DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 5-13, and 15-20 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are directed to the newly added limitations and to Yeo, which is not relied upon in the new grounds of rejection set forth herein, necessitated by Applicant’s amendment incorporating the subject matter of canceled claims 4 and 14 with the added condition “when the illuminance is less than the reference value.” To the extent the arguments address Chesnokov, which remains applied, the characterization of Chesnokov as limited to reducing overall display luminance is not accurate: ¶¶ 0070-0072 disclose spatially-variant, per-source adjustment of the display luminance in which bright image portions “may not be adjusted” while others are reduced, and a stated preference for reducing display luminance in dark conditions does not criticize, discredit, or otherwise discourage the claimed control.
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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 6, 8-12, 16, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [Chesnokov; Viacheslav, US 20180174526 A1] in view of [Oda; Eishi et al., US 20140160180 A1].
Regarding claim 1:
Chesnokov discloses:
1. A display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1], comprising:
a display panel (210) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: panel of display device 3; ¶ 0027: “display device 3 panel”];
a backlight (250) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: backlight of display device 3; ¶ 0024: “The display device 3 of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a backlight”] including a plurality of light sources (252) [Chesnokov: Fig.2: LEDs 14; ¶ 0025: “the backlight comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)”] that provide light to the display panel (210) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: panel of display device 3; ¶ 0028: “the backlight illuminates the pixels and contributes to a display luminance of the display device 3”];
and a controller (170) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display controller 2] configured to:
obtain a illuminance [Chesnokov: Fig.1: ambient light sensor 11; ¶ 0075: “an ambient light sensor 11 that measures the ambient light level near the display device 3”; ¶ 0074: “an input 9 for an ambient light signal 10”] and image information of an input image [Chesnokov: Fig.3: steps 23-24; ¶ 0046: “ the image content of the image is analyzed to determine the intensity of pixels of the image 23”; ¶ 0046: “ the display controller 2 may include a content analyzer … based on an analysis of the image content of the image”],
increase a tone intensity of a low gray-level area of the input image based on the image information [Chesnokov: ¶ 0050: “the spatially-variant tone mapping operation can be applied to increase contrast in these dark areas, to enhance, intensify or increase the visibility of detail in these image regions”; Examiner: The dark areas identified by the content analysis are the low gray-level area, and increasing their contrast and visibility of detail reads on increasing their tone intensity.],
control the backlight (250) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: backlight of display device 3; ¶ 0048: “the display luminance is reduced and the spatially-variant tone mapping operation is applied to the image data”] so that a current flowing in light sources (252) [Chesnokov: Fig.2: LEDs 14] corresponding to the low gray-level area is reduced [Chesnokov: ¶ 0071: “adjusting a first intensity of a first light source of the plurality of light sources so that the first intensity is different from a second intensity of a second light source”; ¶ 0071: “the first intensity may be decreased by a factor of 2 and the second intensity may be decreased by a factor of 4”; Examiner: The intensity of an LED is set by its drive current, so decreasing the intensity of the light sources illuminating the dark image portion reduces the current flowing in the light sources corresponding to the low gray-level area.] when the illuminance is less than a reference value [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “ if the ambient light level is low, for example if the display device is being viewed in dark conditions, the display luminance may be reduced by a larger amount than if the display device was subject to a high ambient light level”; Examiner: “Low ambient light level” reads on illuminance less than a reference value under BRI.],
maintain the tone intensity for a high gray-level area of the input image [Chesnokov: ¶ 0054: “the gain G may be set to equal this factor x in dark image regions, but may be set to 1 (for example, so that there is no change in the dynamic range) for bright image regions”; Examiner: A gain of 1 leaves the tone of the bright (high gray-level) region unchanged, i.e. maintained.]
However, Chesnokov does not expressly disclose:
control the backlight to increase the current flowing through light sources corresponding to the high gray- level area when the illuminance is less than the reference value.
Oda discloses:
control the backlight (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LED backlight 5] to increase the current flowing through light sources (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LEDs of the LED backlight 5] corresponding to the high gray- level area [Oda: Fig.8; ¶ 0051: “the first brightness is determined to be relatively low in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is small, and is determined to be relatively high in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is large”; ¶ 0027: “causes the light emission brightness of the LEDs to be increased in a range where the total amount of the driving currents of the LEDs lit up in each area does not exceed the total amount of the driving currents necessary when all the LEDs of the backlight are lit up”; ¶ 0034: “the driving current is supplied to the LEDs as much as possible as far as the electric power permits, and thereby, the brightness is increased”] when the illuminance is less than the reference value [Oda: Fig.1: photosensor 8; ¶ 0041: “When the ambient illuminance detected by the photosensor 8 is equal to or lower than the specific value, that is, the ambient luminance is low, the third brightness whose peak brightness is reduced to be lower than the second brightness using the brightness to lighting rate curve 10 or 11 is acquired”; ¶ 0044: “the brightness increase ratio (the duty increase ratio) for the duty of 36.5% (P3) of the LED acquired when all the LEDs are lit up is about 2.2”; Examiner: In the state where the detected illuminance is at or below the specific value, Oda’s area control still drives the LEDs of the high gray-level areas at a duty increase ratio above the all-lit baseline while the low gray-level areas remain at their reduced allocation, i.e., the current increase for the high gray-level area light sources is performed when the illuminance is less than the reference value. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification (PGPUB ¶ 0203), the claim does not require the current to exceed the level used when the illuminance is at or above the reference value.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Chesnokov to allocate the backlight driving current for each area in accordance with the gray level of the corresponding image area, increasing, within the permissible total current, the current flowing through the light sources corresponding to the high gray-level area while the low gray-level area light sources remain reduced, with this area allocation operating under the detected ambient illuminance threshold as taught by Oda (¶¶ 0027, 0034, 0041, 0044), in order to reduce light leakage and black float while realizing a high contrast feeling when the ambient luminance is low, as taught by Oda (¶ 0029), the combination applying Oda’s known area-active current control to Chesnokov’s ambient-adaptive LED backlight with the predictable result of enhanced contrast between high and low gray-level areas in the low-illuminance viewing state.
Regarding claim 2:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
2. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1,
wherein the controller (170) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display controller 2] is further configured to: when the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value, increase the tone intensity of the low gray-level area by a first intensity [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “the strength of the spatially-variant tone mapping may be larger in dark conditions than in light conditions”; Examiner: The smaller tone-mapping strength applied in light conditions, where the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value, is the claimed first intensity.], and
wherein the controller (170) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display controller 2] is configured to: when the illuminance is less than the reference value, increase the tone intensity of the low gray-level area to a second intensity greater than the first intensity [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “the strength of the spatially-variant tone mapping may be larger in dark conditions than in light conditions, as it may be necessary to further enhance image detail in dark conditions to offset the reduction in display luminance”; Examiner: The larger tone-mapping strength in dark conditions is the claimed second intensity greater than the first.].
Regarding claim 6:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
6. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1,
wherein the image information includes at least one of a maximum luminance (or peak luminance), a minimum luminance, an average picture level (APL), histogram information, information about the low gray-level area, information about the middle gray-level area, information about the high gray-level area [Chesnokov: ¶ 0046: “the analysis of the image content includes determining whether the image includes dark patches 24, for example a certain number of adjacent pixels with a pixel intensity below a predetermined pixel intensity threshold”; Examiner: The determination of dark patches is information above the low gray-level area; the claim requires only one of the recited alternatives.], or tone mapping curve information of the input image.
Regarding claim 8:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
8. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1,
wherein the controller (170) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display controller 2] is further configured to: perform a global dimming operation that controls a brightness of a entire screen at once [Chesnokov: ¶ 0069: “the intensity of the backlight may be substantially spatially uniformly adjusted”; ¶ 0069: “the intensity of each light source of the backlight, for example each LED 14 in the example display device 3 of FIGS. 1 and 2, may be increased by the same amount or substantially the same amount”; Examiner: Spatially uniform adjustments of every light source is a global dimming operation controlling the brightness of the entire screen at once.].
Regarding claim 9:
Chesnokov discloses.
9. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 8,
wherein the controller (170) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display controller 2] is configured to: perform the global dimming operation [Chesnokov: ¶ 0069: “the intensity of the backlight may be substantially spatially uniformly adjusted”] based on the illuminance [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “ if the ambient light level is low … the display luminance may be reduced by a larger amount than if the display device was subject to a high ambient light level”].
However, Chesnokov does not expressly disclose:
and an average picture level (APL) of the input image.
Oda discloses:
and an average picture level (APL) of the input image [Oda: ¶ 0029: “a second feature value (for example, the average picture level (APL)) of the video signal”; ¶ 0054: “the same control can also be executed using the APL of the video signal”; Examiner: Oda’s brightness control, including the reduction applied when the detected ambient illuminance is at or below the specific value, is executed based on the APL as the feature value, i.e., based on the illuminance and the APL.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chesnokov to further base the dimming operation on the average picture level of the input image as taught by Oda (¶¶ 0029, 0054), since Oda states the APL is the average brightness of the overall video signal bearing the same relation to backlight brightness as the lighting rate (¶ 0054), such that substituting the APL as the feature value governing the ambient-conditioned brightness control is the use of a known equivalent measure with the predictable result of the same dimming behaviour.
Regarding claim 10:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
10. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1,
wherein the input image is a HDR(High Dynamic Range) image [Chesnokov: ¶ 0032: “The image data 4 may, for example, be in an HDR (high dynamic range) format”; ¶ 0046: “ In the example of FIG. 3, if the image is an HDR image”].
Regarding claim 11:
Chesnokov discloses:
11. A method of operating a display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1; Fig.3], comprising:
obtaining a illuminance [Chesnokov: Fig.1: ambient light sensor 11; ¶ 0075: “an ambient light sensor 11 that measures the ambient light level near the display device 3”;] and image information of an input image [Chesnokov: Fig.3: steps 23-24; ¶ 0046: “ the image content of the image is analyzed to determine the intensity of pixels of the image 23”; ¶ 0046: “ the display controller 2 may include a content analyzer … based on an analysis of the image content of the image”];
increasing a tone intensity of a low gray-level area of the input image based on the image information [Chesnokov: ¶ 0050: “the spatially-variant tone mapping operation can be applied to increase contrast in these dark areas, to enhance, intensify or increase the visibility of detail in these image regions”; ¶ 0054: “the gain G may be set to equal this factor x so that the output dynamic range is increased by the factor x”; Examiner: The dark areas identified by the image content analysis are the low gray-level area, and increasing their contrast and visibility of detail reads on increasing their tone intensity.]
controlling the backlight (250) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: backlight of display device 3; ¶ 0024: “The display device 3 of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a backlight”; ¶ 0048: “the display luminance is reduced and the spatially-variant tone mapping operation is applied to the image data”] so that a current flowing in light sources (252) [Chesnokov: Fig.2: LEDs 14; ¶ 0025: “the backlight comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)”] corresponding to the low gray-level area is reduced [Chesnokov: ¶ 0071: “the first intensity may be decreased by a factor of 2 and the second intensity may be decreased by a factor of 4”; Examiner: The intensity of an LED is set by its drive current, so performing the larger decrease on the light sources illuminating the dark image portion reduces the current flowing in the light sources corresponding to the low gray-level area.] when the illuminance is less than a reference value [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “if the ambient light level is low, for example if the display device is being viewed in dark conditions, the display luminance may be reduced by a larger amount than if the display device was subject to a high ambient light level”; Examiner: “Low ambient light level” reads on illuminance less than a reference value under BRI.]; and
maintaining the tone for a high gray-level area of the input image [Chesnokov: ¶ 0054: “the gain G may be set to equal this factor x in dark image regions, but may be set to 1 (for example, so that there is no change in the dynamic range) for bright image regions”; Examiner: Setting the gain to 1 in the tone mapping operation leaves the tone of the bright (high gray-level) regions unchanged, i.e., maintained.]
However, Chesnokov does not expressly disclose:
controlling the backlight to increase the current flowing through light sources corresponding to the high gray- level area when the illuminance is less than the reference value.
Oda discloses:
controlling the backlight (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LED backlight 5] to increase the current flowing through light sources (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LEDs of the LED backlight 5] corresponding to the high gray- level area [Oda: Fig.8; ¶ 0051: “the first brightness is determined to be relatively low in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is small, and is determined to be relatively high in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is large”; ¶ 0027: “causes the light emission brightness of the LEDs to be increased in a range where the total amount of the driving currents of the LEDs lit up in each area does not exceed the total amount of the driving currents necessary when all the LEDs of the backlight are lit up”; ¶ 0034: “the driving current is supplied to the LEDs as much as possible as far as the electric power permits, and thereby, the brightness is increased”] when the illuminance is less than the reference value [Oda: Fig.1: photosensor 8; ¶ 0041: “When the ambient illuminance detected by the photosensor 8 is equal to or lower than the specific value, that is, the ambient luminance is low, the third brightness whose peak brightness is reduced to be lower than the second brightness using the brightness to lighting rate curve 10 or 11 is acquired”; ¶ 0044: “the brightness increase ratio (the duty increase ratio) for the duty of 36.5% (P3) of the LED acquired when all the LEDs are lit up is about 2.2”; Examiner: In the state where the detected illuminance is at or below the specific value, Oda’s area control still drives the LEDs of the high gray-level areas at a duty increase ratio above the all-lit baseline while the low gray-level areas remain at their reduced allocation, i.e., the current increase for the high gray-level area light sources is performed when the illuminance is less than the reference value. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification (PGPUB ¶ 0203), the claim does not require the current to exceed the level used when the illuminance is at or above the reference value.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform, in the method of operating the display device of Chesnokov, the per-area current allocation steps taught by Oda, determining each area’s backlight drive from the gray level of the corresponding image area and increasing, within the permissible total driving current, the current flowing through the light sources corresponding to the high gray-level area while the low gray-level area light sources remain reduced, under the detected ambient illuminance threshold (Oda ¶¶ 0027, 0034, 0041, 0044), in order to reduce light leakage and black float while realizing a high contrast feeling when the ambient luminance is low, as taught by Oda (¶ 0029), the steps being known operations of area-active backlight control whose application to Chesnokov’s ambient-adaptive method yields the predictable result of enhanced contrast between high and low gray-level areas in the low-illuminance viewing state.
Regarding claim 12:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:
when the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value, increasing the tone intensity of the low gray-level area by a first intensity [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “the strength of the spatially-variant tone mapping may be larger in dark conditions than in light conditions”; Examiner: Applying the smaller tone-mapping strength in light conditions, where the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value, is increasing by the claimed first intensity.], and
wherein the increasing a tone intensity of a low gray-level area of the input image based on the image information when the illuminance is less than a reference value comprises:
when the illuminance is less than the reference value, increasing the tone intensity of the low gray-level area to a second intensity greater than the first intensity [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “the strength of the spatially-variant tone mapping may be larger in dark conditions than in light conditions, as it may be necessary to further enhance image detail in dark conditions to offset the reduction in display luminance”; Examiner: Applying the larger tone-mapping strength in dark conditions is increasing to the claimed second intensity greater than the first.].
Regarding claim 16
The limitations of claim 16 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 18
The limitations of claim 18 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 8 above.
Regarding claim 19
The limitations of claim 19 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 9 above.
Claim(s) 3, 7, 13, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [Chesnokov; Viacheslav, US 20180174526 A1] in view of [Oda; Eishi et al., US 20140160180 A1] and further in view of [Seo; Woongjin et al., US 20140320552 A1].
Regarding claim 3:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses.
3. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1.
However, Chesnokov in view of Oda does not expressly disclose:
wherein when the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value, a slope of a tone mapping curve for tone mapping of the low gray-level area is a first slope, and when the illuminance is less than the reference value, the slope of the tone mapping curve for tone mapping of the low gray-level area is a second slope greater than the first slope.
Seo discloses:
wherein when the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value [Seo: Fig.1: S2: “Low illuminance” (NO branch); Examiner: When illuminance is not low, Seo applies the standard 2.2 gamma curve referenced at ¶ 0046], a slope of a tone mapping curve for tone mapping of the low gray-level area is a first slope [Seo: Fig.3: gamma curve; ¶ 0046: “The S gamma curve has a slope greater than the 2.2 gamma curve at the low gray level”; Examiner: The low-gray slope of the second gamma curve, applied when illuminance is greater than the predetermined illuminance, is the claimed first slope.], and when the illuminance is less than the reference value [Seo: Fig.1: S2: “Low illuminance?”; Abstract: “modulating gray levels of input data of the display device based on a first gamma curve when the sensed level of external illuminance is equal to or lower than the predetermined illuminance”], the slope of the tone mapping curve for tone mapping of the low gray-level area is a second slope greater than the first slope [Seo: Abstract: “he first gamma curve includes a concave curve set in a low gray level area and a convex curve set in a high gray level area, and the concave curve and the convex curve are connected via an inflection point”; ¶ 0045: “`a (alpha)` is an emphasis variable of the low gray level”; Examiner: The concave, low-gray-emphasized first gamma curve applied at/below the predetermined illuminance has a greater low-gray slope than the second gamma curve, reading on the second slope greater than the first.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Chesnokov in view of Oda to apply the illuminance-dependent gamma curve of Seo, such that the illuminance is at or below the reference value, in order to improve low gray-level (shadow) visibility and reduce user eye fatigue in low-illuminance environments, as taught by Seo [Seo: Abstract; ¶ 0045].
Regarding claim 7:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses.
7. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1.
However, Chesnokov in view of Oda does not expressly disclose:
wherein when the illuminance is changed from a first viewing situation in which the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value to a second situation in which the illuminance is less than the reference value, the luminance measured for the low gray-level area is increased.
Seo discloses:
wherein when the illuminance is changed from a first viewing situation in which the illuminance is more than or equal to the reference value [Seo: ¶ 0037: “ modulates gray levels of input data based on an existing 2.2 gamma curve when the external illuminance is a high illuminance”] to a second situation in which the illuminance is less than the reference value [Seo: Fig.1: S2 “Low illuminance?” [Wingdings font/0xE0] S3 “Reduce luminance and apply S gamma curve”; ¶ 0040: “When the external illuminance is the low illuminance, the gamma compensation method … applies the S-curve gamma compensation method in steps S2 and S3”] , the luminance measured for the low gray-level area is increased [Seo: ¶ 0040: “The S gamma curve has a luminance value greater than the 2.2 gamma curve at the low gray level”; ¶ 0047: “The embodiment of the invention increases a luminance of the low gray levels using the S gamma curve”].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Chesnokov in view of Oda to increase the luminance of the low gray-level area upon the transition to low illuminance as taught by Seo, in order to improve the visibility of the low gray levels and prevent reduction in grayscale representation when the ambient illuminance is low [Sep: ¶ 0047].
Regarding claim 13
The limitations of claim 13 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 17
The limitations of claim 17 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 7 above.
Claim(s) 5 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [Chesnokov; Viacheslav, US 20180174526 A1] in view of [Oda; Eishi et al., US 20140160180 A1] and further in view of [Fujine; Toshiyuki et al., US 20150070376 A1].
Regarding claim 5:
Chesnokov in view of Oda discloses:
5. The display device (100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1] of claim 1.
However, Chesnokov in view of Oda does not expressly disclose:
wherein the low gray-level area includes a plurality of local areas, and
wherein the controller (170) is further configured to: determine the tone intensity for each local area based on histogram information and peak luminance of each local area.
Fujine discloses:
wherein the low gray-level area includes a plurality of local areas [Fujine: ¶ 0056: “The area-active-control/luminance-stretching portion 14 divides a video into a predetermined plurality of areas, and controls light emission luminance of the LED corresponding to the divided areas for each area”; Examiner: The low gray-level (dark) regions spans a plurality of these divided area.], and
wherein the controller (170) is further configured to: determine the tone intensity for each local area [Fujine: ¶ 0047: “The lighting rate is defined for each area of the backlight portion 16 corresponding to a divided area of a video”; ¶ 0056: “controls light emission luminance of the LED corresponding to the divided areas for each area”] based on histogram information [Fujine: ¶ 0075: “The light emission detecting portion 12 of the signal processing portion 11 detects a part that emits light from a video signal. FIG. 6 shows an example of a Y histogram generated from a luminance signal Y. The light emission detecting portion 12 integrates the number of pixels for each luminance tone to generate a Y histogram for each frame of an input video signal”; ¶ 0077: “A second threshold Th2 is for defining a light emitting boundary, and in the Y histogram, processing is performed for pixels not less than the threshold Th2 which are regarded as a light emitting par”] and peak luminance of each local area [Fujine: ¶ 0057: “the maximum tone value of the video signal for each area is extracted”; Examiner: The maximum tone value extracted for each divided area is the peak luminance of each local area.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the display device of Chesnokov in view of Oda to subdivide the low gray-level area into a plurality of local areas and to determine the tone intensity for each area from that area’s maximum (peak) tone value and the luminance histogram, as taught by Fujine, in order to adapt the luminance/tone enhancement to the local content of each area and improve local contrast and the sense of brightness of the image [Fujine: ¶ 0050 and 0056].
Regarding claim 15
The limitations of claim 15 have been addressed in the discussion of claim 5 above.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over [Chesnokov; Viacheslav, US 20180174526 A1] in view of [Oda; Eishi et al., US 20140160180 A1] and further in view of [Bastani; Behnam et al., US 20150097853 A1].
Regarding claim 20:
Chesnokov discloses:
20.(100) [Chesnokov: Fig.1: display system 1; Fig.3]
wherein the method comprises:
obtaining a illuminance [Chesnokov: Fig.1: ambient light sensor 11; ¶ 0075: “an ambient light sensor 11 that measures the ambient light level near the display device 3”; ¶ 0074: “an input 9 for an ambient light signal 10”] and image information of an input image [Chesnokov: Fig.3: steps 23-24; ¶ 0046: “ the image content of the image is analyzed to determine the intensity of pixels of the image 23”; ¶ 0046: “ the display controller 2 may include a content analyzer … based on an analysis of the image content of the image”];
increasing a tone intensity of a low gray-level area of the input image based on the image information [Chesnokov: ¶ 0050: “the spatially-variant tone mapping operation can be applied to increase contrast in these dark areas, to enhance, intensify or increase the visibility of detail in these image regions”; Examiner: The dark areas identified by the content analysis are the low gray-level area, and increasing their contrast and visibility of detail reads on increasing their tone intensity.];
controlling the backlight (250) [Chesnokov: Figs.1-2: backlight of display device 3; ¶ 0048: “the display luminance is reduced and the spatially-variant tone mapping operation is applied to the image data”] so that a current flowing in light sources (252) [Chesnokov: Fig.2: LEDs 14; ¶ 0025: “the backlight comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs)”] corresponding to the low gray-level area is reduced [Chesnokov: ¶ 0071: “adjusting a first intensity of a first light source of the plurality of light sources so that the first intensity is different from a second intensity of a second light source”; ¶ 0071: “the first intensity may be decreased by a factor of 2 and the second intensity may be decreased by a factor of 4”; Examiner: The intensity of an LED is set by its drive current, so decreasing the intensity of the light sources illuminating the dark image portion reduces the current flowing in the light sources corresponding to the low gray-level area.] when the illuminance is less than a reference value [Chesnokov: ¶ 0076: “ if the ambient light level is low, for example if the display device is being viewed in dark conditions, the display luminance may be reduced by a larger amount than if the display device was subject to a high ambient light level”; Examiner: “Low ambient light level” reads on illuminance less than a reference value under BRI.]; and
maintaining the tone for a high gray-level area of the input image [Chesnokov: ¶ 0054: “the gain G may be set to equal this factor x in dark image regions, but may be set to 1 (for example, so that there is no change in the dynamic range) for bright image regions”; Examiner: A gain of 1 leaves the tone of the bright (high gray-level) region unchanged, i.e. maintained.]
However, Chesnokov does not expressly disclose:
controlling the backlight to increase the current flowing through light sources corresponding to the high gray- level area when the illuminance is less than the reference value.
Oda discloses:
controlling the backlight (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LED backlight 5] to increase the current flowing through light sources (250) [Oda: Fig.1: LEDs of the LED backlight 5] corresponding to the high gray- level area [Oda: Fig.8; ¶ 0051: “the first brightness is determined to be relatively low in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is small, and is determined to be relatively high in an area where maximal gray scale value of the video signal is large”; ¶ 0027: “causes the light emission brightness of the LEDs to be increased in a range where the total amount of the driving currents of the LEDs lit up in each area does not exceed the total amount of the driving currents necessary when all the LEDs of the backlight are lit up”; ¶ 0034: “the driving current is supplied to the LEDs as much as possible as far as the electric power permits, and thereby, the brightness is increased”] when the illuminance is less than the reference value [Oda: Fig.1: photosensor 8; ¶ 0041: “When the ambient illuminance detected by the photosensor 8 is equal to or lower than the specific value, that is, the ambient luminance is low, the third brightness whose peak brightness is reduced to be lower than the second brightness using the brightness to lighting rate curve 10 or 11 is acquired”; ¶ 0044: “the brightness increase ratio (the duty increase ratio) for the duty of 36.5% (P3) of the LED acquired when all the LEDs are lit up is about 2.2”; Examiner: In the state where the detected illuminance is at or below the specific value, Oda’s area control still drives the LEDs of the high gray-level areas at a duty increase ratio above the all-lit baseline while the low gray-level areas remain at their reduced allocation, i.e., the current increase for the high gray-level area light sources is performed when the illuminance is less than the reference value. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification (PGPUB ¶ 0203), the claim does not require the current to exceed the level used when the illuminance is at or above the reference value.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to perform, in the method of operating the display device of Chesnokov, the per-area current allocation taught by Oda, increasing, within the permissible total current, the current flowing through the light sources corresponding to the high gray-level area while the low gray-level area light sources remain reduced, under the detected ambient illuminance threshold (¶¶ 0027, 0034, 0041, 0044), in order to reduce light leakage and black float while realizing a high contrast feeling when the ambient luminance is low, as taught by Oda (¶ 0029), with the predictable result of enhanced contrast between high and low gray-level areas in the low-illuminance viewing state.
However, Chesnokov in view of Oda does not expressly disclose:
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a program for performing a method of operating a display device is recorded.
Bastani discloses:
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a program for performing a method of operating a display device is recorded [Bastani: ¶ 0055: “it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions”; Examiner: Bastani’s operations are so programmed are backlight illumination control operations for a display, i.e., a method of operating a display device.].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chesnokov in view of Oda to further include recoding a program for performing the display operating method on a non-transitory computer-readable medium as taught by Bastani (¶ 0055), in order to allow a general purpose processor to be selectively activated or reconfigured to perform the backlight control operations (¶ 0055), implementing the known control method in software being a predictable implementation choice yielding the same display control result.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Inquiry
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/KOOSHA SHARIFI-TAFRESHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2628
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