Selecting an order of controlling pixels of lighting device

Abstract

A method comprises obtaining (101) an input signal indicative of a light effect, determining (103) a light effect transition based on the light effect, determining (105) a type of the light effect transition, and determining (107) whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type is included in a first set or in a second set. Each of the lighting units has a predefined address. Each of the addresses is included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence. The method further comprises determining (109) light settings based on the light effect and controlling (111) the lighting units according to the light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence. The control is perceived as being sequential when the second sequence is applied and as being non-sequential when the first sequence is applied.

Description

[0001] SELECTING AN ORDER OF CONTROLLING PIXELS OF LIGHTING DEVICE

[0002] FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention relates to a pixelated lighting device comprises a plurality of individually controllable lighting units and a central controller for controlling the plurality of lighting units, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time.

[0004] The invention further relates to a method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time.

[0005] The invention also relates to a computer program product enabling a computer system to perform such a method.

[0006] BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0007] With the introduction of LED technology, it has become possible to produce light strips to illuminate houses and offices. An advantage of light strips is that they can illuminate a large wide space relatively uniformly. Initially, all LEDs of a light strip were only able to emit one color, e.g. white. Later, certain light strips allowed a user to change the color emitted by the LED nodes, but all LED nodes still emitted the same color. The next advance in light strips was the pixelated light strip. Pixelated light strips comprise multiple individually controllable segments, each such segment generally referred to as a ‘pixel’ of which e.g. the color and / or intensity of light emitted may be controlled. Each segment comprises one LED or multiple LEDs of the same or different colors.

[0008] Current pixelated light strips are often able to render dynamic light effects, e.g., natural effects like candle and fire, dynamic scenes comprising of slow-moving palette colors, and / or effects related to music and light integration. US 8,721,121 Bl discloses a light string of which the electric lights can blink so that only a portion of the lights are simultaneously illuminated, with individual lights remaining illuminated so that the light string creates a twinkling effect.

[0009] However, if a pixelated lighting device comprises a large number of small, direct view, light sources, e.g., e.g. a Christmas tree string, undesirable artifacts may be rendered when rendering dynamic light effects other than light effects in which the light setting of each light source is determined independently (e.g. twinkling effects). This may happen if it takes a relatively long time to update all pixels. For example, certain Christmas tree light strings have a 10Hz limit on how quickly all pixels can be updated, which means that it takes the system 100 milliseconds to update all pixels. Updating all pixels in order e.g., switching on, changing a color, etc., may then create a (vertical) motion artifact where the user could see “filling in” of the LED string.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] It is advantageous to provide a pixelated lighting device, which can be used to reduce undesirable artifacts on pixelated lighting devices which need a relatively long time to update all pixels.

[0012] It is advantageous to provide a method, which can be used to reduce undesirable artifacts on pixelated lighting devices which need a relatively long time to update all pixels.

[0013] In a first aspect, a pixelated lighting device comprises a plurality of individually controllable lighting units and a central controller for controlling the plurality of lighting units, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time, the central controller being configured to obtain an input signal indicative of a light effect, determine a light effect transition based on the light effect, and determine a type of the light effect transition.

[0014] The central controller is further configured to determine whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types, each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units being included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence, determine one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units based on the light effect, and control the plurality of lighting units according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time, the control of the plurality of lighting units being perceived as being sequential when the second sequence is applied and being perceived as being non-sequential when the first sequence is applied.

[0015] The pixelated lighting device may be a light string, for example. The central controller of the pixelated lighting device is located at a proximal end of the plurality (e.g. string) of lighting units. The sequential ordering starts at the proximal end and ends at the distal end of the plurality of lighting units. The light effect transition may be one of a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene, a light effect transition between two light scenes, a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, and a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, for example.

[0016] By using the second sequence for certain types of light effects, undesirable artifacts may be reduced on pixelated lighting devices which need a relatively long time to update all pixels. For example, to remove the (vertical) motion artifacts, linear addressing (1, 2,. . .N) of lighting units, e.g. LEDs, may be replaced with a randomly shuffled sequence, so that it feels like the lighting content is simultaneously spreading over the whole pixelated lighting device, e.g. string, instead of coming from the bottom.

[0017] A randomly shuffled sequence is not about randomly addressing light sources, which is done in a twinkling effect, as some light sources might never be addressed and some might be very often addressed when randomly addressing light sources. A randomly shuffled sequence is a sequence of all light source addresses that is randomly shuffled, just like shuffling a deck of cards. The determination whether to apply the first sequence or the second sequence may be based on the estimated impact of the motion artifact on the user’s experience.

[0018] The second sequence may be created or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units randomly, quasi randomly or pseudo randomly. This second sequence may be used to ensure that it feels like the lighting content is simultaneously spreading over the whole pixelated lighting device, e.g. string, instead of coming from the bottom. The quasi random order may be determined by using a set of constraints on how each consecutive number is generated, e.g. in real-time. The pseudo random order may be determined based on the spatial locations of the lighting units.

[0019] The first sequence may be created or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units sequentially. This is normally the default order. As mentioned above, the central controller of the pixelated lighting device is located at a proximal end of the plurality (e.g. string) of lighting units. The sequential ordering starts at the proximal end and ends at the distal end of the plurality of lighting units. Thus, when referring to a seqential order, this relates to spatial locations of the lighting units; addresses are assigned in order of spatial location of each lighting unit.

[0020] The first set of light effect transition types may comprise a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is based on music content and is rendered while said music content is being reproduced by an audio device, for example. The first set of light effect transition types may comprise light effect transitions with a duration higher than a threshold. The first sequence may be used for these light effect transition types, because the artifact will likely not be rendered or will likely not deteriorate the user experience.

[0021] In some entertainment cases (e.g., syncing with music), keeping the artifact might be beneficial as it could be seen as a part of the experience and could for example mask the fact that pixelated lighting device is not updated as fast as other lighting units (e.g. 10Hz vs 24Hz). Some users might like the effect of “filling in” when switching on and “filling out” when switching off, so an app could offer it as a user-selectable feature for turning on and turning of the pixelated lighting device.

[0022] The second set of light effect transition types may comprise one or more of a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, and a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is not based on music content. The second set of light effect transition types may comprise light effect transitions with a duration lower than the threshold. The second sequence may be used for these light effect transition types, because the artifact will likely be rendered and will likely deteriorate the user experience. For most dynamic effects / scenes (e.g., changing a color), the motion artifact is undesirable so the system should preferably use the second sequence in these cases.

[0023] The central controller may be configured to create the second sequence in realtime. This allows dynamic information to be taken into account, e.g. when determining a pseudo-random sequence.

[0024] The central controller may be configured to obtain the second sequence from a memory and control the plurality of lighting units in the order specified in the second sequence for multiple light effect transitions. This approach is best when the driver resources are limited, as the second sequence needs to be calculated only once and may then be stored in the driver memory. The central controller may be configured to determine locations of the plurality of lighting units, and create the second sequence based on the locations of the plurality of lighting units. This may be used to create a non-uniform random sequence to compensate for a non-uniform distribution of the lighting units, e.g. pixels of a light string wrapped around a Christmas tree.

[0025] The central controller may be configured to determine visibility information for the plurality of lighting units, the visibility information indicating which of the lighting units are visible, and create the second sequence based on the visibility information. For example, knowledge of the 3D locations of the lighting units and their visibility may be used to determine the second sequence such that feeling of light spreading all over the pixelated lighting device, e.g. light string, is more linear.

[0026] In a second aspect of the invention, a method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time, comprises obtaining an input signal indicative of a light effect, determining a light effect transition based on the light effect, and determining a type of the light effect transition.

[0027] The method further comprises determining whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types, each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units being included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence, determining one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units based on the light effect, and controlling the plurality of lighting units according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time, the control of the plurality of lighting units being perceived as being sequential when the second sequence is applied and being perceived as being non-sequential when the first sequence is applied. Said method may be performed by software running on a programmable device. This software may be provided as a computer program product.

[0028] Moreover, a computer program for carrying out the methods described herein, as well as a non-transitory computer readable storage-medium storing the computer program are provided. A computer program may, for example, be downloaded by or uploaded to an existing device or be stored upon manufacturing of these systems. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores at least one software code portion, the software code portion, when executed or processed by a computer, being configured to perform executable operations for controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time.

[0029] The executable operations comprise obtaining an input signal indicative of a light effect, determining a light effect transition based on the light effect, determining a type of the light effect transition, determining whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types, each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units being included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence, determining one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units based on the light effect, and controlling the plurality of lighting units according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time, the control of the plurality of lighting units being perceived as being sequential when the second sequence is applied and being perceived as being non-sequential when the first sequence is applied.

[0030] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a device, a method or a computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a "circuit", "module" or "system." Functions described in this disclosure may be implemented as an algorithm executed by a processor / microprocessor of a computer. Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied, e.g., stored, thereon.

[0031] Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to, the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of the present invention, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store, a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0032] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

[0033] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber, cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java(TM), Swift, Dart, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0034] Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor, in particular a microprocessor or a central processing unit (CPU), of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0035] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0036] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0037] The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of devices, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be further elucidated, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0039] Fig. l is a block diagram of an embodiment of the system; Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of the method; Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of the method; Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of the method; Fig. 5 is a flow chart of a fourth embodiment of the method; Fig. 6 is a flow chart of a fifth embodiment of the method; and Fig. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary data processing system for performing the method of the invention.

[0040] Corresponding elements in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numeral.

[0041] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0042] Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the pixelated lighting device. The pixelated lighting device 1 comprises a plurality of individually controllable lighting units 11-19 (also referred to as pixels) and a central controller 2 for controlling the plurality of lighting units 11-19. The pixelated lighting device 1 may be a light string, for example. Each of the lighting units 11-19 has a predefined address. Each lighting unit may comprise one or more light elements, direct emitting or phosphor converted LEDs. The central controller 2 is located at a proximal end of the plurality (e.g. string) of lighting units 11-19. The sequential ordering starts at the proximal end and ends at the distal end of the plurality of lighting units. Thus, when referring to a seqential order, this relates to spatial locations of the lighting units; addresses are assigned in order of spatial location of each lighting unit.

[0043] A visible delay occurs between a first one (lighting unit 11) and a last one (lighting unit 19) of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address. The visible delay occurs over a period of time. For the same of simplicity, the pixelated lighting device 1 of Fig. 1 comprises only nine lighting units. In practice, a pixelated lighting device will often have more than nine lighting units and the visible delay will typically only occur if the pixelated lighting device has many more than nine lighting units.

[0044] In the example of Fig. 1, the pixelated lighting device 1 can be controlled via a bridge 21, e.g. using Zigbee technology. The bridge 21 is connected to a wireless LAN access point 23, e.g. via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. A mobile device 25 is also connected to the wireless LAN access point 23, e.g. via Wi-Fi. Mobile device 25 may be a mobile phone, a tablet or a smart watch, for example. A user may be able to use an app running on mobile device 25 to control pixelated lighting device 1 via the wireless LAN access point 23 and the bridge 21. In an alternative example, the pixelated lighting device 1 is controlled without a bridge, e.g. directly via Bluetooth or via the cloud.

[0045] The controller 2 comprises a receiver 3, a transmitter 4, a processor 5, a control interface 6, and a memory 7. The processor 5 is configured to obtain an input signal indicative of a light effect, determine a light effect transition based on the light effect, determine a type of the light effect transition, and determine whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types.

[0046] Each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units 11-19 is included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence. The processor 5 is further configured to determine one or more light settings for the lighting units 11-19 based on the light effect and control, via the control interface 6, the lighting units 11-19 according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time. The control of the lighting units 11-19 is perceived as being sequential when the second sequence is applied and is perceived as being non-sequential when the first sequence is applied.

[0047] The first set of light effect transition types may comprise one or more of a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is based on music content and is rendered while said music content is being reproduced by an audio device and light effect transitions with a duration higher than a threshold, for example. The second set of light effect transition types may comprise one or more of a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is not based on music content, and light effect transitions with a duration lower than the threshold, for example.

[0048] The first sequence may be or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units sequentially, for example. The second sequence may be or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units randomly, quasi randomly or pseudo randomly, for example. The controller 2 may use power-line communication to set the PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) values for each lighting unit of the pixelated lighting device, e.g. by injecting command data (the PWM values) on top of a 24 V power line. Each of the lighting units 11-19 may then extract the PWM value that is intended for it from the power line. Each lighting unit has a hard-coded address e.g. between 0-249 for 250 LED string. Address 0 is for the lighting unit 11, which is closest to the controller 2, and address 8 is for lighting unit 19 (or 249 for a 250 LED string), which is farthest from the controller 2.

[0049] Power-line communication is relatively slow; it takes about 100 milliseconds to transfer PWM values for all 250 LEDs of a 250 LED string. Since it takes 100 milliseconds to set all LEDs to the desired PWM values, the maximum refresh rate for lighting content is limited to 10Hz. When playing dynamic content on the 250 LED string, there are two artifacts clearly observable due to very low refresh rate: 1) vertical motion artifact and 2) judder (not relevant for this patent application)

[0050] Since takes 100 milliseconds to address all LEDs on the 250 LED string, content is not synchronously coming to all LEDs. LED 0 gets PWM at T+Oms, while LED 249 gets PWM at T+99.6ms. If new content (PWM values) is considerably different than previous content, it is very easy to observe how content is "filling" the LED string. In the case of a Christmas tree, where LED 0 is at the bottom, this produces constant vertical, upwards, motion. This artifact is especially noticeable in peripheral view when the user does not look directly at the tree.

[0051] This artifact cannot be observed on slow changing content (e.g., slow scene dynamics), but can be easily observable for: on / off, fast scene dynamics, fast dynamic effects like scatter color loop, and in many other cases.

[0052] The second sequence may be applied to remove the effect of slowly (10 milliseconds) filling the string from the bottom to the top for certain types of light effects. For example, instead of filling a 250 LED string sequentially (0, 1,2...249), it may be filled in quasi random order (e.g. 27, 189, 44, 1, 239,....) This removes the vertical motion artifact. It feels like the lighting content is simultaneously spreading over the whole string instead of coming from the bottom.

[0053] The following is an example of a quasi-random address sequence which has been generated with a FastPRNG random generator and 0x12345678 random seed, for sequence size of 250:

[0054] [0, 35, 105, 217, 164, 159, 177, 167, 24, 121, 12, 33, 191, 221, 60, 134, 92, 56, 158, 87, 180, 152, 197, 202, 3, 182, 9, 181, 199, 34, 195, 89, 243, 132, 31, 124, 200, 10, 192, 249, 48, 80, 206, 73, 127, 44, 75, 59, 68, 187, 201, 150, 220, 247, 233, 91, 90, 43, 215, 36, 21, 15, 98, 7, 166, 168, 173, 147, 94, 32, 38, 211, 223, 23, 110, 29, 228, 169, 146, 114, 120, 219, 161, 70, 4, 61, 207, 156, 176, 18, 174, 97, 88, 74, 69, 54, 226, 185, 189, 16, 227, 22, 136, 63, 128, 214, 2, 235, 171, 225, 222, 236, 170, 45, 165, 49, 20, 178, 198, 248, 101, 104, 129, 72, 125, 93, 239, 224, 65, 67, 55, 96, 108, 163, 122, 148, 162, 203, 184, 234, 241, 37, 111, 155, 119, 188, 81, 213, 6, 240, 218, 130, 76, 64, 204, 208, 135, 140, 26, 238, 237, 232, 46, 144, 79, 19, 42, 193, 196, 100, 113, 229, 153, 131, 40, 116, 86, 95, 151, 137, 142, 17, 143, 179, 39, 106, 109, 246, 13, 112, 216, 245, 138, 57, 149, 205, 107, 53, 115, 84, 118, 133, 190, 123, 99, 14, 1, 58, 51, 25, 160, 230, 8, 242, 47, 139, 5, 244, 30, 103, 175, 85, 27, 102, 157, 172, 78, 83, 212, 154, 186, 117, 66, 210, 52, 82, 126, 28, 209, 194, 183, 71, 50, 141, 145, 231, 77, 62, 41, 11]

[0055] In a firmware implementation, the address sequence may be hard-coded in firmware. This may be done, for example, on the lowest level in firmware at the moment when the PWM values are copied / prepared for sending to the lighting units.

[0056] A pixelated lighting device may comprise multiple sets of lighting units which are controlled in parallel. For example, if a 500 LED device comprises two light strings of 250 LEDs, power-line communication may be done in parallel. It then still takes 100 milliseconds to send data to all LEDs. In this case, the same address sequence may be used for both light strings.

[0057] In the embodiment of the controller 2 shown in Fig. 1, the controller 2 comprises one processor 5. In an alternative embodiment, the controller 2 comprises multiple processors. The processor 5 of the controller 2 may be a general-purpose processor or an application-specific processor. The receiver 3 and the transmitter 4 may use one or more wireless communication technologies, e.g. Zigbee, for communicating with the bridge 21. In an alternative embodiment, multiple receivers and / or multiple transmitters are used instead of a single receiver and a single transmitter.

[0058] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, a separate receiver and a separate transmitter are used. In an alternative embodiment, the receiver 3 and the transmitter 4 are combined into a transceiver. The controller 2 may comprise other components typical for a controller of a pixelated lighting device such as a power connector. The invention may be implemented using a computer program running on one or more processors.

[0059] A first embodiment of the method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device is shown in Fig. 2. Each of the lighting units has a predefined address. A visible delay occurs between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address. The visible delay occurs over a period of time. The method may be performed by the central controller 2 of Fig. 1, for example.

[0060] A step 101 comprises obtaining an input signal indicative of a light effect. Steps 103 and 109 are performed after step 101. Step 103 comprises determining light effect transition based on the light effect indicated in the input signal obtained in step 101. The light effect transition may be a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene, a light effect transition between two light scenes, a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, or a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, for example.

[0061] A step 105 comprises determining a type of the light effect transition determined in step 103. A step 107 comprises determining whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence depending on whether the type of the light effect transition, as determined in step 105, is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types. Each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units is included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence.

[0062] The first set of light effect transition types may comprise a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is based on music content and is rendered while said music content is being reproduced by an audio device, for example. The second set of light effect transition types may comprise one or more of a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, and a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is not based on music content, for example.

[0063] The first sequence may be or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units sequentially, for example. The second sequence may be or may have been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units randomly, quasi randomly or pseudo randomly, for example. The quasi random order may be determined by using a set of constraints on how each consecutive number is generated, e.g. in real-time. The pseudo random order may be determined based on the spatial locations of the lighting units.

[0064] Step 109 comprises determining one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units based on the light effect indicated in the input signal obtained in step 101. Steps 103-107 and step 109 may be performed in parallel or sequentially (e.g. [103,105,107,109] or [103,109,105,107]). A step 111 is performed after steps 107 and 109 have been performed. Step 111 comprises controlling the plurality of lighting units according to the one or more light settings determined in step 109 in the order specified in the first sequence (if it is determined in step 107 that the first sequence should be applied) or the second sequence (if it is determined in step 107 that the second sequence should be applied) over the period of time.

[0065] The control of the plurality of lighting units in step 111 is perceived as being non-sequential when the second sequence is applied and is perceived as not being sequential when the first sequence is applied. Additionally, one or more steps of one or more of the embodiments of Figs. 3-6 may be added to the embodiment of Fig. 2.

[0066] A second embodiment of the method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device is shown in Fig. 3. The embodiment of Fig. 3 is an extension of the embodiment of Fig. 2. The method may be performed by the central controller 2 of Fig. 1, for example.

[0067] In the embodiment of Fig. 3, a step 131 is performed after step 107 if it is determined in step 107 that the first sequence should be applied and step 133 is performed after step 107 if it is determined in step 107 that second sequence should be applied. Step 131 comprises retrieving or creating the first sequence in real-time. Step 133 comprises obtaining the second sequence from a memory.

[0068] Step 111 is performed after step 109 has been performed and after either step 131 or step 133 has been performed. The same second sequence obtained in step 133 is used in multiple iterations of step 111 and therefore for multiple light effect transitions. Additionally, one or more steps of one or more of the embodiments of Figs. 4-6 may be added to the embodiment of Fig. 3.

[0069] A third embodiment of the method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device is shown in Fig. 4. The embodiment of Fig. 4 is an extension of the embodiment of Fig. 2. The method may be performed by the central controller 2 of Fig. 1, for example.

[0070] In the embodiment of Fig. 4, step 131 is performed after step 107 if it is determined in step 107 that the first sequence should be applied and step 151 is performed after step 107 if it is determined in step 107 that second sequence should be applied. Step 131 comprises retrieving or creating the first sequence in real-time. Step 151 comprises creating the second sequence in real-time. Step 111 is performed after step 109 has been performed and after either step 131 or step 151 has been performed. Additionally, one or more steps of one or more of the embodiments of Figs. 5-6 may be added to the embodiment of Fig. 4.

[0071] A fourth embodiment of the method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device is shown in Fig. 5. The embodiment of Fig. 5 is an extension of the embodiment of Fig. 4. The method may be performed by the central controller 2 of Fig. 1, for example.

[0072] In the embodiment of Fig. 5, step 151 of Fig 4 is implemented by a step 163 and a step 161 is performed between steps 107 and 163. Step 161 comprises determining locations of the plurality of lighting units and / or determining visibility information for the plurality of lighting units. The visibility information indicates which of the lighting units are visible. Step 163 comprises creating the second sequence based on the locations of the plurality of lighting units and / or the visibility information determined in step 161.

[0073] Additionally, one or more steps of the embodiment of Fig. 6 may be added to the embodiment of Fig. 5. In the embodiment of Fig. 5, steps 161and 163 are performed when the second sequence is created in real-time. Steps 161 and 163 may also be performed when the second sequence is not created in real-time, e.g. before step 101 of Fig. 3 is performed.

[0074] A fifth embodiment of the method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device is shown in Fig. 6. The embodiment of Fig. 6 is an extension of the embodiment of Fig. 2. The method may be performed by the central controller 2 of Fig. 1, for example.

[0075] In the embodiment of Fig. 6, step 107 of Fig. 2 has been implemented by a step 183 and a step 181 is performed between steps 103 and 183. Steps 181 and 105 may be performed in parallel or sequentially. Step 181 comprises determining whether a duration of the light effect transition determined in step 103 exceeds a threshold.

[0076] Step 183 comprises determining whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence. If it was determined in step 181 that the duration of the light effect transition is higher than the threshold, then it is determined that the first sequence should be applied. If it was determined in step 181 that the duration of the light effect transition is lower than the threshold, then it is determined that the second sequence should be applied. Additionally, one or more steps of one or more of the embodiments of Figs. 3-5 may be added to the embodiment of Fig. 6. Fig. 7 depicts a block diagram illustrating an exemplary data processing system that may perform the method as described with reference to Figs. 2-6.

[0077] As shown in Fig. 7, the data processing system 300 may include at least one processor 302 coupled to memory elements 304 through a system bus 306. As such, the data processing system may store program code within memory elements 304. Further, the processor 302 may execute the program code accessed from the memory elements 304 via a system bus 306. In one aspect, the data processing system may be implemented as a computer that is suitable for storing and / or executing program code. It should be appreciated, however, that the data processing system 300 may be implemented in the form of any system including a processor and a memory that is capable of performing the functions described within this specification.

[0078] The memory elements 304 may include one or more physical memory devices such as, for example, local memory 308 and one or more bulk storage devices 310. The local memory may refer to random access memory or other non-persistent memory device(s) generally used during actual execution of the program code. A bulk storage device may be implemented as a hard drive or other persistent data storage device. The processing system 300 may also include one or more cache memories (not shown) that provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the quantity of times program code must be retrieved from the bulk storage device 310 during execution. The processing system 300 may also be able to use memory elements of another processing system, e.g. if the processing system 300 is part of a cloud-computing platform.

[0079] Input / output (VO) devices depicted as an input device 312 and an output device 314 optionally can be coupled to the data processing system. Examples of input devices may include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a microphone (e.g. for voice and / or speech recognition), or the like. Examples of output devices may include, but are not limited to, a monitor or a display, speakers, or the like. Input and / or output devices may be coupled to the data processing system either directly or through intervening VO controllers.

[0080] In an embodiment, the input and the output devices may be implemented as a combined input / output device (illustrated in Fig. 7 with a dashed line surrounding the input device 312 and the output device 314). An example of such a combined device is a touch sensitive display, also sometimes referred to as a “touch screen display” or simply “touch screen”. In such an embodiment, input to the device may be provided by a movement of a physical object, such as e.g. a stylus or a finger of a user, on or near the touch screen display. A network adapter 316 may also be coupled to the data processing system to enable it to become coupled to other systems, computer systems, remote network devices, and / or remote storage devices through intervening private or public networks. The network adapter may comprise a data receiver for receiving data that is transmitted by said systems, devices and / or networks to the data processing system 300, and a data transmitter for transmitting data from the data processing system 300 to said systems, devices and / or networks. Modems, cable modems, and Ethernet cards are examples of different types of network adapter that may be used with the data processing system 300.

[0081] As pictured in Fig. 7, the memory elements 304 may store an application 318. In various embodiments, the application 318 may be stored in the local memory 308, the one or more bulk storage devices 310, or separate from the local memory and the bulk storage devices. It should be appreciated that the data processing system 300 may further execute an operating system (not shown in Fig. 7) that can facilitate execution of the application 318. The application 318, being implemented in the form of executable program code, can be executed by the data processing system 300, e.g., by the processor 302. Responsive to executing the application, the data processing system 300 may be configured to perform one or more operations or method steps described herein.

[0082] Fig. 7 shows the input device 312 and the output device 314 as being separate from the network adapter 316. However, additionally or alternatively, input may be received via the network adapter 316 and output be transmitted via the network adapter 316. For example, the data processing system 300 may be a cloud server. In this case, the input may be received from and the output may be transmitted to a user device that acts as a terminal.

[0083] Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a program product for use with a computer system, where the program(s) of the program product define functions of the embodiments (including the methods described herein). In one embodiment, the program(s) can be contained on a variety of non-transitory computer-readable storage media, where, as used herein, the expression “non-transitory computer readable storage media” comprises all computer-readable media, with the sole exception being a transitory, propagating signal. In another embodiment, the program(s) can be contained on a variety of transitory computer-readable storage media. Illustrative computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to: (i) non-writable storage media (e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM disks readable by a CD-ROM drive, ROM chips or any type of solid-state non-volatile semiconductor memory) on which information is permanently stored; and (ii) writable storage media (e.g., flash memory, floppy disks within a diskette drive or hard-disk drive or any type of solid-state random-access semiconductor memory) on which alterable information is stored. The computer program may be run on the processor 302 described herein.

[0084] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0085] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the implementations in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles and some practical applications of the present invention, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the present invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A pixelated lighting device (1) comprising a plurality of individually controllable lighting units (11-19) and a central controller (2) for controlling the plurality of lighting units (11-19), each of the lighting units (11-19) having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one (11) and a last one (19) of the plurality of lighting units (11-19) being controlled when the plurality of lighting units (11-19) is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time, the central controller (2) being configured to:- obtain an input signal indicative of a light effect,- determine a light effect transition based on the light effect, wherein the light effect transition is one of: a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene, a light effect transition between two light scenes, a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, and a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state,- determine a type of the light effect transition of the light effect transition,- determine the one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units (11- 19) based on the light effect,- determine whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence for the one or more light settings depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types, each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units (11- 19) being included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence, wherein the first and second sequence start at a proximal end and end at a distal end of the plurality of individually controllable lighting units, and- control the plurality of lighting units (11-19) according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time, the control of the plurality of lighting units (11-19) being perceived as being non-sequential when the second sequence is applied and being perceived as being sequential when the first sequence is applied.

2. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second sequence is or has been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units (11-19) randomly, quasi randomly or pseudo randomly.

3. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the first sequence is or has been created by ordering the addresses of the plurality of lighting units (11-19) sequentially.

4. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first set of light effect transition types comprises a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is based on music content and is rendered while said music content is being reproduced by an audio device.

5. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second set of light effect transition types comprises at least one of a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state, and a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene which is not based on music content.

6. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first set of light effect transition types comprises light effect transitions with a duration higher than a threshold and the second set of light effect transition types comprises light effect transitions with a duration lower than the threshold.

7. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the central controller (2) is configured to create the second sequence in real-time.

8. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of claims 1-7, wherein the central controller (2) is configured to:- obtain the second sequence from a memory (7), and- control the plurality of lighting units (11-19) in the order specified in the second sequence for multiple light effect transitions.

9. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the central controller (2) is configured to:- determine locations of the plurality of lighting units (11-19), and- create the second sequence based on the locations of the plurality of lighting units (11-19).

10. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the central controller (2) is configured to:- determine visibility information for the plurality of lighting units (11-19), the visibility information indicating which of the lighting units (11-19) are visible, and- create the second sequence based on the visibility information.

11. A pixelated lighting device (1) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pixelated lighting device (1) is a light string.

12. A method of controlling a plurality of individually controllable lighting units of a pixelated lighting device, each of the lighting units having a predefined address, a visible delay occurring between a first one and a last one of the plurality of lighting units being controlled when the plurality of lighting units is controlled in order of address, the visible delay occurring over a period of time, the method comprising:- obtaining (101) an input signal indicative of a light effect;- determining (103) a light effect transition based on the light effect, wherein the light effect transition is one of: a light effect transition in a dynamic light scene, a light effect transition between two light scenes, a light effect transition between an off state and a light scene, and a light effect transition between a light scene and an off state;- determining (105) a type of the light effect transition of the light effect transition;- determining one or more light settings for the plurality of lighting units (11- 19) based on the light effect;- determining (107) whether to apply a first sequence or a second sequence for the one or more light settings depending on whether the type of the light effect transition is included in a first set of one or more light effect transition types or included in a second set of one or more light effect transition types, each of the addresses of the plurality of lighting units being included once in the first sequence and once in the second sequence, wherein thefirst and second sequence start at a proximal end and end at a distal end of the plurality of individually controllable lighting units; and- controlling (111) the plurality of lighting units according to the one or more light settings in the order specified in the first sequence or the second sequence over the period of time, the control of the plurality of lighting units being perceived as being nonsequential when the second sequence is applied and being perceived as being sequential when the first sequence is applied.

13. A computer program product for a computing device, the computer program product comprising computer program code to perform the method of claim 12 when the computer program product is run on a processing unit of the computing device.

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