Patents by Inventor Ulrich T. Barnhoefer

Ulrich T. Barnhoefer 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: 8648781
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a sequence of video images, and calculates brightness metrics associated with the video images in the sequence of video images. Then, the system determines an intensity setting of a light source, which illuminates a display that is configured to display the sequence of video images, and scales brightness values of a given video image in the sequence of video images based on a given brightness metric associated with the given video image. Next, the system changes the intensity setting and scaling the brightness values when there is a discontinuity in the brightness metrics between two adjacent video images in the sequence of video images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen
  • Patent number: 8629830
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a sequence of video images and a brightness setting of a light source which is configured to illuminate a display that is configured to display the video images, where the sequence of video images includes video signals. Then, the system determines an intensity setting of the light source on an image-by-image basis for the sequence of video images, where the intensity of a given video image is based on the brightness setting and brightness information contained in the video signals associated with the given video image. Next, the system synchronizes the intensity setting of the light source with a current video image to be displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2014
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett
  • Publication number: 20130328841
    Abstract: A system and method for characterizing the power and luminance values for a display. This may include testing a device to determine a luminance value for a display of a given device at a given current and determining whether the first current is to be adjusted during future uses based on a comparison of the luminance with at least one threshold value. This may also include storing an adjusted current value if it is determined that the first current is to be adjusted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Taif Ahmed Syed, Daniel A. Villamizar, David Andrew Doyle, Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Venu Madhav Duggineni
  • Publication number: 20130328944
    Abstract: A system and method calibrating operational characteristics of a device. Commands for operation of the device may be derived from a set of operational characteristics common to a set of devices similar to the device. This set of operational characteristics may further be adjusted by operational characteristics related to the device itself. This may allow for more adaptive control signals to be generated for control of portions of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: December 12, 2013
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Daniel A. Villamizar, Taif Ahmed Syed, David Andrew Doyle, Venu Madhav Duggineni
  • Patent number: 8581826
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a video image, that when displayed, includes a picture portion and the non-picture portion, where the non-picture portion has a first brightness value. Then, the system scales the non-picture portion to have a second brightness value that is greater than the first brightness value to reduce user-perceived changes in the video image associated with backlighting of a display that displays the video image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett, Victor E. Alessi
  • Patent number: 8576256
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system calculates a brightness metric associated with a video image. Then, the system identifies a subset of the video image based on the brightness metric, where the subset of the video image includes spatially varying visual information in the video image. Next, the system determines the intensity setting of the light source based on a first portion of the brightness metric associated with the subset of the video image, where the light source is configured to illuminate a display that is configured to display the video image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett
  • Publication number: 20120262475
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to the use of inverse dithering of color or grey-scale images. In certain embodiments, an image area may be selected having a center pixel. A predictive value of the image area may be found by averaging the values of the pixels in the image area. This predictive value may be compared to the center pixel's real value. A difference between the real value and the predictive value may then be found and used to diffuse the energy removed from the center pixel to neighboring pixels. By inverse dithering images using an energy diffusion approach, the images may be presented as having a more visually appealing display, even in situations where the images may undergo further edge enhancements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2011
    Publication date: October 18, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Michael Frank, Ulrich T. Barnhoefer
  • Patent number: 8212843
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system reduces power consumption by changing an intensity setting of a light source, which illuminates a display that is configured to display a video image, and scales brightness values for the video image based on a brightness metric associated with the video image. Then, the system calculates the error metric for the video image based on the scaled brightness values and the video image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen
  • Publication number: 20120154428
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to enable the creation and the display of spatio-temporal dithered images. Embodiments include techniques that use color-shifting and luminance. In one embodiment, adjacent pixels are color-shifted with respect to each other and the color values of the adjacent pixels are temporally alternated with color values of pixels in the group. In another embodiment, the luminance of group of adjacent pixels is determined and the luminance of the group is made more homogenous spatially and temporally by distributing color variations over a larger number of pixels so as to reduce the luminance difference between the pixel with the least luminance and the pixel with the greatest luminance. Individual color components (e.g., red, green, blue) may also be separated and used so that the color-shifts associated with each color component may be simultaneously present in different pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventor: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer
  • Publication number: 20120154423
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed to enable the creation and the display of dithered images. Embodiments include techniques that use the relationship between the luminance and the color of a source image as a dithering heuristic. In one embodiment, the luminance and the color of a source image is determined. Each color of the source image is approximated to the nearest hardware color level. The hardware color level is then varied to more closely approximate the luminance of the source image. Any color errors introduced by approximating the luminance of the source image are then diffused to adjacent pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2010
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Taif Ahmed Syed
  • Publication number: 20120098870
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for efficient brightness control for an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display are provided. In one embodiment, such a method may include receiving image data into a data driver of an organic light emitting diode display and transforming the image data into a logarithmic domain. A dimming control value may be subtracted from this log-encoded image data. The resulting log-encoded dimmed image data may represent a darker version of the originally received image data. Thereafter, a pixel of the organic light emitting diode display may be driven based at least in part on the dimmed image data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2010
    Publication date: April 26, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Yongman Lee
  • Publication number: 20120068978
    Abstract: A method and system for modifying a pulse width modulation signal for controlling the backlit illumination intensity of a liquid crystal display. The modified pulse width modulated signal may be selected to operate with at least one pulse having a first duty cycle with the remaining pulses in the pulse width modulation signal having a second duty cycle across a selected number of pulses making up a given time period (i.e., frame). By utilizing more than one duty cycle for the pulses of the pulse width modulated signal to drive light sources in a display during a given frame, the overall number of backlit illumination intensities for the liquid crystal display may be increased. By distributing the differing pulse duty cycles within a group of pulses of within a frame, visible artifacts may be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2010
    Publication date: March 22, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Andrew P. Aitken, Ulrich T. Barnhoefer
  • Publication number: 20120050307
    Abstract: A method for controlling characteristics of an electronic device based on ambient light levels is provided. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving light at an ambient light sensor of a device and measuring components, such as color components, of the visible light. The component levels may be weighted differently by factors that vary based on the intensity of the light received by the ambient light sensor. Also, the brightness level of a light source in the device or color output of the device may be controlled based on the weighted component levels. Additional methods, systems, and devices relating to control of an electronic device based on sensed ambient light are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 1, 2010
    Publication date: March 1, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Peter H. Mahowald, Ulrich T. Barnhoefer
  • Publication number: 20120019493
    Abstract: Methods and devices are provided for controlling the brightness of a display for an electronic device based on ambient light conditions. In one embodiment, an electronic device may employ one or more brightness adjustment profiles that define response rates for changing brightness levels based on ambient light levels. The response rates may vary depending on the magnitude and/or direction of change in the ambient light levels. In certain embodiments, the response rates may be designed to approximate the physical response of the human vision system. Further, in certain embodiments, noise reduction techniques may be employed by adjusting the response rates based on the magnitude of the change in the ambient light level and/or based on whether the display is operating at steady state or executing a brightness adjustment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei Chen
  • Publication number: 20120019152
    Abstract: Methods and devices are provided for controlling the brightness of a display for an electronic device based on ambient light conditions. In one embodiment, an electronic device may employ one or more brightness adjustment profiles for changing the brightness of a display based on ambient light levels and/or the angle of incidence of one or more ambient light sources. In certain embodiments, one or more ambient light sensors may be designed to perceive the ambient light level differently based on the angle of incidence of a light source. The perceived ambient light level may then be used to adjust the display brightness based on the one or more brightness adjustment profiles. In other embodiments, one or more ambient light sensors may be designed to detect the angle of incidence of an ambient light source. In these embodiments, the detected angle and the ambient light level may be used to adjust the display brightness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei Chen
  • Publication number: 20120019492
    Abstract: Methods and devices are provided for controlling the brightness of a display for an electronic device based on ambient light conditions. In one embodiment, an electronic device may employ one or more brightness adjustment profiles for changing the brightness of a display based on the ambient light level. The brightness adjustment profiles may include two or more sections, each corresponding to different ambient light levels, which may be adjusted independently of one another. The different sections may allow a user to customize brightness adjustments for different ambient light conditions. In certain embodiments, the slope and/or offset of a section may be adjusted in response to receiving a user input that changes the brightness setting for a certain ambient light level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2010
    Publication date: January 26, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei Chen, Hopil Bae
  • Publication number: 20120002110
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a video image, that when displayed, includes a picture portion, a non-picture portion, and a subtitle which is superimposed on at least a subset of the non-picture portion, where the non-picture portion has an initial brightness value. Then, the system scales the brightness of pixels corresponding to a remainder of the non-picture portion of the video image to have a new brightness value that is greater than the initial brightness value to reduce user-perceived changes in the video image associated with backlighting of a display that displays the video image, where the remainder of the non-picture portion excludes the subset of the non-picture portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2011
    Publication date: January 5, 2012
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett, Jean-Didier Allegrucci
  • Patent number: 8035666
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a video image, that when displayed, includes a picture portion, a non-picture portion, and a subtitle which is superimposed on at least a subset of the non-picture portion, where the non-picture portion has an initial brightness value. Then, the system scales the brightness of pixels corresponding to a remainder of the non-picture portion of the video image to have a new brightness value that is greater than the initial brightness value to reduce user-perceived changes in the video image associated with backlighting of a display that displays the video image, where the remainder of the non-picture portion excludes the subset of the non-picture portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett, Jean-Didier Allegrucci
  • Publication number: 20090161020
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system may determine an intensity setting of the light source based on at least a portion of a video image, such as the portion of the transformed video image that includes spatially varying visual information in the video image. Moreover, the system may modify the video image so that a product of the intensity setting and a transmittance associated with the modified video image approximately equals a product of a previous intensity setting and a transmittance associated with the video image. For example, the modification may include scaling brightness values in the transformed video image. Next, the system may identify a region in the video image in which the scaling of the brightness values results in a visual artifact associated with reduced contrast. For example, the region may include a bright region surrounded by a darker region.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Publication date: June 25, 2009
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen
  • Publication number: 20090002404
    Abstract: Embodiments of a system that includes one or more integrated circuits are described. During operation, the system receives a sequence of video images and a brightness setting of a light source which is configured to illuminate a display that is configured to display the video images, where the sequence of video images includes video signals. Then, the system determines an intensity setting of the light source on an image-by-image basis for the sequence of video images, where the intensity of a given video image is based on the brightness setting and brightness information contained in the video signals associated with the given video image. Next, the system synchronizes the intensity setting of the light source with a current video image to be displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2008
    Publication date: January 1, 2009
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ulrich T. Barnhoefer, Wei H. Yao, Wei Chen, Barry J. Corlett