Patent Publication Number: US-2005117062-A1

Title: Device for automatic display adjustment

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      The present invention relates to a display device, and in particular to a device for automatic brightness and light contrast adjustment of a display.  
      Conventional display devices provide brightness and light contrast adjustment in response to an environment around the display devices. For example, the brightness and contrast of display should be increased when environmental brightness intensifies, and decreased, when diminishes.  
      Display settings cannot be automatically adjusted by current display devices when environmental brightness is highly variable, and must be manually adjusted for better display, creating inconvenience.  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a conventional display device.  
      The display device  100  receiving an image signal  110  comprises a control key  120 , a display control circuit  130 , a memory  140 , and a display module  150 .  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in a conventional display device.  
      In step S 21 , image signal  110  is retrieved from a video source and input to display device  100 .  
      In step S 221 , brightness and contrast of display device  100  are adjusted by control key  120  when image signal  110  is input.  
      In step S 222 , display settings are stored in memory  140  after brightness and contrast adjustment of display device  100  is complete.  
      In step S 23 , display control circuit  130  adjusts image signal  110  according to the display settings for an optimum display mode.  
      In step S 24 , the adjusted image is output to display module  150 .  
      A display device can be applied to a TV set, personal computer, portable computer, mobile phone, or LED billboard, wherein the display quality is affected by environmental brightness. The described process, however, relies on inconvenient manual adjustment and may not provide accurate results.  
     SUMMARY  
      Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device for automatic display adjustment, adjusting display settings in accordance with environmental brightness.  
      According to the object described, an embodiment of the present invention provides a display device with automatic display adjustment. The device comprises at least one brightness sensor detecting environmental brightness, and a display control circuit processing brightness signals received from the brightness sensor and automatically adjusting display settings of a display device accordingly.  
      The display control circuit records, compares, and evaluates the brightness signals and adjusts the display settings of the display device accordingly. In addition, the device further comprises a storage medium storing display settings and received brightness signal values.  
      An embodiment of the present invention further provides a display device with automatic display adjustment. The device comprises at least one brightness sensor detecting environmental brightness to obtain an initial brightness signal value and continuing to detect environmental brightness to obtain a first brightness signal value, and a display control circuit comparing the initial brightness signal value with the first brightness signal value when environmental brightness changes, and automatically adjusting display settings of a display device accordingly.  
      In addition, the device further comprises a storage medium storing display settings and received brightness signal values.  
      A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of a conventional display device;  
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in a conventional display device;  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of the display device of an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in an embodiment of the invention; and  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in response to environmental brightness variations according to an embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      An embodiment of the present invention provides a display device with automatic display adjustment in response to environmental brightness variations.  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of the display device of an embodiment of the invention. A display device  300  receiving an image signal  310  comprises a control key  320 , brightness sensors  325 , a display control circuit  330 , a memory  340 , and a display module  350 .  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in an embodiment of the invention.  
      In step S 41 , image signal  310  is retrieved from a video source and input to display device  300 .  
      In step S 42 , brightness and contrast of display device  300  are adjusted, first according to environmental brightness, and then to user preference when the device is first used.  
      In step S 43 , brightness sensors  325  detects environmental brightness when display settings are first adjusted to obtain a default brightness signal value.  
      In step S 44 , the display settings and default brightness signal value are stored in memory  340  for comparison and adjustment.  
      In step S 45 , image signal  310  is adjusted according to the display settings for an optimum display mode.  
      In step S 46 , the adjusted image is output to display module  350 .  
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of display setting adjustment in response to environmental brightness variations according to an embodiment of the invention.  
      In step S 51 , image signal  310  is retrieved from a video source and input to display device  300 .  
      In step S 52 , environmental brightness is detected by brightness sensors  325 .  
      In step S 53 , a new brightness signal value is obtained and compared with preset environmental brightness signal values in memory  340 .  
      In step S 54 , a new display setting is obtained according to the comparison and the default display setting.  
      In step S 55 , image signal  310  is adjusted according to the new display setting for optimum display.  
      In step S 56 , the adjusted image is output to display module  350 ,  
      An embodiment of the present invention adjusts one or multiple brightness sensors in a display device to detect environmental brightness and transmits a generated brightness signal to a display control circuit of the display device. The display control circuit records, compares, and evaluates the brightness signal and adjusts the display settings of the display device accordingly.  
      While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.