Patents Examined by Tracy Li
  • Patent number: 8823884
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a flat panel display includes a main body having a cabinet that forms a display window on a front side and a display panel contained in the cabinet, a stand located beneath said main body, and a supporting member that is fixed with said stand and supports said main body by fixing a back of said display panel at a position above said stand. The supporting member has a stand fixation part that is fixed with said stand. The supporting member has a back fixation portion to fix the back of said display panel at a position above said stand fixation part. The supporting member is formed to protrude upward from said stand and shift a center of gravity of said display panel rearward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Akira Yokawa
  • Patent number: 8810654
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus which is capable of identifying a criminal e.g. when the image pickup apparatus has been broken, without additionally providing a dedicated sensor for detecting an abnormality. A panhead unit supports a camera unit and rotates the same. A rotary encoder detects a rotating state of the panhead unit. A motor control circuit controls the rotating state of the panhead unit based on the rotating state detected by the rotary encoder. A system control circuit stores an image periodically picked up by the camera unit in the controlled rotating state of the panhead unit in a buffer memory. When the rotating state of the panhead unit is not being controlled based on the rotating state detected by the rotary encoder, a memory control circuit reads out images picked up, respectively, before and after a detection time at which the rotary encoder detected the rotating state, and stores the images in an auxiliary memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 19, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Asami Sato
  • Patent number: 8804830
    Abstract: A motion estimation method includes: setting multiple block patterns and dividing respectively the current macro block into calculating blocks based on each of the block patterns; calculating respectively the motion vectors of all the calculating blocks of the current macro block in each of the block patterns; calculating respectively the sum of matching values between all the calculating blocks of the current macro block and the blocks respectively corresponding to the calculating blocks of the current macro block in each of the block patterns, acquiring the block pattern corresponding to the minimum sum, and regarding the motion vector corresponding to the acquired block pattern as the motion vector of the current macro block. Thereby, time for calculating block matching values in motion estimation may be reduced greatly and the speed of video data compression may be increased. Thus, the demand of video data in real time may be met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
    Inventor: Zhu Liang
  • Patent number: 8803978
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for utilizing a camera device to track an object is presented. As part of the method, a region of interest is determined within an overall image sensing area. A point light source is then tracked within the region of interest. In a particular arrangement, the camera device incorporates CMOS image sensor technology and the point light source is an IR LED. Other embodiments pertain to manipulations of the region of interest to accommodate changes to the status of the point light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Andrew Wilson
  • Patent number: 8798133
    Abstract: Methods and systems for dual channel encoding and detection are described. In one embodiment, auxiliary data may be encoded in an audio portion of one or more frames of a content signal based on an audio encoding technique. The auxiliary data may be encoded in a video portion of the one or more frames based on a video encoding technique. The encoding of the auxiliary data in the audio portion and the video portion may produce a modulated content signal. The modulated content signal may include one or more dual encoded frames. The dual encoded frames may include the auxiliary data encoded within the audio portion and the video portion of the one or more frames. Additional methods and systems are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Koplar Interactive Systems International L.L.C.
    Inventors: Michael S. Gramelspacher, Edward J. Koplar
  • Patent number: 8798153
    Abstract: A method of decoding videos comprises the steps of performing, in respect of a decoding objective area of decoding objective frame, a motion search by using images of plural frames finished with decoding and deciding, on the basis of the result of the motion search, whether an image of the decoding objective area is to be generated through an interpolation process or a decoded image is to be generated through motion compensation using data included in an encoding stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Consumer Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shohei Saito, Masashi Takahashi, Muneaki Yamaguchi, Hiroaki Ito, Koichi Hamada
  • Patent number: 8792548
    Abstract: A video signal pre-coded using hierarchical coding is transmitted over a communication network, the signal being constituted by data distributed into several hierarchical levels. More specifically, a bandwidth of the communication network is periodically estimated over evaluation periods. A set of hierarchical levels is selected for a current evaluation period, where a transmission rate of the data of the selected hierarchical levels is compatible with the bandwidth estimated for a current evaluation period. A change tendency of the bandwidth is estimated for a following evaluation period. Additional data of the video signal to transmit is then determined depending on the estimated change tendency of the bandwidth, and the data of the selected hierarchical levels and the determined additional data is transmitted during the current evaluation period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Xavier Henocq, Patrice Onno, Fabrice Le Leannec
  • Patent number: 8780194
    Abstract: A component presence/absence judging apparatus judges the presence/absence of a component through a registration step and an inspection step. The registration step comprises an ante-mounting color information acquisition step, a post-mounting color information acquisition step and an inspection area determination step. Ante-mounting color information is acquired from an ante-mounting image taken at a predetermined portion on an ante-mounting board. Post-mounting color information is acquired from a post-mounting image taken at the predetermined portion on a post-mounting board. Then, a section having a large difference between both color information of the ante-mounting image and the post-mounting image is identified and is determined as an inspection area. At the inspection step, the presence/absence of the component at a predetermined place on each inspection board to be inspected is judged in dependence on the color information on the determined inspection area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Fuji Machine Mfg. Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Oike, Ikuo Suzuki
  • Patent number: 8780981
    Abstract: An image coding method includes: generating a predicted block; calculating a residual block; calculating quantized coefficients by performing transform and quantization on the residual block; calculating a coded residual block by performing inverse quantization and inverse transform on the quantized coefficients; generating a temporary coded block; determining whether or not an offset process is required, to generate first flag information indicating a result of the determination; executing the offset process on the temporary coded block when it is determined that the offset process is required; and performing variable-length coding on the quantized coefficients and the first flag information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America
    Inventors: Toru Matsunobu, Takahiro Nishi, Youji Shibahara, Hisao Sasai, Kyoko Tanikawa, Toshiyasu Sugio
  • Patent number: 8774278
    Abstract: A recursive motion detector for detecting motion in an interlaced video signal. The motion detector includes a first frame motion detector receiving a next field and a first previous field, a second frame motion detector receiving a current field and a second previous field, and a third frame motion detector receiving a next field and a third previous field. Motion is detected when the first, second and third frame motion detectors combine to produce a frame motion result.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: CSR Technology Inc.
    Inventors: Monica Man Kay Tang, Yee Shun Chan
  • Patent number: 8774269
    Abstract: A more efficient way of addressing different bit-depths, or different bit-depths and chroma sampling format requirements is achieved by using a low bit-depth and/or low-chroma resolution representation for providing a respective base layer data stream representing this low bit-depth and/or low-chroma resolution representation as well as for providing a higher bit-depth and/or higher chroma resolution representation so that a respective prediction residual may be encoded in order to obtain a higher bit-depth and/or higher chroma resolution representation. By this measure, an encoder is enabled to store a base-quality representation of a picture or a video sequence, which can be decoded by any legacy decoder or video decoder, together with an enhancement signal for higher bit-depth and/or reduced chroma sub-sampling, which may be ignored by legacy decoders or video decoders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: Franuhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventors: Detlev Marpe, Martin Winken, Heiko Schwarz, Thomas Wiegand
  • Patent number: 8767832
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing a multimedia bitstream are provided. The apparatus comprises a receive module, an extraction module, and a generation module. The receiving module receives the multimedia bitstream, wherein the multimedia bitstream comprises a plurality of NAL units. The extraction module extracts the NAL units from the multimedia bitstream. The generation module generates a processed bitstream comprising markers and NAL units. Each of the markers has a unique code. By doing so in future processing, a decoder or a decoding method can locate NAL units easily by searching for the corresponding marker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Mediatek Inc.
    Inventor: Yung-Chang Chang
  • Patent number: 8755435
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for improved intra chroma prediction mode coding are disclosed. Intra prediction exploits the spatial correlation within a picture or within a picture region. In practice, a picture is divided into blocks and the intra mode prediction is performed on a block basis. In newer coding systems, multiple intra coding modes such as Vertical mode, Horizontal mode, DC mode and Diagonal mode, have been used to improve the coding efficiency of intra coding. Furthermore, a Luma_mode has also been used in intra prediction of chroma component to further improve the performance in the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard being developed. However, the mode selection information for intra prediction has to be conveyed to the decoder for proper operation. Spatial features in a picture often exist in both luma and chroma components. The intra luma prediction mode and intra chroma prediction mode will have high probability to be the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Mediatek Inc.
    Inventors: Mei Guo, Xun Guo, Shaw-Min Lei
  • Patent number: 8754945
    Abstract: In a motion tracking method using an image capturing device that is installed on a track system, images of a monitored area are captured in real-time using a lens of the image capturing device. The captured images are analyzed to check for motion in the monitored area, and a movement direction of the motion is determined when the motion is detected in the monitored area. The image capturing device is controlled to move along the track system to track the motion using a driving device according to the movement direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hou-Hsien Lee, Chang-Jung Lee, Chih-Ping Lo
  • Patent number: 8749613
    Abstract: A wide-angle zoom lens includes a first lens group with positive refraction power, a second lens group with negative refraction power, a third lens group with positive refraction power, and a fourth lens group with positive refraction power. The first lens group, the second lens group, the third lens group, and the fourth lens group move along an optical axis of the zoom lens in focusing. The wide-angle zoom lens satisfies the formulas: 1.6<f3/fw<2.1, where f3 is the effective focal length of the third lens group, and fw is the effective focal length of the wide-angle zoom lens in a wide angle state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignees: Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hai-Jo Huang, Fang-Ying Peng, Sheng-An Wang, Xiao-Na Liu, An-Tze Lee
  • Patent number: 8750377
    Abstract: There are provided methods and apparatus for context dependent merging for SKIP/DIRECT modes for video encoding and decoding. An apparatus includes an encoder for joint coding partitions of an image region using frame partitioning and a partition merging procedure, wherein any given one of the partitions that use a coding mode with implicit coding rules is subject to being merged, with another one of the partitions, using a distinct merging rule different than that used for a coding mode with explicit coding rules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Thomson Licensing
    Inventors: Oscar Divorra Escoda, Peng Yin
  • Patent number: 8743190
    Abstract: Unwanted information contained in a reference image is reduced, thus acquiring a fluorescence image having quantitative intensity information, regardless of the angle and distance of excitation light. The invention provides a fluoroscopy apparatus including an illumination portion that irradiates an observation target with illumination light containing excitation light; a first image-acquisition section that acquires a fluorescence image in a prescribed observation region of the observation target; a second image-acquisition section that acquires an out-of-focus reference image of the observation target in the observation region; and an image correction section that corrects the fluorescence image acquired by the first image-acquisition section using the reference image acquired by the second image-acquisition section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventor: Yasushige Ishihara
  • Patent number: 8731052
    Abstract: The present invention can suppress the generated code quantity for each image increment so as not to exceeding the target code quantity without having a usage quantizing factor deviate greatly in a sure manner. An image encoding device (200) determines a basic quantization parameter (QPMB) serving as a basic quantizing factor to be predicted in the case that the main encoding generated code comes near the target code quantity at the time of encoding an input image (91). The image encoding device (200) encodes the input image (91) for each feedback control increment by executing quantization using an adapted quantization parameter (QPt) based on an average quantization parameter BaseQP serving as a usage quantizing factor determined based on at least the basic quantization parameter (QPMB).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Takaaki Fuchie
  • Patent number: 8724707
    Abstract: This disclosure describes techniques for region-of-interest (ROI) encoding. In accordance with the techniques described herein, an encoding device may determine a temporal spatial dependency value for a candidate reference video block for inter-coding a current block in a video frame. The encoding device may compare the temporal spatial dependency value to a threshold value and select a coding mode for the current block based on the comparison. A decoding device may receive data defining a ROI as well as the temporal spatial dependency value and decode a video block in the ROI based at least in part on the temporal spatial dependency value. In this manner, the techniques of this disclosure may allow a video content viewer the ability to choose a ROI to watch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
    Inventors: Ming-Chang Tsai, Chia-Yuan Teng, Yan Ye
  • Patent number: 8718131
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for generating and processing a packet are provided. In the method of processing a packet, a packet including main data, an identifier representing the type of the main data, and packet information corresponding to information on other packets that will have the same identifier as the identifier is received, the identifier and the packet information are extracted from the received packet, and the main data is selectively extracted from the packet based on the extracted identifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Sung-il Park, Ga-hyun Ryu, Jong-hwa Kim