Post-Processing Display Separation for OSD Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of system-on-a-chip (SOC) video processors in on-screen displays (OSDs) makes them difficult to program, leading to longer and more expensive software development times, and the single output of these processors causes degradation of image quality when post-processing is applied to both images and OSDs, especially with transparent OSDs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a post-processor that separates OSD data from image data, allowing for more sophisticated processing algorithms to be applied to the image data without degrading the OSD, by bypassing de-interlacing and scaling stages in the SOC and transmitting OSD and image data in alternating frames or in the same frame with separate memory locations, enabling advanced image processing techniques like de-interlacing, scaling, and three-dimensional imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If post-processing is applied to both image and OSD data from a single SOC output, then image processing capabilities are improved, but OSD appearance quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the video signal into separate OSD data and image data streams, allowing independent processing paths. The OSD processor handles OSD-specific processing while the image processor handles image enhancement, preventing mutual interference and maintaining both qualities simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts OSD data from the composite video signal before post-processing occurs. By separating OSD data at the source and routing it through a dedicated processor, the system avoids applying image-degrading post-processing operations to OSD elements.
2Ease of operation
If transparent OSDs are used to allow image visibility through OSD, then user interface clarity is improved, but image quality under OSD regions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing into separate OSD and image paths, allowing the image to be processed with full post-processing effects before being combined with OSD elements. This ensures that transparent OSD regions display the fully processed image without degradation.
3Device complexity
If the same SOC is used across all product lines to reduce complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but image quality differentiation between product lines deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an external image processor as an intermediary between the standardized SOC and the display. This separate processor provides advanced image enhancement capabilities across all product lines without requiring different SOCs, maintaining standardization while enabling quality differentiation through optional processing.
4Productivity
If de-interlacing and scaling are performed in the SOC before OSD overlay, then processing efficiency is improved, but OSD sharpness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent separates OSD processing from image processing, allowing de-interlacing and scaling to be applied only to the image portion. The OSD data maintains its original resolution and sharpness while the image undergoes enhancement processing, with both combined in the final output.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of processing on screen display data with an image post processor includes receiving a data stream from a video processor at a post processing device having at least one port, the data stream including on screen display data overlaid on a white background and the on screen display data overlaid on a black background, finding a difference between the on screen display data overlaid on white and the on screen display data overlaid on black, using the difference to determine a complement of an alpha blend value, performing image processing on the image data with the post processor by applying the complement of an alpha blend value to the image data to produce processed image data, and transmitting the processed image data and the on screen display data through a display port.