Abstract:
A device and method for examining and calibrating color temperature are provided for a color temperature examination/calibration station in a display product line. The color temperature examination/calibration station has a signal generator and a collection device. The signal generator is used to provide signals to the display, such that to carry out the color temperature can be examined and calibrated without inputting signals to the display by a computer system. The collection device is used to connect a plurality of displays with color temperatures to be calibrated to a computer system, such that the color temperatures of the plurality of displays can be examined and calibrated by the computer system at the same time.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 094143664 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Dec. 9, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a device and method for examining and calibrating color temperature, applied to a color temperature examination/calibration station in a display product line, for examining and calibrating color temperature of displays.  
         [0004]     2. Related Art  
         [0005]     At present, an OSD (On Screen Display) of a display contains a color temperature option, for users to select different color temperature values according to individual preference. Display manufacturers should adopt an automatic color temperature calibration process to control the calibration of the display color temperature, thus achieving a uniform color temperature of all finished display products. A conventional automatic color temperature calibration process, wherein the device and method are adopted to prevent color temperature deviation caused by manual calibration, thereby improving the quality of display manufacture. The device disclosed in the prior art includes a display, a computer system, a color temperature sensing device, and a signal connection line, thus forming a circulation system. An adjuster uses a signal connection line to connect the display and the computer system. The computer system provides signals to the display for displaying pictures. The color temperature sensing device senses a color temperature value when close to the display, and then transmits the sensed color temperature value to the computer system, for carrying out a color temperature value comparison by means of the computer system.  
         [0006]     Another prior art, in which a signal generator with wireless transmission function is connected to the display, and a transceiver is connected to the computer system. The display is connected to the computer system by means of wireless transmission, thus there is no need to plug in/pull out the signal connection line during calibration. The connecting method for wireless transmitting signals between the signal generator of the display and the transceiver of the computer system includes that when the display arrives the color temperature calibration station, the transceiver of the computer system senses the signals output by the signal generator of the display. When the signal connection between the display and the computer system succeeds, i.e., it is confirmed that the display has reached the location, a program control of the computer system is used to implement the display color temperature calibration process.  
         [0007]     The conventional display calibration method, when used in practical calibration, has the following shortcomings or improvement.  
         [0008]     According to the prior art, a color temperature calibration process is approximately divided into four stages, namely, connecting the computer system and the display (first stage); controlling the display by means of the computer system (second stage); performing color temperature sensing by means of the color temperature sensing device (third stage:); and performing color temperature comparison by means of the computer system (fourth stage).  
         [0009]     In the first stage of the prior art, a wireless transmission connection is employed to replace the wired transmission connection, thus reducing the time required for connecting the computer system and the display in the first stage. The object of the second stage is to make the display show a picture for sensing under the control of the computer system. However, the same object can be achieved by other methods, i.e., the display can show a picture without the control of a computer, wherein the color temperature sensing can be directly carried out after the display is positioned at the color temperature calibration station, thereby saving a process of controlling by the computer system.  
         [0010]     In the prior art, a single computer system is adopted to adjust the color temperature of a single display during the color temperature calibration. However, the color temperature calibration method fails to exert the function when applied in a computer system of mass calculation function, and has a negative effect on the overall production efficiency of the display.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a display color temperature examination/calibration device and method, for improving the efficiency of color temperature examination/calibration in the display product line.  
         [0012]     Therefore, to achieve the above object, the device for automatically calibrating the display color temperature provided by the invention includes a computer system, a color temperature sensor, a color analyzer, a display, a collection device, and a signal generator. The technical measure for applying the device employs a signal generator respectively connected to each display for providing signals to the display to form a picture. The object of connecting a signal generator lies in that the display color temperature calibration can be started without inputting signals to the display via the computer system to perform the color temperature examination/calibration operation.  
         [0013]     During the color temperature examination, a plurality of color temperature sensors are disposed in the front of the corresponding displays, for simultaneously sensing the color temperatures of the plurality of displays. The color temperature detectors are all connected to the collection device and the collection device is further connected to the computer system. Therefore, the object of connecting a collection device lies in that the computer system can be connected simultaneously to a plurality of color temperature sensors via the collection device, thereby examing the color temperature for a plurality of displays simultaneously. In view of the above, the device and method disclosed in the present invention are used to improve the efficiency of the display color temperature examination and calibration.  
         [0014]     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and which thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a display color temperature examination/calibration device according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a display color temperature examination/calibration device according to a second embodiment of the invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a display color temperature examination/calibration device according to a third embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of a display color temperature examination/calibration device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]     The detailed features and advantages of the invention are described in detail in the following embodiments. Anybody skilled in the related arts can easily understand and implement the technology content of the invention. Furthermore, the relative objects and advantages of the invention are apparent to those skilled in the related arts according to the content disclosed in the specification, claims, and drawings.  
         [0021]     The present invention provides four embodiments, and each of them may be implemented by display manufacturers.  
         [0022]     With respect to the first embodiment, referring to  FIG. 1 , a display  101  is connected to a signal generator  102  on the conveyor belt of the product line. The display  101  is connected to the signal generator  102  via a wired transmission interface  111 . The wired transmission interface  111  can be divided into a PC interface and an AV interface, wherein the PC interface is a digital visual interface (DVI), a D-subminiature (D-sub), a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), or the like, while the AV interface is a composite video broadcast signal (CVBS), an S-video, or the like.  
         [0023]     A color temperature examination/calibration station  10  has a computer system  103 , a color temperature sensor  104 , and a color analyzer  105 . The color temperature sensor  104  is connected to the color analyzer  105 . The color analyzer  105  is connected to the computer system  103 . The computer system  103  is further respectively connected to the display  101  and the signal generator  102  by means of a wired connection.  
         [0024]     After the display  101  is conveyed to the color temperature examination/calibration station  10  by the conveyor belt of the product line and positioned, the display  101  begins to accept color temperature examination. The color temperature examination mode of the display  101  can be divided into a PC mode and an AV mode. If the PC mode is examined first, the signal generator  102  provides image signals to the display  101  via the PC interface for displaying an image. The color temperature sensor  104  senses the color temperature generated by the image. The color analyzer  105  analyzes the color temperature to obtain a color temperature value, and sends the color temperature value to the computer system  103  for color temperature comparison. The computer system  103  compares the sensed color temperature value with the predetermined one, resulting in different color temperature calibrating sequences according to the comparison result, i.e., whether both values are consistent or not.  
         [0025]     If consistent, it proceeds to examine another color temperature, until color temperature examination and calibration of the PC interface under the PC mode are completed. Then, the color temperature examination and calibration of the AV mode are performed. Under the AV mode, the signal generator  102  provides image signals to the display  101  via the AV interface, for performing the color temperature examination and calibration, until color temperature examination and calibration of the AV interface under the AV mode are completed. Thus, the color temperature examination/calibration process of the display  101  is finished.  
         [0026]     If not consistent, color temperature calibration of the display  101  is carried out. The computer system  103  transmits the color temperature correction value to the display  101 , and the display  101  corrects the color temperature of the displayed image and displays the corrected image. The corrected image is subjected to color temperature comparison again until the color temperature comparison shows consistency.  
         [0027]     With respect to the second embodiment, referring to  FIG. 2 , a display  201  is connected to a signal generator  202  on the conveyor belt of the product line. The display  201  is connected to the signal generator  202  via a wired transmission interface  211 . The wired transmission interface  211  is divided into a PC interface and an AV interface. The PC interface can be a DVI, a D-sub, an HDMI, or the like, while the AV interface can be a CVBS, an S-video, or the like. Moreover, a first wireless transceiver  212  is disposed on the display  201 , and a second wireless transceiver  213  is disposed on the signal generator  202 .  
         [0028]     The color temperature examination/calibration station  20  has a computer system  203 , a color temperature sensor  204 , and a color analyzer  205 . The color temperature sensor  204  is connected to the color analyzer  205 . The color analyzer  205  is connected to the computer system  203 . A third wireless transceiver  214  is disposed on the computer system  203 . The computer system  203  is respectively connected to the first transceiver  212  of the display  201  and the second wireless transceiver  213  of the signal generator  202  via the third wireless transceiver  214 . The wireless transmitting/receiving frequency of the third wireless transceiver  214  and the first wireless transceiver  212  is f 1 , and the wireless transmitting/receiving frequency of the third wireless transceiver  214  and the second wireless transceiver  213  is f 2 .  
         [0029]     After the display  201  is conveyed to the color temperature examination/calibration station  20  by the conveyor belt of the product line and positioned, the display  201  begins to accept color temperature examination. The color temperature examination mode of the display  201  is divided into a PC mode and an AV mode. If the PC mode is checked first, the signal generator  202  provides image signals to the display  201  via the PC interface for displaying an image. The color temperature sensor  204  senses the color temperature generated by the image. The color analyzer  205  analyzes the color temperature to obtain a color temperature value, and sends the color temperature value to the computer system  203  for color temperature comparison. The computer system  203  compares the sensed color temperature value with the predetermined one, resulting in different color temperature calibrating sequences according to the comparison result, i.e., whether both values are consistent or not.  
         [0030]     If consistent, it proceeds to examine another color temperature until color temperature examination and calibration of the PC interface under the PC mode are completed. Then, the color temperature examination and calibration of the AV mode are performed. The computer system  203  transmits a control signal to the signal generator  202  via the third wireless transceiver  214 . The control signal is received by the second wireless transceiver  213 , making the signal generating device  202  provide image signals to the display  201  for displaying. Under the AV mode, the signal generator  202  provides image signals to the display  201  via the AV interface for carrying out the color temperature examination and calibration, until color temperature examination and calibration of the AV interface under the AV mode are completed. Thus, the color temperature examination/calibration process of the display  201  is finished.  
         [0031]     If not consistent, color temperature calibration of the display  201  is carried out. The computer system  203  transmits the color temperature correction value to the display  201  via the third wireless transceiver  214 . The color temperature correction value is received by the first wireless transceiver  212 . The display  201  corrects the color temperature of the displayed image and displays the corrected image. The corrected image is subjected to color temperature comparison again until the color temperature comparison shows consistency. Thus, the process is finished.  
         [0032]     With respect to the third embodiment, referring to  FIG. 3 , a display  301  is connected to a signal generator  302  on the conveyor belt of the product line. The display  301  is connected to the signal generator  302  via a wired transmission interface  311 . The wired transmission interface  311  is divided into a PC interface and an AV interface. The PC interface can be a DVI, a D-sub, an HDMI, or the like, while the AV interface is a CVBS, an S-video, or the like. Moreover, a first wireless transceiver  312  is disposed on the display  301 , and a second wireless transceiver  313  is disposed on the signal generator  302 .  
         [0033]     The color temperature examination/calibration station  30  has a computer system  303 , a color temperature sensor  304 , and a color analyzer  305 . The color temperature sensor  304  is connected to the color analyzer  305 . The color analyzer  305  is connected to the computer system  303 . A third wireless transceiver  314  and a fourth wireless transceiver  315  are disposed on the computer system  303 . The computer system  303  is connected to the first wireless transceiver  312  of the display  301  via the third wireless transceiver  314 , and is connected to the second wireless transceiver  313  of the signal generator  302  via the fourth wireless transceiver  315 . The wireless transmitting/receiving frequency of the third wireless transceiver  314  and the first wireless transceiver  312  is f 1 , while the wireless transmitting/receiving frequency of the fourth wireless transceiver  315  and the second wireless transceiver  313  is f 2 .  
         [0034]     After the display  301  is conveyed to the color temperature examination/calibration station  30  by the conveyor belt of the product line and positioned, the display  301  begins to accept color temperature checking. The color temperature examination mode of the display  301  is divided into a PC mode and an AV mode. If the PC mode is examined first, the signal generator  302  provides image signals to the display  301  via the PC interface for displaying an image. The color temperature sensor  304  senses the color temperature generated by the image. The color analyzer  305  analyzes the color temperature to obtain a color temperature value, and sends the color temperature value to the computer system  303  for color temperature comparison. The computer system  303  compares the sensed color temperature value with the predetermined one, resulting in different color temperature calibrating sequences according to the comparison result, i.e., whether both values are consistent or not.  
         [0035]     If consistent, it proceeds to examine another color temperature. The computer system  303  transmits a control signal to the second wireless transceiver  313  of the signal generator  302  via the fourth wireless transceiver  315 , so as to display another image and continue completing color temperature examination and calibration, until all color temperature examination and calibration of the PC interface under the PC mode are completed. Then, color temperature examination and calibration of the AV mode is carried out. Under the AV mode, the signal generator  302  provides image signals to the display  301  via the AV interface, and the computer system  303  transmits control signals to the second wireless transceiver  313  of the signal generator  302  via the fourth wireless transceiver  315 , for carrying out the color temperature examination and calibration, until all color temperature examination and calibration of the AV interface under the AV mode are completed. Thus, the color temperature examination/calibration process of the display  301  is finished.  
         [0036]     If not consistent, the color temperature calibration of the display  301  is carried out. The computer system  303  transmits the color temperature correction value to the display  301  via the third wireless transceiver  314 . The color temperature correction value is received by the first wireless transceiver  312 . The display  301  corrects the color temperature of the displayed image and displays the corrected image. The corrected image is subjected to the color temperature comparison again until the color temperature comparison shows consistency. Thus, the process is finished.  
         [0037]     With respect to the fourth embodiment, referring to  FIG. 4 , a plurality of displays  401  is disposed on the conveyor belt of the product line. A signal generator  402  is connected to a signal distribution device  407 . Each of the displays  401  is connected to the signal distribution device  407  via a wired transmission interface  411 . The wired transmission interface  411  is divided into a PC interface and an AV interface. The PC interface can be a DVI, a D-sub, an HDMI, or the like, while the AV interface can be a CVBS, an S-video, or the like. A first wireless transceiver  412  is disposed on each of the displays  401 , and a second wireless transceiver  413  is disposed on the signal generator  402 .  
         [0038]     The color temperature examination/calibration station  40  has a computer system  403 , a plurality of color temperature sensors  404 , a plurality of color analyzers  405 , and a collection device  406 . The color temperature sensors  404  are respectively connected to the color analyzers  405 . The color analyzers  405  are gathered at the collection device  406 . The collection device  406  is further connected to the computer system  403 . A third wireless transceiver  414  and a fourth wireless transceiver  415  are disposed on the computer system  403 . The computer system  403  is connected to the first wireless transceiver  412  of each display  401  via the third wireless transceiver  414 . Each of the first wireless transceivers  412  respectively has an identification for the computer system  403  to identify. The computer system  403  is further connected to the second wireless transceiver  413  of the signal generator  402  via the fourth wireless transceiver  415 . The wireless transmitting/receiving frequency of the third wireless transceiver  414  and the first wireless transceiver  412  is f 1 , while the transmitting/receiving frequency of the fourth wireless transceiver  415  and the second wireless transceiver  413  is f 2 .  
         [0039]     After each display  401  is conveyed to the color temperature examination/calibration station  40  via the conveyor belt of the product line and positioned, each display  401  begins to accept color temperature examination. The color temperature examination mode of the display  401  is divided into a PC mode and an AV mode. If the PC mode is examined first, the signal generator  402  provides image signals to its corresponding display  401  via the PC interface for displaying an image. Each color temperature sensors  404  senses the color temperature generated by the corresponding display  401 . Each color analyzer  405  analyzes the color temperature to obtain a color temperature value, and respectively sends the color temperature value to the collection device  406 . The collection device  406  then transmits the color temperature values to the computer system  403  for carrying out multiple color temperature comparisons at the same time. The computer system  403  compares multiple sensed color temperature values with the predetermined one, resulting in different color temperature calibrating sequences according to the comparison result, i.e., whether both values are consistent or not.  
         [0040]     If consistent, proceed to examine another color temperature, until color temperature examination and calibration of the PC interface under the PC mode are completed. Then, the color temperature examination and calibration of AV mode is implemented. Under the AV mode, the signal generator  402  provides image signals to the display  401  via the AV interface for performing the color temperature examination and calibration, until all the color temperature examination and calibration of the AV interface under the AV mode are completed. Thus, the color temperature examination/calibration processes of the PC mode and the AV mode of each display  401  are completed, i.e., the color temperature examination/calibration process of the display  401  is finished.  
         [0041]     If not consistent, color temperature calibration of the display  401  is carried out. The computer system  403  transmits the color temperature correction value to the display  401  via the third wireless transceiver  414 . The color temperature correction value is received by the first wireless transceiver  412 . The display  401  corrects the color temperature of the displayed image and displays the corrected image. The corrected image is subjected to the color temperature comparison again until the color temperature comparison shows consistency. Afterward, another color temperature examination of the PC interface is carried out until all color temperature examination and calibration of the PC interface under the PC mode are completed. Then, all the color temperature examination and calibration of the AV interface under the AV mode are completed. Thereby, the color temperature examination and calibration of the PC mode and the AV mode of each display  401  are all finished, i.e., the color temperature examination/calibration process of the display  401  is finished.  
         [0042]     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.