This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 99119559, filed on Jun. 15, 2010. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a DLP projector and a color compensation method of a bulb of the DLP projector.
2. Description of Related Art
With advancement in projection display technology, there have been rapid development and significant breakthroughs in projection systems and equipments in recent years. The operating principle of a projector is similar to that of a transparency or a slide, which uses a high-luminance lamp as a light source and projects a frame onto a white screen or a wall. Based on the technical principle, the ordinary projectors in current market include high-temperature polysilicon (HTPS) liquid crystal display (LCD) projectors and digital light processing (DLP) projectors. The technical principle of the DLP projector is to use a rotating color wheel to split a light of a light source into a red light, a green light and a blue light, and then project these color lights onto a screen through a reflection of a digital micromirror device (DMD), so as to present a color projection frame.
Since the materials adopted by the DLP projector are all inorganic, the DLP projector has fine projection quality even being exposed to a heat source or a light source for a long time. On the other hand, the materials adopted by the LCD projector are organic, such that the LCD projector is easily influenced by the temperature and humidity in nearby environment and defects are often occurred in the projection frames thereof.
Although the inorganic materials adopted by the DLP projector are not easily gone bad under the influence of the environment, the aging of the bulb of the DLP projector still influences the quality of the projection frames, and the phenomena such as luminance attenuation and color unbalance (e.g. frame biased to yellow) are possibly occurred. The lifespan of an ordinary bulb is about 4000 or more hours, however, a color bias phenomenon of the bulb can be clearly observed not until the time claimed by the specification. Since the bulb is expensive, frequently replacing the bulb will greatly increase the use cost of the DLP projector. Therefore, how to extend the lifetime of the bulb of the DLP projector without affecting the quality of its projection frames has become a major issue in the related filed.
In light of the above, the present invention provides a DLP projector and a color compensation method of a bulb of the DLP projector, which can perform color compensation on the DLP projector when the bulb of the DLP projector ages, so as to resume a color balance of the projection frames thereof.
The present invention provides a color compensation method of a projector bulb, suitable for a DLP projector having a bulb and a color wheel. In the present method, a plurality of color lights are projected according to an energy waveform, which defines the energy provided for the bulb when the DLP projector projects each of the color lights. Next, a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector is detected. Finally, a difference between the detected quality and an original quality of each of the color lights is calculated, so as to adjust the energy waveform and compensate the difference of each of the color lights.
The present invention provides a color compensation method of a projector bulb, suitable for a DLP projector having a bulb and a color wheel. In the present method, at least one test frame is projected according to an energy waveform, which defines the energy provided for the bulb when the DLP projector projects one of a plurality of color lights. Next, a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector is detected. Finally, a difference between the detected quality and an original quality of each of the color lights is calculated, so as to adjust the energy waveform and compensate the difference of each of the color lights.
The present invention provides a color compensation method of a projector bulb, suitable for a DLP projector having a bulb and a color wheel. In the present method, a plurality of color lights are projected according to an energy waveform, which defines the energy provided for the bulb when the DLP projector projects each of the color lights. Next, a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector is detected. Finally, a difference between the detected quality and an original quality of each of the color lights is calculated, so as to select the energy waveform suitable for compensating the difference of each of the color lights from a plurality of energy waveforms and provide the selected energy waveform for the DLP projector to implement.
The present invention provides a DLP projector comprising a projecting unit, a sensing unit and a color compensation unit. The projecting unit comprising a bulb, a color wheel and a control module. The control module controls an energy provided for the bulb and a color of the color wheel according to an energy waveform so as to enable the projecting unit to project a plurality of color lights, wherein the energy waveform defines the energy provided for the bulb when the DLP projector projects each of the color lights. The sensing unit detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector. The color compensation unit calculates a difference between the detected quality and an original quality of each of the color lights, so as to adjust the energy waveform and compensate the difference of each of the color lights.
Based on the above, the present invention adjusts the energy waveform defined for the bulb of the DLP projector by detecting the color lights projected by the DLP projector, so as to perform color compensation on the projection frame of the DLP projector to return to a color balance when the bulb of the DLP projector ages.
In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention more comprehensible, embodiments accompanying figures are described in detail below.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
To provide better view quality for users, the present invention detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by a DLP projector and accordingly adjusts an energy waveform defining an energy provided for the bulb of the DLP projector, so as to make the quality of color lights received by a color sensor be close to the quality of the original color light. The quality of color light comprises brightness, hues, saturation, and spectrum. In order to make the invention more comprehensible, embodiments are described below as the examples to prove that the invention can actually be realized.
The projecting unit 102 and the sensing unit 104 may be respectively disposed at locations with different distances from the user, so as to execute the projection and light sensing function at these locations. The sensing unit 104 may be disposed at the location closer to the user. For example, the sensing unit 104 may be disposed on the remote controller by the side of the user or disposed on an object placed at a specific location around the user, so as to detect the color light around the user reflected by the projection frame of the projecting unit 102. As such, the color light detected by the sensing unit 104 may be closer to the real feeling of user's eyes.
In addition, the color compensation unit 106 calculates a difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and an original quality of the color light, and accordingly adjusts the energy waveform and changes the energy provided for the bulb 110, so as to compensate the phenomena such as luminance attenuation or color unbalance of the projection frame resulting from the aging of the bulb 110.
In detail,
First, the projecting unit 102 projects a plurality of color lights according to an energy waveform (step S202), in which the energy waveform defines an energy provided for the bulb 110 when the projecting unit 114 projects each of the color lights.
For example,
Back to
Then, the color compensation unit 106 calculates a difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and an original quality of each of the color lights, so as to compensate the difference of each of the color light resulting from the aging of the bulb 110 (step S206).
It is noted herein that aforesaid color compensation unit 106 may be classified into a plurality of elements, so as to implement various adjusting mechanisms.
In detail,
First, the projecting unit 102 projects a plurality of color lights according to an energy waveform (step S502), in which the energy waveform defines an energy provided for the bulb 110 when the projecting unit 114 projects each of the color lights. Next, the sensing unit 104 detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector 400 (step S504). Then, the calculation module 402 calculates a difference between a quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and an original quality of each of the color lights (step S506). Next, the comparison module 404 determines whether the difference between the detected quality and corresponding original quality of the color light calculated by the calculation module 402 exceeds a threshold (step S508). If the difference between the detected quality and the original quality of the color light exceeds the threshold, the adjustment module 406 adjusts the energy provided for the bulb 110 when projecting corresponding color light defined in the energy waveform, so as to compensate the difference resulting from the attenuation of the corresponding color light (step S510). If the difference between the detected quality and the original quality of the color light does not exceed the threshold, the adjustment module 406 does not adjust the energy waveform (step S512).
For example, it is assumed that an original luminance of a blue light is 2000 ANSI and a threshold of the luminance of the blue light is 200 ANSI. When the comparison module 404 determines the luminance difference of the blue light is higher than 200 ANSI (i.e. the luminance of the blue light detected by the sensing unit 104 is lower than 1800 ANSI), the adjustment module 406 increases the current level corresponding to the blue light in the energy waveform, so as to recover the luminance of the blue light back to the original 2000 ANSI and compensate the attenuation of the blue light resulting from the aging of the bulb 110. On the contrary, when the comparison module 404 determines the luminance difference of the blue light is lower than 200 ANSI (i.e. the luminance of the blue light detected by the sensing unit 104 is higher than 1800 ANSI), it represents the luminance attenuation of the blue light is acceptable so that the adjustment module 406 does not adjust the energy waveform.
First, the projecting unit 102 projects at least one frame according to the energy waveform (step S602). Next, the sensing unit 104 detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector 400 (step S604).
In detail, if the sensing unit 104 in the step S604 is a photo sensor, since the photo sensor can only detect color light in fixed frequency domain, in the step S602, the projecting unit 102 is required to repeatedly project a plurality of test frames, so as to detect the quality of each of the color lights. For example, if the color wheel 112 comprises a red area, a green area and a blue area, the projecting unit 102 is able to project red, blue and green test frames and the photo sensor is able to sequentially detect the quality of the three color lights. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the sensing unit 104 can be a color sensor. Since the color sensor itself can identify color lights in different frequency domains, in the step S602, the projecting unit 102 is required to only project a white frame. As such, the color sensor is able to identify the quality of each of the color lights in the step S604.
After the quality of each of the color lights is detected, the color compensation unit 106 calculates a difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and an original quality of each of the color lights, so as to adjust the energy waveform according to the difference and compensate the difference of each of the color lights (step S606). This step is similar to aforesaid step S206, such that the detailed description is omitted herein.
First, the projecting unit 102 projects a plurality of color lights according to the energy waveform (step S702). Next, the sensing unit 104 detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector 400 (step S704).
Then, the color compensation unit 106 calculates a difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and an original quality of each of the color lights, so as to select the energy waveform suitable for compensating the difference of each of the color lights from a plurality of energy waveforms and provide the selected energy waveform for the DLP projector 400 to implement (step S706). In detail, since the color light detected by the sensing may be a direct light directly projected by the DLP projector 400, or a reflection light reflected by a projection frame of the DLP projector 400, it is necessary to provide different criteria for determining the level of the attenuation of the color lights under aforesaid two situations. In addition, the aging of the bulb 110 may cause attenuation on more than one color lights. In order to compensate the color light having most attenuation without affecting a color balance, it is necessary to provide a plurality of energy waveforms to handle the situations of attenuation on single color light or multiple color lights. Further, the DLP projector 400 itself may provide a plurality of projection modes according to different demands of the user, such as a color balance mode or a brightest mode. For the attenuation of the color lights under these projection modes, it is required to provide various energy waveforms so as to find a waveform most suitable for color compensation.
All of aforesaid factors may affect a final result of color compensation, such that the design of the energy waveforms provided for the DLP projector 400 is required to consider various situations, so as to make the projection frames of the DLP projector 400 have best color compensation result. Accordingly, the present invention stores a plurality of energy waveforms on the storage unit 408 of the DLP projector 400 in advance for handling the requirements of various situations. Embodiments are respectively provided hereinafter according to aforesaid situations, so as to elaborate the steps of the color compensation method of the present invention.
Regarding the situation of determining the direct light and the reflection light, since a difference between the strength of the direct light and the strength of the reflection light is large, the present invention sets a threshold between the direct light and the reflection light and uses the same as the basis to determine the direct light and the reflection light.
First, the projecting unit 102 projects a plurality of color lights according to the energy waveform (step S802). Next, the sensing unit 104 detects a quality of each of the color lights projected by the DLP projector 400 (step S804).
The comparison module 404 further determines whether a strength of each of the color lights detected by the sensing unit 104 exceeds a predetermined strength value (step S806). If the strength of the color light detected by the sensing unit 104 exceeds the predetermined strength value, the comparison module 404 determines the color light as a direct light directly projected by the DLP projector 400 and then the calculation module 402 calculates the difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and the original quality detected under direct projection of each of the color lights (step S808). If the strength of the color light detected by the sensing unit 104 does not exceed the predetermined strength value, the comparison module 404 determines the color light as a reflection light reflected by the DLP projector 400 and then the calculation module 402 calculates the difference between the quality detected by the sensing unit 104 and the original quality detected under reflection of each of the color lights (step S810). Finally, the adjustment module 406 selects the energy waveform suitable for compensating the difference of each of the color lights from the plurality of energy waveforms stored in the storage unit 408 according to the calculated difference and provides the selected energy waveform for the DLP projector 400 to implement (step S812).
Regarding the situation of compensating different color lights, since the attenuation of the color lights resulting from the aging of the bulb 110 may not be only one color, it is required to store a plurality of energy waveforms in the storage unit 408, so as to provide for the DLP projector 400 to implement under various situations of color light attenuation. The present invention finds out the kinds and the number of color lights that easily attenuated due to the aging of the bulb 110, so as to respectively design energy waveforms for handling aforesaid situations of color light attenuation.
For example,
Regarding situations of various projection modes, the DLP projector 400 may comprise a plurality of projection modes such as a color balance mode, a brightest mode and a power saving mode. Regarding each of the projection modes, the present invention provides various different energy waveforms to enable the DLP projector 400 to implement suitable energy waveform according to different situations of color light attenuation under different projection modes.
For example, in the color balance mode, the present invention provides energy waveforms similar to the energy waveforms of
It is noted herein that since the original waveform under the brightest mode has set the energy of each of the color lights in a highest state that can be received, when the bulb 110 is aging, the attenuated color light of the bulb 110 is not able to be compensated through increasing the energy provided for the bulb 110. At this time, it can only reduce the energy of other color lights to restore the color balance of the projection frames of the DLP projector 400.
For example,
To sum up, the present invention detects and analyzes the color lights projected by the DLP projector, and accordingly adjusts the energy waveform provided for the DLP projector, such that color compensation on each of the color lights can be achieved. The present invention also performs detection on different color lights by projecting test frames with different colors. Therefore, in the adjustment process of energy waveform, the present invention is able to select the energy waveform most suitable for compensating current attenuation of each of the color lights from a plurality of predetermined energy waveforms according to the attenuation of each of the color lights under each of the projection modes and provides the selected energy waveform for the DLP projector to implement, such that optimization of color compensation can be achieved without affecting color balance.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it will be apparent to one of the ordinary skill in the art that modifications to the described embodiment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention will be defined by the attached claims not by the above detailed descriptions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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99119559 | Jun 2010 | TW | national |