KR101601810B1 - Method for calibrating image distortion and apparatus thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image distortion correction method and apparatus capable of automatically correcting image distortion automatically and precisely at any time under any circumstance and conditions.
A method for correcting image distortion according to the present invention is a method for correcting image distortion of a projection type image display apparatus having a laser light source, the method comprising the steps of correcting at least four points selected from a plurality of vertices or sides of an image to be displayed on a projection plane, Irradiating each of the lasers to a point on the projection plane; Receiving each of the reflected laser beams after being irradiated to the at least four locations; Calculating a time required for each of the at least four locations using the light receiving time points of the respective lasers; And correcting the image distortion using the calculated required time value.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an image distortion correction method,

The present invention relates to an image distortion correction method and apparatus, and more particularly, to an image distortion correction method and apparatus capable of automatically performing keystone correction, particularly, of a projection type image display apparatus such as a projector.

As a device for meeting the demand to reproduce images on a large-sized screen along with the development of the information industry today, a projection type image employing an imager such as a liquid crystal on semiconductor (LCOS) panel or a DLP Display devices are widely used.

Such a projection type image display apparatus usually comprises a screen and a projector for generating an image on the screen and enlarging and projecting the image.

When an image is displayed on a projection surface such as a screen using a projector, a trapezoidal distortion is generated in the image displayed on the projection surface due to the relative positional relationship between the projector and the projection surface. In such a case, Keystone correction for correcting trapezoidal distortion of the display image is used.

A conventional keystone correction method has been proposed in which keystone correction is performed by calculating keystone information from the height difference value between the projector and the screen and the tilt and direction information obtained using the tilt sensor as in the prior arts 1 to 2 .

However, the keystone correction method based on the sensor for measuring the tilt has a disadvantage in that the distortion image can not be accurately corrected when exposed to the surrounding magnetic field environment.

Previous Patent 1. Korean Patent Publication No. 20080044654 (Published date: May 21, 2008) Previous Patent 2. Korean Patent No. 0643406 (registered on October 31, 2006)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image distortion correction method and apparatus capable of correcting image distortion automatically and precisely at any time under any circumstance and conditions .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for correcting image distortion in a projection type image display apparatus having a laser light source, the method comprising: selecting a plurality of vertexes or sides of an image to be displayed on a projection plane, Irradiating each of the lasers to a point on a projection plane corresponding to at least four positions; Receiving each of the reflected laser beams after being irradiated to the at least four locations; Calculating a time required for each of the at least four locations using the light receiving time points of the respective lasers; And correcting the image distortion using the calculated required time value.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image distortion correcting apparatus comprising: a light source for emitting light; An optical system including a lens or a reflector; A light receiving unit for receiving the light emitted from the light source unit and reflected after reaching the projection plane; And controlling the light to be emitted to a point on a projection plane corresponding to at least four points selected from a plurality of vertexes or sides of an image to be displayed on a projection plane or displayed on a projection plane, And calculating a required time value for each of the at least four locations, and correcting the image distortion using the calculated required time value.

According to the image distortion correction method and apparatus of the present invention, image distortion can be corrected automatically and precisely at any time under any circumstance and conditions, thereby greatly increasing user convenience.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image distortion correction apparatus according to the present invention;
2 is a block flow diagram illustrating a process flow of an image distortion correction method according to the present invention;
3 is a schematic view showing a normal image displayed by the projection type image display apparatus;
4 is a conceptual diagram for explaining an image distortion correction method according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another embodiment of the method of FIG. 4; FIG.
6 is a diagram illustrating a distortion image correction method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a diagram illustrating a distorted image correction method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a diagram illustrating a distorted image correction method according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a diagram illustrating a distorted image correction method according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like refer to the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Also, in the present specification, the term " above or above "means to be located above or below the object portion, and does not necessarily mean that the object is located on the upper side with respect to the gravitational direction. It will also be understood that when a section of an area, plate, or the like is referred to as being "above or above another section ", this applies not only to the case where the other section is " And the like.

Also, in this specification, when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" with another element, the element may be directly connected or directly connected to the other element, It should be understood that, unless an opposite description is present, it may be connected or connected via another element in the middle.

Also, in this specification, the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

In the following, preferred embodiments, advantages and features of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image distortion correction apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the image distortion correction apparatus of the present invention is incorporated in a projection type image display apparatus such as a stationary projector, a portable projector, or a micro projector incorporated in a mobile terminal. In particular, The image distortion can be corrected automatically.

More specifically, the image distortion correcting apparatus of the present invention includes a light source unit, an optical system, a light receiving unit, an imager, and a control unit.

The light source unit of the present invention is a constituent unit for obtaining correction point information for calculating a required time value to be described later and is constituted by an element capable of emitting a point light source having a linearity.

According to a preferred embodiment, the light source unit of the present invention is constituted by a light source unit for image display that emits light in order to generate a projection image, and the light source unit is preferably composed of a laser diode, but is not limited thereto.

For example, the light source unit of the present invention may be provided separately from the light source unit for image display, or a light emitting diode (LED) other than a laser may be used to achieve the same purpose.

The optical system of the present invention may be configured to include a lens and / or a reflector as a constituent part disposed on a light path in front of the light source part and for forming an image by using reflection or refraction of light emitted from the light source part.

The optical system may further include a projection lens that adjusts the image projected through the imager and projects the image onto a projection plane 1 of a screen or the like. The projection lens adjusts the focus or size of the projected image by adjusting the distance.

The image distortion correction apparatus of the present invention can be configured to automatically correct the distorted image 15 through adjustment of such an optical system. Specifically, the optical system is configured to be connected with a tilt apparatus, and the tilt apparatus of the optical system It is possible to correct an image distortion such as a keystone by adjusting the reflection angle or refraction angle of the incident light through the operation.

According to another embodiment, the tilting operation of the optical system by the above-described tilting apparatus may be replaced, and the image source may be deformed. The ratio of the image to be projected using the ratio of the length of the upper side and the length of the lower side of the distorted image calculated according to the third embodiment to be described later.

The light receiving unit of the present invention is a constituent unit for receiving light reflected from the projection surface 1 after being emitted from the light source unit and may be constituted by a laser light receiving sensor capable of receiving laser light when the light source is composed of a laser .

The imager of the present invention is a constituent unit that transmits light emitted from a light source unit and displays an input image, and can be configured of a liquid crystal on semiconductor (LCOS) panel or a DLP (Digital Light Processing) panel.

The control unit of the present invention controls the imager to operate to irradiate light onto at least four places on the projection plane 1 of a screen or the like and to provide light reception information from a light receiving unit that receives light reflected after being irradiated to the at least four places And calculates an elapsed time value to be described later.

In addition, the controller performs a function of correcting the distorted image based on the calculated required time value, and the distortion image correction can be performed by controlling the tilting operation of the optical system described above.

Alternatively, when the distortion image correction is configured to be performed through the deformation of the image source, the control unit performs an operation of calculating the ratio of the lengths of the two sides (preferably the upper side and the lower side) of the distorted image, (Upper side and lower side) of the image information to be processed is processed so as to have a reverse ratio of the calculated ratio.

Meanwhile, the image distortion correction apparatus of the present invention may be configured such that the correction of the distorted image is automatically performed immediately before or immediately before the projection time, or may be performed by an instruction by the user. In this case, And the buttons may be formed in the form of a touch type or a pressure type and may be provided in a projection type video display device or a separate remote controller.

Hereinafter, a method of correcting image distortion through the above-described configuration will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 is a block flow chart showing the processing flow of the image distortion correction method according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a normal image displayed by the projection type image display apparatus, FIG. Fig. 5 is a conceptual diagram for explaining another embodiment of the method of Fig. 4; Fig.

2 to 4, an image distortion correction method according to the present invention includes an image projection step S10, a correction point generation step S20, a correction point reception step S30, a time required value calculation step S40, And a distortion image correction step (S50).

(1) Image projection step (S10)

The image projection step S10 is a step of displaying an image generated from the light source unit and generated by the optical system and the imager on a projection plane 1 such as a screen.

3 shows a projection image normally displayed on a screen (hereinafter referred to as a 'normal image 10'). In this way, the normal image 10 shows a rectangular shape, but when image distortion such as a key stone occurs, the projected image is displayed in a distorted form such as a trapezoid as shown in FIG. 4 instead of a rectangle.

For reference, the image distortion correction apparatus and correction method of the present invention are configured to project the image on the projection plane 1 before correcting the distorted image 15, and then correct the distortion of the displayed image. However, The execution time of the image projection step S10 may be modified.

That is, before projecting the image onto the projection plane 1, the laser is first irradiated to at least the four positions described above to grasp and correct the distortion of the image to be projected in advance, and then the image with the distortion corrected in advance is projected onto the projection plane 1 As shown in FIG.

In the former case, the image projection step S10 is configured to be performed before the correction point creation step S20. In the latter case, the image projection step S10 is performed from the correction point creation step S20 to the distortion image correction step S50 And may be configured to be performed after all.

(2) Calibration point generation step (S20)

The correction point creation step S20 is a step of creating a correction point in the image displayed on the projection plane 1 through the step S10 in such a manner that light (i.e., laser light) is emitted to a point on the projection plane 1 corresponding to at least four points selected from the vertex or sides of the display image. Respectively.

That is, a laser beam in the form of a dichroic beam is irradiated onto a point on the projection plane 1 corresponding to a vertex or side of an image to be displayed or displayed on the projection plane 1. A point on the projection plane 1 to which the dichroic light is irradiated is referred to as Will be referred to as a " correction point ".

On the other hand, such a correction point can be configured to use a pixel corresponding to the vertex or side of the image to be displayed on the projection plane 1 or to be displayed.

According to the preferred embodiment of FIG. 3, the correction point generation step S20 is configured to irradiate the laser to each vertex of the projection image. 3, a total of four lasers 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21d are irradiated to each of four vertexes 23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d of the distorted image 15, that is, the trapezoid image.

At this time, the laser 21a emitted from the image distortion correcting apparatus 30 and directed to the vertex 23a located at the lower left takes a time of t1 until reaching the vertex 23a, The laser 21b irradiated to the vertex 23b at which the laser 21b is irradiated takes a time of t2 until reaching the vertex 23b and the laser 21c irradiated to the vertex 23c located at the upper right of the laser 21c takes the time T3 'until it reaches the vertex 23c and the laser 21d irradiated to the vertex 23d located at the lower right takes a time t4 until it reaches the vertex 23d.

If the distorted image 15 is displayed in a trapezoid shape as shown in FIG. 3, the laser '21a' and the laser 21d take the same time t1 and t4, and the laser 21b and 21c take the same time T2 and t3 ', and the required times' t2 and t3' have values larger than the required times' t1 and t4 '.

5 is a further embodiment of the method of FIG. 4. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the laser is irradiated to each vertex of the image projected on the projection plane 1, whereas in the embodiment of FIG. 5, And the laser is irradiated to the center of each side of the projected image.

When a laser beam is irradiated to the center of each side of the image in a state where the distorted image 15 having a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG. 5 is generated, the laser irradiated to the center of the left side takes a time of 't5' The time required for the laser is 't6', the laser irradiated to the center of the right side takes time 't7', and the laser irradiated to the lower center takes time 't8'.

Then, the required times t5 and t7 have the same value, and the required times t5, t6 and t8 have mutually different values.

As described above, if the image displayed on the projection plane 1 is a distorted image, the respective required time values of the laser beams irradiated to at least four positions selected from a plurality of vertexes or sides of the image displayed on the projection plane 1, And the time required to reach the corresponding point) are different from each other by at least two.

On the other hand, if the image displayed on the projection plane 1 is the normal image 10, the respective required time values of the laser beams irradiated to at least four places of the projected image are all the same value.

The present invention is characterized in that the distortion image is corrected by using the difference of the time required inevitably when the projection image is distorted.

(3) Correction point receiving step (S30)

The correction point receiving step (S30) of the present invention is a step of receiving light reflected and reflected back to at least four places in the aforementioned correction point generating step (S20).

The correction point receiving step S30 may be performed through the light receiving unit described above, and when the light source unit is constituted by a laser, the correction point receiving step S30 is performed through the laser light receiving sensor.

(4) Time required value calculation step (S40)

The required time value calculation step S40 of the present invention calculates the required time value S40 using the time of laser emission in step S20 and the received point of time of each laser in step S30, This is a step of measuring time.

That is, if the laser is irradiated to each vertex of the projection image as in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the required time values calculated through step S40 are 't1, t2, t3, t4' If the laser is irradiated to the center of each side of the projection image as in the embodiment, the required time values calculated through step S40 correspond to t5, t6, t7, and t8.

Meanwhile, the time required is a time taken for the laser to reach the projection plane 1 after the laser is emitted. However, the time required for the laser is reflected after the emitted laser reaches the projection plane 1, It is needless to say that the same object can be achieved by constituting the time taken to be incident.

The image distortion correction method of the present invention is a method for correcting image distortion in which a plurality of laser beams are irradiated to a point on a projection plane 1 corresponding to a plurality of vertexes or sides of an image displayed on a projection plane 1 or displayed on a projection plane 1, ; A second step of receiving a reflected laser beam at the spot; And a third step of calculating a time required for the point by using the light receiving point of the laser.

In this case, one required time value is calculated for one point, and then a plurality of different points (i.e., at least four points selected from a plurality of vertices or sides) are selected by repeating the first to third steps And the time required for each of the plurality of points.

(5) Distorted image correction step (S50)

The distortion image correction step (S50) of the present invention is a step of correcting the distortion image using at least four required time values calculated through steps 'S20' to 'S40'.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the distortion correction method will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 to 9. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a distortion image correction method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a distortion image correction method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The distortion image correction method according to the first embodiment is a method for correcting a distorted image by using a minimum time length value (hereinafter, referred to as a reference time value) among the at least four time length values calculated through the above-described steps S20 to S40 And corrects the remaining time values to be equal to the reference time value.

Referring to FIG. 6, in the case of a distorted image as shown in FIG. 6 (a), a plurality of required time values are displayed as different values. 6, the laser 21a and the laser 21d have the same elapsed time values t1 and t4, the laser 21b and 21c have the same elapsed time values t2 and t3, respectively, and the elapsed time values 't2 and t3' t4. < / RTI >

Therefore, in such a case, the control unit determines the required time values t2 and t3 as the reference time values, and then processes the remaining time values t1 and t4 to be equal to t2 and t3.

Specifically, the control unit controls the optical system connected to the tilting apparatus to adjust the time required for each laser. More specifically, the lasers 21a and 21d control to have the same elapsed time values t1 and t4 as before, The laser beams 21b and 21c irradiated by the optical path are controlled to be irradiated by the optical paths 21b 'and 21c' as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

Accordingly, the laser whose irradiation point is changed from 23b to 23b 'is changed from t2 to t2' (i.e., the same value as t1), and the laser whose irradiation point is changed from 23c to 23c ' The time value is changed from t3 to t3 '(i.e., the same value as t1).

As described above, by processing such that the different required time values of the respective lasers become equal to any one of the reference time values, the projected image after the processing is consequently obtained as shown in Fig. 6 (a) (b) as shown in FIG.

The distortion image correction method according to the second embodiment is characterized in that all of the at least four required time values are equal to the average value based on the average value of at least four required time values calculated through the steps S20 to S40 described above .

Referring to FIG. 7, in the case of the distorted image as shown in FIG. 7 (a), a plurality of required time values are displayed as different values. That is, the required time values t2 and t3 have values larger than the required time values t1 and t4.

Therefore, in such a case, the controller calculates the average value of the required time values t1, t2, t3, and t4, and then processes the required time values t1, t2, t3, and t4 to be equal to the average value.

That is, the control unit controls the optical system connected to the tilt device to adjust the optical path of each laser, so that each of the lasers has the same new required time values t1 '' and t2 '' at the previous required time values t1, t2, t3 and t4, , t3 ", t4 ".

As described above, by processing each laser so that the different required time values are equal to the average value, the projected image after the processing is consequently obtained as shown in FIG. 7 (b) and FIG. 7 It can be corrected and displayed by the same normal image 10.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a distortion image correction method according to a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a distortion image correction method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

The distortion image correcting method according to the third embodiment is a method for correcting distortion of two sides (preferably, upper side and lower side) of the projected image using the four required time values calculated through the above-described steps 'S20' to 'S40' After calculating the length, one side is referred to as a reference (hereinafter, referred to as a reference side) and the other side is corrected to be equal to the reference side.

Referring to FIG. 8, in the case of a distorted image as shown in FIG. 8A, a plurality of required time values are displayed as different values, and thus two sides (the upper side a and the lower side b in FIG. Have different lengths from each other.

In this case, the control unit controls the optical system connected to the tilt device to adjust the optical path of each laser so that a new upper side a 'having a length equal to the length of the lower side b is formed on the upper side a of the projected image, (See Fig. 8 (b)).

8 (a) and 23 (b)), the projected image is processed as shown in FIG. 8 ((a) and (b) a distorted image such as a) can be displayed as the normal image 10 as shown in FIG. 8 (b).

The distortion image correction method according to the fourth embodiment calculates the lengths of two sides of the projection image using the four required time values calculated through the above-described steps 'S20' to 'S40' And correcting the two sides to be equal to the average value based on the average value.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the ratio of the image to be projected may be processed using the ratio of the length of the upper side and the length of the lower side of the distorted image calculated according to the third embodiment.

8 (a), the upper side (a) of the distorted image and the lower side (lower side) of the distorted image b, and then processes the image information supplied to the panel into image information having the opposite ratio.

For example, if the length of the upper side (a) is longer than the length of the lower side (b) by 120%, the lower side b is processed to be image information of the opposite phase so that the lower side b is 120% longer than the upper side .

According to the above-described method, the image distortion can be corrected without the tilting operation of the optical system (that is, a separate tilting apparatus), thereby reducing the manufacturing cost and volume of the apparatus.

On the other hand, according to the method of processing the image source for the distortion image correction as described above, since the 20% of the pixels are black-processed on the upper side, the resolution of the upper part of the image displayed on the projection plane decreases There are disadvantages that can occur.

However, if the resolution of the projected image is sufficient to have a resolution higher than the HD level, even if the resolution of the predetermined region is relatively reduced, the display image still can visually display a sufficiently clear resolution. It can be effective.

Referring to FIG. 9, in the case of a distorted image as shown in FIG. 9 (a), a plurality of required time values are different from each other, and thus two sides (the upper side a and the lower side b in FIG. Have different lengths from each other.

In this case, the control unit controls the optical system connected to the tilt device to adjust the optical path of each laser so that the length of the upper side (a) and the length of the lower side (b) And the average value (a '', b '') of the lower side (b).

By modifying the laser irradiation point, that is, the correction points (23a, 23b, 23c, and 23d in FIG. 9) so that the lengths of both sides of the projection image become the same, the projected image after the above- The distortion image shown in FIG. 9 (a) can be corrected and displayed as the normal image 10 as shown in FIG. 9 (b).

According to the above-described configuration, the user of the projector can receive the projection image displayed in the steady state of the rectangle at all times without any additional operation.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above using specific terms, such terms are used only for the purpose of clarifying the invention, and it is to be understood that the embodiment It will be obvious that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Such modified embodiments should not be understood individually from the spirit and scope of the present invention, but should be regarded as being within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1: projection plane 10: normal image
15: distortion image 30: image distortion correction device
31: control unit 33:
35: Optical system 37: Imager
39:

Claims (14)

delete A first step of irradiating light to a point on a projection plane corresponding to a plurality of vertexes or sides of an image to be displayed on a projection plane or displayed on a projection plane using an optical system including a light source unit for emitting light and a lens or a reflector;
A second step of receiving the reflected light after being irradiated to the spot; And
And a third step of calculating a time required for the point by using the light receiving time point of the light,
Wherein the first to third steps are respectively performed on at least four points selected from a plurality of vertexes or sides of the image displayed on the projection plane or displayed on the projection plane,
And a fourth step of correcting the image distortion using each of the required time values calculated for the at least four locations,
The fourth step of correcting the image distortion using the time-
The image distortion is corrected by controlling the tilting operation of the optical system using the tilting apparatus for the tilting operation of the optical system so that the respective required time values calculated for the at least four positions become equal to each other Image distortion correction method.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the required time value is a time taken for the light to reach the projection surface after the light is emitted or a time taken for the light to be reflected and reflected by the projection surface after the light is emitted.
delete 3. The method of claim 2,
The processing is performed such that the remaining time value is equal to the reference time value based on the minimum required time value (hereinafter, referred to as 'reference time value') among the respective required time values calculated for the at least four places The image distortion correction method.
3. The method of claim 2,
The correction of the image distortion using the time-
Calculating lengths of two sides of the image displayed on the projection plane or displayed on the projection plane using the respective required time values calculated for the at least four positions, and then processing the two sides so that the lengths of the two sides become equal And correcting the image distortion.
The method according to claim 6,
The two sides are the upper side and the lower side,
Wherein the processing is performed so that one side of the upper side or the lower side is the same as the reference side and the other side is the same length.
3. The method of claim 2,
The correction of the image distortion using the time-
Calculating a ratio of lengths of two sides of the image displayed on the projection plane or displayed on the projection plane using the respective required time values calculated for the at least four points, And the ratio is corrected to have an opposite ratio to the calculated ratio.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein a point on the projection plane to which the light is irradiated is a pixel corresponding to a vertex or a side of an image to be displayed on or displayed on the projection plane.
An image distortion correction apparatus of a projection type image display apparatus,
A light source for emitting light;
An optical system including a lens or a reflector;
A light receiving unit for receiving the light emitted from the light source unit and reflected after reaching the projection plane; And
And controls the light to be emitted to a point on a projection plane corresponding to at least four points selected from a plurality of vertexes or sides of an image to be displayed on a projection plane or displayed on a projection plane, And a controller for calculating the required time value for each of the four locations and correcting the image distortion using the calculated required time value,
Further comprising a tilt device for tilting the optical system,
Wherein the controller is configured to correct the image distortion by controlling a tilting operation of the optical system,
Wherein,
Wherein the image distortion correction unit corrects the image distortion by controlling the tilting operation of the optical system so as to make all of the required time values calculated for the at least four locations equal to each other.
delete delete 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein,
Calculating a ratio of lengths of two sides of the image displayed on the projection plane or displayed on the projection plane using the respective required time values calculated for the at least four points, Wherein the processing is performed so that the ratio is processed to the opposite ratio of the calculated ratio.
11. The method of claim 10,
Further comprising an imager that transmits light emitted from the light source unit and displays an input image and is controlled so that the light is irradiated to a point on a projection plane corresponding to the at least four positions. .

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