Display Position Encoding With LED Backlight Patterns
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pen sensor technology requires integration into display devices at manufacture, making it difficult and costly to add interactive capabilities post-manufacture, and aftermarket solutions are unsightly and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
A display device controller programs LED backlights to emit unique light patterns that are undetectable to humans but can be decoded by a user-held pen with light sensors, enabling interactive functionality without hardware additions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional pen sensor technology is integrated into display devices at manufacture, then interactive functionality is achieved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses light patterns as an intermediary between the display device and the pen sensor. The display device controller modulates backlight LEDs to emit encoded light patterns that the pen's light sensor detects, enabling interaction without direct hardware integration between the pen and display components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical integration of pen sensors into displays with an electromagnetic field-based solution. Light-emitting diodes and light sensors communicate through emitted and detected light patterns, eliminating the need for physical integration of sensor components into the display hardware.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pen sensor technology is added after manufacture, then interactive functionality is achieved, but installation difficulty and alignment issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The light pattern encoding scheme serves as an intermediary that requires no physical installation on the display device. The display controller directly modulates existing backlight LEDs to emit position-encoded light patterns, and the pen detects these patterns optically, eliminating installation complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The existing backlight LEDs serve multiple functions: providing illumination for the display and encoding position information for interaction. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate sensor components or additional hardware installation on the display device.
3Adaptability or versatility
If aftermarket sensors are installed, then interactive functionality is achieved, but aesthetic appearance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The existing backlight LEDs perform dual roles as both illumination sources and position encoding elements. By modulating the light output of these already-visible components, the system enables interaction without adding any external sensors or modifying the display's physical appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the existing optical path and light emission characteristics of the display's backlight system to create position information. Rather than adding new physical components, it encodes interaction data through modulation of the light that already traverses the display medium.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables interactive display use without hardware modifications, allowing users to interact with specific display portions through encoded light patterns, enhancing usability and flexibility.
Implementation Method 1
an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that provide a backlight or visual content
Implementation Method 2
A user-held pen device with light sensors can detect these pulses
Data Source
AI summary
In general, the subject matter described in this disclosure can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for determining a position of a display at which a light receiving device is oriented. The method includes capturing, by the light receiving device, light transmitted by the display, wherein the display is configured to emit a plurality of different codes from a respective plurality of different regions of the display, such that each region of the plurality of different regions emits a unique code from among the plurality of different codes. The method includes identifying, by a computing system, a first code encoded within the light transmitted by the display and captured by the light receiving device. The method includes determining, by the computing system, a first region of the display that corresponds to the first code from among the plurality of different regions of the display.