Patents Examined by Alysa N. Brautigam
  • Patent number: 7123269
    Abstract: Computer programs and computer-implemented methods implement techniques for applying a modification operation to vector objects in an image. These include receiving user input applying a modification operation in an image, identifying one or more vector objects to be affected by the modification operation and changing one or more attribute values for one or more of the attributes of each identified vector object according to the modification operation. The techniques can also include receiving user input selecting one of a plurality of image processing modes, each of the image processing modes defining a method of changing attribute values for of one or more of the attributes. In preferred embodiments, feedback is provided to the user of how attribute values for the attributes of vector objects are changing within the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2006
    Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated
    Inventors: Lubomir D. Bourdey, Martin E. Newell
  • Patent number: 7053912
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for integrating an inset geometry within a background geometry. The method comprises the step of identifying a perimeter of the inset geometry. A further step is extending a skirt, having an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, from the perimeter of the inset geometry out over the background geometry. An additional step is removing portions of the background geometry that are covered by the inset geometry and skirt. Another step is modifying the skirt so that the outer perimeter of the skirt matches background geometry behavior and the inner perimeter matches inset geometry behavior and a continuous transition exists between the outer perimeter and the inner perimeter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
    Inventor: Michael A. Cosman
  • Patent number: 7053913
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for integrating an inset geometry within a background geometry. The method comprises the step of identifying a perimeter of the inset geometry. A further step is extending a skirt, having an outer perimeter and an inner perimeter, from the perimeter of the inset geometry out over the background geometry. An additional step is removing portions of the background geometry that are covered by the inset geometry and skirt. Another step is modifying the skirt so that the outer perimeter of the skirt matches background geometry behavior and the inner perimeter matches inset geometry behavior and a continuous transition exists between the outer perimeter and the inner perimeter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2006
    Assignee: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation
    Inventor: Michael A. Cosman
  • Patent number: 7050064
    Abstract: Effective color resolution of a limited-memory color-mapped display system such as a portable liquid crystal display (LCD) handheld video game system can be increased by changing the color mapping information during active display time (e.g., during the horizontal blanking interval between rasterization of successive lines on the display). A subset of the color mapping information can be rewritten during each horizontal blanking period. A full color bitmapped source image can be converted into a color-mapped image in a way that optimizes the use of such color map updates. Since photographic and photorealistic images typically don't exhibit abrupt color changes between neighboring pixels, such techniques can result in display of a color image with very high color resolution (e.g., having as many as 2048 different colors) on hardware intended to permit simultaneous display of only a much smaller number of different colors (e.g., only 56 different colors simultaneously).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2006
    Assignee: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Jun Pan, Samir Abou-Samra, Robert Champagne, Claude Comair, Sun Tjen Fam, Prasanna Ghali, Xin Li
  • Patent number: 7009620
    Abstract: A texture mapping system comprises memory and a texture map manager. The memory stores a first texture map and a parametric texture map. The texture map manager is configured to combine at least a portion of the first texture map and at least a portion of the parametric texture map, and the texture map manager is configured to determine a texture map type for the first texture map and a texture map type for the parametric texture map and to perform a prioritization of the texture map portions based on the determined texture map types. The texture map manager is further configured to select, for conversion, one of the texture map portions based on the prioritization and to convert the selected texture map portion into a form corresponding to a form of the non-selected texture map portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2006
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Noah Horton, Bradford A. Ritter
  • Patent number: 7006103
    Abstract: An embodiment of texture mapping system comprises a plurality of format-specific editors and a parametric texture map (PTM) editing tool. Each of the format-specific editors is configured to perform at least one spatial operation on a PTM of a different format. The PTM editing tool is configured to receive a command to perform a spatial operation on a parametric texture map identified by the command. The PTM editing tool is configured to select one of the format-specific editors based on a format of the identified PTM and to invoke the selected format-specific editor in response to the command.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2006
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Noah Horton
  • Patent number: 7006095
    Abstract: A method typesets a set of glyphs. A current glyph is selected from the set of glyphs and a current position of the current glyph is selected. A next position of a next glyph is determined, where the next glyph is selected from the set of glyphs. The determination of the next position of the next glyph first represents the current glyph as a two-dimensional distance field and then determines the next position using the current position, an escapement of the current glyph, and an alignment of the two-dimensional distance field. The current glyph is then updated to be the next glyph and the current position is updated to be the next position. The selection of the next glyph and the determination of the next position continue until a termination condition is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2006
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.
    Inventors: Sarah F. Frisken, Ronald N. Perry
  • Patent number: 6985160
    Abstract: Methods and systems for selecting different anti-aliasing filters to be applied to objects of image data rendered with pixel sub-component precision based on the attributes of the objects of the graphics image. For example, when rendering a character traditional anti-aliasing applied in the direction parallel to the striping of the pixel sub-components is adapted to the unique requirements of different character font sizes such that a large amount of anti-aliasing is applied to large font sizes while a small amount of anti-aliasing is provided for characters at small font sizes. Displaced sampling is utilized to determine the alpha values for a plurality of vertical samples for each RGB pixel sub-component. The selected anti-aliasing filter is applied to the alpha values to determine the luminous intensity values of the RGB pixel sub-components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2006
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: David C. Brown, John C. Platt, Michael Duggan, Gregory Hitchcock, Beat Stamm
  • Patent number: 6982724
    Abstract: A method and apparatus antialias a region of a two-dimensional distance field representing an object. The two-dimensional distance field is partitioned into cells where each cell includes a method for reconstructing the two-dimensional distance field within the cell. A set of cells of the two-dimensional distance field associated with the region is identified and a set of pixels associated with the region is located. For each pixel, a set of components is specified. For each component, a distance is determined from the set of cells and then mapped to the antialiased intensity of the component of the pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2006
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Inc.
    Inventors: Sarah F. Frisken, Ronald N. Perry
  • Patent number: 6947059
    Abstract: An imaging system comprising a plurality of first image capture devices. Overlapping rectilinear images are captured and halved, with the left halves being stitched and transformed into a first equirectangular image and the right halves being stitched and transformed into a second equirectangular image. The first equirectangular image, and second equirectangular image are displayed in a stereoscopic orientation to produce a stereoscopic equirectangular image. The imaging system may be utilized to capture a plurality of sequential images, to produce a full-motion stereoscopic equirectangular image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2005
    Assignee: Micoy Corporation
    Inventors: Donald Pierce, Steven M. Herrnstadt, Trent Grover, Frederick Good
  • Patent number: 6940528
    Abstract: The invention provides a display-service providing system in which an image display apparatus, such as a projector, simultaneously displays a plurality of image data on a display section and the display sizes of the image data can be controlled. The invention provides such an image display apparatus. A display-service providing system is formed of instructing apparatuses to provide operation instructions to a projector serving as a service providing apparatus; a virtual-object management apparatus to control operations related to virtual objects, such as setting the virtual objects and giving the instructing apparatuses a right of instructing the projector; the projector to display images corresponding to the contents of instructions sent from the instructing apparatuses, on a display section; and a network to allow data communications to be performed between the above-mentioned apparatuses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2005
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshiki Fukui, Shinya Taniguchi, Naruhide Kitada
  • Patent number: 6941276
    Abstract: A system and method for changing attributes of an image-based product in which an attribute of a first image is automatically identified and a new value for a product attribute of the image-based product is automatically selected based on the image attribute. Also, a user interface can be provided that allows a user to actuate a user interface control in order to select a new value for a product attribute of an image-based product. Such techniques can be used to offer image-based products for sale over a computer network such as the Internet so that the user can change attributes of the image-based products before ordering.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2005
    Assignee: Shutterfly, Inc.
    Inventor: Paul Haeberli
  • Patent number: 6917369
    Abstract: A method and apparatus render a region of a distance field representing an object. The distance field is partitioned into a set of cells, where each cell includes a set of distance samples and a method for reconstructing the distance field within the cell using the distance samples. A set of source cells is selected from the set of cells of the distance field to enable the rendering of the region. Each source cell is represented as a geometric element in a world coordinate system. Each geometric element is associated with a texture map, where the texture map includes distance samples of the corresponding source cell of the geometric element. Each geometric element is transformed from the world coordinate system to a pixel coordinate system and texture mapped, using the distance samples, to determine a distance for each component of each pixel associated with the geometric element. The distance of each component of each pixel is mapped to an antialiased intensity of the component of the pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2005
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs, Inc.
    Inventors: Ronald N. Perry, Sarah F. Frisken
  • Patent number: 6911991
    Abstract: The present invention provides a mechanism by which the number of bits used to identify the WIDs for each of the color buffer and the overlay buffer may be programmed into the graphics adapter based on the currently active application environment. With the apparatus and method of the present invention, a programmable WAT color size selection device is provided in a RAMDAC of the graphics adapter. This programmable WAT color size selection device may be dynamically programmed to use varying bit splits of a WID from a WID buffer to obtain different indexes into a color WAT table and an overlay WAT table. In this way, different splits of, for example, an eight bit WID may be obtained based on the setting of the programmable WAT color size selection device such that varying color and overlay capabilities are obtainable dynamically.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Neal Richard Marion, George F. Ramsay, III, James Stanley Tesauro
  • Patent number: 6894701
    Abstract: Methods and systems for selecting different anti-aliasing filters to be applied to objects of image data rendered with pixel sub-component precision based on the attributes of the objects of the graphics image. For example, when rendering a character traditional anti-aliasing applied in the direction parallel to the striping of the pixel sub-components is adapted to the unique requirements of different character font sizes such that a large amount of anti-aliasing is applied to large font sizes while a small amount of anti-aliasing is provided for characters at small font sizes. Displaced sampling is utilized to determine the alpha values for a plurality of vertical samples for each RGB pixel sub-component. The selected anti-aliasing filter is applied to the alpha values to determine the luminous intensity values of the RGB pixel sub-components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2005
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: David C. Brown, John C. Platt, Michael Duggan, Gregory Hitchcock, Beat Stamm
  • Patent number: 6891548
    Abstract: Systems and methods provide a more efficient and effective gradient computation. Specifically, in one embodiment, a method is provided for calculating a texture-mapping gradient, which comprises calculating constant values for use in a gradient-calculating equation, passing the constant values to logic configured to calculate the gradient, and computing the gradient using barycentric coordinates and the calculated constant values. In accordance with another embodiment, an apparatus is provided for calculating a texture-mapping gradient, which comprises logic for calculating constant values for use in a gradient-calculating equation, and logic for computing the gradient-calculating equation using barycentric coordinates and the calculated constant values. In accordance with another embodiment, a computer-readable medium is also provided that contains code (e.g., RTL logic) for generating the computational logic mentioned above.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2005
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Byron Alcorn, Jason Kassoff
  • Patent number: 6888553
    Abstract: There are provided an apparatus and a method for adjusting the color temperature of an input image using metadata corresponding to the color temperature of the input image. The apparatus includes a color temperature calculation unit which receives a predetermined image and calculates the color temperature of the predetermined image, a metadata generation unit which divides a color temperature range into a plurality of color temperature sections and generates metadata using information on a color temperature section to which the color temperature of the predetermined image belongs, and a metadata database which stores the metadata corresponding to the predetermined image and transmits the metadata to a user terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2005
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sang-kyun Kim, Du-sik Park, Chang-yeong Kim, Ki-won Yoo, Young-sik Huh
  • Patent number: 6844883
    Abstract: A method of correcting a video signal includes retrieving a correction data from a respective one multiple memory devices; reordering the correction data to a predetermined order for a particular segment; and interpolating multiple correction data so that all pixels in the particular segment have a corresponding one of the correction data. An apparatus for correcting video comprises multiple memory devices, each having multiple correction data; a cross-bar switch that reorders at least some of the data to a predetermined order for a particular segment; and an interpolator that calculates multiple interpolated correction data. One of the correction data corresponds to one of multiple pixels in the segment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2005
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Michael Bakhmutsky
  • Patent number: 6839068
    Abstract: If the main picture's size contained in a picture data file is equal to or smaller than the display's size of a displaying portion, a controlling portion displays the main picture in the display area. If the main picture's size is larger than the display's size and the picture data file does not contain a thumbnail, the controlling portion reduces the main picture's size and displays the reduced main picture. If the main picture's size is larger than the display's size and the thumbnail's size contained in the picture data file is equal to or smaller than the display's size, the controlling portion displays the thumbnail. If the main picture's size is larger than the display's size and the thumbnail's size contained in the picture data file is larger than the display's size, the controlling portion reduces the thumbnail's size and displays the reduced thumbnail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2005
    Assignee: NEC Corporation
    Inventor: Kenji Yoshioka
  • Patent number: 6836271
    Abstract: Character data to be displayed is obtained. The obtained character data is boldfaced by increasing a character line width of the obtained character data in a first direction by an amount corresponding to at least a width of a light-emitting element. A boldfaced character is displayed on a display screen in accordance with data derived from the boldfaced character data. In boldfacing the character data, a character line width-increasing pattern is selected in accordance with a degree to which the luminous intensity of the light-emitting elements contributes. In particular, the step of increasing the character line width in order to boldface the character data avoids a pattern in which a B-light (blue) emitting element is located at a next-to-endmost inner position of the increased character line width. A light-emitting pattern is selected in order to eliminate an isolated sub-pixel spot, which otherwise would objectionably be visible in the boldfaced character.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadanori Tezuka, Hiroyuki Yoshida, Bunpei Toji