Abstract:
An application for controlling the brightness of a display of a device includes having a first brightness setting and a second brightness setting, the first brightness setting is used to set the brightness of the display when two-dimensional content is displayed on the display while the second brightness setting is used to set the brightness of the display when three-dimensional content is displayed on the display. The first and second brightness settings are preferably administered through a user interface.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates to the field display systems such as televisions that reproduce both two-dimensional and three-dimensional content, and in particular, changing the brightness of the display based upon the content currently displayed. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    There are several ways to present a three-dimensional image to a viewer of a television. The common aspect of the existing methods is to present an image or frame from two perspectives, a left-eye perspective of the content to the left eye and present an image or frame from a right-eye perspective to the right eye. This creates the proper parallax so that the viewer sees both perspectives and interprets what they are seeing as three-dimensional. 
         [0003]    Early three-dimensional content was captured using two separate cameras aimed at the subject but slightly separate from each other providing two different perspectives. This simulates what the left eye and right eye see. The cameras simultaneously exposed two films. Using three-dimensional eyewear, the viewer looks at one film with the left eye and the other film with the right eye, thereby seeing what looks like a three-dimensional image. 
         [0004]    Progressing to motion pictures, three-dimensional movies were produced in a similar way with two side-by-side cameras, but the resulting images were color encoded into the final film or video. To watch the film in three-dimension, eyewear with colored filters in either eye separate the appropriate images by canceling out the filter color. This process is capable of presenting a three-dimensional movie simultaneously to a large audience, but has marginal quality and, because several colors are filtered from the content, results in poor color quality, similar to a black and white movie. 
         [0005]    More recently, personal headsets have been made that have two separate miniature displays, one for each eye. In such, left content is presented on the display viewed by the left eye and right content is presented on the display viewed by the right eye. Such systems work well, but require a complete display system for each viewer. 
         [0006]    Similar to this, Eclipse methods uses a common display, such as a television, along with personal eyewear that have fast-response shutters over each eye. In such, the left eye shutter is open allowing light to pass and the right eye shutter is closed blocking light while the television displays left-eye content, therefore permitting the light (image) from the television to reach the left eye. This is alternated with closing of the left eye shutter, opening of the right eye shutter and displaying right-eye content on the television. By alternating faster than the typical human perception time, the display appears continuous and flicker-free. 
         [0007]    As the eyewear alternately shutters the left/right eye LCDS, each LCD shutter is open approximately half of the time and closed the other half of the time. Given a fixed brightness of the television, the effective brightness reaching the viewer&#39;s eyes is approximately half of the brightness. Given existing televisions, the viewer is certainly able to increase the brightness when three-dimensional content is displayed through standard user interfaces using a remote control and on-screen display, but this then requires the viewer to reset the brightness when reverting to viewing two-dimensional content. This is not practical when viewing a mix of two and three dimensional content such as a broadcast three-dimensional program having interspersed two-dimensional commercials. 
         [0008]    What is needed is a system that will detect when three-dimensional content is displayed and automatically adjust the brightness to a first level when two-dimensional content is viewed and to a second level when three-dimensional content is viewed. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0009]    A device, such as a television, controls the brightness of a display using a first brightness setting and a second brightness setting. The device/television detects when two-dimensional content is displayed or when three-dimensional content is displayed. The first brightness setting is used to set the brightness of the display when two-dimensional content is displayed on the display while the second brightness setting is used to set the brightness of the display when three-dimensional content is displayed. The first and second brightness settings are preferably administered through a user interface. 
         [0010]    In one embodiment, an automatic brightness control is disclosed including a display system having a display. The display system displays two-dimensional content during a first interval and three-dimensional content during a second interval. The display system determines when three-dimensional content is displayed. When two-dimensional content is displayed by the display system, the display system sets a brightness level of the display to a first brightness level and when three-dimensional content is displayed by the display system, the display system sets a brightness level of the display to a second brightness level. 
         [0011]    In another embodiment, a method of automatically controlling the brightness of a display is disclosed including (a) receiving content and (b) determining if the content is two-dimensional content or three-dimensional content. (c) If the content is two-dimensional content, setting a brightness level of the display to a first brightness level and (d) if the content is three-dimensional content, setting the brightness level of the display to a second brightness level then (e) displaying the content and (f) repeating the steps a-f. 
         [0012]    In another embodiment, a system for automatic control of brightness is disclosed including a television that has a display and a processor with software running on the processor that determines a type of content to be displayed (two-dimensional content or three-dimensional content). Additional software running on the processor sets a brightness level of the display to a first brightness level before displaying the two-dimensional content and sets the brightness level of the display to a second brightness level before displaying the three-dimensional content and the software running on the processor then displays the content on the display. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  illustrates a plan view of a level of brightness from a television/display reaching an eye of a viewer according to the prior art. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  illustrates a plan view of the same level of brightness from a television/display passing through an LCD shutter of three-dimensional eye wear reaching the eye of the viewer. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  illustrates a plan view of an increased level of brightness from the television/display passing through an LCD shutter of three-dimensional eye wear reaching the eye of the viewer. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  illustrates a first flow chart operating on a processor within the typical television. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  illustrates a second flow chart operating on the processor within the typical television. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  illustrates a chain of a typical user interface of a television/display. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  illustrates a block diagram of a typical television system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures. 
         [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , a plan view of a level of brightness  12  from a television/display  5  reaching an eye of a viewer  20  according to the prior art will be described. Current display technology provides a brightness control to increase/decrease the brightness  12  coming from the display  5  for the comfort of the viewer  20 . For example, the brightness of a television is controlled through an on-screen user interface as known in the industry. In some television/display  5  systems, a light sensor is employed (not shown) to detect ambient light and automatically adjust the brightness  12  of the television/display  5 . 
         [0023]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , plan views of the same level of brightness  12  from the television/display  5  ( FIG. 2 ) and an increased level of brightness  16  from the television/display  5  ( FIG. 3 ) passing through an LCD shutter  10  of three-dimensional eye wear reaching the eye of the viewer  20  will be described. In three-dimensional eyewear, an LCD shutter  10  is positioned in front of each eye. When content for the left eye is displayed on the television/display  5 , the left eye LCD shutter  10  is open, allowing light from the television through the shutter  10  to the left eye of the viewer  20  while the right eye shutter  10  is closed. When content for the right eye is displayed on the television/display  5 , the right eye LCD shutter  10  is open, allowing light from the television through to the right eye of the viewer  20  while the left eye shutter  10  is closed. Since the left-eye content/right-eye content duty cycle is approximately 50 percent, the left eye LCD shutter  10  is open approximately 50% of the time and closed approximately 50% of the time. Likewise for the right eye LCD shutter  10 . Since each shutter  10  is open approximately 50% of the time, approximately 50% of the light (brightness)  12  from the television/display  5  gets to the eyes of the viewer  20 . Therefore, the viewer  20  realizes a much dimmer image from the television/display  5  as depicted by the decreased brightness  14  reaching the eye of the viewer  20 . 
         [0024]    To compensate for the decreased brightness  14 , the viewer  20  controls the television/display  5  to increase the brightness to a higher level of brightness  16 , resulting in a brightness or amount of light  18  similar to that viewed without the LCD shutters of  FIG. 1 . This provides the viewer  20  with the desired amount of brightness. 
         [0025]    In such, the viewer  20  increases the brightness when watching three-dimensional content, then decreases the brightness when watching two-dimensional content (even while wearing the three-dimensional eyewear). This process is tedious, especially when content is mixed such as when two-dimensional commercials are inserted into a three-dimensional movies or show. 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , a first flow chart operating on a processor  100  (see  FIG. 7 ) within the typical television  5  will be described. In this exemplary television  5 , there are at least two different brightness values stored such as a two-dimensional brightness value  101  (or standard brightness value) and a three-dimensional brightness value  103  (see  FIG. 7 ). Each has a default brightness value and each is adjustable, for example, through a user interface. The flow of one typical brightness user interface starts with setting the three-dimensional brightness value  103  to an initial value  60  then waiting  62  for a request to change the brightness value  103  (for example, waiting until a user traverses a set of user interface menus by way of a remote control  111  to access the change-brightness menu—see  FIG. 7 ). Next, the new brightness is inputted  64  (for example by signaling a slider to move left/right using the remote control  111 ) and the three-dimensional brightness value  103  is set to the new value  66 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , a second flow chart operating on the processor  100  within the typical television  5  will be described. A processing element  100  within the television  5  decodes a video signal for display on a display  7  (see  FIG. 7 ). The processing element  100  has information regarding the type of each frame that is displayed such as whether the current frame is a two-dimensional frame, a left-eye frame or a right-eye frame. Therefore, in this example, the processing element  100  knows when three-dimensional content is being displayed and, armed with such information, controls the brightness of the display  7 . For example, the processing element  100  gets a frame for display  70 . If the frame is a two-dimensional frame (e.g. both eye shutters are open or no eyewear is in use), the processing element sets  74  the brightness to the two-dimensional brightness value  101 . If the frame is a three-dimensional frame (e.g. only one eye shutter is open at a given time), the processing element sets  76  the brightness to the three-dimensional brightness value  103 . In either case, the frame is displayed  78  at which ever brightness value was selected. 
         [0028]    In some embodiments, the processing element  100  does not know from the content whether the content is two-dimensional or three-dimensional. In such, the processing element communicates with the source (e.g. a Blueray player connected to an HDMI input or a Set Top Box connected to an HDMI input) to determine the type of content. In some embodiments, the processor queries an electronic program guide or Internet service to determine if the content is two-dimensional or three-dimensional. In this embodiment, it is possible for two-dimensional commercials to be intermixed with the three-dimensional content. It is anticipated that, in this embodiment, the processor  100  uses known detection schemes or heuristics to determine when a commercial is being displayed and reverts to the two-dimensional brightness during the commercial. 
         [0029]    In some embodiments, the brightness is changed instantaneously from the two-dimensional brightness to the three-dimensional brightness and back immediately responsive to content changes while in other embodiments brightness is changed gradually from the two-dimensional brightness to the three-dimensional brightness and gradually back responsive to content changes. 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a chain of a typical user interface of a television/display  5  will be described. It is anticipated that each brightness setting is preset to a factory default setting and a user interface is used to change the settings. The user interface of  FIG. 6  is an exemplary user interface for setting the brightness settings. Normally, most user interfaces occupy a portion of the display  7  while content  80  is displayed using a pop-up, overlay, translucent menu, etc, as known in the industry. 
         [0031]    The first user interface pop-up or overlay menu  82  is a main-menu having, for example, three selections (Audio, Video, Settings). The viewer  20  selects “Video” and the second menu  84  appears for adjusting video settings (Contrast, Color, Width, Height, and Brightness). The viewer  20  selects Brightness and a third menu appears with two sliders  86 / 88 . The first slider  86  is the two-dimensional brightness slider  86  while the second slider  88  is the three-dimensional brightness slider  88 . The viewer  20  uses functions of, for example, a remote control  111  to adjust one or both of the sliders  86 / 88  to the desired brightness then exits the menu. The changed values from the sliders  86 / 88  are stored in the two-dimensional brightness value  101  and the three-dimensional brightness value  103 . The user interface of  FIG. 6  is an example and many other user interface systems are known, all of which are included here within. 
         [0032]    In some embodiments, the three-dimensional brightness value  103  is a set to a mathematical function of the two-dimensional brightness value  101 . For example, the mathematical function is a linear multiplication of 1.7 and whenever the two-dimensional brightness value  101  is changed, the three-dimensional brightness value  103  is a set to 1.7 times the two-dimensional brightness value  101 . For example, if the two-dimensional brightness value  101  is set to 50%, then the three-dimensional brightness value  103  is a set to 85%. Any mathematical function is anticipated including non-linear functions such that as the two-dimensional brightness value  101  approaches 100%, so does the three-dimensional brightness value  103  since it doesn&#39;t make sense for the three-dimensional brightness value  103  to be greater than 100%. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 7 , a schematic view of an exemplary television will be described. This figure is intended as a representative schematic of a typical monitor/television  5  and in practice, some elements are not present in some monitors/televisions  5  and/or additional elements are present in some monitors/televisions  5  as known in the industry. In this example, a display panel  7  for content is connected to a processing element  100 . The display panel  7  is representative of any known display panel including, but not limited to, LCD display panels, Plasma display panels, OLED display panels, LED display panels and cathode ray tubes (CRTs). 
         [0034]    The processing element  100  accepts video inputs and audio inputs selectively from a variety of sources including an internal television broadcast receiver  102 , High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), USB ports and an analog-to-digital converter  104 . The analog-to-digital converter  104  accepts analog inputs from legacy video sources such as S-Video and Composite video and converts the analog video signal into a digital video signal before passing it to the processing element. The processing element  100  controls the brightness of the display of the video on the display panel  7 . It is anticipated, in some embodiments, the indications of two-dimensional or three-dimensional content is communicated to the television  5  over the HDMI. 
         [0035]    Audio emanates from either the broadcast receiver  102 , the legacy source (e.g., S-Video) or a discrete analog audio input (Audio-IN). If the audio source is digital, the processing element  100  routes the audio to a digital-to-analog converter  106  and then to an input of a multiplexer  108 . The multiplexer  108 , under control of the processing element  100 , selects one of the audio sources and routes the selected audio to the audio output and an internal audio amplifier  110 . The internal audio amplifier  110  amplifies the audio and delivers it to internal speakers  134 / 136 . 
         [0036]    The processing element  100  accepts commands from a remote control  111  through remote receiver  113 . Although IR is often used to communicate commands from the remote control  111  to the remote receiver  113 , any known wireless technology is anticipated for connecting the remote control  111  to the processing element  100  including, but not limited to, radio frequencies (e.g., Bluetooth), sound (e.g., ultrasonic) and other spectrums of light. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the wireless technology be either one way from the remote  111  to the receiver  113  or two way. 
         [0037]    In this exemplary television, the processing element  100  has local, persistent storage (e.g. flash memory, hard disk, etc) for storing and accessing, for example, the two-dimensional brightness value  101  and the three-dimensional brightness value  103 . 
         [0038]    In some embodiments, the television  5  connects to networks through a wireless network interface  120  having an antenna  20 . In some embodiments, the television connects to a local area network using a local area network adapter  124  for connecting to, for example, an Ethernet local area network or a power line local area network, as known in the industry. In some embodiments, the processor  100  communicates to an Internet-based service through the wireless network interface  120  or the local area network  124  to determine when two-dimensional or three-dimensional content is being displayed. 
         [0039]    Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in substantially the same manner in substantially the same way for achieving substantially the same result. 
         [0040]    It is believed that the system and method and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely exemplary and explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.