Systems and Methods for Providing an Array Projector
Embodiments of systems and methods for providing an array projector are disclosed. The array projector includes an array of projection components and an image processing system. Each of the projection components projects a lower resolution image onto a common surface area and the overlapping lower resolution image combine to form a higher resolution image. The image processor provides lower resolution image data to each of the projection components in the array. The lower resolution image data is generated using the image processor by applying super resolution algorithms lower resolution image data received by the image processor.
1 . A projector array comprising:
a plurality of projection components wherein the plurality of projection components are configured in an array, each of the plurality of projection components receive lower resolution image data and project a lower resolution image onto a mutual projection surface based upon the received lower resolution image data and the lower resolution images projected by the plurality of projection components combine to form a higher resolution image;
a memory; and
a processor configured by an application stored in the memory to:
receive image data for a higher resolution image to be projected by the projector array from an external source,
apply inverse super resolution image processing algorithms to the received higher resolution image data to generate lower resolution image data for the lower resolution image to be projected by for each of the plurality of projection components wherein the lower resolution image projected by each of the plurality components has a lower resolution than the higher resolution image, and
provide the lower resolution image data to the plurality of projection components.
2 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the plurality of projection components comprises:
an array of display components; and
an array of lens stacks wherein each of the array of lens stacks is aligned with one of the array of display components
3 . The projector array of claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of display components comprises an array of light emitting devices.
4 . The projector array of claim 3 wherein the light emitting devices are one of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs).
5 . The projector array of claim 2 wherein each of the array of lens stacks has a Modulated Transfer Function (MTF) that is at least equal to the MTF of the high resolution image.
6 . The projector array of claim 2 wherein the array of display components is a monolithic component and the array of lens stacks is a monolithic component together forming a monolithic integrated module.
7 . The projector array of claim 6 wherein the array of lens stacks are manufactured using a process selected from a group consisting of Wafer Level Optics (WLO), plastic injection molding, and precision glass molding.
8 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of projection components is configured to project images of a particular color.
9 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the application further configures the processor to apply photometric correction data to the low resolution image data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to correct for photometric errors in each of the plurality of projection components.
10 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the application further configures the processor to apply geometric correction data to the low resolution image data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to correct for geometric errors in each of the plurality of projection components.
11 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the application further configures the processor to apply translation data to the low resolution data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to configure corresponding pixel projections in the plurality of projection components to produce a desired higher resolution image at a given projection distance.
12 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the configuration of the processor to apply the inverse super resolution processing algorithms includes configuring the processor to:
determine parallax correction data for each of the plurality of projection components for a given projection distance that includes radical shifts at one of a level selected from a group consisting of a sub-pixel level, a pixel level, and a larger than pixel level based upon the projection distance and a position of a channel in a particular projection component in the array; and
apply the parallax correction data to the lower resolution image data of each of the projection components in the projector array.
13 . The projector array of claim 12 wherein the configuration of the processor to apply the inverse super resolution processing algorithms includes configuring the processor to:
determine inverse super resolution correction data for the lower resolution image data for each of the plurality of projection components to cause an increased resolution in the physical superposition of the lower resolution images projected by each of the plurality of projection components over that resolution of the individually projected images where the inverse super resolution correction data includes sub-pixel level shifts of the lower resolution data that result from a deviation from a perfect parallax correction; and
apply the inverse super resolution correction data to the lower resolution image data of each of the plurality of projection components.
14 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the configuration of the processor to apply the inverse super resolution processing algorithms includes configuring the processor to:
shift pixel information in the higher resolution image data by a predetermined amount for each of the plurality of projection components; and
downsample the pixel information in higher resolution image data to a lower resolution pixel grid for the lower resolution image data of each of the plurality of projection components where the intensity values of the pixels in lower resolution image data for each of the plurality of projection components are different depending on the amount of the shift of the higher resolution pixel information for the particular projection components and the intensity differences in conjunction with sub-pixel offsets between the projected position of pixels of different projection components later overlap in the projection surface to form the higher resolution image.
15 . The projector array of claim 1 wherein the application further configures the processor to apply focal data to the low resolution data to provide a desired resolution at a projection surface for each of the plurality of projection components.
16 . The projection array of claim 15 wherein the application further configures the processor to generate the focal data by performing a focal calibration process.
17 . A method for providing a high resolution image using a projector array comprising:
receiving higher image data for a higher resolution image to be projected by a plurality of projection components in an image processing system wherein the plurality of projection components are configured in an array;
applying inverse super resolution image processing algorithms to the higher resolution image data to generate lower resolution image data of lower resolution images for each of the plurality of projection components using the image processing system;
providing the lower resolution image data from the image processing system to the plurality of projection components;
generating a lower resolution image using a display component in each of the plurality of projection components;
projecting each lower resolution image generated by a display component through a lens stack associated with the display component unto a mutual projection surface whether a higher resolution image is provided by a combination of lower resolution images.
18 . The method of claim 17 wherein each of the plurality of projection components is configured to project images of a particular color through the lens stack.
19 . The method of claim 17 further comprising applying photometric correction data to the low resolution image data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to correct for photometric errors in each of the plurality of projection components using the image processing system.
20 . The method of claim 17 further comprising applying geometric correction data to the low resolution image data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to correct for geometric errors in each of the plurality of projection components using the image processing system to produce a desired higher resolution image at a given projection distance.
21 . The method of claim 17 further comprising applying translation data to the low resolution data provided to each of the plurality of projection components to configure corresponding pixel projections in the plurality of projection components using the image processing system.
22 . The method of claim 17 wherein the applying the inverse super resolution processing algorithms comprises:
determining parallax correction data for each of the plurality of projection components for a given projection distance that includes radical shifts at one of a level selected from a group consisting of a sub-pixel level, a pixel level, and a larger than pixel level based upon the projection distance and a position of a channel in a particular projection component in the array; and
applying the parallax correction data to the lower resolution image data of each of the projection components in the projector array.
23 . The method of claim 22 wherein the applying of the inverse super resolution algorithms further comprises:
determining inverse super resolution correction data for the lower resolution image data for each of the plurality of projection components to cause an increased resolution in the physical superposition of the lower resolution image projected by each of the plurality of projection components over the resolution of the individual projected images where the inverse super resolution correction data includes sub-pixel level shifts of the lower resolution data that result from a deviation from a perfect parallax correction;
applying the inverse super resolution correction data to the lower resolution image data of each of the plurality of projection components.
24 . The method of claim 17 wherein applying the inverse super resolution processing comprises:
shifting pixel information in the higher resolution image data by a predetermined amount for each of the plurality of projection components; and
downsampling the pixel information in higher resolution image data to a lower resolution pixel grid for the lower resolution image data of each of the plurality of projection components where the intensity values of the pixels in lower resolution image data for each of the plurality of projection components are different depending on which amount of the shift the of the higher resolution pixel information for the particular projection components and the intensity differences in conjunction with sub-pixel offsets between the projected position of pixels of different projection components later overlap in the projection surface to form the higher resolution image.
25 . The method of claim 17 further comprising applying focal data to the low resolution data to provide a desired resolution at a projection surface for each of the plurality of projection components using the image processing system.
26 . The method of claim 25 further comprising generating the focal data by performing a focal calibration process using the image processing system and the plurality of projection components.