Patents by Inventor Neil Woodall

Neil Woodall has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11941744
    Abstract: Various methods are provided for generating motion vectors in the context of 3D computer-generated images. An example method includes generating, for each pixel of one or more objects to be rendered in a current frame, a 1-phase motion vector (MV1) and a 0-phase motion vector (MV0), each MV1 and MV0 having an associated depth value, to thereby form an MV1 texture and an MV0 texture; converting the MV1 texture to a set of MV1 blocks and converting the MV0 texture to a set of MV0 blocks; and outputting the set of MV1 blocks and the set of MV0 blocks for image processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: PIXELWORKS SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGY (SHANGHAI) CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Hongmin Zhang, Miao Sima, Zongming Han, Gongxian Liu, Junhua Chen, Guohua Cheng, Baochen Liu, Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Huili Han
  • Publication number: 20240087210
    Abstract: Various methods are provided for the generation of motion vectors in the context of 3D computer-generated images. In one example, a method includes generating, for each pixel of one or more objects to be rendered in a current frame, a 1-phase motion vector (MV1) and a 0-phase motion vector (MV0), each MV1 and MV0 having an associated depth value, to thereby form an MV1 texture and an MV0 texture, each MV0 determined based on a camera MV0 and an object MV0, and outputting MV1 texture and the MV0 texture for image processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2023
    Publication date: March 14, 2024
    Inventors: Hongmin Zhang, Miao Sima, Gongxian Liu, Zongming Han, Junhua Chen, Guohua Cheng, Baochen Liu, Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Huili Han
  • Patent number: 11922611
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for accelerated image rendering with motion compensation. In one embodiment, a method comprises calculating motion between a preceding image frame and a target image frame to be rendered, rendering a small image with a size smaller than a target size of the target image frame based on the calculated motion, and generating the target image frame at the target size based on the small image, the calculated motion, and a reference image frame. In this way, high-quality image frames for a video stream may be generated with a reduced amount of rendering for each frame, thereby reducing the overall processing resources dedicated to rendering as well as the power consumption for image rendering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Pixelworks Semiconductor Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.
    Inventors: Guohua Cheng, Junhua Chen, Neil Woodall, Hongmin Zhang, Yue Ma, Qinghai Wang
  • Patent number: 11861783
    Abstract: Various methods are provided for the generation of motion vectors in the context of 3D computer-generated images. In one example, a method includes generating, for each pixel of one or more objects to be rendered in a current frame, a 1-phase motion vector (MV1) and a 0-phase motion vector (MV0), each MV1 and MV0 having an associated depth value, to thereby form an MV1 texture and an MV0 texture, each MV0 determined based on a camera MV0 and an object MV0, converting the MV1 texture to a set of MV1 pixel blocks and converting the MV0 texture to a set of MV0 pixel blocks and outputting the set of MV1 pixel blocks and the set of MV0 pixel blocks for image processing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Inventors: Hongmin Zhang, Miao Sima, Gongxian Liu, Zongming Han, Junhua Chen, Guohua Cheng, Baochen Liu, Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Huili Han
  • Patent number: 11810531
    Abstract: A method is provided for controlling display of an image on a display panel of a display device, the method comprising determining a commanded brightness level for the display panel, generating an index look-up table (LUT) and a mura LUT based on the brightness level and a relationship between pixel output and pixel value for each pixel of the display panel for each of a plurality of brightness levels, the relationship determined during a calibration phase and stored in memory of the display device, determining an index value for each pixel of the display panel based on the index LUT, determining a corrected pixel value for each pixel based on the mura LUT and the index value, and sending the corrected pixel value to that pixel within the display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Pixelworks Semiconductor Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Wenwen Yi, Haiyan Shi, Neil Woodall
  • Publication number: 20230351982
    Abstract: A method is provided for controlling display of an image on a display panel of a display device, the method comprising determining a commanded brightness level for the display panel, generating an index look-up table (LUT) and a mura LUT based on the brightness level and a relationship between pixel output and pixel value for each pixel of the display panel for each of a plurality of brightness levels, the relationship determined during a calibration phase and stored in memory of the display device, determining an index value for each pixel of the display panel based on the index LUT, determining a corrected pixel value for each pixel based on the mura LUT and the index value, and sending the corrected pixel value to that pixel within the display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2022
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Inventors: Wenwen Yi, Haiyan Shi, Neil Woodall
  • Publication number: 20230274489
    Abstract: Various methods are provided for generating motion vectors in the context of 3D computer-generated images. An example method includes generating, for each pixel of one or more objects to be rendered in a current frame, a 1-phase motion vector (MV1) and a 0-phase motion vector (MV0), each MV1 and MV0 having an associated depth value, to thereby form an MV1 texture and an MV0 texture; converting the MV1 texture to a set of MV1 blocks and converting the MV0 texture to a set of MV0 blocks; and outputting the set of MV1 blocks and the set of MV0 blocks for image processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Hongmin Zhang, Miao Sima, Zongming Han, Gongxian Liu, Junhua Chen, Guohua Cheng, Baochen Liu, Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Huili Han
  • Publication number: 20230274490
    Abstract: Various methods are provided for the generation of motion vectors in the context of 3D computer-generated images. In one example, a method includes generating, for each pixel of one or more objects to be rendered in a current frame, a 1-phase motion vector (MV1) and a 0-phase motion vector (MV0), each MV1 and MV0 having an associated depth value, to thereby form an MV1 texture and an MV0 texture, each MV0 determined based on a camera MV0 and an object MV0, converting the MV1 texture to a set of MV1 pixel blocks and converting the MV0 texture to a set of MV0 pixel blocks and outputting the set of MV1 pixel blocks and the set of MV0 pixel blocks for image processing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2022
    Publication date: August 31, 2023
    Inventors: Hongmin Zhang, Miao Sima, Gongxian Liu, Zongming Han, Junhua Chen, Guohua Cheng, Baochen Liu, Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Huili Han
  • Patent number: 11710223
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring image frames with a plurality of image frame sources configured with different acquisition settings, processing the image frames based on the different acquisition settings to generate at least one final image frame, and outputting the at least one final image frame. In this way, information from different image frame sources such as cameras may be leveraged to achieve increased frame rates with improved image quality and a desired motion appearance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2023
    Assignee: Pixelworks, Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Bob Zhang
  • Publication number: 20230117976
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for increasing an efficiency of operations for improving digital image quality. In an embodiment, a method for processing a digital image includes generating a higher resolution histogram from the digital image, the higher resolution histogram generated from a lower resolution histogram of raw image data of the digital image, filtering the higher resolution histogram, downsampling the filtered, higher resolution histogram to form a downsampled histogram, generating one or more picture quality adjustments based on the downsampled histogram, applying the one or more picture quality adjustments to the raw image data of the digital image to generate an improved digital image, the improved digital image having a higher picture quality than the digital image, and displaying the improved digital image on a display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 18, 2021
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Inventor: Neil Woodall
  • Publication number: 20220180493
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring image frames with a plurality of image frame sources configured with different acquisition settings, processing the image frames based on the different acquisition settings to generate at least one final image frame, and outputting the at least one final image frame. In this way, information from different image frame sources such as cameras may be leveraged to achieve increased frame rates with improved image quality and a desired motion appearance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2022
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Bob Zhang
  • Patent number: 11356604
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring a plurality of image frames from each image frame source of a plurality of image frame sources, each plurality of image frames acquired at a first frame rate, combining the plurality of image frames from each image frame source into a single plurality of image frames with a second frame rate higher than the first frame rate, and outputting the single plurality of image frames as a video. In this way, high-frame-rate video may be obtained with multiple low-frame-rate image frame sources or cameras.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Pixelworks, Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Hongmin (Bob) Zhang
  • Patent number: 11295427
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring image frames with a plurality of image frame sources configured with different acquisition settings, processing the image frames based on the different acquisition settings to generate at least one final image frame, and outputting the at least one final image frame. In this way, information from different image frame sources such as cameras may be leveraged to achieve increased frame rates with improved image quality and a desired motion appearance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Pixelworks, Inc.
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Hongmin (Bob) Zhang
  • Publication number: 20220101504
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for accelerated image rendering with motion compensation. In one embodiment, a method comprises calculating motion between a preceding image frame and a target image frame to be rendered, rendering a small image with a size smaller than a target size of the target image frame based on the calculated motion, and generating the target image frame at the target size based on the small image, the calculated motion, and a reference image frame. In this way, high-quality image frames for a video stream may be generated with a reduced amount of rendering for each frame, thereby reducing the overall processing resources dedicated to rendering as well as the power consumption for image rendering.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2020
    Publication date: March 31, 2022
    Inventors: Guohua Cheng, Junhua Chen, Neil Woodall, Hongmin Zhang, Yue Ma, Qinghai Wang
  • Publication number: 20210258510
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring a plurality of image frames from each image frame source of a plurality of image frame sources, each plurality of image frames acquired at a first frame rate, combining the plurality of image frames from each image frame source into a single plurality of image frames with a second frame rate higher than the first frame rate, and outputting the single plurality of image frames as a video. In this way, high-frame-rate video may be obtained with multiple low-frame-rate image frame sources or cameras.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Hongmin (Bob) Zhang
  • Publication number: 20210256670
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for image processing for multiple cameras. In one embodiment, a method comprises acquiring image frames with a plurality of image frame sources configured with different acquisition settings, processing the image frames based on the different acquisition settings to generate at least one final image frame, and outputting the at least one final image frame. In this way, information from different image frame sources such as cameras may be leveraged to achieve increased frame rates with improved image quality and a desired motion appearance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Publication date: August 19, 2021
    Inventors: Neil Woodall, Yue Ma, Hongmin (Bob) Zhang
  • Patent number: 10964240
    Abstract: A method of calibrating a display panel includes making measurements of color components produced by the display panel, receiving an input image signal consisting of one or more pixel represented by input color component values, applying a first non-linear transform to the input color component values of the pixel to produce transformed color component values, wherein the first non-linear transform is either based upon the measurements and the panel design or a ratio of values of color components based upon the measurements, applying a crosstalk correction transform to the transformed color component values to produce crosstalk corrected color component values, applying a second non-linear transform to the crosstalk corrected color component values to produce final color component values, and sending the final color component values to the display panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2021
    Assignee: Pixelworks, Inc.
    Inventor: Neil Woodall
  • Patent number: 10832379
    Abstract: A method includes receiving, at a processor, at least one frame of input image data, producing motion vector fields between the frames of input image data, and applying temporal stability to the at least one frame of the input image data to produce noise reduced image data, wherein applying temporal stability comprises separating pixel data into frequency bands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: PIXELWORKS, INC.
    Inventors: Guodong Liu, Bob Zhang, Neil Woodall, Junhua Chen, Yue Ma
  • Publication number: 20200082785
    Abstract: A method of calibrating a display panel including making measurements of color components displayed on the display panel, using the measurements to generate at least two non-linear models for each color component, receiving an input image consisting of one or more pixels represented by input color values, calculating a crosstalk gain for a given value of the color components using the generated non-linear models and the input values of a pixel, applying the crosstalk gain to the color components of the pixel to create crosstalk compensated component values, and displaying an image using the crosstalk compensated component values.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2018
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Inventor: NEIL WOODALL
  • Patent number: 10580384
    Abstract: A method of calibrating a display panel including making measurements of color components displayed on the display panel, using the measurements to generate at least two non-linear models for each color component, receiving an input image consisting of one or more pixels represented by input color values, calculating a crosstalk gain for a given value of the color components using the generated non-linear models and the input values of a pixel, applying the crosstalk gain to the color components of the pixel to create crosstalk compensated component values, and displaying an image using the crosstalk compensated component values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: PIXELWORKS, INC.
    Inventor: Neil Woodall