Patents by Inventor Tetsuro Nagakubo

Tetsuro Nagakubo 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: 7847757
    Abstract: Prepared is brightness frequency data that indicates the number of pixels, having the same brightnesses in a brightness distribution for each of the fields represented by an input image signal. Based on the brightness frequency data, the number of subfields for emission at each brightness in a brightness region is adjusted for each of at least two brightness regions. As a result, the greater the frequency indicating the total number of pixels at each of the same brightnesses in a brightness region, the larger the number of subfields allocated to that brightness region. Therefore, satisfactory grayscale representation suitable to human visual characteristics is achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Urakami, Hirofumi Honda, Takashi Okushima, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7576714
    Abstract: The number of subfields that are to be allocated to a luminance level in an input picture signal is changed in accordance with the peak luminance level in one field's worth of the input picture signal if the luminance level is lower than a predetermined luminance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2009
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kawaguchi, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7453477
    Abstract: An improved driving device for a display panel. In the display panel, pixel cells serving as pixels are positioned in a plurality of display lines. The driving device drives the display panel according to pixel data derived from an input image signal. The display lines are divided into a plurality of display line groups, and each group includes a plurality of neighboring display lines. The driving device has a light emission driving circuit. This circuit causes the pixel cells in each of the neighboring display lines in the respective display line groups to emit light at different brightness levels based on weighting values assigned to the display lines. The weighting values are assigned to the display lines such that bias in brightness differences between the pixel cells positioned in neighboring display lines falls within a prescribed range for all neighboring display lines in the display panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2008
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Masahiro Suzuki, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7379035
    Abstract: A driver device for a display panel. Pixel cells are arranged on respective display lines of the display panel. Each N adjacent display lines makes one display line group. N is an integer of two or more. The pixels in each display line group are driven to emit light at different luminance levels based on one of M different dither patterns. One of the M dither patterns is selected sequentially and in predetermined periods, and the selected dither pattern is used. M is less than N. In the dither processing, N different weighting values are allocated to the N display lines in the display line group, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2008
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Suzuki, Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7345682
    Abstract: A display panel drive suppresses dither patterns in a displayed image. Each of the display lines of the panel is divided into M display line groups including a group of [M?(k?1)+1]th display lines (where M is a natural number, and k is a natural number of n/M or smaller), a group of [M?(k?1)+2]th display lines, . . . and a group of [M?(k?1)+M]th display lines. A different offset value is added to pixel data corresponding to each display line group to derive multi-grayscale pixel data. Then, a lighting or extinction mode setting is done based on the pixel data with respect to each pixel cell belonging to the display line groups, each different in at least M subsubfields among subfields constituting a video signal field. In one example, the luminance levels represented by the pixel cells vertically adjacent to one another in a screen are varied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2008
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7317431
    Abstract: A method of grayscale-driving a display panel in accordance with pixel data derived from a video signal. The display panel includes a plurality of display lines, with a plurality of pixel cells serving as pixels being arranged on each display line. A display period of a single field of the video signal is divided into a plurality of subfields. The method includes dividing one subfield into M lower subfields. M is an integer greater than one. M groups of display lines are prepared by sequentially taking every M display lines from the display lines. First to Mth address steps are performed in the M lower subfields respectively and sequentially. Each address step sets the pixel cells belonging to the display lines of the display line group concerned, to a drive mode determined by the pixel data. A first light emission step is performed to cause the pixel cells whose drive mode is a lit mode, to emit light directly before or after the address step concerned. Another subfield is divided into N lower subfields.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2008
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Suzuki, Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7295177
    Abstract: A display panel driving apparatus includes a display control section for controlling display on a plasma display panel, a drive section for driving the plasma display panel on the basis of a signal supplied from the display control section, and a transmission line for transferring data between the display control section and the drive section. The drive section includes a decoder section for decoding the signal supplied from the display control section and generating a control signal to generate drive pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2007
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7268820
    Abstract: A video signal conversion apparatus which can enhance display qualities for video signals of both film source and video source. The conversion apparatus includes an input signal discrimination unit which discriminates the sort and signal supply source of an input video signal, and an operation mode setting unit which sets the operation modes of the individual sorts of video signals for each of a plurality of signal supply sources. The operation mode which corresponds to the sort and signal supply source of the input video signal as discriminated by the input signal discrimination unit is obtained from the operation mode setting unit, and the operation of at least one of a film source discrimination unit, an interlace/progressive conversion unit and a frame rate conversion unit is controlled in accordance with the obtained operation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7187417
    Abstract: A video signal processing apparatus which performs a frame-rate conversion of a progressive line-scan video signal based on a film source of M film frames per second (wherein M is a natural number) into a video signal in which a same film frame is repeated N times for each 1/M second, and mixes, frame by frame, a video signal of a preceding frame and a video signal of a following frame of the converted progressive line-scan video signal. Thus, the display quality of telecine-converted images can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2007
    Assignees: Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer Display Products Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Honda, Takashi Okushima, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7142174
    Abstract: A driving method of a plasma display panel capable of executing a dither processing without lowering display quality. When only discharge cells set to a light emission cell state in accordance with input image signals are allowed to emit light a predetermined number of light emissions allotted in accordance with weighting of sub-fields, the number of light emissions to be allotted is rendered different for each discharge cell inside a discharge cell block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7139030
    Abstract: A video signal processing apparatus in which an input video signal is written in a frame memory on a line sequential scanning frame unit base in synchronism with a first vertical synchronizing signal and which the line sequential scanning video signal written in the frame memory is read out in synchronism with a second vertical synchronizing signal. The second vertical synchronizing signal having a frequency different from a frequency of a first vertical synchronizing signal is generated in synchronism with the first vertical synchronizing signal of a starting frame of five frames forming a pattern after the conversion in the 2-3 pulldown conversion system when it is judged that the input video signal is based on a telecine-converted video signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Takeharu Iwata, Kazunori Ochiai, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 7109980
    Abstract: A display panel drive device is provided with: a parallel-to-serial converter for conducting parallel-to-serial conversion on an input signal and outputting a serial signal; a transmission section for converting the serial signal output from the parallel-to-serial converter to a signal complying with a differential serial transmission system and transferring a signal via a transmission line; a reception section for receiving the signal transferred via the transmission line; a serial-to-parallel converter for conducting serial-to-parallel conversion on the signal received by the reception section and outputting a parallel signal; and a drive pulse output section for generating a drive pulse to drive a display panel based on the parallel signal output by the serial-to-parallel converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2006
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo, Kazuhisa Ata
  • Patent number: 7046257
    Abstract: In response to operational instructions for changing an image quality parameter accepted in an operation unit, an image signal for displaying at least two identical images based on an inputted image signal on an image plane is generated. Further, an image quality adjusting processing is performed based on an image quality parameter before adjusting image quality with respect to a part of the generated signal for displaying an identical image, and another image quality adjusting processing is performed based on an image quality parameter after adjusting image quality with respect to another part of the generated signal for displaying another identical image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2006
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunori Ochiai, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Publication number: 20060082684
    Abstract: Disclosed is a video signal processing apparatus which adequately calibrates a gain for each of plural types of input video signals. In calibration mode, a reference signal corresponding to each of plural types of input video information is supplied in place of an input video signal, and the variable gains of demodulation signal paths to a demodulation stage are updated in such a way that the detection level of a demodulated output signal obtained for each demodulation signal path at the time of signal supply falls within a target range, the acquired updated values are respectively stored for the associated input video signals. In normal demodulation mode, the gain with the latest updated value is used.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2005
    Publication date: April 20, 2006
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kawaguchi, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 6987510
    Abstract: It is an object of the present invention to provide a display panel driver with which power consumption can be reduced. The display panel driver includes a pixel data pulse generation circuit which generates pixel data pulses by connecting the column electrodes and a power source line in accordance with the pixel data to apply the pixel data pulses to the column electrodes, and a resonance pulse power circuit which generates a resonance pulse power source voltage to apply the resonance pulse power source voltage to the power source line, the resonance pulse power circuit changing the resonance amplitude of the resonance pulse power source voltage while keeping a maximum voltage of the resonance pulse power source voltage in accordance with a pattern of a pulse sequence of the pixel data pulses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2006
    Assignees: Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer Display Products Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Iwami, Toyohisa Yuasa, Takashi Okushima, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Publication number: 20050259043
    Abstract: The number of subfields that are to be allocated to a luminance level in an input picture signal is changed in accordance with the peak luminance level in one field's worth of the input picture signal if the luminance level is lower than a predetermined luminance.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2005
    Publication date: November 24, 2005
    Inventors: Hirofumi Kawaguchi, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Patent number: 6950114
    Abstract: A luminance level compensating apparatus passes only the luminance signal of a pixel in a first detection range in the vertical direction of an image indicated by an input luminance signal, detects and stores a first frequency for each luminance level of the passed luminance signal for each predetermined period, passes only a luminance signal of a pixel in a second detection range including the first detection range in the vertical direction of the image, detects and stores a second frequency for each luminance level of the passed luminance signal for each predetermined period; generates a mixed frequency data based on the first and second frequencies stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2005
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuya Shigeta, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Publication number: 20050057173
    Abstract: A driver device for a display panel. Pixel cells are arranged on respective display lines of the display panel. Each N adjacent display lines makes one display line group. N is an integer of two or more. The pixels in each display line group are driven to emit light at different luminance levels based on one of M different dither patterns. One of the M dither patterns is selected sequentially and in predetermined periods, and the selected dither pattern is used. M is less than N. In the dither processing, N different weighting values are allocated to the N display lines in the display line group, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2004
    Publication date: March 17, 2005
    Inventors: Masahiro Suzuki, Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Publication number: 20050057452
    Abstract: A method of grayscale-driving a display panel in accordance with pixel data derived from a video signal. The display panel includes a plurality of display lines, with a plurality of pixel cells serving as pixels being arranged on each display line. A display period of a single field of the video signal is divided into a plurality of subfields. The method includes dividing one subfield into M lower subfields. M is an integer greater than one. M groups of display lines are prepared by sequentially taking every M display lines from the display lines. First to Mth address steps are performed in the M lower subfields respectively and sequentially. Each address step sets the pixel cells belonging to the display lines of the display line group concerned, to a drive mode determined by the pixel data. A first light emission step is performed to cause the pixel cells whose drive mode is a lit mode, to emit light directly before or after the address step concerned. Another subfield is divided into N lower subfields.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2004
    Publication date: March 17, 2005
    Inventors: Masahiro Suzuki, Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo
  • Publication number: 20050024350
    Abstract: An improved driving device for a display panel. In the display panel, pixel cells serving as pixels are positioned in a plurality of display lines. The driving device drives the display panel according to pixel data derived from an input image signal. The display lines are divided into a plurality of display line groups, and each group includes a plurality of neighboring display lines. The driving device has a light emission driving circuit. This circuit causes the pixel cells in each of the neighboring display lines in the respective display line groups to emit light at different brightness levels based on weighting values assigned to the display lines. The weighting values are assigned to the display lines such that bias in brightness differences between the pixel cells positioned in neighboring display lines falls within a prescribed range for all neighboring display lines in the display panel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2004
    Publication date: February 3, 2005
    Inventors: Jun Kamiyamaguchi, Masahiro Suzuki, Tetsuya Shigeta, Hirofumi Honda, Tetsuro Nagakubo