specific VDR specification may specify chroma resampling and/or spatial upsampling (e.g., 1:2) to be performed on residue data- ¶0115).
Regarding claim 4, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein the metadata comprises sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the metadata comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information (i.e. Similarly, a flag “enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag” may indicate whether a residual resampling filter operation should be performed in reconstructing a VDR image based on received BL and EL data. An indicator “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may indicate which chroma resampling filter should be used in reconstructing a VDR image based on received the BL and EL data- ¶0093).
Regarding claim 9, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein the metadata comprises indication information of a target sampling algorithm, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the metadata comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the indication information of the target sampling algorithm by using the target sampling (i.e. filter- ¶0093) algorithm (i.e. For the purpose of illustration only, these syntax elements may include, but are not limited to: “mapping_color_space”, “mapping_chroma_idc”, “chroma_resampling_filter_idc”, “num_pivots_minus2”, “pred_pivot_value[ ][ ]”, “nlq_method_idx”, “nlq_num_pivots_minus2”, “nlq_pred_pivot_value[ ][ ]”, “enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag”, “num_x_partition_minus1”, “num_y_partition_minus1”, “residual_resampling_filter_idc”, “overlapped_prediction_method”, etc.- ¶0092... An indicator “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may indicate which chroma resampling filter should be used in reconstructing a VDR image based on received the BL and EL data- ¶0093).
Regarding claim 10, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 9 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein the indication information of the target sampling algorithm comprises an index value indicating to determine the target sampling algorithm from a plurality of preset sampling algorithms (i.e. A syntax element “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may be used to specify which of the foregoing filters as a part of coding syntax- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 11, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 9 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein the indication information of the target sampling algorithm comprises a name or another specific identifier of the target sampling algorithm (i.e. residual_resampling_filter_idc- ¶0092).
Regarding claim 13, Sheng teaches:
13. An encoding method(i.e. Coding syntaxes in compliance with same or different VDR specifications may be signaled by upstream coding devices such as VDR encoders to downstream coding devices such as VDR decoders in a common vehicle in the form of RPU data units- abstract… FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 illustrate visual dynamic range (VDR) encoders that generate Reference Processing Unit (RPU) data based on a coding syntax in compliance with one or more VDR specifications, in example embodiments- ¶0007), comprising:
obtaining a first baseline image (i.e. As used herein, the term “backwards compatibility” refers to whether BL data comprises SDR images optimized for viewing on SDR displays- ¶0042), a first gain map (i.e. the residual values (130)- ¶0056), a first gain map (i.e. For example, non-linear quantization/dequantization may be performed for VDR specifications with residual values as EL data- ¶0037), and metadata based on a first image (i.e. VDR signals- fig. 1-2), wherein the first baseline image corresponds to a first dynamic range, the first image corresponds to a second dynamic range, and the second dynamic range is different from the first dynamic range (i.e. the term “VDR” or “visual dynamic range” may refer to a dynamic range wider than a standard dynamic range, and may include, but is not limited to, a wide dynamic range up to the instantaneously perceivable dynamic range and color gamut which human vision can perceive at an instant- ¶0030).;
encoding the first baseline image (i.e. In an embodiment, the VDR encoder 102, or a base layer SDR encoder (116) therein, is configured to encode the input SDR image, which may be derived from the SDR signal 108 or from mapping operations on the input VDR image derived from the VDR signal 104, into a base layer bitstream 128- ¶0050);
encoding the first gain map (i.e. VDR encoder 102, or an enhancement layer (for the purpose illustration only, 8 bit/4:2:0) encoder (120) therein, is configured to encode the residual values (which may be non-linearly quantized and/or downsampled in some embodiments) as the EL data into an enhancement layer bitstream 124- ¶0057); and
encoding the metadata (i.e. In an embodiment, the VDR encoder 102, or the VDR RPU 110 therein, is configured to encode the coding syntax as a part of RPU data into a VDR RPU bitstream 126. The RPU data may include, but are not limited to any of, SDR-VDR mapping parameters, polynomial parameters used by a prediction method applied to generate the prediction reference image, NLQ parameters, parameters used by one or more video data processing operations performed by the VDR RPU (110). The VDR RPU 110 may set flags or header fields in RPU data units to indicate whether any syntax elements in the coding syntax may be predicted from RPU data previously sent for a prior sequence, a prior frame, or a prior partition- ¶0059);
wherein the metadata is used to perform upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map to obtain a second gain map (i.e. In an example, each pixel represented in the input VDR image comprises pixel values for all channels (e.g., red, green, and blue color channels) defined for a color space (e.g., a RGB color space). Each pixel may optionally and/or alternatively comprise upsampled or downsampled pixel values for one or more of the channels in the color space- ¶0044… Similarly, a flag “enable_residual_spatial_upsampling_flag” may indicate whether a residual resampling filter operation should be performed in reconstructing a VDR image based on received BL and EL data- ¶0093).
Regarding claim 17, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 9 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein the metadata comprises indication information of a target sampling algorithm (i.e. A syntax element “chroma_resampling_filter_idc” may be used to specify which of the foregoing filters as a part of coding syntax- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 18, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 9 and Sheng further teaches:
wherein: the indication information of the target sampling algorithm comprises an index value indicating to determine the target sampling algorithm from a plurality of preset sampling algorithms; or the indication information of the target sampling algorithm comprises a name or another specific identifier of the target sampling algorithm. (i.e. residual_resampling_filter_idc- ¶0092).
Regarding claim 19, apparatus claim 19 is drawn to the apparatus using/performing the same method as claimed in claim 1. Therefore, apparatus claim 19 corresponds to method claim 1 and is rejected for the same rationale as used above.
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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheng Qu et al. [US 20170164008 A1] in view of Shijun Sun et al. [US 20100046612 A1].
Regarding claim 3, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 2.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein: a resolution of the second gain map is a resolution of the first baseline image; or a resolution of the second gain map is a second preset resolution.
In the same field of endeavor, Shijun teaches:
wherein: a resolution of the second gain map is a resolution of the first baseline image; or a resolution of the second gain map is a second preset resolution (i.e. Techniques and tools for conversion operations between modules in a scalable video encoding tool or scalable video decoding tool are described. For example, given reconstructed base layer video in a low resolution format (e.g., 4:2:0 video with 8 bits per sample) an encoding tool and decoding tool adaptively filter the reconstructed base layer video and upsample its sample values to a higher sample depth (e.g., 10 bits per sample)- Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Shinjun a dithering signal to improve the perceptual quality of the base layer video standing alone (Shijun- ¶0044).
Claims 5, 7, 8, 14 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheng Qu et al. [US 20170164008 A1] in view of Kazushi Sato [US 20150358617 A1].
Regarding claim 5, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 4.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein the sampling phase information indicates a relative location relationship between a pixel of the first gain map and a pixel of the second gain map.
In the same field of endeavor, Kazushi teaches:
wherein the sampling phase information indicates a relative location relationship between a pixel of the first gain map and a pixel of the second gain map (i.e. The offset oi is a numerical value added to the product of the pixel value of the base layer and the gain gi. For example, the parameter calculation section 43 may calculate a gain and an offset capable of bringing the up-sampled image of the base layer input from the up-sampling section 41 closest to the original image input from the sorting buffer 11 for each color component- ¶0137).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Kazushi to improve the image quality through post-processing (Kazushi- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 7, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 4.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises an offset between pixel coordinates of the second gain map and pixel coordinates of the first gain map.
In the same field of endeavor, Kazushi teaches:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises an offset between pixel coordinates of the second gain map and pixel coordinates of the first gain map. (i.e. The offset oi is a numerical value added to the product of the pixel value of the base layer and the gain gi. For example, the parameter calculation section 43 may calculate a gain and an offset capable of bringing the up-sampled image of the base layer input from the up-sampling section 41 closest to the original image input from the sorting buffer 11 for each color component- ¶0137).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Kazushi to improve the image quality through post-processing (Kazushi- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 8, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 4.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a luminance component of the first gain map based on the luminance sampling phase information; or the sampling phase information comprises chrominance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a chrominance component of the first gain map based on the chrominance sampling phase information; or the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information and chrominance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a luminance component of the first gain map based on the luminance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on a chrominance component of the first gain map based on the chrominance sampling phase information.
In the same field of endeavor, Kazushi teaches:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a luminance component of the first gain map based on the luminance sampling phase information (see equation 4); or the sampling phase information comprises chrominance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a chrominance component of the first gain map based on the chrominance sampling phase information(i.e. see equations 5-6); or the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information and chrominance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on the first gain map based on the sampling phase information comprises: performing upsampling or downsampling on a luminance component of the first gain map based on the luminance sampling phase information, and performing upsampling or downsampling on a chrominance component of the first gain map based on the chrominance sampling phase information (see equations 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Kazushi to improve the image quality through post-processing (Kazushi- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 14, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 13.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein the metadata comprises sampling phase information, and the sampling phase information indicates a relative location relationship between a pixel of the first gain map and a pixel of the second gain map.
In the same field of endeavor, Kazushi teaches:
wherein the metadata comprises sampling phase information, and the sampling phase information indicates a relative location relationship between a pixel of the first gain map and a pixel of the second gain map (i.e. The offset oi is a numerical value added to the product of the pixel value of the base layer and the gain gi. For example, the parameter calculation section 43 may calculate a gain and an offset capable of bringing the up-sampled image of the base layer input from the up-sampling section 41 closest to the original image input from the sorting buffer 11 for each color component- ¶0137).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Kazushi to improve the image quality through post-processing (Kazushi- ¶0101).
Regarding claim 15, Sheng and Kazushi teach all the limitations of claim 14.
However, Sheng does not teach explicitly:
wherein: the sampling phase information comprises: pixel coordinates of a first preset location on the first gain map and pixel coordinates of a second preset location on the second gain map; the sampling phase information comprises an offset between pixel coordinates of the second gain map and pixel coordinates of the first gain map; or the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information and/or chrominance sampling phase information.
In the same field of endeavor, Kazushi teaches:
wherein: the sampling phase information comprises: pixel coordinates of a first preset location on the first gain map and pixel coordinates of a second preset location on the second gain map; the sampling phase information comprises an offset between pixel coordinates of the second gain map and pixel coordinates of the first gain map; or the sampling phase information comprises luminance sampling phase information and/or chrominance sampling phase information (see equations 4-6).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Kazushi to improve the image quality through post-processing (Kazushi- ¶0101).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheng Qu et al. [US 20170164008 A1] in view of Peng Yin et al. [US 20150350661 A1].
Regarding claim 6, Sheng teaches all the limitations of claim 4.
wherein the sampling phase information comprises pixel coordinates of a first preset location on the first gain map and pixel coordinates of a second preset location on the second gain map.
In the same field of endeavor, Peng teaches:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises pixel coordinates of a first preset location on the first gain map and pixel coordinates of a second preset location on the second gain map (i.e. where eF stores the poly-phase up-sampling filter coefficients, refSampleArray contains reference sample values from the reconstructed base layer, tempArray stores the intermediate value after the first 1-D filtering, predArray stores the final value after the second 1D filtering, xRef and yRef correspond to the relative pixel position for up-sampling, nshift denotes a scaling or normalization parameter, offset denotes a rounding parameter, and Clip( ) denotes a clipping function- ¶0028).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng with the teachings of Peng to provide improved compression capability (Peng - ¶0004).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheng Qu et al. [US 20170164008 A1] in view of Kazushi Sato [US 20150358617 A1] and further in view of Louis Kerofsky et al. [US 20180242006 A1].
Regarding claim 16, Sheng and Kazushi all the limitations of claim 14.
wherein the sampling phase information comprises one or more of red (R) channel sampling phase information, green (G) channel sampling phase information, and blue (B) channel sampling phase information.
In the same field of endeavor, Kerofsky teaches:
wherein the sampling phase information comprises one or more of red (R) channel sampling phase information, green (G) channel sampling phase information, and blue (B) channel sampling phase information (i.e. FIG. 7 shows an example of a conversion from SDR to HDR. As shown, RGB values of SDR may be used to calculate Y value at 702. Output of 702 may be used to calculate the max component per pixel at 704. Dynamic range conversion may be applied to the max component per pixel at 706. A ratio of output of the dynamic range conversion and the max component per pixel may be calculated to determine per pixel gain factor at 708. The SDR RGB value at 706 may be scaled by the gain factor per pixel to compute the HDR RGB value at 710. A calculation of SDR to HDR value for the maximum value at 704 and the dynamic range conversion at 706 may use metadata including, for example, Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers Inc. (SMPTE) 2094 and SMPTE 2086 712. The dynamic range conversion at 706 may use display capabilities 714- ¶0051, equation 2).
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify the teachings of Sheng and Kazushi with the teachings of Louis to improve coding efficiency and/or quality of the video signal (Louis- ¶0067).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLIFFORD HILAIRE whose telephone number is (571)272-8397. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30-1400.
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, SATH V PERUNGAVOOR can be reached at (571)272-7455. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
CLIFFORD HILAIRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/CLIFFORD HILAIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488
Prosecution Insights