Patents by Inventor Marcus P Apitz

Marcus P Apitz 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: 9131269
    Abstract: A viewer of a digital television trying to freeze the video at a particular frame. Generally the human delay and the delay introduced by the remote control device and the control software executing on the television results in the frame that is displayed by the freeze event is some number of frames or seconds after the frame that the viewer wanted frozen. A small amount of memory that constantly buffers several seconds of digital video such that once the viewer initiates the freeze event the frame that is displayed is effectively some seconds in the past. The viewer then has the ability to single frame step to the frame that he actually was interested in viewing. The viewer's actions are refined by a rules based algorithm that allows it to more closely target and display what it believes will be the final frame the viewer wanted to be displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Assignee: Vizio Inc.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter J Schwartz, Marcus P Apitz
  • Patent number: 8928744
    Abstract: An application for transmission of a three-dimensional eyewear synchronization signal to synchronize the operation of shutters of three-dimensional eyewear uses an industry standard wireless transmission technique. To compensate for inherent latencies of such transmission techniques, the latencies are measured and monitored to determine expected latencies and the shutter synchronization signal is skewed by the latency. In some embodiments, the synchronization signal is further adjusted by a user skew control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Vizio, Inc.
    Inventor: Marcus P. Apitz
  • Patent number: 8584155
    Abstract: An application for a television has a detector capable of determining the identity and/or presence of at least one viewer in a viewing area of the television. In response to viewers entering and leaving the viewing area of the television, the television adjusts its operation based upon settings for the currently present viewers (e.g., enables channels, content, etc).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: Vizio Inc
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter Jay Schwartz, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20130278735
    Abstract: An application for transmission of a three-dimensional eyewear synchronization signal to synchronize the operation of shutters of three-dimensional eyewear uses an industry standard wireless transmission technique. To compensate for inherent latencies of such transmission techniques, the latencies are measured and monitored to determine expected latencies and the shutter synchronization signal is skewed by the latency. In some embodiments, the synchronization signal is further adjusted by a user skew control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 18, 2013
    Publication date: October 24, 2013
    Applicant: VIZIO INC.
    Inventor: Marcus P. Apitz
  • Patent number: 8466955
    Abstract: An application for transmission of a three-dimensional eyewear synchronization signal to synchronize the operation of shutters of three-dimensional eyewear uses an industry standard wireless transmission technique. To compensate for inherent latencies of such transmission techniques, the latencies are measured and monitored to determine expected latencies and the shutter synchronization signal is skewed by the latency. In some embodiments, the synchronization signal is further adjusted by a user skew control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2013
    Assignee: Vizio, Inc.
    Inventor: Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20130125154
    Abstract: An application for a television has a detector capable of determining the identity and/or presence of at least one viewer in a viewing area of the television. In response to viewers entering and leaving the viewing area of the television, the television adjusts its operation based upon settings for the currently present viewers (e.g., enables channels, content, etc).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 1, 2013
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicant: VIZIO INC.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter Jay Schwartz, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Patent number: 8347325
    Abstract: An application for a television has a detector capable of determining the identity and/or presence of at least one viewer in a viewing area of the television. In response to viewers entering and leaving the viewing area of the television, the television adjusts its operation based upon settings for the currently present viewers (e.g., enables channels, content, etc).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2013
    Assignee: Vizio, Inc.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter Jay Schwartz, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Patent number: 8201100
    Abstract: Scroll wheels have simplified the movement of cursors and changes in focus as a users navigate their way through menus, lists, tables, and other objects typically found in graphical user interfaces. Also typical of navigation schemes driven by scroll wheels is the ability of the user to accelerate the rate of movement of the cursor or focus by spinning the scroll wheel faster. One issue with this behavior is that a user who over accelerates the scroll wheel will often wind up overshooting his intended target and reversing the direction of the scroll wheel several times. The embodiment addresses this problem by giving control of the speed of the cursor or focus movement to the object being navigated. If the granularity of the list, table, menu, or other objects become smaller, the object has the ability to filter the speed input of the scroll wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: Vizio Inc.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Timothy Elliott, Marcus P Apitz, Peter Schwartz, Jeffrey Briller
  • Publication number: 20110193946
    Abstract: An application for transmission of a three-dimensional eyewear synchronization signal to synchronize the operation of shutters of three-dimensional eyewear uses an industry standard wireless transmission technique. To compensate for inherent latencies of such transmission techniques, the latencies are measured and monitored to determine expected latencies and the shutter synchronization signal is skewed by the latency. In some embodiments, the synchronization signal is further adjusted by a user skew control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2010
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Applicant: VIZIO INC.
    Inventor: Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20110154385
    Abstract: An application for a television has a detector capable of determining the identity and/or presence of at least one viewer in a viewing area of the television. In response to viewers entering and leaving the viewing area of the television, the television adjusts its operation based upon settings for the currently present viewers (e.g., enables channels, content, etc).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2009
    Publication date: June 23, 2011
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter Jay Schwartz, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20100058223
    Abstract: Scroll wheels have simplified the movement of cursors and changes in focus as a users navigate their way through menus, lists, tables, and other objects typically found in graphical user interfaces. Also typical of navigation schemes driven by scroll wheels is the ability of the user to accelerate the rate of movement of the cursor or focus by spinning the scroll wheel faster. One issue with this behavior is that a user who over accelerates the scroll wheel will often wind up overshooting his intended target and reversing the direction of the scroll wheel several times. The embodiment addresses this problem by giving control of the speed of the cursor or focus movement to the object being navigated. If the granularity of the list, table, menu, or other objects become smaller, the object has the ability to filter the speed input of the scroll wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2008
    Publication date: March 4, 2010
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Timothy Elliott, Marcus P. Apitz, Peter Schwartz, Jeffrey Briller
  • Publication number: 20100050209
    Abstract: A viewer of a digital television trying to freeze the video at a particular frame. Generally the human delay and the delay introduced by the remote control device and the control software executing on the television results in the frame that is displayed by the freeze event is some number of frames or seconds after the frame that the viewer wanted frozen. A small amount of memory that constantly buffers several seconds of digital video such that once the viewer initiates the freeze event the frame that is displayed is effectively some seconds in the past. The viewer then has the ability to single frame step to the frame that he actually was interested in viewing. The viewer's actions are refined by a rules based algorithm that allows it to more closely target and display what it believes will be the final frame the viewer wanted to be displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 19, 2008
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Peter J. Schwartz, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20100023425
    Abstract: An application for a method of presenting items of a catalog in various geographic regions includes providing a catalog of items, each item having associated therewith at least one geographic code. A search term and a geographic location are provided. The catalog is searched for matching items that are related to the search term and in which the geographic code indicates the item is suitable for the geographic location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2008
    Publication date: January 28, 2010
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Timothy Elliott, Marcus P. Apitz
  • Publication number: 20100002150
    Abstract: A system and apparatus that allows the user or an application to turn off the display screen on a television when said application does not display images while it is active or the viewer is only interested in listening to the audio of a program. An example of this would be playing music received over a cable or satellite set top box or through a plurality of other means through the television speakers. Blanking or turning off the television display screen during this time results in a substantial energy savings. Another example is the viewer only being interested in the audio for a sports program such as basketball or baseball.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2008
    Publication date: January 7, 2010
    Applicant: Vizio, Inc.
    Inventors: William Pat Price, Timothy Elliott, Marcus P. Apitz, Peter J. Schwartz