Patent Publication Number: US-8988580-B2

Title: Projector device and method for projecting pictures on a projection screen

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to projection systems and methods, and more particularly to a projector device and method for projecting pictures on a projection screen. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     When projection technology used in handheld devices, small pictures displayed on display screens of the handheld devices may be projected on projection screens, which may improve show of the pictures. However, different users cannot realize interaction with each other on the projection screens using the handheld devices. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a projector device including a projection system. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of function modules of the projection system in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for projecting pictures on a projection screen. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” 
     In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language. In one embodiment, the program language may be Java, C, or assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an EPROM. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include CDs, DVDs, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a projector device  1  including a projection system  10 . In the embodiment, the projector device  1  communicates with an electronic device  2 . The projector device  1  may further include a storage device  12 , at least one processor  14 , a first projecting unit  16 , a camera  18 , and a display screen  20 . The electronic device  2  may includes a second projecting unit  22 . The electronic device  2  may be smart phones, PDA devices, or tablet computers, for example. 
     In one embodiment, the storage device  12  (non-transitory storage device) may be an internal storage system, such as a random access memory (RAM) for the temporary storage of information, and/or a read only memory (ROM) for the permanent storage of information. In some embodiments, the storage device  12  may be an external storage system, such as an external hard disk, a storage card, or a data storage medium. 
     The at least one processor  14  may include a processor unit, a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit, and a field programmable gate array, for example. 
     The first projecting unit  16  projects a first picture displayed on the display screen  20  of the projector device  1  onto a projection screen  3 . The projection screen  3  is used for displaying projected picture. The second projecting unit  22  projects a second picture stored in the electronic device  2  onto the projection screen  3 . 
     The camera  18  captures an image of the projection screen  3  when the second projecting unit  22  projects the second picture onto the projection screen  3 . 
     In one embodiment, the projection system  10  includes a plurality of function modules which include computerized codes or instructions that can be stored in the storage device  12  and executed by the at least one processor  14  to provide a method for projecting a picture. 
     In one embodiment, the projection system  10  may include a first triggering module  100 , an obtainment module  102 , a determination module  104 , an analyzing module  106 , a notifying module  108 , a processing module  110  and a second triggering module  112 . The modules may comprise computerized codes in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage device  12  and executed by the at least one processor  14  to provide functions for implementing the modules. The functions of the function modules  100 - 112  are illustrated in  FIG. 3  and described below. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for projecting pictures to a projection screen using the projector device  1  of  FIG. 1 . Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In block S 200 , the first projecting unit  16  of the projector device  1  obtains a first picture displayed on the display screen  20 , and projects the first picture onto the projection screen  3 . 
     In block S 202 , the first triggering module  100  triggers the camera  18  to capture an image of the projection screen  3  when a second picture is projected onto the projection screen  3 . The second picture is stored in the electronic device  2  and is projected by the second projecting unit  12  of the electronic device  2 . 
     In block S 204 , the obtainment module  102  obtains an image of the projection screen  3  from the camera  18 . 
     In block S 206 , the determination module  104  determines whether the image of the projection screen  3  displays the second picture. In the embodiment, the Open Source Computer Vision Library (Open CV) is used to recognize the image of the projection screen  3  to determine whether the image of the projection screen  3  comprises the second picture. If the image of the projection screen  3  comprises the second picture, block  208  is implemented. Otherwise, if the image of the projection screen  3  does not comprise the second picture, the flow returns to the block S 202 . 
     In block S 208 , the analyzing module  106  obtains a position, a size, and a slant degree of the second picture in the image of the projection screen  3 . In the embodiment, the position and the size of the second picture in the image of the projection screen  3  may be obtained by analyzing coordinates of vertexes (for example, A, B, C, D as shown in the  FIG. 1 ) and a center point of the second picture based on a two-dimensional coordinate system (as shown in  FIG. 1 ). The two-dimensional coordinate system is created by an origin point of an upper-left corner of the image of the projection screen  3 . In the embodiment, the slant degree of the second picture may be obtained by computing a slope of a line between two opposite vertexes of the image of the projection screen  3 , wherein the slope is relative to an X-axis of the above two-dimensional coordinate system. 
     In block S 210 , the notifying module  108  notifies the electronic device  2  to send the second picture to the projector device  1 . 
     In block S 212 , the processing module  110  processes the second picture sent from the electronic device  2  according to the obtained position, size and slant degree of the second picture, and integrates the second picture and the first picture to generate an integrated picture on the projector device  1 . 
     In block S 214 , the second triggering module  112  triggers the first projecting unit  16  to project the integrated picture onto the projection screen  3 , so that the integrated picture is displayed on the projection screen  3 . 
     Although certain disclosed embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.