IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,955,038
Granted Patent B1
US 11,955,038 · App. 17/346,063 · Granted Apr 9, 2024

Pixel mapping in a display pipeline

Inventors: Sheng Zhang (San Jose, CA); Chaohao Wang (Sunnyvale, CA); Yi-Pai Huang (Cupertino, CA); Yue Ma (Sunnyvale, CA); Ping-Yen Chou (Cupertino, CA); Fu-Chung Huang (Cupertino, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
G09G3/001G02B30/29G09G2320/0693
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,955,038
App. No.
17/346,063
Granted
Apr 9, 2024
Kind
B1
Abstract

An electronic device may include a lenticular display. The lenticular display may have a lenticular lens film formed over an array of pixels. The display may have a number of independently controllable viewing zones. Each viewing zone displays a respective two-dimensional image. Each eye of the viewer may receive a different one of the two-dimensional images, resulting in a perceived three-dimensional image. The electronic device may include display pipeline circuitry that generates and processes content to be displayed on the lenticular display. Content generating circuitry may generate content that includes a plurality of two-dimensional images, each two-dimensional image corresponding to a respective viewing zone. Pixel mapping circuitry may be used to map the two-dimensional images to the array of pixels in the lenticular display. The array of pixels may have a diagonal layout. An offset map may be used by the pixel mapping circuitry to account for the diagonal layout.

Claims (38)

1. An electronic device comprising:

a display that includes an array of pixels having a layout and a lenticular lens film formed over the array of pixels, wherein the display has more than six independently controllable viewing zones; and

control circuitry configured to:

render two-dimensional images that are each associated with a respective viewing zone of the more than six independently controllable viewing zones, wherein each two-dimensional image corresponds to a unique perspective of given content; and

using a display calibration map that accounts for the layout of the array of pixels, map each two-dimensional image to respective pixels on the array of pixels to obtain pixel data for the array of pixels, wherein each lenticular lens in the lenticular lens film extends along a respective longitudinal axis in a first direction, wherein the array of pixels has diagonal columns that extend in a second direction that is at a non-zero, non-orthogonal angle relative to the first direction, and wherein the display includes signal lines associated with the diagonal columns that extend in the second direction.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein the display calibration map includes a view map that identifies a viewing zone associated with each pixel in the array of pixels.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 , wherein the display calibration map includes an offset map that compensates for the diagonal columns of the array of pixels.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 , wherein the offset map includes a plurality of offset values and wherein each offset value indicates a difference between a rendered pixel location and a physical pixel location on the array of pixels that corresponds to the rendered pixel location.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein mapping each two-dimensional image to respective pixels on the array of pixels to obtain pixel data for the array of pixels comprises generating a pixel map that includes pixel data for the array of pixels and wherein the pixel map is pre-distorted to account for the diagonal columns in the array of pixels.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 , further comprising:

display driver circuitry configured to provide the pixel data from the pixel map to the array of pixels, wherein the diagonal columns of the array of pixels distort the pixel data and compensate for the pre-distortion of the pixel map.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 1 , wherein each one of the more than six independently controllable viewing zones has an associated range of viewing angles.

8. An electronic device comprising:

a display that includes an array of pixels having a diagonal layout and a lenticular lens film formed over the array of pixels, wherein the display has a plurality of independently controllable viewing zones; and

control circuitry configured to:

render content for the display, wherein the rendered content includes two-dimensional images that are each associated with a respective viewing zone;

after rendering the content for the display, perform per-image processing on each one of the two-dimensional images; and

after performing per-image processing on each one of the two-dimensional images, using a display calibration map that accounts for the diagonal layout of the array of pixels, map each two-dimensional image to respective pixels on the array of pixels to obtain pixel data for the array of pixels, wherein the display calibration map includes a view map that identifies a viewing zone associated with each pixel in the array of pixels and an offset map that compensates for the diagonal layout of the array of pixels, wherein the offset map includes a plurality of offset values, and wherein each offset value indicates a difference between a rendered pixel location and a physical pixel location on the array of pixels that corresponds to the rendered pixel location.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

after mapping each two-dimensional image to respective pixels on the array of pixels, perform panel-level processing on the pixel data for the array of pixels; and

after performing panel-level processing on the pixel data for the array of pixels, display the pixel data using the array of pixels.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 , wherein the plurality of independently controllable viewing zones comprises more than six independently controllable viewing zones that each has an associated range of viewing angles and wherein each two-dimensional image corresponds to a unique perspective of given content.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein performing per-image processing on each one of the two-dimensional images comprises adjusting at least one luminance value for each one of the two-dimensional images.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 8 , wherein mapping each two-dimensional image to respective pixels on the array of pixels to obtain pixel data for the array of pixels comprises generating a pixel map that includes pixel data for the array of pixels and wherein the pixel map is pre-distorted to account for the diagonal layout of the array of pixels.

13. An electronic device comprising:

a display that includes an array of pixels and a lenticular lens film formed over the array of pixels, wherein the lenticular lens film comprises a plurality of lenticular lenses, wherein the array of pixels comprises diagonal columns at a non-zero, non-orthogonal angle relative to the plurality of lenticular lenses, and wherein the display has a plurality of independently controllable viewing zones;

content rendering circuitry configured to generate a two-dimensional image associated with each independently controllable viewing zone; and

pixel mapping circuitry configured to, using at least an offset map and a view map, map each two-dimensional image to a subset of pixels in the array of pixels, wherein each subset of pixels is associated with an independently controllable viewing zone, wherein the offset map includes a matrix of offset values, wherein each offset value identifies a difference between a rendered pixel location and a physical pixel location on the array of pixels that corresponds to the rendered pixel location, and wherein the view map identifies a viewing zone of the plurality of independently controllable viewing zones associated with each physical pixel location on the array of pixels.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , further comprising:

per-two-dimensional-image processing circuitry configured to process each one of the two-dimensional images.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 14 , further comprising:

panel-level processing circuitry configured to, after the two-dimensional images are mapped to the array of pixels, process pixel data for the array of pixels.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 , further comprising:

display driver circuitry configured to provide the processed pixel data from the panel-level processing circuitry to the array of pixels.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the pixel mapping circuitry uses the offset map to apply a pre-distortion that accounts for the diagonal columns of the array of pixels.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein each two-dimensional image corresponds to a unique perspective of given content and wherein the plurality of independently controllable viewing zones comprises more than six independently controllable viewing zones.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the display includes signal lines associated with the diagonal columns, wherein the signal lines extend in a direction parallel to the diagonal columns, and wherein the offset map compensates for the diagonal signal paths.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 13 , wherein the rendered pixel location lies within a footprint of the display.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2024
From: ZHANG, SHENG; WANG, CHAOHAO; HUANG, YI-PAI; MA, YUE; CHOU, PING-YEN; HUANG, FU-CHUNG
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 066591/0335 →
Continuity (3)
Provisional Application 63064321 · Aug 11, 2020
Provisional Application 63064330 · Aug 11, 2020
Provisional Application 63064342 · Aug 11, 2020
Cited By (2)
US 12,396,306 US 12,713,000