Display apparatus and control method thereof

Abstract

A display device is disclosed. The display device includes; the input interface is used for receiving a video signal; a display panel; the memory is used for storing instructions; and at least one processor identifying an object included in a video corresponding to the video signal by executing an instruction, adjusting a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object such that a brightness of the object is increased, and displaying the video on the display panel based on the adjusted dimming value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a display device and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to a display device and a control method thereof that provide improved image quality by analyzing an image. Background Art

[0002] Compared with traditional standard dynamic range (SDR) content, high dynamic range (HDR) content can be regarded as content recognized by the human eye. In particular, HDR content includes signals of bright and dark parts in a more precise manner. The importance of dimming technology applied to a display device is increased to correspond to HDR content.

[0003] In the case of providing an HDR-driven display device, only an image quality mode for maximizing contrast is provided. However, different from content (such as movies or dramas) where emphasizing contrast is important according to the intention of content producers, in the case of game content that should react with users in real time, an image quality improvement function that can highlight specific objects in an image may be required according to the game progress. Summary of the Invention

[0004] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a display device includes: an input interface configured to receive an image signal; a display panel; at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor configured to run the instructions to perform the following operations: identify an object included in an image corresponding to the image signal, adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object such that the brightness of the object increases, and control the display panel to display the image based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0005] The at least one processor may include a neural processing unit (NPU), and may also be configured to identify an object on the image by using the NPU.

[0006] The at least one processor may also be configured to run the instructions to adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the remaining region of the image other than the object such that the brightness of the remaining region decreases.

[0007] The display device may include an ambient light generator configured to generate ambient light to illuminate the periphery of the display device, wherein the at least one processor may also be configured to run the instructions to control the ambient light generator to generate ambient light based on the identification of the object.

[0008] The ambient light generator may include a red light-emitting diode (LED), a green LED, and a blue LED, and may be disposed on a rear surface or a side surface of the display device. At least one processor may also be configured to run instructions to control the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED based on the recognition of an object, such that the ambient light of a preset color blinks.

[0009] The display device may include: an ambient light generator configured to generate ambient light to illuminate a periphery of the display device; and a user interface configured to receive a user command for setting an operation mode of the display device. At least one processor may also be configured to run instructions to perform the following operations: based on setting the operation mode of the display device to a first operation mode through the user interface, adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to an object on the display panel such that the brightness of the object increases; based on setting the operation mode of the display device to a second operation mode through the user interface, adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to an object on the display panel such that the brightness of the object increases, and adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to the remaining regions other than the object in the image on the display panel such that the brightness of the remaining regions decreases; based on setting the operation mode of the display device to a third operation mode through the user interface, adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to an object on the display panel such that the brightness of the object increases, and adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to the remaining regions other than the object in the image on the display panel such that the brightness of the remaining regions decreases; and in response to the recognition of an object, controlling the ambient light generator to generate ambient light.

[0010] The image may be a game image, and the object may be a person included in the game image.

[0011] The display device may include a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks configured to illuminate the display panel with light. At least one processor may also be configured to run instructions to adjust a dimming value of a backlight block corresponding to a region on the display panel where an object will be displayed, such that the brightness of the object increases.

[0012] Each subpixel of the display panel may include a self-luminous element, and at least one processor may also be configured to run instructions to adjust a dimming value of the self-luminous element corresponding to a region on the display panel where an object will be displayed, such that the brightness of the object increases.

[0013] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a control method of a display device includes: recognizing an object included in an image corresponding to an input image signal; adjusting a dimming value of a region corresponding to the object on the display panel such that the brightness of the object increases; and displaying the image on the display panel based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0014] The display device may include a neural processing unit (NPU), and wherein, the recognition operation may include recognizing an object on an image by using the NPU.

[0015] The method may further include: adjusting a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the remaining region of the image other than the object, so that the brightness of the remaining region is reduced.

[0016] The method may further include: generating ambient light to illuminate the periphery of the display device based on the recognition of the object.

[0017] The display device may include a red light-emitting diode (LED), a green LED, and a blue LED, and the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED are disposed on a rear surface or a side surface of the display device, wherein the operation of generating ambient light may include: controlling the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED based on the recognition of the object, so that ambient light of a preset color flashes.

[0018] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions, when run by a processor of a display device, cause the display device to perform operations, the operations including: recognizing an object included in an image corresponding to an input image signal; adjusting a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object, so that the brightness of the object is increased; and displaying an image on the display panel based on the adjusted dimming value. Description of the Drawings

[0019] Through the following description with reference to the drawings, the above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent, wherein:

[0020] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a backlight unit according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an ambient light generator according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0026] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0027] Figure 8 is a diagram showing operations of a neural processing unit (NPU) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 9 is a detailed block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0029] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a control method of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Hereinafter, various examples of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, it will be understood that the techniques described herein are not intended to be limited to specific examples, but may include various modifications, equivalents, and / or alternative forms of the examples of the techniques described herein. In the context of describing the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals may be used for the same and similar elements.

[0031] When describing the present disclosure, detailed descriptions of related technologies are omitted when it is determined that the disclosure may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present disclosure. In addition, descriptions of the same configurations of the present disclosure will be omitted.

[0032] For the convenience of the specification, suffixes such as "part" are added to or used for components used in the description of the present disclosure, and are not intended to have distinct meanings or functions.

[0033] The terms used in the present disclosure are used to describe embodiments and are not intended to limit and / or restrict the present disclosure. Unless otherwise specified, singular expressions include plural expressions.

[0034] It should be understood that terms such as "including" or "consisting of" are used herein to specify the presence of features, quantities, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, and do not exclude the presence or possible addition of one or more other features, quantities, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

[0035] As used herein, terms such as "first", "second", etc. may represent various components regardless of order and / or importance, and may be used to distinguish one component from another, and do not limit the components.

[0036] It should be understood that an element (e.g., a first element) being "operatively or communicatively coupled" / "operatively or communicatively coupled to" another element (e.g., a second element) means that any such element can be directly connected to the other element or can be connected via yet another element (e.g., a third element). On the other hand, when an element (e.g., a first element) is "directly connected" or "directly accessed" to another element (e.g., a second element), it can be understood that there is no yet another element (e.g., a third element) between the other elements.

[0037] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains.

[0038] Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0039] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 1 , the display device 100 includes an input interface 110, a processor 120, and a display panel 130.

[0040] The display device 100 may include a smart TV, an Internet TV, a network TV, an Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), a signage, a monitor, etc., but is not limited thereto, and may be implemented as various types of devices including a display function, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a large format display (LFD), a digital signage, a digital information display (DID), a video wall, a projector display, etc.

[0041] The input interface 110 may receive an image signal from the outside. For example, the input interface 110 may receive an image signal from a personal computer (PC) or a set-top box, etc., and send the signal to the processor 120. For this purpose, the input interface 110 may be implemented with a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) or a display port (DP), but is not limited thereto.

[0042] The display panel 130 may display various images under the control of the processor 120. The display panel 130 may include a plurality of pixels, and each pixel may include a plurality of sub-pixels. For example, each pixel may be composed of three sub-pixels corresponding to a variety of lights (e.g., red, green, and blue lights (R, G, and B)). However, the embodiments are not limited thereto, and in some cases, in addition to the R, G, and B sub-pixels, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, or other sub-pixels may also be included.

[0043] Meanwhile, a liquid crystal display (LCD) can be used to implement the display panel 130, but it is not limited thereto, and an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel and a light-emitting diode (LED) can be used to implement each sub-pixel. Among them, in the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panel, each sub-pixel is composed of an organic light-emitting diode, and the light-emitting diode (LED) is composed of an inorganic light-emitting diode. At this time, the LED panel may include a mini-LED panel, a micro-LED panel, etc. according to the size of the inorganic light-emitting element constituting the sub-pixel.

[0044] The processor 120 controls the overall operation of the display device 100. The processor 120 may include at least one processor 120. For example, the processor 120 may include one or more various processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a neural processing unit (NPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor, an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), an advanced RISC machine processor (ARM processor), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a microprocessing unit (MPU), a controller, etc.

[0045] The processor 120 can be implemented with a system on a chip (SoC) or a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) in which various processing algorithms are embedded, or can be implemented with a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The processor 120 can execute various functions by running computer-executable instructions stored in a memory (not shown).

[0046] The processor 120 can identify an object included in an image. Specifically, the processor 120 can identify a specific object included in an image corresponding to an image signal input through the input interface 110. For example, the processor 120 can use the histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) to identify a specific object (such as a person) in an image. The method using HOG is to identify an object by extracting the gradient distribution characteristics of the object in the image. Here, by accumulating HOG data and using a support vector machine (SVM) trained according to the data, various objects can be detected in the image. However, the embodiments are not limited thereto, and the processor 120 can identify an object in an image by using various other methods.

[0047] In addition, the processor 120 can increase the brightness of the identified specific object. According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor 120 can adjust the dimming value of the area of the display panel 130 corresponding to the specific object so that the brightness of the identified specific object increases, and can display an image on the display panel 130 based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0048] According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the display device 100 may highlight a corresponding object by increasing the brightness of a specific object in an image. By highlighting a specific object in the image, a sense of participation may be provided to a user who uses game content through the display device 100.

[0049] According to one or more embodiments, in order to further highlight a specific object, the processor 120 may adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel 130 corresponding to the remaining region in the image other than the specific object, so that the brightness of the remaining region is reduced.

[0050] When the brightness is reduced by adjusting the dimming value of the remaining region, the specific object with increased brightness may be further highlighted.

[0051] In addition, according to one or more embodiments, the processor 120 may generate ambient light that illuminates the periphery of the display device 100 in response to identifying a specific object in the image. The provided ambient light may attract the attention of a user who uses game content, and thus may also increase the convenience of using game content.

[0052] Figure 2 is a diagram showing an operation of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 2 , when a person 10 is included in the image, the brightness of the person 10 may be increased, the brightness of the remaining region other than the person may be reduced, and ambient light may be provided.

[0053] In the case of the above various embodiments, since the brightness of a specific object included in the image is increased, it is different from high dynamic range (HDR) driving, in which HDR driving simply maximizes the contrast of an image by making bright parts appear brighter and dark parts appear darker.

[0054] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 3 Generally shows various components that may be included in the display device 100. Therefore, according to an embodiment, some components shown in Figure 3 may be omitted or changed, and other components may also be added. Descriptions that are repeated with the above description will be omitted or reduced when describing Figure 3 .

[0055] Referring to Figure 3 , the display device 100 may include an input interface 110, a processor 120, a display panel 130, a panel driver 140, a backlight unit 150, a backlight driver 160, an ambient light generator 170, and a user interface 180.

[0056] The panel driver 140 drives the display panel 130 under the control of the processor 120. To this end, the panel driver 140 may include at least one driver IC. For example, the panel driver 140 may include a data driver IC for providing video data and a gate driver IC for driving the display panel 130 in units of row lines, but is not limited thereto. According to an embodiment, at least the driver IC may be mounted on the display panel 130 or may be mounted on a configuration separated from the display panel 130.

[0057] The backlight unit 150 emits light toward the display panel 130. Specifically, the backlight unit 150 may irradiate the display panel 130 with light on the rear surface of the display panel 130 (i.e., the opposite surface of the displayed image).

[0058] The backlight unit 150 may include a plurality of light sources, and the plurality of light sources may include linear light sources (such as lamps) or point light sources (such as light-emitting diodes), but is not limited thereto. The backlight unit 150 may be implemented as a direct-lit backlight unit or an edge-lit backlight unit. The light source of the backlight unit 150 may include one or two or more light sources among light-emitting diodes (LEDs), hot cathode fluorescent lamps (HCFLs), cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs), external electrode fluorescent lamps (EFELs), ELPs, and FFLs, but is not limited thereto.

[0059] According to one or more embodiments, the backlight unit 150 may be implemented using a plurality of backlight blocks, a plurality of LED modules, and / or a plurality of LED boxes. In addition, the backlight block may include a plurality of LED pixels. At this time, the LED pixels may be implemented using blue LEDs or white LEDs, but are not limited thereto, and the LED pixels may be implemented in a format including at least one of red LEDs, green LEDs, or blue LEDs.

[0060] Figure 4 A backlight unit according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Referring to Figure 4 , the backlight unit 150 includes a plurality of backlight blocks 150-1, 150-2, …, 150-n, and each backlight block includes six light sources. The number of light sources included in each backlight block being six is merely an example, and each backlight block may include at least one light source.

[0061] According to one or more embodiments, the backlight unit 150 may be implemented as a direct-lit backlight unit as shown in Figure 4 . For example, the following structure may be adopted to implement the direct-lit backlight unit: a plurality of optical sheets and a diffusion plate are stacked under the display panel 130 and a plurality of light sources are disposed under the diffusion plate.

[0062] According to another embodiment, the backlight unit 150 may be implemented as an edge-type backlight unit. For example, the edge-type backlight unit may be implemented using the following structure: a plurality of optical sheets and a light guide plate are stacked under the display panel 130 and a plurality of light sources are disposed on the side surface of the light guide plate. The edge-type backlight unit may be divided into a plurality of backlight blocks based on the arrangement structure of the plurality of light sources.

[0063] The processor 130 may identify a plurality of screen regions that can be individually controlled according to the implementation form of the backlight unit 150, and control the display panel 130 using a local dimming method for individually controlling the backlight blocks for each region. That is, the processor 130 may adjust the dimming value for each of the plurality of backlight blocks 150-1, 150-2, …, 150-n. Accordingly, the intensity of the light irradiated from the backlight unit 150 to the display panel 130 may be controlled by the backlight blocks 150-1, 150-2, …, 150-n, and the brightness of the image displayed on the display panel 130 may also be controlled according to each of the backlight blocks 150-1, 150-2, …, 150-n.

[0064] Accordingly, the processor 120 may increase the brightness of a specific object by adjusting the dimming value of the region of the display panel 130 corresponding to the identified specific object in the image, or may decrease the brightness of the specific object by adjusting the dimming value of the remaining regions.

[0065] The backlight driver 160 may drive the backlight unit 150 under the control of the processor 120. To this end, the backlight driver 160 may include a driver IC for driving the backlight unit 150. For example, when the light sources included in the backlight unit 150 are implemented as LED devices, the driver IC may be implemented using at least one LED driver for controlling the current applied to the LEDs. At this time, the LED driver may be disposed at the rear end of a power supply (e.g., a switch mode power supply (SMPS)) to receive voltage from the power supply. Alternatively, the LED driver may receive voltage from a separate power supply device. Alternatively, the SMPS and the LED driver may also be implemented in one integrated module. Accordingly, the processor 120 may control the operation of the backlight unit 150 by controlling the backlight driver 160.

[0066] Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, the backlight driver 160 may be included in the display panel 130 and may be implemented in a system on chip (SoC) together with the processor 120 separated from the display panel 130.

[0067] The ambient light generator 170 may generate ambient light that illuminates the periphery of the display device 100. To this end, the ambient light generator 170 may include at least one of a red LED, a green LED, and a blue LED, and may be disposed on the rear surface or side surface of the display device 100. Although Figure 5An example is shown in which the ambient light generators 170-1 and 170-2 are provided on the rear surface of the display device 100 (i.e., on the opposite surface of the screen), but the embodiments are not limited thereto, and according to the embodiments, all or part of the ambient light generator 170 may be provided on the side surface of the display device 100.

[0068] The processor 120 may control the ambient light generator to generate ambient light in response to the recognition of a specific object. For example, the processor 120 may control at least one of a red LED, a green LED, or a blue LED in response to the recognition of a specific object such that the ambient light of a preset color blinks.

[0069] According to an embodiment, the display device 100 may include a separate control IC for driving the ambient light generator 170, but is not limited thereto.

[0070] The user interface 180 is an element that receives various user commands. To this end, the user interface 180 may include various buttons, a touch panel, and a touch screen, and the user may input user commands to the display device 100 through the user interface 180.

[0071] In particular, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the user may input a user command for setting the operation mode of the display device 100 through the user interface 180, and the processor 120 may operate according to the set operation mode.

[0072] For example, if the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the first operation mode through the user interface 180, the processor 120 may adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to the specific object of the display panel 130 such that the brightness of the specific object increases, and may control the display panel 130 to display an image based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0073] When the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the second operation mode through the user interface 180, the processor 120 may adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to the specific object of the display panel 130 such that the brightness of the specific object increases, adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to the remaining area of the display panel 130 such that the brightness of the remaining area other than the specific object on the image decreases, and may control the display panel 130 to display an image based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0074] In addition, when the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the third operation mode through the user interface 180, in addition to the operations such as those in the second operation mode, the processor 120 may also control the ambient light generator 170 to generate ambient light in response to the recognition of a specific object.

[0075] Figure 6It is a diagram showing the operation of the display device 100 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0076] Referring to Figure 6 , when an image is input through the input interface 110 while the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the first operation mode (e.g., normal mode), the processor 120 can identify a specific object included in the image by analyzing the input image (in Figure 6 , a person 10 in the image is identified through a person detection operation using HOG), and can identify the coordinates 15 of the display panel 130 corresponding to the identified specific object. The identified coordinates of the display panel 130 can be the position of the backlight unit 150 corresponding to the area on the display panel 130 where the specific object will be displayed.

[0077] Therefore, the processor 120 can make it possible to display the specific object brighter than the original brightness through local dimming (i.e., by adjusting the dimming value of the area 15 of the display panel 130 corresponding to the specific object to be brighter than the original brightness).

[0078] Meanwhile, if an image is input through the input interface 110 while the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the second operation mode (e.g., high mode), in addition to adjusting the dimming value of the area 15 of the specific object to be bright, the processor 120 can also adjust the dimming value of the remaining area other than the area 15 of the specific object to be darker than the original brightness, so as to relatively further highlight the specific object.

[0079] When the display device 100 is not operating in the first operation mode or the second operation mode, the original dimming value can be determined as the dimming value for displaying the input image, and the degree of adjusting the dimming value can be determined experimentally by the manufacturer or developer of the display device 100.

[0080] Meanwhile, if an image is input through the input interface 110 when the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the third operation mode (e.g., extreme mode), in addition to the operation of the second operation mode, the processor 120 can also generate ambient light. For example, at the time point when a person 10 is identified in the input image, the processor 120 can control the external LED so that the external LED (i.e., the ambient light generator 170) blinks in a specified color (e.g., red).

[0081] Meanwhile, the display device 100 can include a memory (not shown). The memory can store data required for the operation of the display device 100.

[0082] To this end, a memory (not shown) may store data required for the processor 120 to run various processes. For example, the memory (not shown) may be implemented as an internal memory (such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), etc.) included in the processor 120, or a memory separated from the processor 120.

[0083] Meanwhile, the memory (not shown) may be implemented as a memory type embedded in the display device 100 or a memory type detachable from the display device 100 according to the data storage purpose. For example, data for driving the display device 100 may be stored in the memory embedded in the display device 100, and data for expanding the display device 100 may be stored in the memory detachable from the display device 100.

[0084] The memory embedded in the display device 100 may be implemented in a format such as non-volatile memory, volatile memory, flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or solid state drive (SSD), and the memory detachable from the display device 100 may be implemented in a format such as a memory card (e.g., micro secure digital (SD) card, universal serial bus (USB) memory, etc.), an external memory connectable to a USB port (e.g., USB memory), etc.

[0085] In addition, the display device 100 may include a communicator (not shown). The communicator (not shown) may communicate with various external devices according to various types of communication methods.

[0086] To this end, the communicator (not shown) may include a wired LAN communication module (such as an Ethernet module). In addition, the communicator (not shown) may include a wireless LAN communication module (such as a Wi-Fi communication module). According to an embodiment, the communicator (not shown) may include a near-field wireless communication module or a mobile communication module. The near-field wireless communication module may refer to, for example, a communication module (such as a Bluetooth module, a ZigBee module, a near-field communication (NFC) module, etc.) that wirelessly performs data communication with an electronic device located nearby. In addition, the mobile communication module may refer to a communication module that performs communication by accessing various mobile communication standards (such as third generation (3G), third generation partnership project (3GPP), long term evolution (LTE), etc.).

[0087] According to an embodiment, the communicator (not shown) may include a broadcast receiving module and may include at least one of the wired communication modules, the wired communication modules including universal serial bus (USB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, recommended standard 232 (RS-232), HDMI (high definition multimedia interface (HDMI)), etc.

[0088] Figure 7is a block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. In Figure 7 , reference numeral 120 shows an SoC including various processors or driver ICs. Meanwhile, the ambient light LED may correspond to the above-described ambient light generator 170, the BLU may correspond to the backlight unit 150, and local dimming may correspond to the backlight driver 160.

[0089] Referring to Figure 7 , an image signal input through the input interface 110 may pass through a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) / DisplayPort (DP) physical layer (phy), and if there is Display Stream Compression (DSC), decoding is performed in the DSC.

[0090] Thereafter, the screen ratio is set by a scaler after pre-image quality (PQ) setting, and then post-PQ setting is performed. Then, the image signal may be transmitted to the T-CON or a high-speed interface (V-by-One (Vx1) / Embedded DisplayPort (eDP)) for inputting the T-CON, and may be output through the display panel 130.

[0091] According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, as described above, the display device 100 may identify a specific object based on the image analysis result, and perform a dimming operation of the BLU 150 or an operation provided by the ambient light LED 170 to highlight the identified specific object.

[0092] Meanwhile, referring to Figure 7 , the SoC 120 includes an NPU. Since the NPU is a processor designed to efficiently process artificial intelligence calculations through an artificial neural network, artificial intelligence calculations performed by communicating with a conventional cloud server can be efficiently performed in the display device 100.

[0093] Therefore, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, when identifying a specific object in an image, the NPU may be used. Image analysis can be efficiently performed using an artificial neural network without unnecessary communication with an external server for artificial intelligence calculations.

[0094] Figure 8 is a diagram showing the operation of a neural processing unit (NPU) according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 8 , the CPU in the SoC 120 identifies / captures an input image present in the bus and provides it to the NPU. The NPU infers / analyzes the provided image and provides the result to the CPU, and the CPU performs an image quality setting operation based on the analysis result.

[0095] Figure 9 is a detailed block diagram of a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0096] Refer to Figure 9 , the display device 100 includes a display panel 130, a backlight unit 150, a processor 120, a backlight driver 160, and a panel driver 140. In Figure 9 the configuration shown, configurations overlapping with those of Figure 3 will not be described.

[0097] The display panel 130 is formed such that gate lines GL1 to GLn and data lines DL1 to DLm cross each other, and R, G, B sub-pixels PR, PG, PB are formed at the crossing regions. Adjacent R, G, B sub-pixels PR, PG, PB form a pixel. That is, each pixel reproduces the color of the subject using three primary colors (red R, green G, and blue B), and each pixel includes an R sub-pixel PR representing red R, a G sub-pixel PG representing green G, and a B sub-pixel PB representing blue B.

[0098] When the display panel 130 is implemented as an LCD panel, each sub-pixel PR, PG, and PB may include a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and when changing the liquid crystal alignment according to the electric field formed by the potential difference between the two electrodes, the light transmittance is changed. The TFT formed at the crossing portion of the gate lines (GL1 to GLn) and the data lines (DL1 to DLm) supplies video data (i.e., R, G, and B data) from the data lines (DL1 to DLm) to the pixel electrodes of each sub-pixel PR, PG, and PB in response to a scan pulse from each gate line (GL1 to GLn).

[0099] The panel driver 140 may include a data driver 141 and a gate driver 142. The data driver 141 is a device for generating a data signal, and generates a data signal by receiving R / G / B image data from the processor 120 (or a timing controller (not shown)). In addition, the data driver 141 may apply the data signal generated by connecting to the data lines (DL1, DL2, DL3,..., DLm) of the display panel 130 to the display panel 130.

[0100] The gate driver 142 (or scan driver) is a device for generating a gate signal (or scan signal), the gate driver 142 (or scan driver) is connected to the gate lines (GL1, GL2, GL3,..., GLn) and sends the gate signal to a specific row of the display panel 130. The data signal output from the data driver 141 is sent to the pixel to which the gate signal is sent.

[0101] The panel driver 140 may also include a timing controller (not shown). The timing controller (not shown) may receive input signals IS, a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, a main clock signal MCLK, etc. from an external source (e.g., the processor 120), generate an image data signal, a light emission control signal, a data control signal, a transmission control signal, etc., and provide the signals to the display panel 130, the data driver 141, the gate driver 142, etc.

[0102] Figure 10 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a display device according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. Referring to Figure 10 In operation S1010, the display device 100 may identify a specific object included in an image corresponding to an input image signal. The display device 100 may include a neural processing unit (NPU), and may identify a specific object in the image by using the NPU, but is not limited thereto.

[0103] Thereafter, in operation S1020, the display device 100 may adjust a dimming value of an area of the display panel 130 corresponding to the specific object such that the brightness of the identified specific object increases.

[0104] In addition, the display device 100 may adjust a dimming value of an area of the display panel corresponding to the remaining area such that the brightness of the remaining area in the image other than the specific object decreases.

[0105] Therefore, in operation S1030, the display device 100 may display an image on the display panel 130 based on the adjusted dimming value.

[0106] Meanwhile, in response to the identification of the specific object, the display device 100 may generate ambient light that illuminates the periphery of the display device. At this time, red light-emitting diodes (LEDs), green LEDs, and blue LEDs may be disposed on the rear surface or side surface of the display device 100, and in response to the identification of the specific object, the red LEDs, green LEDs, and blue LEDs may be controlled such that ambient light of a preset color blinks.

[0107] Meanwhile, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the operations of the display device 100 described above may be performed according to an operation mode of the display device 100 set by a user.

[0108] For example, when the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to a first operation mode, the display device 100 may adjust a dimming value of an area of the display panel 130 corresponding to the specific object such that the brightness of the specific object increases.

[0109] In addition, when the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the second operation mode, the display device 100 can adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to a specific object on the display panel 130 to increase the brightness of the specific object, and adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to the remaining area of the display panel 130 to reduce the brightness of the remaining area of the image other than the specific object.

[0110] In addition, when the operation mode of the display device 100 is set to the third operation mode, the display device 100 can adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to a specific object on the display panel 130 to increase the brightness of the specific object, adjust the dimming value of the area corresponding to the remaining area of the display panel 130 to reduce the brightness of the remaining area of the image other than the specific object, and generate ambient light that illuminates the periphery of the display device 100 in response to the recognition of the specific object.

[0111] At this time, according to one or more embodiments, the image input to the display device 100 may be a game image, and the recognized specific object may be a person included in the game image, but is not limited thereto.

[0112] Meanwhile, according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, the display device 100 may include a backlight unit 150, and the backlight unit 150 includes a plurality of backlight blocks that illuminate the display panel 130 with light. The display device 100 can adjust the dimming value of the backlight block corresponding to the area on the display panel 130 where a specific object will be displayed to increase the brightness of the specific object.

[0113] In the above, the display device 100 including the backlight unit 150 and the backlight driver 160 has been mainly described using examples. Representatively, the display device 100 including an LCD may be an example, but the embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0114] That is, for example, in the case of a display device 100 including a display panel 130 in which each sub-pixel is implemented as a self-luminous element, the backlight unit 150 and the backlight driver 160 are not necessary. However, the above embodiments are applicable.

[0115] Specifically, in the case of a self-luminous display, dimming can be performed through pixels (or sub-pixels). Therefore, the above various embodiments can be implemented in the same way. The processor 120 adjusts the dimming value of the self-luminous elements corresponding to the area on the display panel 130 where the recognized specific object will be displayed to be brighter than the original value, and adjusts the dimming value of the self-luminous elements corresponding to the remaining area to be darker than the original value.

[0116] According to the various embodiments disclosed above, an additional image quality mode that can give a sense of participation to users using game content can be provided. Therefore, the convenience of users using game content can be improved.

[0117] The problem that each display module 130-1 to 130-12 of the modular display panel 500 is sequentially turned on can be solved without increasing hardware complexity or delaying screen display.

[0118] One or more embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in software (including instructions stored on a machine-readable storage medium readable by a machine, such as a computer). A device (including the display device 100 according to the disclosed embodiments) can call instructions from the storage medium and run the called instructions.

[0119] When instructions are run by various processors (the above scaler and timing controller can also be processors), the processor can directly execute the functions corresponding to the instructions, or execute the functions corresponding to the instructions under its control by using other components. The instructions can include code generated by a compiler or code that can be run by an interpreter. The machine-readable storage medium can be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. Here, the term "non-transitory" only means that the storage medium does not include signals, but is tangible, and does not distinguish between the case where data is stored semi-permanently in the storage medium and the case where data is temporarily stored in the storage medium.

[0120] According to an embodiment, a method according to the various embodiments disclosed herein can be provided in a computer program product. The computer program product can be exchanged as a commodity between a seller and a buyer. The computer program product can be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM)), or directly online between two user devices (such as smart phones) through an application store (such as the PlayStore TM )). In the case of online distribution, at least a part of the computer program product can be temporarily or at least temporarily stored in a storage medium, such as the memory of a manufacturer's server, an application store's server, or a relay server.

[0121] Each component (such as a module or a program) in the components according to an embodiment can be composed of one or more objects, and some of the above sub-components can be omitted, or other sub-components can also be included in the embodiment. Optionally or additionally, some components (such as modules or programs) can be integrated into one entity to perform the same or similar functions as the functions performed by each corresponding component before integration. According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the operations performed by modules, programs, or other components can be executed sequentially, in parallel, repetitively, or heuristically, or can be executed in a different order, at least some operations can be omitted, or other operations can be added.

[0122] The above description is only used to illustrate the technical idea of the present disclosure, and various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the essential features of the present disclosure. In addition, the embodiments according to the present disclosure are not intended to limit the technical idea of the present disclosure, and the scope of the technical idea of the present disclosure is not limited by the embodiments. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope thereof should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A display device, comprising: an input interface configured to receive an image signal; a display panel; at least one memory configured to store instructions; and at least one processor configured to run the instructions to perform the following operations: Identify an object included in an image corresponding to the image signal, adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object such that the brightness of the object increases, and control the display panel to display the image based on the adjusted dimming value.

2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, the at least one processor includes a neural processing unit NPU, and the at least one processor is further configured to identify the object on the image by using the NPU.

3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the remaining region of the image other than the object such that the brightness of the remaining region decreases.

4. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an ambient light generator configured to generate ambient light to illuminate the periphery of the display device, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to control the ambient light generator to generate the ambient light based on the identification of the object.

5. The display device according to claim 4, wherein, the ambient light generator includes a red light emitting diode LED, a green LED, and a blue LED, and is disposed on a rear surface or a side surface of the display device, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to control the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED based on the identification of the object such that ambient light of a preset color blinks.

6. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: an ambient light generator configured to generate ambient light to illuminate the periphery of the display device; and a user interface configured to receive a user command for setting an operation mode of the display device, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to perform the following operations: Based on setting the operation mode of the display device to a first operation mode through the user interface, adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object such that the brightness of the object increases, Based on setting the operation mode of the display device to a second operation mode through the user interface, adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the object such that the brightness of the object increases, and adjust a dimming value of a region of the display panel corresponding to the remaining region of the image other than the object such that the brightness of the remaining region decreases, Based on setting the operation mode of the display device to the third operation mode through the user interface, adjust the dimming value of the area of the display panel corresponding to the object so that the brightness of the object increases, and adjust the dimming value of the area of the display panel corresponding to the remaining area of the image other than the object so that the brightness of the remaining area decreases, and in response to the recognition of the object, control the ambient light generator to generate the ambient light.

7. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, the image is a game image, and wherein the object is a person included in the game image.

8. The display device according to claim 1, comprising: a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks configured to illuminate the display panel with light, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to adjust the dimming value of the backlight block corresponding to the area on the display panel where the object will be displayed so that the brightness of the object increases.

9. The display device according to claim 1, wherein, each sub-pixel of the display panel includes a self-luminous element, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to run the instructions to adjust the dimming value of the self-luminous element corresponding to the area on the display panel where the object will be displayed so that the brightness of the object increases.

10. A control method for a display device, the method comprising: identifying an object included in an image corresponding to an input image signal; adjusting the dimming value of the area of the display panel corresponding to the object so that the brightness of the object increases; and displaying the image on the display panel based on the adjusted dimming value.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, the display device includes a neural processing unit NPU, and wherein the operation of identification includes identifying the object on the image by using the NPU.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: adjusting the dimming value of the area of the display panel corresponding to the remaining area of the image other than the object so that the brightness of the remaining area decreases.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: generating ambient light to illuminate the periphery of the display device based on the recognition of the object.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein, the display device includes a red light-emitting diode LED, a green LED, and a blue LED, and the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED are disposed on the rear surface or side surface of the display device, wherein the operation of generating the ambient light includes: controlling the red LED, the green LED, and the blue LED based on the recognition of the object so that the ambient light of a preset color flashes.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions, wherein, when the computer instructions are run by a processor of a display device, the display device is caused to perform operations, the operations including: identifying an object included in an image corresponding to an input image signal; Adjust the dimming value of the area of the display panel corresponding to the object so that the brightness of the object increases; and Display the image on the display panel based on the adjusted dimming value.

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