Abstract:
A screen (which may be a display or electronic display) for projection that has embedded in the screen other active display technologies, such as LEDs, LCDs, etc., or the screen itself is a hybrid of translucent surfaces with a low-resolution display. This display will have two faces such that the alphanumeric information appears from left to right on both sides of the projected image.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES  
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/296,829. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0002]    Today, projection displays are used more and more to display information on flat panel display screens. Numerous times, for a number of reasons, these screens need also to display simultaneous and synchronized information with the image displayed. For example, if the screen is used for advertising, but the image is produced in advance, simultaneously displaying pricing information that could change from time to time with the specific image would be very helpful and advantageous.  
           [0003]    Furthermore, if alphanumeric data is embedded in the projected image, and only one translucent screen is used for viewing from both sides, then although the image can be seen from both sides, the alphanumeric data will be viewed as a mirror image on the opposite side.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention uses a screen (which may be a display or electronic display) for projection that has embedded in the screen other active display technologies, such as LEDs, LCDs, etc., or the screen itself is a hybrid of translucent surfaces with a low-resolution display. This display will have two faces such that the alphanumeric information appears from left to right on both sides of the projected image.  
           [0005]    The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 illustrates a projection system whereby an image is displayed on a translucent screen for viewing from both sides of the screen;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary image projected by the display system in FIG. 1 on one side of the translucent display screen;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 illustrates the exemplary image shown in FIG. 2 as viewed from the opposite side of the display screen;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration of the present invention;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 illustrates one alternative embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 illustrates another alternative embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary image as displayed by the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 illustrates the exemplary image of FIG. 7 as viewed from the opposite side of the display screen of the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 illustrates an information handling system configured in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]    In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth such as specific display technologies to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits have been shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the most part, details concerning timing considerations and the like have been omitted in as much as such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.  
         [0018]    Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are not necessarily shown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated by the same reference numeral through the several views.  
         [0019]    Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a projection system as disclosed within U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/519,537, which is hereby incorporated by reference, whereby an image projector  105  projects an image  104  onto a translucent screen  101 , which can then be viewed by persons  102  and  103  from both sides of the display screen  101 . Screen  101  may employ a mechanism that switches it to a substantially opaque (translucent) state when an image  104  is projected. FIG. 2 illustrates how image  104  might be viewed by person  102  showing an image of a shirt  201  and the price for that shirt  202  displayed in alphanumeric symbols. However, the same image  104  as seen by viewer  103  is illustrated in FIG. 3 where the image of the shirt  201  and the price information in alphanumeric symbols  202  are seen as mirror images. Clearly the problem is not with the image of the shirt  201 , but with the alphanumeric price information  202 , which is viewed by viewer  103  in reverse. The present invention utilizes an embedded active display technology into the screen  101  to overcome this problem.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention whereby projector  950  projects an image  402  onto display screen  401  in a manner as similarly described above with respect to FIG. 1. The image  402  will not include alphanumeric information, since such information would be viewed in reverse by a viewer on one side of the display screen  401 . This problem is solved by embedding another display technology into the screen  401  to actively display such alphanumeric information, or any other information that changes from time to time with respect to an image  402  simultaneously displayed on screen  401 . In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, light emitting diodes (“LEDs”)  938  are embedded in a matrix within screen  401 . In this example, the LEDs are three millimeter diagonal multi-color LEDs and spaced apart at a pitch of one inch. However, other sized LEDs and other pitches may be utilized within the scope of the present invention. The number of LEDs is also a variable. Alternatively, screen  401  may be a display sign, such as a billboard depicting an image, which then has another display technology embedded therein which is dynamic. Moreover, screen  401  may be an electronic display of any display technology, which has another display technology embedded therein for actively displaying an image on each side of the screen.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 illustrates one alternative embodiment of the present invention as seen as a cross-section of display screen  401 . LEDs  938  as viewed from one side of display screen  401  are paired with oppositely embedded LEDs  939  on the other side of display screen  401 . Thus each LED  502  is paired with an LED  502  on the other side of the display screen  401 , and all of the LEDs are installed on a transparent printed circuit board  501  so they can be illuminated by LED display driver  936 . The transparent printed circuit board thus does not interfere with the projected image  402 .  
         [0022]    Another alternative embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 6 whereby the LEDs  638  and  639  correspond to LEDs  938  and  939 , but are embedded within the screen  601  and coupled to transparent printed circuit board  603  to be driven by LEDs display driver  936 . What is important is an image displayed by LEDs  638 ,  938  is viewed only by a viewer on that side of the display screen  401 , while LEDs  639 ,  939  display the same information to a viewer on the opposite side of the display screen. Thus the LEDs will be installed in both directions such that the alphanumeric symbols on both sides of the projector screen will not be reversed. These LEDs may be multi-color and have sufficient brightness for indoor applications. As noted above, the two surfaces of LEDs will operate electronically independently and they may be synchronized to the image  402  projected by projector  950 . Other equivalent display technologies may also be used.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 illustrates a projected image of a shirt  701  onto display screen  401  with synchronously displayed alphanumeric price information  702  using LEDs  938 . FIG. 8 illustrates the same projected image  402  viewed from the opposite side of screen  401  showing the shirt  701  in reverse, while LEDs  938 ,  939  display the same pricing information  701  as pricing information  702 , but not in reverse. Thus, not only is the pricing information displayed so that it can be read from both sides of the display screen  401 , but it also can be edited independently from the projected image  402 . For example, the price for the shirt can be changed on a periodic basis, without having to modify the projected image  402 .  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of a method in accordance with the present invention whereby in step  1001 , an image A is projected by projector  950 , and in step  1002 , an LED image is displayed on LEDs  938  and  939  corresponding to image A. Then in step  1003 , a different image B is projected by projector  950 , which results in step  1004  of a different LED image displayed using LEDs  938  and  939 , which corresponds to the image B.  
         [0025]    Referring to FIG. 9, an example is shown of a data processing system  913  which may be used for the invention. The system has a central processing unit (CPU)  910 , which is coupled to various other components by system bus  912 . Read only memory (“ROM”)  916  is coupled to the system bus  912  and includes a basic input/output system (“BIOS”) that controls certain basic functions of the data processing system  900 . Random access memory (“RAM”)  914 , I/O adapter  918 , and communications adapter  934  are also coupled to the system bus  912 . I/O adapter  918  may be a small computer system interface (“SCSI”) adapter that communicates with a disk storage device  920 . Communications adapter  934  interconnects bus  912  with an outside network enabling the data processing system to communicate with other such systems. Input/output devices are also connected to system bus  912  via user interface adapter  922  and display adapter/driver  936 . Keyboard  924  and mouse  926  are interconnected to bus  912  via user interface adapter  922 . Displays  938  and  939  are connected to system bus  912  by display adapter/driver  936 . In this manner, a user is capable of inputting to the system throughout the keyboard  924  or mouse  926  and receiving output from the system via displays  938  and  939 .  
         [0026]    Implementations of the invention include implementations as a computer system programmed to execute the method or methods described herein, and as a computer program product. According to the computer system implementation, sets of instructions for executing the method or methods (see FIG. 10) may be resident in the random access memory  914  of one or more computer systems configured generally as described above. Until required by the computer system, the set of instructions may be stored as a computer program product in another computer memory, for example, in disk drive  920  (which may include a removable memory such as an optical disk or floppy disk for eventual use in the disk drive  920 ). System  913  may operate to display images using projector  950  and displays  938 ,  939 , such as described with respect to FIGS.  1 - 8  and  10 .  
         [0027]    Further, the computer program product can also be stored at another computer and transmitted when desired to the user&#39;s work station by a network or by an external network such as the Internet. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructions physically changes the medium upon which it is stored so that the medium carries computer readable information. The change may be electrical, magnetic, chemical, biological, or some other physical change. While it is convenient to describe the invention in terms of instructions, symbols, characters, or the like, the reader should remember that all of these and similar terms should be associated with the appropriate physical elements.  
         [0028]    Note that the invention may describe terms such as comparing, validating, selecting, identifying, or other terms that could be associated with a human operator. However, for at least a number of the operations described herein which form part of at least one of the embodiments, no action by a human operator is desirable. The operations described are, in large part, machine operations processing electrical signals to generate other electrical signals.