Color Test Pattern for Video Calibration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional video test patterns, such as SMPTE color bars, are inadequate for accurately calibrating color dematrixing due to limited color comparisons, reliance on costly and imperfect optical filters, and lack of guidance for independent adjustment of tint and color controls, leading to trial-and-error adjustments.
Innovation Solution
Improved video test patterns with increased spatial interactions between colors, including edges between unique pairs, and animated sequences that provide visual feedback for calibrating color processing controls, allowing for precise adjustments and independent control of tint and color settings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If SMPTE color bars test pattern is used for calibrating tint and color controls, then color dematrixing accuracy can be tested, but the pattern provides limited visual feedback due to few color edges and requires trial-and-error adjustment
Solution Approach 1:
The test pattern is segmented into multiple distinct zones, each containing specific color bars with unique edge configurations. This segmentation allows different regions to provide different types of visual feedback, enabling systematic adjustment of tint and color controls with clear visual guidance for each adjustment step.
Solution Approach 2:
The test pattern incorporates multiple color edges that provide immediate visual feedback when tint or color controls are adjusted. By displaying numerous color transitions and comparisons simultaneously, the pattern shows exactly how adjustments affect color rendering, eliminating trial-and-error and providing direct visual guidance for precise calibration.
2Measurement precision
If optical blue filters are used to block red and green primaries during calibration, then color comparison accuracy improves, but the filters are costly and cannot completely eliminate red and green visibility
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the dependency on external optical filters by designing a test pattern that achieves color comparison functionality through its inherent structure. The pattern uses carefully selected color combinations and edge configurations that provide sufficient contrast and visual distinction without requiring additional filtering components, thereby removing the cost and manufacturing complexity associated with optical filters.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using physical optical filters to isolate color primaries, the test pattern creates virtual color isolation through its design. By arranging color bars and edges to exploit human visual system characteristics and display device properties, the pattern simulates the effect of optical filtering without requiring actual filters, achieving similar measurement precision at no additional manufacturing cost.
3Measurement precision
If SMPTE color bars are used for calibration, then basic color dematrixing can be tested, but the pattern does not provide guidance for independent adjustment of tint and color controls
Solution Approach 1:
Different zones of the test pattern are designed with specific local qualities tailored to test particular aspects of color dematrixing. Certain zones emphasize tint sensitivity with specific color edge configurations, while other zones highlight color saturation effects. This local differentiation provides targeted visual feedback for independent adjustment of each control parameter.
Solution Approach 2:
The test pattern adds a spatial dimension to the calibration process by distributing different types of color comparisons across multiple zones and positions. This spatial arrangement allows simultaneous presentation of multiple adjustment scenarios, enabling users to understand the independent effects of tint and color controls through their respective zone responses, thereby recovering the lost adjustment guidance information.
Data Source
AI summary
Test patterns and associated techniques for testing the fidelity of color processing are disclosed. One set of embodiments provide a test pattern that exhibits a large number of spatial interactions (e.g., edges) between colors corresponding to triples of constant value RGB primaries that incorporate a specific primary. Another set of embodiments provide an animated sequence of test patterns that exhibit temporal interactions between the colors identified above. Yet another set of embodiments provide a test pattern comprising a plurality of zones, where distinct subsets of the zones are configured to exhibit independent visual changes in response to adjustments of specific color processing controls. Using these test patterns, users may more easily test the fidelity of color processing (such as color dematrixing), and may more easily calibrate color processing controls accordingly.