Display as adjustable light source

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9635255-B1
Application number	US-201313906176-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	May 30, 2013
Priority date	May 30, 2013
Publication date	Apr 25, 2017
Grant date	Apr 25, 2017

Abstract

The quality of images captured by a camera for purposes such as video conferencing and self-portraiture can be improved by adjusting aspects of a display element on a similar side of the device and/or the content displayed on the display element. In situations where additional illumination can help improve image quality, a determination can be made as to whether adjusting a brightness or other such value of a display element can provide sufficient illumination. Also, a determination can be made as to whether adding a frame or border to the content being displayed can help to provide the necessary illumination. An added frame can have a size, brightness, color, or other such aspects needed to provide the illumination. In at least some embodiments the size and brightness of the frame will be based at least in part upon the size and brightness of content displayed within the frame.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:
capture a first image using a camera of the computing device, the camera is located on a same side of the computing device as a display screen of the computing device;
determine, based at least in part upon a first quality value for the first image, to provide supplemental light to bring a second quality value for a second image within an acceptable range;
increase a brightness level of one or more backlights associated with the display screen to provide at least a first portion of the supplemental light;
using an outer edge of the display screen as a source of illumination, provide a second portion of the supplemental light having a width and at least one of a thickness, or a color value; and
adjust the width of the second portion of the supplemental light to bring the second quality value for the second image within the acceptable range.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computing device to:
adjust a second brightness level of content displayed on the display screen within an allowable brightness deviation from the second portion of the supplemental light.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computing device to:
determine, based at least in part upon the second quality value for the second image, to provide additional supplemental light to bring a third quality value for a subsequent image within the acceptable range; and
adjust at least one of the thickness, or a color value of the second portion of the supplemental light to provide the additional supplemental light.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computing device to:
determine the supplemental light causes the second quality value to exceed the acceptable range; and
reduce the brightness level of the one or more backlights.

5. A method, comprising:
analyzing first image data captured by a camera of a computing device to determine a quality value for the first image data;
determining to provide supplemental light for capturing second image data, the supplemental light directed toward at least one object represented in the second image data;
increasing a brightness level of one or more backlights associated with a display screen of the computing device to provide a first portion of the supplemental light;
using an outer edge of the display screen to provide a second portion of the supplemental light, the second portion of the supplemental light having at least a width and a variable thickness; and
adjusting the width to modify the second portion of the supplemental light provided by the outer edge of the display screen.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the quality value for the first image data includes at least one of a brightness, a contrast, an exposure interval, a gain setting, a white balance setting, an aperture setting, a filter setting, or a level of noise.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining at least one of a shape, the variable thickness, a color, or a brightness of the second portion of the supplemental light.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the second portion of the supplemental light is a frame displayed along the outer edge of the display screen.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
reducing a size of a video chat window by an amount corresponding to an area of the second portion of the supplemental light.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the size of the video chat window, or a brightness of the second portion of the supplemental light has at least one of a maximum allowable value or a minimum allowable value, at least one of the maximum allowable value or the minimum allowable value being adjustable based upon information provided by a user of the computing device.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
adjusting a brightness level of the video chat window within an allowable brightness deviation from the second portion of the supplemental light.

12. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
adjusting at least one of a shape, the variable thickness, a color, or a brightness of the second portion of the supplemental light to keep a second quality value for the second image data within an acceptable range.

13. A computing device, comprising:
at least one processor;
a display element;
a camera; and
memory including instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computing device to:
capture first image data using the camera;
analyze the first image data to determine at least one quality value of the first image data;
determine, using the at least one quality value, to provide supplemental light for capturing second image data;
increase a brightness level of one or more backlights associated with the display element to provide at least a first portion of the supplemental light; and
using an outer edge of the display element as a source of illumination, display a second portion of the supplemental light having a width and at least one of a thickness, or a color value; and
adjust the width of the second portion of the supplemental light to modify the supplemental light provided by outer edge of the display element.

14. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the display element is a primary display screen of the computing device and the camera is a front-facing camera on a same side of the computing device as the primary display screen.

15. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the second portion of the supplemental light comprises at least one graphical frame displayed along the outer edge of the display element.

16. The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the instructions when executed further cause the computing device to:
adjust a second brightness level of the at least one graphical frame to keep a second quality value for the second image data within an acceptable range.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing device to:
adjust the thickness of the second portion of the supplemental light to bring the second quality value for the second image within the acceptable range.

18. The computing device of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the computing device to:
adjust the thickness of the second portion of the supplemental light to modify the supplemental light provided by outer edge of the display element.

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Baldwin Leo Benedict

Classifications

• H04N23/74 Primary

  by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N5/23241 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic