Abstract: The color display device includes a colored light generation unit for repetitively generating a plurality of colored lights in a time sequence with a predetermined frequency, and an image generation unit for processing said plurality of colored lights, so as to generate an image corresponding to each of the plurality of colored lights generated in a time sequence. The said predetermined frequency is 180 Hz or more.

Abstract: There is explained a driving method and apparatus for a plasma display panel that can be driven stably under a high temperature environment. A driving method and apparatus of a plasma display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention increases a voltage, which is applied to at least one of the scan electrode and the sustain electrode, in accordance with their scanning order under a high temperature environment.

Abstract: A method for driving a display panel with which the dark contrast can be improved is provided. Each of at least two successive sub-fields including a leading sub-field includes a selective write addressing step for setting the discharge cells to a lighted discharge cell mode by selectively causing a writing discharge in the discharge cells in accordance with the video signal. The sub-fields following at least two sub-fields include a selective erasure addressing step for setting the discharge cells to an unlighted discharge cell mode by selectively causing an erasing discharge in the discharge cells in accordance with the video signal and an emission sustain step for repeatedly causing a sustain discharge corresponding to a weighting of that sub-field only in the discharge cells that are in the lighted discharge cell mode.

Abstract: A display device capable of displaying on both screens and switching between vertical and horizontal display, and a driving method thereof. Each pixel comprises a first region including a first light emitting element, and a second region including a second light emitting element. The first region has a bottom emission structure whereas the second region has a top emission structure. The display device comprises a source signal line driver circuit for driving the pixel, a first gate signal line driver circuit having a scan direction perpendicular to that of the source signal line driver circuit, and a second gate signal line driver circuit having a scan direction perpendicular to that of the first gate signal line driver circuit. In a normal display, the first gate signal line driver circuit performs perpendicular scanning, and when switching between vertical and horizontal display, the second gate signal line driver circuit performs perpendicular scanning.

Abstract: A driving system and method for electroluminescence displays having a matrix of electroluminescence elements arrayed in rows and columns with a control circuit for discharging each anode line to a column equalization bus (CEB), includes connecting the charged anode line to the CEB at the end of activation of each anode line. Discharging and subsequent de-activation of the anode line are allowed by charge-sharing with un-activated anode lines that are to be activated for the next row. This is accomplished by connecting the charged anode line to the CEB. In displaying images, anode lines are activated for a number of time periods according to gray scale or color data. Anode lines are consequently de-activated accordingly at different times during a lighting phase for each row display time. When anode lines are discharged through charge sharing on the CEB, a control circuit maintains the voltage on the CEB below a level that may cause inadvertent activation of the de-activated elements.

Abstract: In an active matrix organic EL display including a drive control element which has a first terminal connected to a first power supply terminal, a control terminal, and a second terminal which outputs a driving current having a magnitude corresponding to the voltage between the first terminal and the control terminal, a capacitor which has one electrode connected to the control terminal and can maintain the voltage between the first terminal and the control terminal constant, and an organic EL element connected between the second terminal and a second power supply terminal, a plurality of switches connected in series are used as switches between the second terminal and the control terminal to obtain a perfect nonconductive state, and the switch on the control terminal side is set in the nonconductive state earlier than the remaining switch, thereby decreasing the potential shift amount generated by the capacitance of the switches themselves.

Abstract: An OLED display device includes: an array of light emitting pixels, each pixel having red, green, and blue OLEDs and at least one additional colored OLED that expands the gamut of the display device relative to the gamut defined by the red, green and blue OLEDs, wherein the luminance efficiency or the luminance stability over time of the additional OLED is higher than the luminance efficiency or the luminance stability over time of at least one of the red, green, and blue OLEDs; and means for selectively driving the OLEDs with a drive signal to reduce overall power usage or extend the lifetime of the display while maintaining display color accuracy. In accordance with various embodiments, the present invention provides a color display device with improved power efficiency, longer overall lifetime, expanded color gamut with accurate hues, and improved spatial image quality.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an image display technology with which high contrast can be stably obtained. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention changes the gain of a digital luminance signal by feeding back information on maximum and average luminance levels of the luminance signal, adjusts image contrast, and in accordance with the average luminance level detected from the feedback system, controls the illuminance of the backlight applied to a display unit. The control increases the illuminance of the backlight when the detected average luminance level is higher than the upper-limit value of a previously set reference range, and reduces the illuminance when the detected average luminance level is lower than the lower-limit value of the reference range.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized active matrix type liquid crystal display device that may achieve large-sized display, high precision, high resolution and multi-gray scales. According to the present invention, gray scale display is performed by combining time ratio gray scale and voltage gray scale in a liquid crystal display device which performs display in OCB mode. In doing so, one frame is divided into subframes corresponding to the number of bit for the time ratio gray scale. Initialize voltage is applied onto the liquid crystal upon display of a subframe.

Abstract: A system, method, and method of manufacturing directed to an optical device with an efficient optical illumination. The optical illumination can be provided by tilting a light source and using a refractive lens to direct the light onto a surface. Alternatively, the optical illumination can be provided using total internal reflection with a conical light pipe and a curvatured entrance and exit surface.

Abstract: A mobile electronic device has a thumbwheel subassembly having measurable rotatable and depressible input movements, for example, rolling the thumbwheel up, rolling the thumbwheel down and pushing the thumbwheel inwards. Pushing the thumbwheel with a measurable component of downward force may result in inadvertent rolling of the thumbwheel down. Software or hardware may be used to cancel the inadvertent rolling of the thumbwheel down when the timing of the push and the roll are too close. The thumbwheel assembly may be oriented in the device so that the direction of depressible input movement of the thumbwheel is substantially aligned with the direction of the push by a user's thumb or finger that includes a measurable component of downward force.

Abstract: A handheld electronic device includes a reduced QWERTY keyboard and is enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided.

Abstract: A dual mode computer mouse including a first mouse body and a second mouse body is disclosed. The first mouse body includes a first sensor, a first button and at least a second button. A second sensor is disposed either in the first or the second mouse body. The second mouse body includes a third button and is hinged to one tail end of the first mouse body. The first mouse body and the second mouse body can rotate relatively. When the dual mode computer mouse is in a palm-type configuration, the first button and, third button and the second sensor are activated. When the dual mode computer mouse forms a pen-type configuration, the third button is activated and the first sensor is in an activated state.

Abstract: A method of adjusting a pointing position on a display during click operation is performed by using a 3D input device including a first unit for detecting movement of a hand and a second unit for detecting movement of a finger, the method including detecting and outputting a hand movement signal by using the first unit, and locating the pointing position on the display based on the hand movement signal; waiting for a click signal generated from the second unit during a second time period if the hand movement signal is not detected during a first time period; and outputting the click signal and preventing the hand movement signal generated from the first unit during the second time period from being output if the click signal is generated during the second time period.

Abstract: An electromechanical information browsing device that controls page flipping actions of information displayed as an e-book on a display device. The browsing device includes a controller that provides tactile feedback so as to lessen the user-interface differences between conventional books and e-books. Sensors and control mechanisms in the controller generate a series of electrical signals that are interpreted by the computer that displays the e-book to control various browsing operations, such as flipping pages, controlling a rate of page flipping, jumping to pre-set locations in the e-book, etc.

Abstract: A user's movements are detected by a capacitive system having one or more conductors. The output from the conductors is amplified and compared to a table of stored output. Thus, the device can eliminate the need to touch a control surface. The control surface such as a computer mouse could be eliminated in favor of merely sensing a user's hand movement. Likewise, the array of conductors could be placed in a panel that could be mounted on a wall. Such panels could be used in a factory to sense the movement of workers or a machinery. Indeed, the movements could be analyzed and warnings sounded if a collision is predicted.

Abstract: The method obtains a signature (S) of a gesture produced in free space, e.g. for producing gesture recognition commands, by deriving at least one time-evolving signal representative of muscular activity involved in producing the gesture and determining at least one value of a parameter yielded by that signal. The method comprises the steps of: time dividing the time-evolving signal (14) into sub-frames (SF1, SF2, . . . ), and for at least one sub-frame: determining at least one parameter value (Psfi) yielded by the signal over at least a part of that sub-frame, and expressing said parameter value as a component of a vector (S) along a dimension thereof specifically allocated to that sub-frame (SFi), the resultant vector yielding the signature (S) of said gesture. The invention also relates to an apparatus producing such signatures and commands by gesture recognition.

Abstract: An ergonomic mouse has a sliding cap matching the curvature of a normal human palm. The sliding cap may be slid on the top of a hollow body to reach a desired operation position, then fine-tuned and anchored. Thus when the mouse is moved during operation, it can absorb reaction forces to avoid hurting the user's wrist and better meet ergonomic requirements.

Abstract: A media device for storing and playing media such as audio, video or images, includes a memory device configured to store a plurality of media items in a digital format. The media device also includes a display configured to present a group of media items from the plurality of stored media items and to present a visual indicator that is capable of scrolling through the displayed group of media items in order to designate a specific media item from the group of media items. The media deice further includes a touch pad configured to receive input from a sliding motion or a tapping motion of a finger. The sliding motion of the finger controls the movement of the visual indicator through the group of media items. The tapping motion of the finger selects the specific media item that is designated by the visual indicator.

Abstract: A new-type user interface for providing a hotkey is disclosed, which has high operability and which can also be used to provide the hotkey in a conventional manner. In information processing apparatus has a hierarchical structure including a keyboard as one of hardware parts in a bottom layer, a built-in controller as one of hardware parts in a layer higher than the keyboard, and an operating system and an application program as software part in a layer higher than the built-in controller, wherein the operating system and the application program are connected to the built-in controller via a bus. In this information processing apparatus, in response to an input operation on a hotkey using an Fn key, information indicating that the key has been pressed or released is supplied to a utility, which is a higher-level system, via an SPIC which is logically different from the keyboard controller.

Abstract: An optical touch panel including a support, an optical fiber illumination assembly arranged along and above at least part of a periphery of the support to define a detection region, the assembly including at least one optical fiber and a light source arranged for directing light along the at least one optical fiber, at least one light detector, arranged to detect changes in the light received from the optical fiber illumination assembly produced by the presence of a finger or stylus in the detection region and detection circuitry receiving at least one output from the at least one light detector and providing an output indication of the two dimensional location of finger or stylus impingement in the detection region.

Abstract: An optical touch panel including a support defining a generally planar surface, an optical illumination assembly arranged along and above at least part of a periphery of the support to define a detection region, at least one light detector, arranged to detect changes in the light received from the optical illumination assembly produced by the presence of an object in the detection region and detection circuitry receiving at least one output from the at least one light detector and providing an output indication of the two dimensional location of object impingement in the detection region.

Abstract: A control signal generating circuit CTL for controlling the writing into pixels PIX instructs a data signal line drive circuit SD2, which is for driving pixels in a non-display area, to write a voltage VB or a voltage VW which are for non-displaying, not only in the first frame but also once in a predetermined number of frames. In other words, the pixels in the display area is refreshed at intervals longer than those in the case of refreshing the pixels in each frame. Thus, even if the mobility of an active element is high and the leak current on the occasion of OFF-state is large, or even if a large amount of electric charge is accumulated because of the photoelectric effect due to the use of a backlight, it is possible to prevent unnecessary displaying on the display area, which is caused because the writing into the pixels in the display area influences on the pixels in the non-display area, and hence it is possible to improve the quality of partial displaying, while restraining the power consumption.

Abstract: A system for translating a portrait-oriented software address to a portrait-oriented yet landscape-configured display address. Based on the orientation of a display device, an address translation system either passes the software address “as is” or translates the address to represent a portrait-oriented display address. A refresh address generator operates alternatively in column-forward and column-reverse modes, and additionally operates alternatively in row forward and row reverse modes to selectively rotate the image.

Abstract: An active matrix display apparatus is disclosed which can achieve significant improvement in uniformity. The display apparatus uses a horizontal driving circuit to which a precharge function is provided additionally. The horizontal driving circuit applies double sampling pulses including first and second pulses to each sampling switch. The first pulse is used to precharge a signal line with an image signal, and the second pulse is used to sample the image signal to the signal line. Where the second pulse of double sampling pulses applied to a preceding sampling switch and the first pulse of double sampling pulses applied to a succeeding sampling switch are in a temporally overlapping relationship with each other, image lines of different systems from each other are connected to the preceding sampling switch and the succeeding sampling switch thereby to prevent otherwise possible interference of the image signal between the two sampling switches.

Abstract: A current data compression circuit of which output current value is accurate even when transistors with large variations in electrical characteristics are used. The current data compression circuit is an electronic circuit comprising a drive element including a plurality of transistors and a means for switching over a series connection state and a parallel connection state of the transistors. An inputted current is compressed for output by the current data compression circuit. Or, the current data compression circuit is an electronic circuit comprising a drive element including a plurality of transistors in which the transistors are used in parallel connection states when inputting current and in series connection states when outputting current.

Abstract: An apparatus, method, and system for driving a display device, the display device having a first plurality and second plurality of row electrodes, with the first plurality being further grouped into a first set and a second set, such that undesired gas discharge and dielectric breakdown will not occur between the electrodes within the PDP, and dissipation of energy is reduced.

Abstract: Systems and devices for display by sub-frame driving on a display. The display has pixels arranged in an m*n array, m and n are integers. The display receives a frame signal for displaying a frame for a frame period. The frame signal includes the pixel data for each of the pixels of the display. The frame period being divided into k sub-frame periods, a sub-frame being displayed during each of the sub-frame period. Each of the sub-frames corresponds to a driving shift, the system or device displays the sub-frames sequentially, wherein, the system or device components for displaying the pixel (i,j) of the p-th sub-frame includes components for applying a driving voltage (i,j) to the pixel (i,j). The driving voltage (i,j) is a target driving voltage corresponding to the pixel (i,j) plus the corresponding driving shift.

Abstract: A digital input power rail receives an input voltage for a display. A voltage regulator regulates the input voltage to a start-up voltage during a start-up period. After the start-up period, the voltage regulator regulates the input voltage to a steady-state voltage. The steady-state voltage is lower than the start-up voltage.

Abstract: In a server, a client for improving a three-dimensional air excursion and a method and programs thereof, a three-dimensional data can be automatically produced from aerial pictures or satellite images, and the three-dimensional air excursion on a three-dimensional solid map can be provided to a lot of users via the Internet. In the automatic producing of the three-dimensional image, a device for improving the produced images having defects is provided via the Internet. A particular user such as an owner or a manager of a particular structure such as a building, a monument in a park or the like can correct the images of the structure using a correction application via the Internet to obtain the more accurate images.

Abstract: A method of converting three-dimensional shape data into cell internal data. The method includes an oct-tree division step of dividing external data including boundary data of a target object into rectangular parallelepiped cells having boundary planes orthogonal to each other by oct-tree division. The method further includes a cell classification step of classifying each of the cells into an internal cell positioned inside or outside the target object or a boundary cell including the boundary data, and a cut point determination step of determining cut points of edges of the boundary cell based on the boundary data. The method further includes a boundary surface determination step of connecting cut points to form a polygon, and determining the polygon as the cell internal data when the number of the determined cut points is no fewer than 3 and no more than 12.

Abstract: A method for three dimensional image segmentation of a volume of interest includes providing a three dimensional image of the volume of interest, providing an initial polyhedron having a plurality of mesh vertices within the three dimension image and determining an image-based speed at each vertex of the polyhedron using an ordinary differential equation (ODE) that describes the vertex motion of the polyhedron. The method further includes determining a regularization term at each vertex of the polyhedron, updating the plurality of mesh vertices of the polyhedron, integrating the image-based speed of each vertex over a face of the polyhedron, and determining an output polyhedron approximating a shape of the volume of interest.

Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a Z-buffer memory. The apparatus also includes a set of bits, each of which corresponds to a block of the Z-buffer memory. The apparatus also includes an initialization (init) register. The apparatus also includes control logic coupled to the Z-buffer memory, the set of bits, and the init register. The control logic sets the set of bits upon receipt of an initialization request. The control logic retrieves a Z value from either the init register or from the Z-buffer memory according to the states of the set of bits.

Abstract: A computer automated process is presented for accelerating the rendering of sparse volume data on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). GPUs are typically SIMD processors, and thus well suited to processing continuous data and not sparse data. The invention allows GPUs to process sparse data efficiently through the use of scatter-gather textures. The invention can be used to accelerate the rendering of sparse volume data in medical imaging or other fields.

Abstract: An entertainment system 10 has: a depth computing module 210 which computes a viewpoint distance from viewpoint coordinate to an object; a scaling computing module 208 which computes scaling for a unique size of the object based on the viewpoint distance; a model transforming module 206 which multiples the unique size of the object by the scaling, computes the size of the object, and arranges the object in the computed size; a view transforming module 214 which transforms the arranged object to a viewpoint coordinate system; a perspective transformation module 216 which perspective transforms the transformed object to a screen coordinate system relative to an origin point of the viewpoint coordinate system; and an image output module 218 which displays a part of the screen coordinate system where the object has been perspective transformed on a display 12, the system can properly display an object separated from the viewpoint coordinate by a predetermined distance.

Abstract: A system, method and computer program product are provided for modeling at least one section of a curve. Each section can be modeled by initially providing a pair of positions (fi, fi+1) of the section of the curve including associated directions (di, di+1) and curvatures (?i, ?i+1). Then, points b0, b1, b2, b3 and b4 can be identified based upon the pair of positions (fi, fi+1) and associated directions (di, di+1) and curvatures (?i, ?i+1). Thereafter, a quartic interpolant p(t) can be determined over an interval (i?t?i+1) based upon points b0, b1, b2, b3 and b4 to thereby model the section of the curve. The quartic interpolant can be determined such that the interpolant p(t) has a position, direction and curvature equal to fi, di and ?i, respectively, at t=i, and the interpolant p(t) has a position, direction and curvature equal to fi+1, di+1, and ?i+1, respectively, at t=i+1.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus implementing and using techniques for rendering a stroke (e.g., a line or glyph). An initial adjustment value can be calculated for the stroke, and an offset amount calculated based on the initial adjustment value, such that a minimum number of device pixels will be marked by the stroke after adjusting density values of device pixels representing the stroke. A high resolution representation of the stroke (e.g., a set of device pixels each having an initial density value) is rendered so that one or more edges of the stroke is offset from a device resolution grid by the offset amount. A length of an edge of the stroke that passes through a device pixel can be calculated, and the density value of the device pixel adjusted by a final adjustment value based on the initial adjustment value and the length of the edge of the stroke.

Abstract: A general joint component framework that is capable of exhibiting complex behaviors of joints in articulated figures is provided. A network of joint components is used to model the kinematics of a joint. A joint builder can specify parameters for each of the joint components and join the joint components to form a joint set function that captures the biomechanical dependencies between the components. The joint function has fewer inputs than the total number of possible articulations yielding both simple control and biomechanically accurate joint movement.

Abstract: Model components can be used to pose character models to create a variety of realistic and artistic effects. An embodiment of the invention analyzes the behavior of a model component to determine a statistical representation of the model component that closely approximates the output of the model component. As the statistical representation of model components execute faster than the original model components, the model components used to pose a character model can be replaced at animation time by equivalent statistical representations of model components to improve animation performance. The statistical representation of the model component is derived from an analysis of the character model manipulated through a set of representative training poses. The statistical representation of the model component is comprised of a weighted combination of posed frame positions added to a set of posing errors controlled by nonlinear combinations of the animation variables.

Abstract: A system for capturing motion comprises: a motion capture volume configured to include at least one moving object having markers defining a plurality of points on the at least one moving object; at least one mobile motion capture camera, the at least one mobile motion capture camera configured to be moveable within the motion capture volume; and a motion capture processor coupled to the at least one mobile motion capture camera to produce a digital representation of movement of the at least one moving object.

Abstract: A CPU module includes a host element configured to perform a high-level host-related task, and one or more data-generating processing elements configured to perform a data-generating task associated with the high-level host-related task. Each data-generating processing element includes logic configured to receive input data, and logic configured to process the input data to produce output data. The amount of output data is greater than an amount of input data, and the ratio of the amount of input data to the amount of output data defines a decompression ratio. In one implementation, the high-level host-related task performed by the host element pertains to a high-level graphics processing task, and the data-generating task pertains to the generation of geometry data (such as triangle vertices) for use within the high-level graphics processing task. The CPU module can transfer the output data to a GPU module via at least one locked set of a cache memory.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus which can reduce overlapping access, does not need a crossbar, can be easily designed, and can reduce an interconnect cost and an interconnect delay and a method of the same, wherein a global module 12 has a global cache 121, outputs data in the global cache in accordance with a request to a local module issuing the request when receiving a local cache fill request from a local module, a plurality of local modules 13-0 to 13-3 have memory modules, local caches, and processing units for performing the processing they are in charge of based on operation parameters and the processing data of the local caches and, when the processing data required for the processing is not in the local cache, output local cache fill requests for requesting the required data and update the local caches by the sent data in response to the requests.

Abstract: In order to reduce degradation of the processing performance of the data processor due to use of a part of the main memory as a display frame buffer, when an access request to the memory 200 is generated from the CPU 310, the memory controller 400 holds it once, requests the display controller 560 to stop the access to the memory 200 which is in execution, when data to the access executed already is transferred from the memory 200, holds it, and transfers the access request from the CPU bus 310 which is held by the memory 200. When the access from the CPU bus 310 ends, the memory controller 400 restarts the access stopped in the display controller 560 and passes the held data to the display controller 560.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method of compensating colors in an image display device for users with color vision deficiency and a device of the same, enabling the users with color vision deficiency to view display images as vividly and naturally as normal users. The method for compensating colors in an image display device includes a step of determining whether a user is partially color blind or normal, and a step of controlling gain values of a plurality of color signals depending upon the user's color perceptivity so as to compensate colors displayed on a screen, if the user is determined to be partially color blind.

Abstract: A method and a device for processing an image to be displayed with a reduced number n of color components are disclosed. The method comprises, for at least one of the color components, a reduction operation that is carried out by means of a dynamic round off dependent on the position (x, y) of the pixel to display. Thus, in a very simple way, image processing preventing the occurrence of artifacts, flickering or other flaws that the reduction of the number of colors would inevitably produce, can be realized.

Abstract: A graphics system has a mode of operation in which real samples and virtual samples are generated for anti-aliasing pixels. Each virtual sample identifies a set of real samples associated with a common primitive that covers a virtual sample location within a pixel. The virtual samples provide additional coverage information that may be used to adjust the weights of real samples.

Abstract: A method and device for accessing a broad data field having a fine resolution. The user selects a scale which can be varied. The scale controls a range within the data field. By moving the range to encompass different portions of the data field, the user can scan that portion of the data field. The present invention allows the user to simultaneously select the scale while moving the range over different portions of the data field. Thus, the user can “zoom in” and “zoom out” of different portions of the data field. In one embodiment of the present invention, a particular piece of data within the broad data field can be accessed. First, the scale is selectively varied, thereby controlling a range within the data field. Then, the range is moved to encompass portions of the data field in which the piece of data resides. Next, the scale is successively decreased while, simultaneously, points successively closer to the location are kept with the range. The scale is decreased (i.e.

Abstract: A scanning system is adapted to scan an image beam across a photoconductive surface. The scanning system includes an oscillating mirror and is operable to generate an image beam and to reflect the image beam off the oscillating mirror to bidirectionally scan the image beam across the photoconductive surface and thereby discharge regions on the surface. The system is further operable to dynamically scale an intensity of the image beam as a function of a position of the image beam on the photoconductive surface.

Abstract: Provided is a method of printing thermal media by aligning an image using a printer in which a thermal printhead, a feeding roller, and an edge detection sensor are sequentially disposed in a print proceeding direction. The method includes the steps of feeding a thermal medium having a first surface and a second surface so that a front edge of the thermal medium is movable a first distance from the edge detection sensor. The thermal medium print starting position is located under a heating element of the thermal printhead. A printing process for the first surface is performed while feeding the medium nad the thermal printhead is rotated so that the thermal printhead faces the second surface of the thermal medium. The thermal medium is fed so that the front edge of the thermal medium moves a second distance from the edge detection sensor. The print starting position of the second surface is located under the heating element of the thermal printhead.

Abstract: A thermal type image forming apparatus has a rotating cam which moves a thermal print head to a contact location. The rotating cam moves the thermal print head to contact locations so that the thermal print head contacts a platen roller at a first open location where the thermal print head is a first gap apart from the platen roller, and a second open location where the thermal print head is apart from the platen roller by a second gap which is greater than the first gap. In a method for removing jammed medium using the thermal type image forming apparatus, the thermal print head is placed at the first open location, and a transfer unit is driven to remove the jammed medium. If the removal of the jammed medium fails, the thermal print head is placed at the second open location.