Patent Publication Number: US-2016241760-A1

Title: Display having an integrated camera

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Displays typically include some sort of camera that is physically disposed outside the display area such as on the bezel surrounding the display area. As a result, the resulting display housing may be slightly larger than it otherwise could be since the camera is disposed outside of the display area. Furthermore, the camera may be visible despite efforts to hide the opening in the bezel for the camera which may detract from the appearance of the display. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of a system comprising a keyboard and a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of a camera sensor assembly for a pixel of a display including a camera sensor in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 4A and 4B  are diagrams of the components utilized to fabricate a camera sensor assembly as shown in  FIG. 3  in accordance with one or more embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of a display having a camera sensor at selected pixels in accordance with one or more embodiments; and 
         FIG. 6  a block diagram of an information handling system capable of utilizing a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments. 
     
    
    
     It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail. 
     In the following description and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. However, coupled may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, “coupled” may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms “on,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used in the following description and claims. “On,” “overlying,” and “over” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. However, “over” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, “over” may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term “and/or” may mean “and”, it may mean “or”, it may mean “exclusive-or”, it may mean “one”, it may mean “some, but not all”, it may mean “neither”, and/or it may mean “both”, although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the following description and/or claims, the terms “comprise” and “include,” along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a front view of a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in  FIG. 1 , display  100  may include an integrated camera  110  comprising an array of camera sensors  112  integrated with one or more pixels of display  100 . In one or more embodiments, camera sensors  112  may comprise any suitable type of image sensor technology, for example a charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. For purpose of example, camera  110  is shown comprising a 3×3 array of camera sensors  112  which are not necessarily shown to scale. It should be noted that camera  110  may comprise any number of camera sensors  112  in any various pattern or distribution, and with any number of camera sensors  112 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In one embodiment, the camera  110  may be located within a selected region of display  100 , for example centrally located near a top portion of display glass  114  and situated behind and/or interior to display glass  114 . In such an embodiment, the camera sensors  112  may be spaced generally closer together in a more concentrated pattern. In other embodiments, for example as shown in  FIG. 2 , below, the camera sensors  112  may be generally spaced apart in a more distributed pattern. In general, there camera sensors  112  may be arranged in any pattern, spacing or concentration. In some embodiments there is one camera sensor  112  for each corresponding pixel of display  100  such that the number of camera sensors  112  equals or nearly equals the number of pixels of display  100 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , display  100  may comprise a stand-alone display capable of being connected to another device such as a personal computer, notebook computer, cable or satellite television converter box, internet television box, and so on, that provides a video signal to be displayed on display  100 . Alternatively, display  100  may comprise a stand-alone device such as a cell phone, smart phone, tablet, personal computer in a tablet form factor, and so on, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. It should be noted that in some embodiments the camera sensors  112  are integrated within display  100  such that a user viewing the display  100  may not notice or detect the presence of the camera  110 , and the camera  110  does not interfere with the operation of display  100 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a front view of a system comprising a keyboard and a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Display  100  of  FIG. 2  is substantially similar to display  100  of  FIG. 1 , except that in  FIG. 2  camera  110  of display  100  comprises a distributed arrangement of camera sensors  112  for purposes of example. Furthermore, display  100  may be part of a system  200  comprising display  100  and keyboard unit  210  that is attached to display  100  or otherwise capable of being coupled with display  100 . For example, system  200  may comprise a notebook computer, Ultrabook™ system, or a convertible computer. Alternatively, display  100  may comprise a tablet or tablet computer that is capable of coupling with keyboard unit  210  to provide a notebook like form factor. Keyboard unit  210  may include a keyboard  212 , a track pad  214 , and/or one or more input buttons (not shown) in some embodiments. These examples are merely various form factors of system  200  that may utilize display  100  having an integrated camera  110 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. It should be noted that although  FIG. 2  shows a camera  110  having a distributed arrangement of camera sensors  112 , this is merely for purposes of example, and display  100  of  FIG. 1  may likewise be utilized with system  200 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. An example of a camera sensor assembly suitable for utilization with display  100  is shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 3 , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a side view of a camera sensor assembly for a pixel of a display including a camera sensor in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in  FIG. 3 , camera sensor assembly  300  comprises a jacket  310  or housing to contain a first fiber optic  312 , a second fiber optic  314  and a mirror glass  316 . Mirror glass  316  may comprise a transparent or at least partially transparent material such as glass, plastic, or a composite material. Mirror glass  316  further may include a reflective coating  318  such that light rays impinging on reflective coating  318  from one direction may be reflected off the surface of reflective coating  318 , and light rays impinging on reflective coating  318  after passing through mirror glass  316  may pass through reflective coating  318 . In other words, mirror glass  316  and reflective coating  318  may function as a two-way mirror as will be discussed in further detail, below. 
     A cover glass  320  may be disposed adjacent to second fiber optic  314  and may comprise a separate piece of cover glass, plastic or composite material, or may comprise the cover glass, plastic or composite material that is the display glass  114  of display  100 . Second fiber optic  314  further may comprise an open valve  322  formed in second fiber optic  314  to facilitate light rays exiting from and/or entering into second fiber optic  314 . In one or more embodiments, camera sensor  112  may be coupled with camera sensor assembly  300  adjacent to open valve  322 . Furthermore, a focus lens  324  may be disposed adjacent to camera sensor  112  between open valve  322  and camera sensor  112 . In one or more embodiments, light rays  330  that emanate from or off of a target or object  328  may enter camera sensor assembly  300  through cover glass  320 , pass through second fiber optic  314  and impinge on reflective coating  318 . Since mirror glass  316  and reflective coating  318  are disposed at an angle, θ, the light rays  330  reflect off of reflective coating  318  and are redirected toward camera sensor  112 . The light rays  330  exit second fiber optic  314  via open valve  322  and are focused onto camera sensor  112  via focus lens  324 . In addition, a display element  326  corresponding to a pixel of display  100  is disposed at one end of camera sensor assembly  300  adjacent to first fiber optic  312 . The display element  326  may comprise an organic light emitting diode (OLED) or similar device, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     Light rays  332  emanating from the display element enter camera pixel assembly  300  through first fiber optic  312 , passing through mirror glass  316  and second fiber optic  320  to exit camera sensor assembly  300  and pass through cover glass  320  for normal pixel operation. An example of how the components of camera sensor assembly  300  may be configured is shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 4A and 4B , diagrams of the components utilized to fabricate a camera sensor assembly as shown in  FIG. 3  in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. As shown in both  FIG. 4A and 4B , first fiber optic  312  may comprise a buffer  410 , a cladding  412 , and a core  414 , and may be formed to couple with mirror glass  316 . Mirror glass  316  may have a surface formed at an angle, θ, which may have a reflective coating  318  formed on the angled surface. Likewise, second fiber optic  314  may have a surface formed at an angle, θ, to couple with the angled surface of mirror glass  316 . Furthermore, second fiber optic  314  may have open valve  322  formed therein, and similar to first fiber optic  312  may comprise a buffer  410 , a cladding  412 , and a core  414 . The individual components as of  FIG. 4A  and  FIG. 4B  may be formed and assembled, for example using an optically transparent adhesive, to result in camera sensor assembly  300  as shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 3 , above. The camera sensor assembly  300  may be integrated with a corresponding pixel of display  100  in an array of display elements of display  100  which may include one or more camera sensor assemblies  300 , for example as shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 5 , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a side view of a display having a camera sensor at selected pixels in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed.  FIG. 5  shows a side cutaway view of display  100  comprising housing  510  to house an array of display elements  512 , an intermediate layer  514 , and a display glass  114 . The array of display elements  512  may comprise an array of display elements  326  as shown in  FIG. 3 , for example a thin film transistor (TFT) layer comprising an array of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and corresponding control transistors or the like. Intermediate layer  514  may comprise a layer to interface the array of display elements  512  with display glass  114 , and may comprise a transparent material for example an indium tin oxide (ITO) material, or a plastic or composite material, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. One or more camera sensor assemblies  300  comprising one or more camera sensors  112  may be disposed in intermediate layer  514 . In one or more embodiments, a display element  326  of the array of display elements  512  may couple with a corresponding camera sensor assembly  300  as shown in  FIG. 3 , and/or the cover glass  320  of  FIG. 3  may correspond to the display glass  114  of  FIG. 5 . In one or more embodiments, display  100  further may comprise a touch screen  516  to allow a user to provide an input via the touch screen  516 . It should be noted that in some embodiments the camera sensors  112  are integrated within display  100  such that a user viewing the display  100  may not notice or detect the presence of the camera  110 , and the camera  110  does not interfere with the operation of display  100 . Display  100  may be part of an information handling system as shown in and described with respect to  FIG. 6 , below. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6  a block diagram of an information handling system capable of utilizing a display having an integrated camera in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. Information handling system  600  of  FIG. 6  may tangibly embody the electronic components of an electronic device utilizing display  100  as shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  with greater or fewer components depending on the hardware specifications of the particular device. Although information handling system  600  represents one example of several types of computing platforms, information handling system  600  may include more or fewer elements and/or different arrangements of elements than shown in  FIG. 6 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. 
     In one or more embodiments, information handling system  600  may include an applications processor  610  and a baseband processor  612 . Applications processor  610  may be utilized as a general-purpose processor to run applications and the various subsystems for information handling system  600 . Applications processor  610  may include a single core or alternatively may include multiple processing cores wherein one or more of the cores may comprise a digital signal processor or digital signal processing (DSP) core. 
     Furthermore, applications processor  610  may include a graphics processor or coprocessor disposed on the same chip, or alternatively a graphics processor coupled to applications processor  610  may comprise a separate, discrete graphics chip. Applications processor  610  may include on board memory such as cache memory, and further may be coupled to external memory devices such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM)  614  for storing and/or executing applications during operation, and NAND flash  616  for storing applications and/or data even when information handling system  600  is powered off. In one or more embodiments, instructions to operate or configure the information handling system  600  and/or any of its components or subsystems to operate in a manner as described herein may be stored on an article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium. In one or more embodiments, the storage medium may comprise any of the memory devices shown in and described herein, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. Baseband processor  612  may control the broadband radio functions for information handling system  600 . Baseband processor  612  may store code for controlling such broadband radio functions in a NOR flash  618 . Baseband processor  612  controls a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver  620  which is used for modulating and/or demodulating broadband network signals, for example for communicating via a 3GPP LTE or LTE-Advanced network or the like. 
     In general, WWAN transceiver  620  may operate according to any one or more of the following radio communication technologies and/or standards including but not limited to: a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communication technology, an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communication technology, and/or a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology, for example Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Freedom of Multimedia Access (FOMA), 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), 3GPP Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE Advanced), Code division multiple access 2000 (CDMA2000), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, Third Generation (3G), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation) (UMTS (3G)), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) (W-CDMA (UMTS)), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), High Speed Packet Access Plus (HSPA+), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex (UMTS-TDD), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), 3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4th Generation) (3GPP Rel. 8 (Pre-4G)), UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), Long Term Evolution Advanced (4th Generation) (LTE Advanced (4G)), cdmaOne (2G), Code division multiple access 2000 (Third generation) (CDMA2000 (3G)), Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), Advanced Mobile Phone System (1st Generation) (AMPS (1G)), Total Access Communication System/Extended Total Access Communication System (TACS/ETACS), Digital AMPS (2nd Generation) (D-AMPS (2G)), Push-to-talk (PTT), Mobile Telephone System (MTS), Improved Mobile Telephone System (IMTS), Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMTS), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Public Automated Land Mobile (Autotel/PALM), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, “car radio phone”), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), High capacity version of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) (Hicap), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), Mobitex, DataTAC, Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC), Circuit Switched Data (CSD), Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), Wideband Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (WiDEN), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), also referred to as also referred to as 3GPP Generic Access Network, or GAN standard), Zigbee, Bluetooth®, and/or general telemetry transceivers, and in general any type of RF circuit or RFI sensitive circuit. It should be noted that such standards may evolve over time, and/or new standards may be promulgated, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     The WWAN transceiver  620  couples to one or more power amps  622  respectively coupled to one or more antennas  624  for sending and receiving radio-frequency signals via the WWAN broadband network. The baseband processor  612  also may control a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver  626  coupled to one or more suitable antennas  628  and which may be capable of communicating via a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, and/or an amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM) radio standard including an IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n standard or the like. It should be noted that these are merely example implementations for applications processor  610  and baseband processor  612 , and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. For example, any one or more of SDRAM  614 , NAND flash  616  and/or NOR flash  618  may comprise other types of memory technology such as magnetic memory, chalcogenide memory, phase change memory, or ovonic memory, and the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. 
     In one or more embodiments, applications processor  610  may drive a display  110  for displaying various information or data, and may further receive touch input from a user via a touch screen  632  for example via a finger or a stylus. An ambient light sensor  634  may be utilized to detect an amount of ambient light in which information handling system  600  is operating, for example to control a brightness or contrast value for display  100  as a function of the intensity of ambient light detected by ambient light sensor  634 . One or more cameras  110  may be utilized to capture images that are processed by applications processor  610  and/or at least temporarily stored in NAND flash  616 . Furthermore, applications processor may couple to a gyroscope  638 , accelerometer  640 , magnetometer  642 , audio coder/decoder (CODEC)  644 , and/or global positioning system (GPS) controller  646  coupled to an appropriate GPS antenna  648 , for detection of various environmental properties including location, movement, and/or orientation of information handling system  600 . Alternatively, controller  646  may comprise a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) controller. Audio CODEC  644  may be coupled to one or more audio ports  650  to provide microphone input and speaker outputs either via internal devices and/or via external devices coupled to information handling system via the audio ports  650 , for example via a headphone and microphone jack. In addition, applications processor  610  may couple to one or more input/output (I/O) transceivers  612  to couple to one or more I/O ports  654  such as a universal serial bus (USB) port, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port, a serial port, and so on. Furthermore, one or more of the I/O transceivers  612  may couple to one or more memory slots  656  for optional removable memory such as secure digital (SD) card or a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. 
     Example implementations of a display having an integrated camera may be as follows. In a first example, a display comprise an array of display elements, one or more camera sensors, and one or more reflecting mirrors, wherein light that is to enter the display is to be directed by at least one of the one or more reflecting mirrors to at least one of the one or more camera sensors, and light that is to emanate from the one or more display elements is to pass through at least one of the one or more reflecting mirrors to exit the display. The one or more camera sensors may be disposed in a selected region of the display. The one or more camera sensors may be disposed in a distributed arrangement in the display. The display elements may comprise organic light emitting diodes. The one or more camera sensors may be disposed in an intermediate layer between the array of display elements and a front layer of the display. One or more of the reflecting mirrors may be disposed between a first fiber optic and a second fiber optic to form a camera sensor assembly. The display further may comprise one or more focusing lenses disposed between one or more of the reflecting mirrors and one or more of the camera sensors to focus incoming light rays on the one or more camera sensors. The display further may comprise a touch screen to allow a user to provide an input via the touch screen. 
     In a second example, an information handling system comprises a display and a keyboard unit. The display may comprise the example implementations as discussed, above. 
     In a third example, a camera sensor assembly to integrate with a display comprises a camera sensor, a reflecting mirror having a first surface and a second surface disposed at an angle with respect to the first surface, a first fiber optic to conduct light from the first surface of the reflecting mirror, and a second fiber optic having a surface disposed at an angle to conduct light from the second surface of the reflecting mirror. Light rays emitted from a display element of the display may be capable of entering the first fiber optic to pass through the reflecting mirror and exit through the second fiber optic, and light may be capable of entering the second fiber optic to be reflected off the reflecting mirror to the camera sensor. The reflecting mirror may have a reflective coating disposed on the second surface. The second fiber optic may have an open valve formed thereon to facilitate light reflected off the reflecting mirror to exit the second fiber optic. The camera sensor assembly further may comprise a focusing lens to focus light rays reflecting off the reflecting mirror on the camera sensor. 
     In a fourth example, a display comprises means to generate a pixel, means to convert at least a portion of an optical image into an electronic signal, and means to reflect light, wherein light that is to enter the display is to be directed the light reflecting means to the converting means, and light that is to emanate from the pixel generating means is to pass through the light reflecting means to exit the display. One or more of the light converting means may be disposed in a selected region of the display. Two or more of the light converting means may be disposed in a distributed arrangement in the display. The pixel generating means comprises one or more organic light emitting diodes. The converting means may be disposed in an intermediate layer between the pixel generating means and a front layer of the display. The reflecting means may be disposed between a first fiber optic and a second fiber optic to form a camera sensor assembly. The display further may comprise means to focus light rays, disposed between the light reflecting means and the converting means, to focus incoming light rays on the converting means. The display further may comprise a touch screen to allow a user to provide an input via the touch screen. 
     In a fifth example, a method to operate a display comprises generating a pixel as light that is to emanate from the pixel to exit the display, reflecting light that is to enter the display, and converting at last a portion of the entering light into an electronic signal. The reflecting may occur in a selected region of the display, or in a distributed manner in the display. The converting may occur in an intermediate layer of the display. The reflecting may occur between a first fiber optic and a second fiber optic. The method further may comprise focusing incoming light rays to facilitate said converting. 
     Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to a display having an integrated camera and/or many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.