Patents Examined by Michael Razavi
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Patent number: 7027072Abstract: A method and system for spatially compositing digital video images with a tile pattern library. Spatial compositing uses a graphics pipeline to render a portion (tile) of each overall frame of digital video images. This reduces the amount of data that each processor must act on and increases the rate at which an overall frame is rendered. Optimization of spatial compositing depends on balancing the processing load among the different pipelines. The processing load typically is a direct function of the size of a given tile and an inverse function of the rendering complexity for objects within this tile. Load balancing strives to measure these variables and adjust, from frame to frame, the number, sizes, and positions of the tiles. The cost of this approach is the necessity to communicate, in conjunction with each frame, the number, sizes, and positions of the tiles.Type: GrantFiled: October 13, 2000Date of Patent: April 11, 2006Assignee: Silicon Graphics, Inc.Inventor: Greg Sadowski
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Patent number: 7027073Abstract: A method of digital imaging, the method implemented through use of a virtual camera, wherein the virtual camera includes automated computing machinery operating under software program control, wherein the virtual camera includes a user interface, the method includes creating an image request for a digital image, wherein the image request includes an image request data structure representing and describing the digital image, wherein the image request data structure includes image request data elements, wherein the image request data elements include data elements for location coordinates and a data element for view direction, and storing the image request data elements in the image request.Type: GrantFiled: September 24, 2001Date of Patent: April 11, 2006Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: William Kress Bodin, Derral Charles Thorson
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Patent number: 7015923Abstract: To provide an apparatus for painting figures which is improved in painting capability better than the conventional art even when a path to an external memory section is narrow. In order to simultaneously write previously generated painting information and read data required for generating painting information later in the painting coordinate generating section and the painting information generating section on the painting apparatus, while painting information is generated, first and second buffers are provided as a buffer section for storing painting information generated in the painting information generating section, and address information storing sections corresponding to the first and second buffers are provided as an address generating section for generating an address for storing painting information, which is accumulated in the buffer section, in an external memory section.Type: GrantFiled: September 14, 2001Date of Patent: March 21, 2006Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.Inventors: Satoshi Shigenaga, Tomohiro Okada, Tadashi Okamoto
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Patent number: 7015935Abstract: In an apparatus for displaying reference images of patients and slices to be measured in a displayed reference image for assisting the positioning of slices in preparation for a slice-by-slice measurement and a computer software product and corresponding method, a storage device stores at least one measured reference image of a current patient, a display screen displays a stored reference image, an input device allows entry of commands for displaying and positioning slices to be measured in a displayed reference image, and a processing device processes the entered commands and correspondingly controls the display of the reference image and the slices. The processing device, depending on the entry of commands via the input device by a user, generates a rotated representation of the reference image and a spatial representation—corresponding to the rotation of the reference image—of the slices and displays them on the screen.Type: GrantFiled: October 1, 2001Date of Patent: March 21, 2006Assignee: Siemens AktiengesellschaftInventors: Martin Herget, Martin Harder
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Patent number: 7009612Abstract: A font generation apparatus includes: a basic font storage section storing a font character of a basic font for generating a font character; a feature parameter storage section storing a feature parameter expressing a feature of the font character; a genetic algorithm processing section generating plural new feature parameters by performing genetic algorithm processing on the feature parameter; a font generation section generating new font characters by deforming the font character of the basic font based on the plural generated feature parameters; and a display unit displaying the generated new font characters. The genetic algorithm processing section determines the feature parameter according to the preferences of a user based on a font character selected by the user from among the new font characters displayed on the display unit. The font generation section creates a font based on the determined feature parameter according to the preferences of the user.Type: GrantFiled: September 24, 2003Date of Patent: March 7, 2006Assignee: Riso Kagaku CorporationInventor: Junichi Hakamada
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Patent number: 7006094Abstract: An apparatus for efficiently filling an image on a display screen through hardware acceleration are provided. One exemplary device includes a display controller. The display controller includes image generation circuitry configured to generate an address and a color for each pixel of an image to be drawn on a display screen. The image generation circuitry includes pen width selection circuitry configured to identify and select coordinates of adjacent and non-overlapping sectors to an initial footprint of the image on the display screen to be drawn. The display controller includes data processing and selection circuitry configured to interface with a central processing unit (CPU) and a memory. The data processing and selection circuitry in communication with the image generation circuitry and configured to receive the address and the color for each pixel of the image. A system and methods for filling an image on a display screen are also provided.Type: GrantFiled: April 24, 2002Date of Patent: February 28, 2006Assignee: Seiko Epson CorporationInventors: Keith Kejser, Doug McFadyen
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Patent number: 7002599Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method and apparatus for hardware acceleration of clipping and graphical fill in display systems. In one embodiment, all display data is presented to the display system. The display system uses its hardware to clip the undesired data, if necessary, and display the desired data. If a sufficient amount of display data has the same value, the display system uses its hardware to fill the appropriate areas using the shared value. In one embodiment, the display system has one or more accelerating registers. In one embodiment, one or more accelerating registers are fill registers. As display data is read from memory, some of the information's color data is classified by the fill registers. In another embodiment, one or more accelerating registers are clipping registers. As display data arrives from each source, the information's display location is classified by the clipping registers.Type: GrantFiled: July 26, 2002Date of Patent: February 21, 2006Assignee: Sun Microsystems, Inc.Inventor: Lawrence L. Butcher
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Patent number: 6999094Abstract: Smooth, stable and high quality game image is provided by accurately pre-reading background data required for image processing each time. The game device therefore reads background data required for a game that displays a condition of a moving vehicle within a virtual three-dimensional space together with a background in the main memory from a CD-ROM (recording medium) prior to image processing. This device comprises a pre-reading unit for pre-reading background data from a recording medium when reading a start line (reference line) set at a distant position in a specified distance away from the limit line of the visual field direction of display is crossing a new area. A recording medium is a medium that records background data by dividing it into a plurality of areas in advance, and the pre-reading unit comprises a unit for judging on which of the areas the reference line is crossing, and a reading unit for reading in memory the background data of the area judged as being crossed with the reference line.Type: GrantFiled: September 12, 2000Date of Patent: February 14, 2006Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Sega EnterprisesInventor: Masaaki Ito
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Patent number: 6992686Abstract: The present invention is a system and method for dynamically altering the size of scanned image files based on the export file size, network demand and/or transmission requirements specified by a system administrator or end user. An embodiment as described here discusses about pushing the color text/edges into the black mask as the first approach in order to reduce file size at the expense of color fidelity.Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2004Date of Patent: January 31, 2006Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventor: Ramesh Nagarajan
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Patent number: 6989840Abstract: A system, method and computer program product are provided for transparency rendering in a graphics pipeline. Initially, colored-transparency information is collected from a plurality of depth layers (i.e. colored-transparency layers, etc.) in a scene to be rendered. The collected colored-transparency information is then stored in memory. The colored-transparency information from the depth layers may then be blended in a predetermined order.Type: GrantFiled: August 31, 2001Date of Patent: January 24, 2006Assignee: NVIDIA CorporationInventors: Cass W. Everitt, Rui M. Bastos, Mark J. Kilgard
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Patent number: 6989842Abstract: A live video feed is seamlessly inserted into a static background image while maintaining the proper positioning and scaling of the combined image. The current frame of the live video feed is first texturized onto a surface. The surface is a set of points that are translated to the location, e.g., latitude/longitude coordinates, of the live video source. A series of matrix transformations of the texturized surface coordinates is performed. First, the texturized surface is rotated to be tangential to the earth at the location of the live video source. Next, the texturized surface is rotated again to reflect the heading of the live video source. Lastly, the texturized surface is scaled to conform to the background image. The transformed live image is then inserted into the larger background image in its proper position and displayed.Type: GrantFiled: October 25, 2001Date of Patent: January 24, 2006Assignee: The Johns Hopkins UniversityInventors: Kevin M. Cropper, Jarrett F. Reid, David W. Nesbitt
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Patent number: 6985161Abstract: A method of creating an image is disclosed. The image is formed by rendering and compositing at least a plurality of graphical objects whereby each of the objects has a predetermined outline. The method comprises the following steps. Firstly, dividing a space in which the outlines are defined into a plurality of regions whereby each of the regions is defined by at least one region outline. The region outline substantially follows at least one of the predetermined outlines or parts thereof and is substantially formed by segments of a virtual grid encompassing the space. Secondly, manipulating the regions to determine a plurality of further regions whereby each of the further regions has a corresponding compositing expression. Fourthly, classifying the further regions according to at least one attribute of the graphical objects within the further regions.Type: GrantFiled: September 1, 1999Date of Patent: January 10, 2006Assignee: Canon Kabushiki KaishaInventor: George Politis
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Patent number: 6980205Abstract: A page template, which serves as the prototype of a web page, contains formatter specifying information and display attribute information. The formatter specifying information is information for specifying one formatter out of a plurality of types (banner, Telop, a plurality of banner arrangements or the like). Display attribute information is information for controlling the moves of the formatter. When a page template is called by a web browser, the formatter is actuated, and selects, arranges, or controls the display sequence, display time or the like of, contents to be embedded into the template in accordance with display attributes, or effects such controls as the reduction of a display area (an area in the template available for embedding contents) to the size of contents.Type: GrantFiled: July 25, 2000Date of Patent: December 27, 2005Assignee: International Business Machines CorporationInventors: Koji Zettsu, Kazuhiro Minami, Hajime Tsuchitani
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Patent number: 6972758Abstract: Surfaces of an object are rendered in the order from a surface remotest from a viewpoint. When a rear surface, e.g., a rear surface, is to be rendered, a range, i.e., a range of a texture to be used, projected by way of perspective projection with vectors which are directed from the viewpoint toward a background image and take into account refractions at vertexes of the surface is determined, and the texture in the determined range is mapped onto the surface. When a front surface, e.g., a front surface, is to be rendered, a range, i.e., a range of a texture to be used, projected by way of perspective projection with vectors which are directed from the viewpoint toward a background image and take into account refractions at vertexes of the surface is determined, and the texture in the determined range is mapped onto the surface.Type: GrantFiled: August 2, 2004Date of Patent: December 6, 2005Assignee: Sony Computer Entertaiment Inc.Inventor: Hajime Sugiyama
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Patent number: 6956589Abstract: A method and system for generating an image display plan is provided. In one embodiment, a planning system allows a user to create a display plan that specifies a sequence of images that are to be displayed and how the images are to be displayed. The planning system allows a user to specify different versions of the plan for different aspect ratios. When displaying the image, the planning system may display multiple viewports simultaneously on the image, one for each of the different aspect ratios. The planning system may allow the multiple viewports to be moved around and resized as a unit maintaining a common center point for the viewports.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 2003Date of Patent: October 18, 2005Assignee: Beon Media Inc.Inventors: Scott E. Lipsky, Paul Brownlow
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Patent number: 6950103Abstract: Automatically positioning of typographical features, such as vertical stems or horizontal segments of a character, on high contrast pixel sub-component boundaries as part of a rendering process that uses separately controllable pixel sub-components of pixels to represent different portions of the character. In order to identify the typographical features of the character that are to be aligned with high contrast pixel sub-component boundaries, topology of the character is analyzed at runtime. In display devices having vertical stripes of same-colored pixel sub-components, character legibility is increased when the left edges of stems are aligned with high contrast boundaries between pixel sub-components. Processing time and resources are conserved by performing a partial, rather than a full, topological analysis of the character.Type: GrantFiled: June 24, 2003Date of Patent: September 27, 2005Assignee: Microsoft CorporationInventors: Beat Stamm, Gregory C. Hitchcock, Claude Betrisey, Matt Conway
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Patent number: 6940510Abstract: A system and method for displaying font in a wireless telephone. The system and method employ the operations of converting base font data into converted font data, wherein the converted font data has a data bits equal in number to data bits of a background screen into which the converted font data will be transcribed; generating a mask for the converted font data; storing the converted font data and the mask in a memory of the wireless telephone; retrieving the mask stored in the memory.Type: GrantFiled: June 27, 2003Date of Patent: September 6, 2005Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yong-Hyun Kim, Young-Ha Yoon
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Patent number: 6937250Abstract: A method for mapping a texture onto a surface of a computer generated object represented by a plurality of pixels, where the mapping of the texture is dependent upon the geometric shape of the object. The method includes dividing a texture map comprising a plurality of texels into blocks, determining two block values for each block which are representative of the texel values for that block, compressing the texture map, and mapping said compressed texture map onto the surface of the computer generated object.Type: GrantFiled: November 7, 2000Date of Patent: August 30, 2005Assignee: S3 Graphics Co., Ltd.Inventors: Andreas Schilling, Guenter Knittel
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Patent number: 6937218Abstract: When a new image is written to a liquid crystal panel, row electrodes are scanned a-line-at-a-time in time periods Tp1, Tp2, selected row electrodes are set at a voltage Vr, and all column electrodes are set at ?Vc. The portions of a liquid crystal at the selected row electrodes have a voltage of Vr+Vc applied thereacross to bring the liquid crystal in the entire screen into a planar state. After the portions of the liquid crystal at all pixels have been brought into the planar state, new display is written by a-line-at-a-time scanning in time periods Td1, Td2.Type: GrantFiled: September 19, 2002Date of Patent: August 30, 2005Assignee: OPTREX CorporationInventors: Satoshi Niiyama, Tomohiro Takano, Shinya Tahara
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Patent number: 6924821Abstract: An image processing system processes image data in response to a sequence of image processing steps defined by a process tree (800). The process tree comprises a plurality of interconnected nodes (801-813), including input nodes (801-804) and at least one output node (813). Output rendering is performed a frame at a time, and a frame requirement (824) is passed from the output node to previous nodes (812, 811, 810). Intermediate nodes include requirement processing (823) such that a node (810) having different input and output frame rates can identify and generate a requirement (825) for the input frames (826) as it requires for its processing (821).Type: GrantFiled: February 21, 2001Date of Patent: August 2, 2005Assignee: Autodesk Canada Inc.Inventors: Stephane Trinh, Michel Gaudette