Image processing methods, and image processing devices and system for a scalable multi-projection system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9794534-B2
Application number	US-201414537665-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 10, 2014
Priority date	Nov 12, 2013
Publication date	Oct 17, 2017
Grant date	Oct 17, 2017

Abstract

An image processing device processes a first sub-image of an image split into sub-images. Each sub-image is displayable by a display device. The image processing device is associated with a first display device and connects to a source device through a first network and to another image processing device through a second network. The image processing device includes first and second receiving units and a generating unit. The first receiving unit receives the first sub-image from the source device via the first network. The second receiving unit receives, via a second network, at least one part of at least one second sub-image to be displayed by another display device, wherein the received at least one part is adjacent to the received first sub-image. The generating unit generates a first clustered sub-image to be displayed by the first display device, based on the received first sub-image and adjacent part.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An image processing device, for a multi-display system, to process a first sub-image of an image split into a plurality of sub-images according to a display scheme, wherein each of the plurality of sub-images is configured to be displayed by a display device, wherein the image processing device is associated with a first display device and is configured to be connected to a source device through a first network and to at least one other image processing device through a second network, the image processing device comprising:
at least one processor that operates to:
receive the first sub-image from the source device via the first network;
receive, from the at least one other image processing device via the second network, at least one part of at least one second sub-image to be displayed by another display device associated with the at least one other image processing device; and
generate a first clustered sub-image to be displayed by the first display device, the first clustered sub-image comprising the received first sub-image and the at least one received part being merged and appended along a common edge or border such that the first clustered sub-image is larger than the received first sub-image,
wherein the at least one part of the at least one second sub-image is adjacent and connected to the first sub-image before the image is split into the plurality of sub-images and after the first clustered sub-image is generated, and the at least one part of the at least one second sub-image is separated from the first sub-image after the image is split and before the first clustered sub-image is generated,
wherein the first clustered sub-image is displayed by the first display device such that at least a portion of the displayed first clustered sub-image overlaps with at least a portion of at least one second clustered sub-image being displayed by the another display device associated with the at least one other image processing device, the at least one second clustered sub-image comprising the at least one second sub-image and at least one part of the first sub-image being merged and appended along a common edge or border such that the at least one second clustered sub-image is larger than the at least one second sub-image, and
wherein the at least one second clustered sub-image is generated at the at least one other image processing device.

2. An image processing device to process a first sub-image of an image split into a plurality of sub-images according to a display scheme, wherein each of the plurality of sub-images is configured to be displayed by a display device, wherein the image processing device is associated with a first display device and is configured to be connected to a source device through a first network and to at least one other image processing device through a second network, the image processing device comprising:
at least one processor that operates to:
receive the first sub-image from a source device via the first network;
determine at least one part of the received first sub-image, wherein the at least one part is adjacent to at least one second sub-image received by the at least one other image processing device; and
send, via the second network, the at least one determined part to the at least one other image processing device for inclusion as a part of a second clustered sub-image to be displayed by a display device associated with the at least one other image processing device, the second clustered sub-image comprising the at least one part and the at least one second sub-image being merged and appended along a common edge or border such that the second clustered sub-image is larger than the received second sub-image,
wherein the at least one part of the first sub-image is adjacent and connected to the at least one second sub-image before the image is split into the plurality of sub-images and after the second clustered sub-image is generated, and the at least one part of the first sub-image is separated from the at least one second sub-image after the image is split and before the second clustered sub-image is generated,
wherein a first clustered sub-image is displayed by the first display device such that at least a portion of the displayed first clustered sub-image overlaps with at least a portion of the second clustered sub-image, the second clustered sub-image being displayed by the display device associated with the at least one other image processing device, the first clustered sub-image comprising the received first sub-image and at least one part of the second sub-image being merged and appended along a common edge or border such that the first clustered sub-image is larger than the received first sub-image, and
wherein the first clustered sub-image is generated at the image processing device and the second clustered sub-image is generated at the at least one other image processing device.

3. The image processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a first timestamp for the first sub-image received from the source device, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive at least one second timestamp for the at least one received adjacent part from the at least one other image processing device.

4. The image processing device according to claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send, to the at least one other image processing device, a timestamp for the at least one determined part.

5. An image processing system, for a multi-display system, to process an image received from a source device, wherein the image is to be displayed by an array of display devices, the image processing system comprising:
at least one processor that operates to:
split the image received from the source device into a plurality of sub-images according to a display scheme; and
send each sub-image, via a first network, to a different image processing device according to claim 2 .

6. The image processing system according to claim 5 , wherein the display scheme may be composed of sub-images of the same size.

7. The image processing system according to claim 5 , wherein the display scheme may be composed of sub-images of different size.

8. The image processing system according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate a timestamp for each sub-image and to send the timestamp with the sub-image.

9. A method for an image processing device, for a multi-display system, to process a first sub-image of an image split into a plurality of sub-images according to a display scheme, wherein each of the plurality of sub-images is configured to be displayed by a display device, wherein the image processing device is associated with a first display device and is configured to be connected to a source device through a first network and to at least one other image processing device through a second network, the method comprising:
receiving the first sub-image from the source device via the first network;
receiving, from the at least one other image processing device via the second network, at least one part of at least one second sub-image to be displayed by another display device associated with the at least one other image processing device; and
generating a first clustered sub-image to be displayed by the first display device, the first clustered sub-image comprising the received first sub-image and the at least one received adjacent part being merged and appended along a common edge or border such that the first clustered sub-image is larger than the received first sub-image,
wherein the at least one part of the at least one second sub-image is adjacent and

Assignees

• Canon Kk

Inventors

• Le Houerou Brice
• Tannhauser Falk
• Halna Du Fretay Tristan
• Closset Arnaud

Classifications

• H04N21/440245

  the reformatting operation being performed only on part of the stream, e.g. a region of the image or a time segment · CPC title

• H04N21/43615

  Interfacing a Home Network, e.g. for connecting the client to a plurality of peripherals (home Audio Video Interoperability [HAVI] data switching networks H04L12/2805) · CPC title

• H04N9/3147 Primary

  Multi-projection systems (video walls G06F3/1446) · CPC title

• H04N21/440263

  by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA · CPC title

• G03B21/14

  Details · CPC title