Screen-Integrated Light Guide Camera for Video Conferencing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional devices with screens, such as smartphones, face challenges in image capture due to the placement of camera sensors, which results in reduced image quality, increased susceptibility to covering or soiling, and a less-than-ideal user experience during video conferencing, as the camera sensor is often positioned at the edge of the screen, limiting the surface area and visibility.
Innovation Solution
A detection device incorporating a carrier medium as a light guide that serves as a cover plate for the screen, utilizing holographic diffraction gratings to couple and direct light from the surroundings to an image capturing device, allowing for image data generation without the need for a separate camera sensor on the screen's edge, thus enabling an inconspicuous and efficient image capture system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the camera sensor is positioned at the edge of the screen to integrate the detection device into the device, then the device complexity is reduced, but the image quality deteriorates due to smaller sensor size and limited optical system
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a 2D planar arrangement where the camera sensor is positioned at the edge to a 3D configuration using a light guide that redirects light from the screen surface to a camera sensor positioned behind the screen. This dimensional change allows the camera to capture images without occupying screen real estate while maintaining adequate sensor size and optical system performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The light guide acts as an intermediary component between the screen surface and the camera sensor. It captures light from the screen area and redirects it to the camera sensor positioned behind the screen, enabling image capture without direct line-of-sight and without compromising sensor size or image quality.
2Area of stationary object
If a small camera sensor is chosen to maintain the largest possible display region, then the screen area is maximized, but the light gathering capability deteriorates resulting in reduced image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide enables the camera sensor to be positioned in a different spatial dimension (behind the screen) rather than at the edge, allowing the use of a larger sensor without reducing the display region area. The light guide effectively extends the optical path to accommodate a larger sensor while maintaining full screen visibility.
3Device complexity
If the camera sensor is positioned at the edge of the screen, then the device integration is simplified, but the susceptibility to covering or soiling increases
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide serves as a protective intermediary, allowing the camera sensor to be positioned behind the screen where it is protected from direct contact with users' fingers and environmental contaminants. The light guide transports light from the screen surface to the protected sensor position, eliminating the need for the sensor to be exposed at the edge.
4Device complexity
If the camera sensor is positioned at the edge of the screen for video conferencing, then the device integration is achieved, but the user experience deteriorates as the user does not look directly into the camera
Solution Approach 1:
The light guide enables the camera to be positioned in a different spatial dimension (behind the screen) so that when the user looks at the screen, they are directly looking into the camera lens. This creates a more natural eye-contact experience during video conferencing while maintaining device integration.
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
This solution enhances image quality by utilizing the entire screen surface for image capture, reduces the likelihood of the capture region being covered, and eliminates the need for additional optical elements, resulting in a more cost-effective and user-friendly device with reduced complexity and weight.
Implementation Method 1
The carrier medium is thus embodied as a light guide, that is to say that the carrier medium constitutes a light guiding medium. That is to say that the carrier medium can forward light that is coupled into the carrier medium to the image capturing device by internal reflection
Implementation Method 2
optical diffraction gratings are produced holographically and are therefore referred to as holographic gratings. if light impinges on the holographic grating from an angle so that the Bragg condition is at least approximately satisfied, the light is diffracted at an angle
Implementation Method 3
light which impinges on such a holographic grating at an angle that is distinctly outside the angular range that satisfies the Bragg condition passes through the holographic grating without being diffracted. However if light impinges on the holographic grating from an angle so that the Bragg condition is at least approximately satisfied, the light is diffracted at an angle
Data Source
AI summary
A carrier medium embodied as a light guide has an input coupling region and an output coupling region, each of which are embodied as a holographic element. The carrier medium forms a cover plate for an image display region of a screen and the input coupling region is at least one partial region of the cover plate surface. Light incident on the input coupling region from the surroundings is coupled into the carrier medium, transmitted to the output coupling region by internal reflection and is in turn coupled out from the output coupling region. The coupled-out light is captured by an image capturing device and used to generate image data correlated with the captured light.