Patents by Inventor Isao Kawahara

Isao Kawahara 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: 7839357
    Abstract: An image display apparatus for displaying gray-scale images by writing display information to an image display area of a panel. The display information includes values of a plurality of sub-fields that constitute one field. The image display apparatus converts an input image signal into a piece of display information so that a difference between sub-fields in correspondence with each other in adjacent high gray-scale levels becomes less. The image display apparatus displays a gray-scale image in accordance with the piece of display information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kunio Sekimoto
  • Patent number: 7710358
    Abstract: An image display apparatus, such as a plasma display panel, suppresses dynamic false contours with gradation levels sufficiently retained. The image display apparatus has agitation constant adder for generating a plurality of agitation constants for a gradation level corresponding to an image signal, for selecting one agitation constant therefrom, and for adding the agitation constant to the image signal. As a result, dynamic false contours can not be visually perceived because their portions are dispersed by superimposing an agitation to each image signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Yamada, Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 7474280
    Abstract: An image display apparatus using a display panel such as a plasma display panel having two illumination states aims to widen a dynamic range by increasing a ratio of maximum to minimum luminance reproducible on the same screen. In the image display apparatus, one TV field period is divided into a plurality of sub-fields which respectively have luminance weights and are arranged in order of time, and a gray-scale image is displayed by selecting a combination of sub-fields for each pixel and sustaining a light emission state of each pixel during the selected sub-fields, wherein when arranged in ascending order of luminance weight, the plurality of sub-fields include at least one sub-field whose luminance weight is one-half of a luminance weight of the next sub-field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 7418152
    Abstract: An Image correction device for detecting an image area having movement according to an image signal, and providing the image signal with image correction and switching correction methods according to a control signal. The image correction device further detects the boundary area of the image area having movement; detects an image area with great gradational change by comparing gradation of image signals corresponding to adjoining pixels; and provides the boundary area of the image area having movement with a diffusion process in an area excluding the image area with great gradational change. The correcting methods performed by the image correcting device can be switched according to the movement signal, thereby improving image correction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 7365799
    Abstract: The gradation display device contains gradient detecting circuit (3) for detecting a gradient of gradation values of pixels in an incoming image; time-varying gradation-value detecting circuit (4) for detecting changes in gradation values of the pixels with a passage of time; an image detector for detecting a magnitude and a direction of movement of the incoming image according to outputs from gradient detecting circuit (3) and time-varying gradation-value detecting circuit (4); and gradation correcting circuit (12) for correcting signals of the incoming image according to the detected magnitude and direction of the image and the weight of luminance assigned to each of the sub-fields so as to display proper image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2008
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 7154516
    Abstract: The image display device disclosed detects areas including grayscales with gradients and motions in an image signal and compensates the prescribed grayscales of the image signals to the other grayscales according to the motion amplitude and direction of the area, and the gradient amplitude and direction of the grayscale. Consequently, intermediate non-lit sub-fields causing the dynamic false contour are distributed to display image suppressing the dynamic false contour.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kazuhiro Yamada
  • Patent number: 7139007
    Abstract: The present invention provides a gray scale display method and apparatus that can be used with a large screen plasma display panel to perform illumination in a binary manner while substantially controlling flicker effects. The gray scale can be displayed by combining illumination and non-illumination periods in each of a plurality of subfields, the subfields being defined by at least a first block and a second block which have different structures. The plurality of subfields are arranged so that the luminance value of each subfield is in an ascending or descending order in the blocks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 7071902
    Abstract: An image display apparatus using a display panel such as a plasma display panel having two illumination states aims to widen a dynamic range by increasing a ratio of maximum to minimum luminance reproducible on the same screen. In the image display apparatus, one TV field period is divided into a plurality of sub-fields which respectively have luminance weights and are arranged in order of time, and a gray-scale image is displayed by selecting a combination of sub-fields for each pixel and sustaining a light emission state of each pixel during the selected sub-fields, wherein when arranged in ascending order of luminance weight, the plurality of sub-fields include at least one sub-field whose luminance weight is one-half of a luminance weight of the next sub-field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20060055827
    Abstract: The gradation display device contains gradient detecting circuit (3) for detecting a gradient of gradation values of pixels in an incoming image; time-varying gradation-value detecting circuit (4) for detecting changes in gradation values of the pixels with a passage of time; an image detector for detecting a magnitude and a direction of movement of the incoming image according to outputs from gradient detecting circuit (3) and time-varying gradation-value detecting circuit (4); and gradation correcting circuit (12) for correcting signals of the incoming image according to the detected magnitude and direction of the image and the weight of luminance assigned to each of the sub-fields so as to display proper image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2004
    Publication date: March 16, 2006
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20060050979
    Abstract: Image correction device (100), which has movement detecting means (120) for detecting an image area having movement according to an image signal and image correcting means (170) capable of providing the image signal with image correction and switching correction methods according to a control signal, further contains movement boundary detecting means (130) for detecting the boundary area of the image area having movement; gradational change detecting means (140) for detecting an image area with great gradational change by comparing gradation of image signals corresponding to adjoining pixels; and movement signal modulating means (160) for providing the boundary area of the image area having movement with a diffusion process in an area excluding the image area with great gradational change. With the structure above, switching the correcting methods of the image correcting means (170) according to the output of the movement signal modulating means (160) realizes an improved image correction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2005
    Publication date: March 9, 2006
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20050237277
    Abstract: An image display apparatus using a display panel such as a plasma display panel having two illumination states aims to widen a dynamic range by increasing a ratio of maximum to minimum luminance reproducible on the same screen. In the image display apparatus, one TV field period is divided into a plurality of sub-fields which respectively have luminance weights and are arranged in order of time, and a gray-scale image is displayed by selecting a combination of sub-fields for each pixel and sustaining a light emission state of each pixel during the selected sub-fields, wherein when arranged in ascending order of luminance weight, the plurality of sub-fields include at least one sub-field whose luminance weight is one-half of a luminance weight of the next sub-field.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2005
    Publication date: October 27, 2005
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6956592
    Abstract: In an image display device equipped with a panel having first and second electrodes, a field period is divided into a plurality of sub-field periods that each have a predetermined luminance weight, and a gray-scale image for is displayed by (a) writing sub-field image data of each sub-field period obtained by dividing input image data of the field period into the plurality of sub-field periods, into the panel through the first and second electrodes, and (b) sustaining an illumination state of ON or OFF in each cell for each sub-field period using luminance equivalent to a luminance weight of each sub-field period. The image display device includes an image changing unit for changing a part of sub-field image data of a predetermined sub-field period, so that a total number of charges and discharges performed on the first electrode when writing the sub-field image data becomes smaller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Yamada, Isao Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20050225512
    Abstract: An image display apparatus, such as a plasma display panel, suppresses dynamic false contours with gradation levels sufficiently retained. The image display apparatus has agitation constant adder for generating a plurality of agitation constants for a gradation level corresponding to an image signal, for selecting one agitation constant therefrom, and for adding the agitation constant to the image signal. As a result, dynamic false contours can not be visually perceived because their portions are dispersed by superimposing an agitation to each image signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2003
    Publication date: October 13, 2005
    Applicant: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Yamada, Isao Kawahara
  • Publication number: 20040183820
    Abstract: The image display device disclosed detects areas including grayscales with gradients and motions in an image signal and compensates the prescribed grayscales of the image signals to the other grayscales according to the motion amplitude and direction of the area, and the gradient amplitude and direction of the grayscale. Consequently, intermediate non-lit sub-fields causing the dynamic false contour are distributed to display image suppressing the dynamic false contour.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2003
    Publication date: September 23, 2004
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kazuhiro Yamada
  • Publication number: 20040113901
    Abstract: Erroneous writing may occur to write scanning of images using subfields, depending on patterns and motions of the images. A pattern for which erroneous writing is liable to occur is subjected to a different correction process depending on whether the pattern is a still image or a moving image. For a moving image part, in particular, pixels at the top edge of the image are activated by preceding writing of a low luminance, so as to ensure a correct writing operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 17, 2003
    Publication date: June 17, 2004
    Inventor: Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6556214
    Abstract: A multilevel image display method performs error diffusion processing on data that is inputted as multiphase data. The display error of a target pixel is diffused into pixels included in data blocks that are inputted after the data block that includes the target pixel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2003
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Yamada, Isao Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6456302
    Abstract: An image display apparatus which displays images, suppressing the occurrence of the moving image false edge. The image display apparatus selects a signal level among a plurality of signal levels in accordance with a motion amount of an input image signal, where each signal level is expressed by an arbitrary combination of 0, W1, W2, . . . and WN and luminance weights W1, W2, . . . and WN are assigned to subfields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kunio Sekimoto
  • Patent number: 6380979
    Abstract: There is provided a low-cost scanning line converting circuit being capable of properly converting the number of scanning lines for a video signal at various conversion ratios. Under the control of a write control signal generating circuit, an original video signal is written, on a scanning-line basis, in individual line memories. A write operation is performed to each of the line memories based on a clock and a horizontal synchronizing signal on the input side, while a read operation is performed to each of the line memories based on a clock and a horizontal synchronizing signal on the output side. A selecting circuit selects, based on a line select signal, at least one from scanning line signals stored in the individual line memories necessary to generate a post-conversion scanning line signal and outputting the selected scanning line signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2002
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masaki Tokoi, Isao Kawahara, Tomohisa Tagami
  • Publication number: 20020024527
    Abstract: An image display apparatus for displaying gray-scale images by writing display information to an image display area of a panel. The display information includes values of a plurality of sub-fields that constitute one field. The image display apparatus converts an input image signal into a piece of display information so that a difference between sub-fields in correspondence with each other in adjacent high gray-scale levels becomes less. The image display apparatus displays a gray-scale image in accordance with the piece of display information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2001
    Publication date: February 28, 2002
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kunio Sekimoto
  • Patent number: 6310588
    Abstract: An image display apparatus which displays images, suppressing the occurrence of the moving image false edge. The image display apparatus selects a signal level among a plurality of signal levels in accordance with a motion amount of an input image signal, where each signal level is expressed by an arbitrary combination of 0, W1, W2, . . . and WN and luminance weights W1, W2, . . . and WN are assigned to subfields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1998
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2001
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Isao Kawahara, Kunio Sekimoto