WO2022108131A1

WO2022108131A1 - Electronic device and control method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2022108131A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/014670
Authority: WO
Inventors: 조영훈; 배태준; 이희중
Original assignee: 삼성전자주식회사
Priority date: 2020-11-18
Filing date: 2021-10-20
Publication date: 2022-05-27
Also published as: KR20220067752A

Abstract

An electronic device is disclosed. The electronic device comprises: a display panel; a backlight unit composed of a plurality of backlight blocks including a first backlight block and a second backlight block; and a processor for controlling driving of the backlight unit on the basis of current information for driving each of the plurality of backlight blocks. The processor can identify, as a plurality of first virtual blocks, a first image region corresponding to the first backlight block in an input image, identify, as a plurality of second virtual blocks, a second image region corresponding to the second backlight block that is adjacent to the first backlight block, apply a diffusion filter to at least some values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to identify a diffusion value obtained by diffusion to at least some of the plurality of second virtual blocks, and acquire current information corresponding to the second backlight block, on the basis of values corresponding to at least some of the plurality of second virtual blocks, the values being acquired on the basis of the identified diffusion value.

Description

Electronic device and its control method

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly, to an electronic device for driving a backlight unit using a local dimming technique and a method for controlling the same.

An electronic device that does not emit light by itself, such as a liquid crystal display device, includes a backlight unit. For example, when light is emitted from a light source such as a white light emitting diode (LED) included in the backlight unit, the brightness of the light may be controlled by the liquid crystal for each pixel. In dark images, a lot of light is blocked by the liquid crystal, allowing only a small amount of light to pass through to create dark luminance, and bright images to create bright luminance by allowing most of the light to pass through. Brightness is controlled by how much light is blocked by liquid crystal. However, the liquid crystal cannot block all light, and in particular, blocking light with the liquid crystal in a dark image such as a black image is limited. A light leakage phenomenon, which is a limitation of the liquid crystal display, causes a decrease in the contrast ratio.

Recently, in order to overcome the above problems, local dimming technology is used. Local dimming is a technique for dividing a backlight unit into a plurality of physical backlight blocks and driving each physical backlight block individually. For example, the local dimming technique drives the backlight unit by decreasing the amount of light of the backlight block matching the dark part of the image and increasing the amount of light of the backlight block matching the bright part of the image. However, there is a problem in that the movement of the object cannot be displayed naturally when the local dimming technique is used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure has been made in accordance with the above-mentioned necessity, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device for locally dimming a backlight so as to naturally display the motion of an object, and a method for controlling the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device for achieving the above object, including a backlight unit including a display panel, a first backlight block, and a plurality of backlight blocks including a second backlight block adjacent to the first backlight block, and the plurality of backlights. and a processor for controlling driving of the backlight unit based on current information for driving each of the blocks, wherein the processor is configured to generate a first image region and a second backlight block corresponding to the first backlight block in an input image. A corresponding second image region is identified as a plurality of first virtual blocks and a plurality of second virtual blocks, respectively, and a diffusion filter is applied to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to apply a diffusion filter to the plurality of second virtual blocks. Identifies a diffusion value that is diffused into at least a portion of the virtual blocks, calculates a value corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the identified diffusion value, and calculates a value corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the calculated value Current information corresponding to the block may be acquired.

In addition, the processor is configured to apply a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to spread a first diffusion value and a plurality of second virtual blocks to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks. identify a second diffusion value that is diffused to at least a part of Thus, the dimming duty of the current corresponding to the second backlight block may be obtained.

Also, the processor may predict a motion direction of an object included in the first image region in the input image, and apply a weight obtained based on the predicted motion direction to the diffusion filter.

In addition, the processor is configured to weight the diffusion filter so that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction. can be decided

Also, the processor may determine the weight of the spreading filter so that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are not spread in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.

Also, the processor may predict a motion speed of the object, and determine a weight of the diffusion filter based on the motion direction and the motion speed.

Also, the processor may increase or decrease a weight change amount of a diffusion filter corresponding to each frame based on the motion speed of the object.

Also, the processor is configured to calculate values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks based on a plurality of first pixel values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks, and to calculate values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks. Values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks may be calculated based on the plurality of second pixel values.

In addition, the processor may be configured to: based on an original value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks calculated based on the input image and a diffusion value spread to at least a part of the plurality of second virtual blocks, the plurality of second virtual blocks A value corresponding to each of the two virtual blocks may be recalculated, and the current information may be obtained based on a value corresponding to the second backlight block calculated based on the recalculated value.

In addition, the plurality of backlight blocks are driven according to a local dimming method in which current is individually controlled, and the display panel may be a liquid crystal panel.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of controlling an electronic device including a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks including a first backlight block and a second backlight block adjacent to the first backlight block. Acquiring current information for driving each of the backlight blocks, and controlling driving of the backlight unit based on the obtained current information, wherein the acquiring of the current information includes: identifying a first image region corresponding to one backlight block and a second image region corresponding to the second backlight block into a plurality of first virtual blocks and a plurality of second virtual blocks, respectively, the plurality of first virtual blocks applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to to identify a diffusion value that is spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks, and based on the identified diffusion value, at least one of the plurality of second virtual blocks The method may include calculating a value corresponding to a portion, and obtaining current information corresponding to the second backlight block based on the calculated value.

In addition, the step of identifying the diffusion value includes applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to spread a first diffusion value and the plurality of first virtual blocks to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks. Identifying a second diffusion value that is diffused to at least a part of a second virtual block of A duty may be obtained, and a dimming duty of a current corresponding to the second backlight block may be obtained based on the identified second diffusion value.

The method may further include predicting a motion direction of an object included in the first image region from the input image, and applying a weight obtained based on the predicted motion direction to the diffusion filter.

In addition, in the determining of the weight of the diffusion filter, at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is higher than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction. The weight of the spreading filter may be determined to be large.

Also, the determining of the weight of the diffusion filter may include determining the weight of the diffusion filter so that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are not spread in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.

The method may further include estimating a motion speed of the object, and determining the weight of the diffusion filter may include determining the weight of the diffusion filter based on the motion direction and the motion speed.

In addition, the determining of the weight of the diffusion filter may increase or decrease the change amount of the weight of the diffusion filter corresponding to each frame based on the motion speed of the object.

Also, calculating values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks based on a plurality of first pixel values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks; The method may further include calculating values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks based on second pixel values.

In addition, the step of identifying the diffusion value may include an original value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks calculated based on the input image and a diffusion value spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks. , recalculating a value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks, and calculating a value corresponding to the second backlight block based on the recalculated value.

As described above, according to various embodiments of the present invention, since the backlight value is calculated by spreading the backlight value based on more virtual blocks than the number of physical backlight blocks, the movement of the object can be displayed naturally.

1 is a view for explaining characteristics of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining a local dimming method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a method of obtaining a dimming duty corresponding to each backlight block according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining a method of obtaining a backlight value for a virtual block according to an exemplary embodiment.

6A and 6B are diagrams for explaining a method of applying a diffusion filter according to an embodiment.

7 is a diagram for describing a method of calculating a physical backlight value based on a diffused backlight value, according to an exemplary embodiment.

8A to 8D are diagrams for explaining a method of calculating a physical backlight value in a plurality of frames according to an exemplary embodiment.

9A to 9D are diagrams for explaining a method of calculating a physical backlight value in a plurality of frames according to another exemplary embodiment.

10A to 10D are diagrams for explaining a method of calculating a physical backlight value in a plurality of frames according to another exemplary embodiment.

11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining a detailed configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Terms used in this specification will be briefly described, and the present disclosure will be described in detail.

Terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are selected as currently widely used general terms as possible while considering the functions in the present disclosure, which may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a person skilled in the art, the emergence of new technology, etc. . In addition, in a specific case, there is a term arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the description of the corresponding disclosure. Therefore, the terms used in the present disclosure should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the contents of the present disclosure, rather than the simple name of the term.

In this specification, expressions such as “have,” “may have,” “include,” or “may include” indicate the presence of a corresponding characteristic (eg, a numerical value, function, operation, or component such as a part). and does not exclude the presence of additional features.

The expression "at least one of A and/or B" is to be understood as indicating either "A" or "B" or "A and B".

As used herein, expressions such as "first," "second," "first," or "second," can modify various elements, regardless of order and/or importance, and refer to one element. It is used only to distinguish it from other components, and does not limit the components.

A component (eg, a first component) is "coupled with/to (operatively or communicatively)" to another component (eg, a second component); When referring to "connected to", it should be understood that an element may be directly connected to another element or may be connected through another element (eg, a third element).

The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, terms such as "comprises" or "consisting of" are intended to designate that the features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification exist, and are intended to indicate that one or more other It should be understood that this does not preclude the possibility of addition or presence of features or numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

In the present disclosure, a “module” or “unit” performs at least one function or operation, and may be implemented as hardware or software, or a combination of hardware and software. In addition, a plurality of “modules” or a plurality of “units” are integrated into at least one module and implemented with at least one processor (not shown) except for “modules” or “units” that need to be implemented with specific hardware. can be

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view for explaining a backlight control method according to local dimming to help the understanding of the present disclosure.

In general, the local dimming method divides an input image by the number of backlight blocks and calculates a value for driving each backlight block through input data of each image region matching the backlight. For example, the backlight lighting time may be individually controlled for each image area.

1 shows the backlight value for each block calculated based on the input image. Since the pixel value of the object in the image shown on the left is high, the backlight value of the region matching the object is calculated to be large, and the backlight value of the other regions is small. can be calculated. However, when the backlight value is calculated in this way, the backlight value is rapidly changed according to the position of the object. For example, in the image shown on the left side of FIG. 1 , an object is panned at a constant speed, but a matching backlight value shown on the right side of FIG. 1 does not change at a constant speed. For example, the backlight value is maintained at the same value from frame N to frame N+2 frame, and then the backlight value rapidly changes as the object crosses the boundary between the backlight block and the adjacent backlight block. Accordingly, the movement of the object may be perceived by the user unnaturally due to the difference in the backlight value change between the N frame to N+2 frame period and the N+2 to N+3 frame period.

Accordingly, hereinafter, various embodiments of allowing the movement of an object to be recognized naturally by a user in a backlight driving method of local dimming will be described.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the electronic device 100 includes a display panel 110 , a backlight unit 120 , and a processor 130 .

The electronic device 100 may be implemented as a smart TV, Internet TV, web TV, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), signage, PC, smart TV, monitor, smart phone, tablet, etc., but is not limited thereto. , LFD (large format display), Digital Signage (digital signage), DID (Digital Information Display), video wall (video wall), it can be implemented as various types of devices having a display function, such as a projector display.

The display panel 110 includes a plurality of pixels, and each pixel may include a plurality of sub-pixels. For example, each pixel may include three sub-pixels corresponding to a plurality of lights, for example, red, green, and blue lights (R, G, and B). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and in some cases, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, or other sub-pixels may be included in addition to the red, green, and blue sub-pixels. Here, the display panel 110 may be implemented as a liquid crystal panel. However, if local dimming according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is applicable, it may be implemented as another type of display panel.

The backlight unit 120 irradiates light to the display panel 110 .

In particular, the backlight unit 120 irradiates light to the display panel 110 from the rear surface of the display panel 110 , that is, the surface opposite to the surface on which an image is displayed.

The backlight unit 120 includes a plurality of light sources, and the plurality of light sources may include a linear light source such as a lamp or a point light source such as a light emitting diode, but is not limited thereto. The backlight unit 120 may be implemented as a direct type backlight unit or an edge type backlight unit. The light source of the backlight unit 120 is any one or two or more types of light emitting diode (LED), hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL), cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), external electrode fluorescent lamp (EEFL), ELP, and FFL. may include

According to an embodiment, the backlight unit 120 may be implemented with a plurality of LED modules and/or a plurality of LED cabinets. In addition, the LED module may include a plurality of LED pixels. According to an example, the LED pixel may be implemented as a Blue LED or a Whithe LED, but is not limited thereto. At least one of a RED LED, a GREEN LED, or a BLUE LED It can be implemented in a form including.

The processor 130 controls the overall operation of the electronic device 100 .

According to an embodiment, the processor 130 may be implemented as a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor (microprocessor), or a time controller (TCON). However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the central processing unit ( central processing unit (CPU), micro controller unit (MCU), micro processing unit (MPU), controller, application processor (AP), graphics-processing unit (GPU) or communication processor (CP)), may include one or more of an ARM processor, or may be defined by a corresponding term In addition, the processor 130 is a SoC (System on Chip) or LSI (large scale integration) with a built-in processing algorithm. It may be implemented in the form of a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and the processor 130 may perform various functions by executing pre-stored computer executable instructions.

The processor 130 drives the backlight unit 120 to provide light to the display panel 110 .

The processor 130 may obtain current information for driving each of the plurality of backlight blocks and drive the backlight unit 120 based on the obtained current information. For example, the processor 130 adjusts and outputs current information for driving each of the plurality of backlight blocks, for example, at least one of a supply time and an intensity of a driving current (or a driving voltage).

Specifically, the processor 130 may control the luminance of the light sources included in the backlight unit 120 by using pulse width modulation (PWM) in which a duty ratio is variable. Here, the pulse width modulation signal PWM controls the ratio of turning on and off of the light sources, and the duty ratio % is determined according to a dimming value input from the processor 130 . In addition, the processor 110 may control the luminance of the light sources of the backlight unit 120 by varying the intensity of the current in some cases.

In this case, the processor 130 may be implemented in a form including a driver IC for driving the backlight unit 120 . For example, the processor 130 may be implemented as a DSP, and may be implemented as a digital driver IC and one chip. However, it goes without saying that the driver IC may be implemented as hardware separate from the processor 130 . For example, when the light sources included in the backlight unit 120 are implemented as LED devices, the driver IC may be implemented as at least one LED driver that controls the current applied to the LED devices. According to an embodiment, the LED driver may be disposed at a rear end of a power supply (eg, a switching mode power supply (SMPS)) to receive voltage from the power supply. However, according to another embodiment, a voltage may be applied from a separate power supply device. Alternatively, it is also possible to be implemented in the form of a module in which the SMPS and the LED driver are integrated into one.

The processor 130 obtains a dimming ratio for driving the backlight unit 120 , that is, a lighting duty of a current (hereinafter referred to as a dimming duty). For example, the processor 130 obtains a backlight value (or a light quantity value) based on pixel information (or pixel physical quantity) of the input image, and determines a dimming duty for driving the backlight unit 120 based on the backlight value. can be obtained Here, the pixel information may be at least one of an average pixel value, a maximum pixel value (or a peak pixel value), a minimum pixel value, an intermediate pixel value, and an average picture level (APL) of the input image. Alternatively, the pixel information may be at least one of an average pixel value, a maximum pixel value (or a peak pixel value), a minimum pixel value, an intermediate pixel value, and an APL of each image block region included in the input image. In this case, the pixel value may include at least one of a luminance value (or a grayscale value) and a color coordinate value. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is assumed that APL is used as pixel information. In addition, the backlight value may be defined as various types of values in which pixel information is reflected. For example, a value obtained by multiplying a pixel value by a specific constant or a value expressing a pixel value as a ratio may be defined as various types of values capable of representing a relative amount of light.

The processor 130 may obtain a dimming ratio for driving the backlight unit 120 for each section, ie, a dimming duty, based on preset pixel information for each section of the input image, for example, APL information. Here, the preset section may be a frame unit, but is not limited thereto, and may be a plurality of frame sections, scene sections, and the like. In this case, the processor 130 may acquire the dimming duty based on pixel information based on a preset function (or arithmetic algorithm), but the dimming duty information according to the pixel information is stored in advance in the form of, for example, a lookup table or a graph. it may have been

For example, the processor 130 may convert the pixel data RGB for each frame into a luminance level according to a preset conversion function, and calculate the APL for each frame by dividing the sum of the luminance levels by the total number of pixels. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it goes without saying that various conventional APL calculation methods may be used. Subsequently, the processor 130 controls the dimming duty of an image frame having an APL of a preset value (eg, 80%) to 100%, and sets the dimming duty of an image frame having an ALP value of 80% or less to the APL value. A dimming duty corresponding to each APL value may be determined using a linearly or non-linearly decreasing function that is inversely proportional to each other. However, when the dimming duty corresponding to the APL value is stored in the lookup table, the dimming duty may be read from the lookup table using the APL as the read address.

Meanwhile, the processor 130 may drive the backlight unit 120 through local dimming in which the screen is identified as a plurality of regions and the backlight luminance is individually controlled for each region.

Specifically, the processor 130 identifies the screen as a plurality of screen areas that can be separately controlled according to the implementation form of the backlight unit 120 , and includes pixel information of an image to be displayed (hereinafter referred to as an image area) of each screen area, e.g. For example, a dimming duty for respectively driving the light sources of the backlight unit 120 corresponding to each image area may be obtained based on the APL information. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, each backlight region corresponding to a plurality of image regions will be referred to as a backlight block. For example, each of the backlight blocks may include at least one light source, for example, a plurality of light sources.

According to an embodiment, the backlight unit 120 may be implemented as a direct backlight unit 120-1 as shown in FIG. 3A . For example, the direct backlight unit 120 - 1 may be implemented in a structure in which a plurality of optical sheets and a diffusion plate are stacked under the display panel 110 , and a plurality of light sources are disposed under the diffusion plate.

The direct backlight unit 120 - 1 may be divided into a plurality of backlight blocks as shown in FIG. 3A based on an arrangement structure of a plurality of light sources. In this case, each of the plurality of backlight blocks may be driven according to a dimming duty based on image information of a corresponding screen area as illustrated.

According to another embodiment, the backlight unit 120 may be implemented as an edge-type backlight unit 120 - 2 as shown in FIG. 3B . For example, the edge-type backlight unit 120 - 2 may be implemented in a structure in which a plurality of optical sheets and a light guide plate are stacked under the display panel 110 , and a plurality of light sources are disposed on a side surface of the light guide plate.

The edge type backlight unit 120 - 2 may be divided into a plurality of backlight blocks as shown in FIG. 3B based on an arrangement structure of a plurality of light sources. In this case, each of the plurality of backlight blocks may be driven according to a dimming duty based on image information of a corresponding screen area as illustrated.

4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a method of obtaining a dimming duty corresponding to each backlight block according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For convenience of description, it is assumed that the backlight unit 120 is implemented in an edge type.

According to an embodiment, the processor 130 obtains pixel information, for example, APL information, of each image region to be displayed on a screen region corresponding to each backlight block of the backlight unit 120, and based on the acquired pixel information, each The dimming duty of the backlight block may be calculated.

For example, the processor 130 calculates APL information of the image regions 111-1 to 111-n corresponding to each of the backlight blocks 121-1 to 121-n, respectively, as shown in the right side of FIG. 4A . can do. For example, the left side of FIG. 4B shows APL values 411-1 to 411-n of each image region 111-1 to 111-n of each image region 111-1 to 111-n according to an example. shows the case where . Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4B , the processor 130 determines the dimming duties 421-1 to 421-n of each backlight block 121-1 to 121-n based on the APL value of each image region obtained in FIG. 4A . n) can be calculated. For example, the dimming duty of each backlight block 121-1 to 121-n may be calculated by applying a preset weight to the ALP value of each image region. For example, a dimming duty of an image area having an APL of 10% may be calculated as 10%*6=60%, and a dimming duty of an image area having an APL of 7% may be calculated as 7%*6=42%. However, this is only an example of calculating the dimming duty, and the dimming duty may be calculated in various ways based on pixel information of each image area.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment, the processor 130 may supply the dimming duty corresponding to each backlight block to the local dimming driver by arranging the dimming duty corresponding to each backlight block according to the connection order of each backlight block. In this case, the local dimming driver generates a pulse width modulation (PWM) signal having each dimming duty provided from the processor 130 , and sequentially drives each backlight block based on the generated PWM signal. According to another embodiment, the processor 130 may generate a pulse width modulation signal based on the calculated dimming duty and provide it to the local dimming driver.

2 , according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 130 may identify a first image region corresponding to the first backlight block and a second image region corresponding to the second backlight block from the input image. . Here, the second backlight block may be a block adjacent to the first backlight block, and accordingly, the second image area may be an area adjacent to the first image area. For example, the second backlight block may be a block adjacent to the first backlight block in at least one of up, down, left, and right directions.

Subsequently, the processor 130 may identify (or divide) the first image region into a plurality of first virtual blocks, and identify the second image region as a plurality of second virtual blocks. Here, although the term “identification (or division)” is used for convenience, the term can be replaced with various terms that may mean that the processor 130 identifies a plurality of pixel blocks.

Here, the first and second backlight blocks may refer to any block among a plurality of backlight blocks. Also, the first virtual block (or second virtual block) is a block obtained by dividing an image region corresponding to the first backlight block (or second backlight block) virtually, and may be a block including at least one pixel. That is, the smallest virtual block unit may be one pixel unit. However, the virtual block unit must be smaller than the size of the first image area. The virtual block may be obtained by dividing the image area by an integer multiple or a non-integer multiple.

According to an example, the processor 130 obtains a value corresponding to the first virtual block based on a plurality of first pixel values corresponding to the first virtual block, that is, the first pixel block in the input image, and the second virtual block That is, a value corresponding to the second virtual block may be obtained based on a plurality of second pixel values corresponding to the second pixel block. Here, the value corresponding to the virtual block (hereinafter, the backlight value) may be various types of values obtained based on pixel information (or pixel physical quantity) of the input image as described above.

5A illustrates an input image 510 according to an embodiment, and FIG. 5B identifies an input image as image regions 511 to 522 corresponding to a backlight block, and identifies each image region as a virtual block region. state is shown.

According to an example, a value corresponding to each virtual block may be expressed as a value between 0 and 100 as shown in FIG. 5C . For example, in the input image, the processor 130 indicates a value corresponding to the minimum grayscale as 0 and a value corresponding to the maximum grayscale as 100, and applies a certain ratio to the remaining grayscale values to display the backlight value for each virtual brightness in FIG. 5C . As shown, it can be expressed as 0 to 100.

For convenience of explanation, the backlight value of the four virtual blocks 516-1 to 516-4 included in the specific backlight block 516 is 100 based on the input image 510 as shown in FIG. 5C. , and the backlight values of the remaining virtual blocks are assumed to be 0.

Returning to FIG. 2 , the processor 130 may identify a diffusion value spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks by applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks. Here, the diffusion filter may be implemented as a diffusion filter having various sizes and various filter values. For example, as long as the backlight value can be sufficiently diffused with the surrounding backlight block, it is not limited and can be applied.

According to an example, a Gaussian filter may be used as a diffusion filter. For example, in the Gaussian filter, as shown in FIG. 6A , 0 on the x-axis may have a large weight, and the weight may decrease toward the +/- part. When such a Gaussian filter is applied to the n*n-shaped mask 60 , the center of the mask 60 has a large value and the filter value decreases toward the edge of the mask 60 . However, the size and filter value of the filter shown in FIG. 6A are merely examples for convenience of description. According to an embodiment, the size of the filter may be variously implemented according to the diffusion size, and the filter value may be variously implemented by changing the sigma value of the Gaussian function according to the diffusion amount. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B , the processor 130 applies the Gaussian mask 60 to the region 610 including the backlight value corresponding to the virtual block to perform filtering, thereby spreading the backlight value. .

2 , according to an embodiment, the processor 130 applies a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to spread the first diffusion value to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks. and a second diffusion value that is spread to at least a part of the plurality of second virtual blocks. Subsequently, the processor 130 obtains current information corresponding to the first backlight block based on the identified first diffusion value, and obtains current information corresponding to the second backlight block based on the identified second diffusion value. can However, it goes without saying that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are spread only to adjacent blocks and not spread to the plurality of first virtual blocks according to the size of the diffusion filter and the filter values (or parameters).

Specifically, the processor 130 calculates an original value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the input image, and based on the calculated original value and a diffusion value spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks. , values corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks may be recalculated. Subsequently, the processor 130 calculates a value corresponding to the second backlight block (hereinafter, referred to as a physical backlight value) based on the recalculated value, and obtains current information corresponding to the second backlight block based on the calculated value. can do. Hereinafter, a value corresponding to the physical backlight block is referred to as a “physical backlight value” in order to distinguish it from the backlight value corresponding to the virtual block.

The upper diagram of FIG. 7 illustrates a state 710 in which a partial backlight value of the first image region 516 is diffused to the first to

sixth image regions

511 , 512 , 515 , 516 , 519 , and 520 . For example, a backlight value of 100 corresponding to some virtual blocks ( FIGS. 5C , 516-1 to 516-4) of the first image region 516 is set to the first to

sixth image regions

511, 512, 515, 516 , 519 , and 520 , it can be spread by the same range in all directions.

In this case, the processor 130 may calculate a physical backlight value corresponding to each backlight block based on the backlight values of the virtual blocks included in each of the image regions 511 to 522 . For example, the processor 130 determines the physical backlight value based on the average value, the maximum value, the minimum value, or a value obtained by multiplying one of the backlight values of the virtual blocks included in each of the image regions 511 to 522 by a specific constant, etc. can be calculated.

The lower diagram of FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the physical backlight value of each backlight block 721 to 732 calculated by the diffused backlight value. For example, the average value, the median value, the minimum value, the maximum value, or at least one of the backlight values of the virtual blocks corresponding to the backlight blocks 721 to 732 multiplied by a preset constant (or weight); A physical backlight value may be calculated in various ways, such as a value calculated based on a plurality of values among corresponding values (eg, an average value of a maximum value and a minimum value). According to an example, the preset constant (or weight) may be the same value for each backlight block, but a different value may be applied to each backlight block according to the position of each backlight block, the intensity of the backlight value, and the like.

8A to 8D, it is assumed that the object moves at a constant speed in the Nth frame 811 to the N+3rd frame 814.

As shown in FIG. 8A , the processor 130 identifies the N-th frame 811 as a plurality of virtual blocks, spreads backlight values of at least some of the plurality of virtual blocks, and thus a backlight value 812 corresponding to each of the virtual blocks. ), and a physical backlight value 813 corresponding to each backlight block may be calculated based on the calculated backlight value 812 . Since the method of diffusing the backlight value has been described in detail with reference to FIG. 7 , further description thereof will be omitted.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 8B to 8D , the processor 130 generates a backlight value corresponding to the virtual block also for the N+1, N+2, and N+3 th frames 821 , 831 , and 841 that are subsequent frames. After diffusion, physical backlight values 823 , 833 , and 843 corresponding to each backlight block may be calculated based on the diffused

backlight values

822 , 832 , and 842 . When the backlight value is diffused in this way, a physical backlight value may be calculated based on the luminance of the object as well as the backlight block in the region where the high luminance object is located.

In this case, as shown, when an object with high luminance is panned at a constant speed from frame N to frame N+3, the matching physical backlight value also varies from frame N to frame N+3. Accordingly, the movement of the object may be recognized naturally by the user.

2, according to another embodiment, the processor 130 predicts the motion direction of an object included in the image region corresponding to the first backlight block in the input image, and obtains a weight based on the predicted motion direction. Then, the obtained weight may be applied to the filter value of the diffusion filter, and the backlight value of the virtual block may be calculated using the diffusion filter including the filter value to which the weight is applied. Alternatively, the processor 130 may calculate the backlight value of the virtual block by applying the determined weight to the backlight value of each virtual block itself. However, hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that a weight is applied to a filter value included in the diffusion filter.

According to an example, the processor 130 may obtain motion information (eg, a motion vector) by comparing corresponding image blocks in a plurality of image frames, and may predict a motion direction of an object based on the obtained motion information.

The processor 130 configures the diffusion filter so that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is different from at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction other than the predicted motion direction, for example, an opposite direction. weight can be determined. For example, the processor 130 determines that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction different from the predicted motion direction, for example, the opposite direction. Thus, the weight of the diffusion filter can be determined. For example, the processor 130 may determine the weight of the diffusion filter so that a relatively larger amount of light is spread in the predicted motion direction and spread over a relatively larger range. Here, in order to distinguish it from the filter value (or parameter) of the diffusion filter described in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the term "weight" is additionally applied to the filter value of the diffusion filter. However, the meaning of applying a weight to the filter value of the diffusion filter may have the same meaning as adjusting the filter value of the diffusion filter.

For example, the processor 130 applies a weight greater than the filter value (or parameter value) of the second filter region corresponding to the opposite direction to the filter value (or parameter value) of the first filter region corresponding to the predicted motion direction. can be applied to a wider filter area, and a weighted diffusion filter can be applied to the backlight value of the virtual block. Alternatively, the processor 130 may determine the weight of the diffusion filter so that the backlight value is not diffused in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.

According to an embodiment, the processor 130 predicts the motion direction of the object, and when the motion direction is predicted in the b direction, a relatively larger weight is applied to the diffusion filter area corresponding to the b direction than the area corresponding to the other direction. By applying to the filter area, the backlight value of the virtual block can be diffused.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9A , the processor 130 identifies the N-th frame 911 as a plurality of virtual blocks and spreads backlight values of at least some of the plurality of virtual blocks to correspond to each of the virtual blocks. A backlight value 912 may be calculated, and a physical backlight value 913 corresponding to each backlight block may be calculated based on the calculated backlight value 912 . In this case, the processor 130 may diffuse the backlight value of the virtual block by applying a relatively larger weight to the diffusion filter area corresponding to the b direction than to the area corresponding to the other direction (particularly, the opposite direction a direction). . For example, as shown in FIG. 9A , the size and diffusion range of the backlight value diffused in the a direction may be smaller than the size and diffusion range of the backlight value diffused in the b direction. However, this is only an example, and it is also possible to differently adjust only one of a size and a diffusion range of a backlight value based on a motion direction.

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 9B to 9D , the processor 130 generates a diffusion filter region corresponding to the b direction also for the N+1, N+2, and N+3 th frames 921 , 931 and 941 , which are subsequent frames. The backlight value of the virtual block can be diffused by applying a weight to the values in the same way. Thereafter, the processor 130 may calculate physical backlight values 923 , 933 , and 943 corresponding to each backlight block based on the diffused

backlight values

922 , 932 , and 942 . However, the spreading scheme applied to the N+1, N+2, and N+3 th frames 921 , 931 , and 941 is not necessarily the same as the spreading scheme applied to the N th frame 911 , and the critical range Of course, a similar method may be applied within.

According to an embodiment, when the motion direction of the object is predicted in the b direction, the processor 130 may diffuse the backlight value only in the b direction and not spread the backlight value in the other directions.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10A , the processor 130 identifies the N-th frame 1011 as a plurality of virtual blocks and diffuses backlight values of at least some of the plurality of virtual blocks only in the b direction to create a virtual A backlight value 1012 corresponding to each of the blocks may be calculated, and a physical backlight value 1013 corresponding to each of the backlight blocks may be calculated based on the calculated backlight value 1012 .

Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 10B to 10D , the processor 130 illuminates the backlight of the virtual block only in the b direction with respect to the N+1, N+2, and N+3

th frames

1021, 1031, and 1041 which are subsequent frames. values can be spread. Thereafter, the processor 130 may calculate

physical backlight values

1023 , 1033 , and 1043 corresponding to each backlight block based on the diffused

backlight values

1022 , 1032 , and 1042 .

2 , according to another embodiment, the processor 130 may predict the motion speed of the object and determine (or identify) a weight to be applied to the diffusion filter based on the motion speed of the object. For example, the processor 130 may predict the motion speed as well as the motion direction of the object, and adjust at least one of a diffusion range, a diffusion amount, or a diffusion change amount based on the motion direction and the motion speed of the object.

According to an example, the processor 130 obtains motion information (eg, a motion vector) by comparing corresponding image blocks in a plurality of image frames, and predicts a motion direction and a motion speed of an object based on the obtained motion information. can For example, the processor 130 determines the weight of the diffusion filter so that the weight of the filter area corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than the weight of the filter area corresponding to the direction opposite to the predicted motion direction, and Based on the motion speed, the weight change amount of the diffusion filter corresponding to each frame may be determined. As an example, the processor 130 may increase or decrease the weight change amount of the diffusion filter corresponding to each frame in proportion to the predicted motion speed. As another example, the processor 130 may increase or decrease the variation in the spreading range of the spreading filter corresponding to each frame in proportion to the predicted motion speed.

Meanwhile, when the physical backlight value of each backlight block is calculated as described above, the processor 130 calculates a dimming duty for each backlight block based on the corresponding backlight value, and drives each backlight block based on the calculated dimming duty. The backlight unit 120 may be controlled.

In addition, the processor 130 may additionally perform spatial filtering to reduce a dimming difference between each backlight block. When local dimming is performed, a halo phenomenon may occur due to a dimming difference between each backlight block. In order to prevent such a phenomenon from occurring, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 130 performs spatial filtering (or duty spread adjustment) on the dimming duty for each block in order to alleviate the dimming difference between each backlight block. can do. For example, the processor 130 may adjust the dimming duty of each backlight block based on the dimming duty of the neighboring blocks of each backlight block. For example, a filtering method in which a spatial filter having a window of a specific size (eg, 3×3 size) is applied by giving a specific weight to the dimming duty of 8 blocks adjacent to the dimming duty of the current block By adjusting the dimming duty of the current block, the dimming difference between adjacent blocks can be alleviated.

11A , the electronic device 100 includes a display panel 110 , a backlight unit 120 , a processor 130 , a backlight driver 140 , a panel driver 150 , a memory 160 , and a communication interface 170 . and a user interface 180 . A detailed description of the configuration overlapping the configuration shown in FIG. 2 among the configurations shown in FIG. 11A will be omitted.

The display panel 110 is formed so that the gate lines GL1 to GLn and the data lines DL1 to DLm cross each other, and the R, G, and B sub-pixels PR, PG, and PB are formed at the intersections. this is formed The adjacent R, G, and B sub-pixels PR, PG, and PB constitute one pixel. That is, each pixel includes an R sub-pixel PR displaying red (R), a G sub-pixel PG displaying green (G), and a B sub-pixel PB displaying blue (B). The color of the subject is reproduced with the three primary colors (R), green (G), and blue (B).

When the display panel 110 is implemented as an LCD panel, each of the sub-pixels PR, PG, and PB includes a pixel electrode and a common electrode, and the light transmittance is changed as the liquid crystal arrangement is changed by an electric field formed by a potential difference between the electrodes. will do The TFTs formed at the intersections of the gate lines GL1 to GLn and the data lines DL1 to DLm respectively respond to the scan pulses from the gate lines GL1 to GLn. Data, that is, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) data is supplied to the pixel electrodes of each of the sub-pixels PR, PG, and PB.

The backlight driver 140 may be implemented in a form including a driver IC for driving the backlight unit 120 . According to an example, the driver IC may be implemented as hardware separate from the processor 130 . For example, when the light sources included in the backlight unit 120 are implemented as LED devices, the driver IC may be implemented as at least one LED driver that controls the current applied to the LED devices. According to an embodiment, the LED driver may be disposed at a rear end of a power supply (eg, a switching mode power supply (SMPS)) to receive voltage from the power supply. However, according to another embodiment, a voltage may be applied from a separate power supply device. Alternatively, it is also possible to be implemented in the form of a module in which the SMPS and the LED driver are integrated into one.

The panel driver 150 may be implemented in a form including a driver IC for driving the display panel 110 . According to an example, the driver IC may be implemented as hardware separate from the processor 130 . For example, as shown in FIG. 11B , the panel driver 150 may include a data driver 151 that supplies video data to data lines and a gate driver 152 that supplies scan pulses to the gate lines. have.

The data driver 151 is a means for generating a data signal, and receives R/G/B image data from the processor 130 (or a timing controller (not shown)) and generates a data signal. Also, the data driver 151 applies a data signal generated by being connected to the data lines DL1 , DL2 , DL3 , ..., DLm of the display panel 110 to the display panel 110 .

The gate driver 152 (or scan driver) is a means for generating a gate signal (or scan signal) and is connected to the gate lines GL1 , GL2 , GL3 , ..., GLn to transmit the gate signal to the display panel 110 . to a specific line in The data signal output from the data driver 161 is transmitted to the pixel to which the gate signal is transmitted.

In addition, the panel driver 150 may further include a timing controller (not shown). The timing controller (not shown) receives an input signal IS, a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync, a vertical synchronization signal Vsync, and a main clock signal MCLK from an external, for example, the processor 130 and receives an image data signal , a scan control signal, a data control signal, a light emission control signal, etc. may be generated and provided to the display panel 110 , the data driver 151 , the gate driver 165 , and the like.

The memory 160 stores various data necessary for the operation of the electronic device 100 .

In particular, the memory 160 stores data necessary for the processor 130 to execute various processes. For example, it may be implemented as an internal memory such as a ROM or RAM included in the processor 130 , or may be implemented as a memory separate from the processor 130 . In this case, the memory 160 may be implemented in the form of a memory embedded in the electronic device 100 or may be implemented in the form of a memory detachable from the electronic device 100 according to the purpose of data storage. For example, data for driving the electronic device 100 is stored in a memory embedded in the electronic device 100 , and data for an extended function of the electronic device 100 is detachable from the electronic device 100 . It can be stored in any available memory. On the other hand, the memory embedded in the electronic device 100 is implemented in the form of a non-volatile memory, a volatile memory, a flash memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD), and is attached and detached to the electronic device 100 . In the case of a memory capable of this, it may be implemented in the form of a memory card (eg, micro SD card, USB memory, etc.), an external memory connectable to a USB port (eg, USB memory), and the like.

According to an example, the memory 160 stores at least one of information related to the diffusion filter (eg, a filter value of the diffusion filter) and weight-related information (eg, a motion direction or a motion speed) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. weight corresponding to one) may be stored. However, the corresponding information may be received in real time from an external device such as a set-top box, an external server, or a user terminal.

The communication interface 170 is configured to communicate with various types of external devices according to various types of communication methods.

According to an embodiment, the communication interface 170 includes a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), AV, Composite, Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Display Port (DP), and Thunderbolt. , a video graphics array (VGA) port, an RGB port, a D-subminiature (D-SUB), a digital visual interface (DVI), an optical port, and an input/output interface of at least one component.

According to another embodiment, the communication interface 170 includes at least one of a Wi-Fi module, a Bluetooth module, an Ethernet communication module, and an infrared communication module. Here, each communication module may be implemented in the form of at least one hardware chip. The Wi-Fi module and the Bluetooth module perform communication using a WiFi method and a Bluetooth method, respectively. In the case of using a Wi-Fi module or a Bluetooth module, various types of connection information such as an SSID and a session key are first transmitted and received, and then various types of information can be transmitted/received after communication connection using this. The infrared communication module communicates according to the infrared data association (IrDA) technology, which wirelessly transmits data in a short distance using infrared that is between visible light and millimeter waves.

In addition to the above-described communication methods, the wireless communication module includes Zigbee, 3rd Generation (3G), 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE Advanced (LTE-A), 4th Generation (4G), 5G It may include at least one communication chip that performs communication according to various wireless communication standards such as (5th Generation).

In addition, the communication interface 170 may include at least one of a local area network (LAN) module, an Ethernet module, or a wired communication module for performing communication using a pair cable, a coaxial cable, or an optical fiber cable.

According to another embodiment, when the calculation of the dimming duty for local dimming or at least some calculation for the calculation of the physical backlight value is performed in an external device (eg, an external server), the corresponding information may be received through the communication interface 170 . can For example, as the number of virtual blocks increases, the amount of calculation must be increased, so that some calculations necessary to calculate the physical backlight value may be performed by an image processing device (not shown) or an external server.

The user interface 180 may be implemented as a device such as a button, a touch pad, a mouse, and a keyboard, or may be implemented as a touch screen capable of performing the above-described display function and manipulation input function together. Here, the button may be various types of buttons such as a mechanical button, a touch pad, a wheel, etc. formed in an arbitrary area such as the front, side, or rear of the exterior of the main body of the electronic device 100 .

In addition, the user interface 180 may be implemented with a microphone, a camera, a motion sensor, etc. that enable voice recognition or motion recognition.

Also, the user interface 180 may be implemented to receive a signal corresponding to a user input (eg, a touch, a press, a touch gesture, a voice, or a motion) from an external control device. Of course, when a user voice or user motion is received from an external control device (not shown), the external control device may be implemented as a microphone, a camera, a motion sensor, or the like.

According to an example, the external control device may be implemented as a remote control including a microphone. When the remote control receives the user's analog voice signal through the microphone, the remote control converts the analog voice signal into a digital voice signal, and transmits the converted digital voice signal to the electronic device 100 using at least one of infrared, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth communication methods. ) can be transmitted. When the digital voice signal is received from the external control device, the electronic device 100 may perform voice recognition based on the received digital voice signal and may perform a control operation based on voice recognition result information.

According to another example, the external control device may be implemented as a smartphone including a microphone. In this case, the smartphone may remotely control the electronic device 100 using a remote control application that performs a remote control function. When the user's analog voice signal is received through the microphone, the smartphone may convert the analog voice signal into a digital voice signal and perform voice recognition on the digital voice signal using a voice recognition application. Here, the voice recognition application may be the same as or different from the above-described remote control application. When voice recognition is performed on a digital voice signal, the smartphone may remotely control the smartphone using a remote control application based on voice recognition result information. However, according to another embodiment, the smart phone may transmit the converted digital voice signal to the electronic device 100 using at least one of infrared rays, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth communication methods. In this case, when the digital voice signal is received from the external control device, the electronic device 100 may perform voice recognition based on the received digital voice signal and perform a control operation based on voice recognition result information.

According to an example, the electronic device 100 may communicate with the server for various operations including voice recognition, and a communication interface for communicating with the server may be different from a communication interface for communicating with a remote controller (eg, Ethernet Modem, Wi-Fi module vs BT module), may be the same (Wi-fi module).

On the other hand, when the electronic device 100 is implemented as a TV, it may further include a tuner (not shown), and the tuner (not shown) amplifies, mixes, Through resonance, etc., only the frequency of a channel to be received by the electronic device 100 may be selected by tuning among many radio wave components.

In addition, the electronic device 100 may additionally include various components, such as a camera, a microphone, a speaker, a motion sensor, a position sensor, a touch sensor, and a proximity sensor, according to an implementation example of the electronic device 100 .

According to the control method of an electronic device including a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks shown in FIG. 12 , first, a first backlight block among the plurality of backlight blocks is identified as a plurality of first virtual blocks, and the first backlight block is adjacent to the first backlight block. The second backlight block may be identified as a plurality of second virtual blocks (S1210). The plurality of backlight blocks may be driven according to a local dimming method in which current is individually controlled, and may provide light to a display panel, for example, a liquid crystal panel.

Then, the diffusion filter may be applied to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to identify diffusion values that are spread to at least some of the plurality of second virtual blocks ( S1220 ).

Subsequently, a value corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks may be calculated based on the identified diffusion value (S1230).

Subsequently, current information corresponding to the second backlight block may be acquired based on the calculated value ( S1240 ).

Thereafter, the first backlight block may be driven based on the acquired current information ( S1250 ).

In addition, in step S1220, a diffusion filter is applied to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks, so that at least some of the first diffusion values and the plurality of second virtual blocks are spread to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks. It is possible to identify a diffused, diffused, second diffused value. In this case, in step S1240, current information corresponding to the first backlight block is obtained based on the identified first diffusion value, and current information corresponding to the second backlight block is obtained based on the identified second diffusion value. can

In addition, the control method includes predicting a motion direction of an object included in an image region corresponding to the first backlight block in an input image, identifying a weight of a diffusion filter based on the predicted motion direction, and applying the determined weight The method may further include applying to a diffusion filter.

In this case, the step of identifying the weight of the diffusion filter is such that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction. It is possible to determine the weight of the diffusion filter.

Also, in the step of identifying the weight of the diffusion filter, the weight of the diffusion filter may be determined so that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are not spread in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.

In addition, the control method may further include estimating the motion speed of the object, and the identifying the weight of the diffusion filter may identify the weight of the diffusion filter based on the motion direction and the motion speed.

In addition, the step of identifying the weight of the diffusion filter may increase or decrease the change amount of the weight of the diffusion filter corresponding to each frame based on the motion speed of the object.

In addition, the control method includes calculating values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks based on a plurality of first pixel values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks, and a plurality of values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks. The method may further include calculating values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the second pixel values of .

In addition, in step S1220, calculating an original value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the input image, based on the calculated original value and a diffusion value spread to at least a part of the plurality of second virtual blocks, The method may include recalculating a value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks, and calculating a value corresponding to the second backlight block based on the recalculated value.

As described above, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, since the backlight value is calculated by spreading the backlight value based on more virtual blocks than the number of physical backlight blocks, the movement of the object can be displayed naturally.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiments, it has been described that the dimming duty for local dimming is calculated by the electronic device 100 including the display panel 110, but in some cases, a separate image processing device ( (not shown) or it is also possible to calculate the dimming duty by an external server. For example, the image processing apparatus may be implemented as various apparatuses capable of image processing, such as a set-top box and a sending box that provide an image signal to a display panel. Alternatively, the dimming duty may be calculated by an image processing apparatus (not shown) or an external server using only some operations. For example, as the number of virtual blocks increases, the amount of calculation must be increased, so that some calculations necessary to calculate the physical backlight value may be performed by an image processing device (not shown) or an external server.

Meanwhile, the above-described methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of an application that can be installed in an existing electronic device.

In addition, the above-described methods according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented only by software upgrade or hardware upgrade of an existing electronic device.

In addition, various embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be performed through an embedded server provided in an electronic device or an external server of at least one of the electronic device and the electronic device.

Meanwhile, according to a temporary example of the present disclosure, the various embodiments described above may be implemented as software including instructions stored in a machine-readable storage media readable by a machine (eg, a computer). A device is a device capable of calling a stored instruction from a storage medium and operating according to the called instruction, and may include an electronic device (eg, electronic device A) according to the disclosed embodiments. When executed by the processor, the processor may perform a function corresponding to the instruction, either directly or by using other components under the control of the processor, The instruction may include code generated or executed by a compiler or interpreter. The readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium, where 'non-transitory' means that the storage medium does not include a signal and is tangible. It does not distinguish between semi-permanent or temporary storage of data in the storage medium.

Also, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the method according to the various embodiments described above may be included in a computer program product and provided. Computer program products may be traded between sellers and buyers as commodities. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (eg, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)) or online through an application store (eg, Play Store™). In the case of online distribution, at least a portion of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily generated in a storage medium such as a memory of a server of a manufacturer, a server of an application store, or a relay server.

In addition, each of the components (eg, a module or a program) according to the above-described various embodiments may be composed of a single or a plurality of entities, and some sub-components of the aforementioned sub-components may be omitted, or other sub-components may be omitted. Components may be further included in various embodiments. Alternatively or additionally, some components (eg, a module or a program) may be integrated into a single entity to perform the same or similar functions performed by each corresponding component prior to integration. According to various embodiments, operations performed by a module, program, or other component may be sequentially, parallelly, repetitively or heuristically executed, or at least some operations may be executed in a different order, omitted, or other operations may be added. can

In the above, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described, but the present disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and is generally used in the technical field belonging to the present disclosure without departing from the gist of the present disclosure as claimed in the claims. Various modifications may be made by those having the knowledge of

Claims

display panel;

a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks including a first backlight block and a second backlight block adjacent to the first backlight block; and

a processor for controlling driving of the backlight unit based on current information for driving each of the plurality of backlight blocks;

The processor is

A first image region corresponding to the first backlight block and a second image region corresponding to the second backlight block are identified in an input image as a plurality of first virtual blocks and a plurality of second virtual blocks, respectively;

applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to identify a diffusion value that is spread to at least some of the plurality of second virtual blocks;

Obtaining current information corresponding to the second backlight block based on a value corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks obtained based on the identified diffusion value.
According to claim 1,

The processor is

A first diffusion value that is spread to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks by applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks and a diffusion that is spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks identify a second diffusion value to be

Obtaining a dimming duty of a current corresponding to the first backlight block based on the identified first diffusion value, and obtaining a dimming duty of a current corresponding to the second backlight block based on the identified second diffusion value which is an electronic device.
According to claim 1,

The processor is

predicting a motion direction of an object included in the first image region from the input image,

and applying a weight obtained based on the predicted motion direction to the spreading filter.
4. The method of claim 3,

The processor is

determining the weight of the diffusion filter such that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction .
4. The method of claim 3,

The processor is

and determining a weight of the spreading filter so that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are not spread in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.
4. The method of claim 3,

The processor is

predict the motion speed of the object,

and determine a weight of the spreading filter based on the motion direction and the motion speed.
7. The method of claim 6,

The processor is

An electronic device for increasing or decreasing a weight change amount of a diffusion filter corresponding to each frame based on the motion speed of the object.
According to claim 1,

The processor is

calculating values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks based on a plurality of first pixel values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks;

and calculating values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks based on a plurality of second pixel values corresponding to the plurality of second virtual blocks.
According to claim 1,

The processor is

Corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on an original value corresponding to each of the plurality of second virtual blocks calculated based on the input image and a diffusion value spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks recalculate the value,

and obtaining the current information based on a value corresponding to the second backlight block obtained based on the recalculated value.
According to claim 1,

The plurality of backlight blocks,

Driven by local dimming method with individually current controlled,

The display panel,

An electronic device that is a Liquid Crystal Panel.
A method of controlling an electronic device including a backlight unit including a plurality of backlight blocks including a first backlight block and a second backlight block adjacent to the first backlight block, the method comprising:

obtaining current information for driving each of the plurality of backlight blocks; and

Including; controlling the driving of the backlight unit based on the obtained current information;

The step of obtaining the current information includes:

identifying a first image region corresponding to the first backlight block and a second image region corresponding to the second backlight block in an input image as a plurality of first virtual blocks and a plurality of second virtual blocks, respectively;

applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks to identify diffusion values that are spread to at least some of the plurality of second virtual blocks; and

Calculating a value corresponding to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks based on the identified diffusion value, and obtaining current information corresponding to the second backlight block based on the calculated value; includes control method.
12. The method of claim 11,

The step of identifying the diffusion value comprises:

A first diffusion value that is spread to the remaining portions of the plurality of first virtual blocks by applying a diffusion filter to at least some of the values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks and a diffusion that is spread to at least a portion of the plurality of second virtual blocks identify a second diffusion value to be

The step of obtaining the current information includes:

Obtaining a dimming duty of a current corresponding to the first backlight block based on the identified first diffusion value, and obtaining a dimming duty of a current corresponding to the second backlight block based on the identified second diffusion value To do, control method.
12. The method of claim 11,

predicting a motion direction of an object included in the first image region from the input image; and

The method further comprising: applying a weight obtained based on the predicted motion direction to the spreading filter.
14. The method of claim 13,

The step of determining the weight of the diffusion filter comprises:

A control method for determining the weight of the diffusion filter such that at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to the predicted motion direction is greater than at least one of a diffusion range or a diffusion amount corresponding to a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction .
14. The method of claim 13,

The step of determining the weight of the diffusion filter comprises:

and determining the weight of the spreading filter so that values corresponding to the plurality of first virtual blocks are not spread in a direction opposite to the predicted motion direction.