Patent Grant
10568175
This disclosure relates to a light control system and a light control method, particularly a light control system that can dynamically adjust the color of the light and the method thereof.
With the rise of eSports, in addition to enhancing the performance of various hardware, high-level gaming computers also adding a rich lighting presentation to enhance the user experience. For example, the LED (Light-Emitting Diode) strips that emit single or multiple colors of light are installed on the case, the motherboard, the display card, the memory, the fan, the keyboard, the mouse, or even the power supply. It is expected that the illuminating devices installed in different positions will give the user a more beautiful visual experience and enhance the atmosphere when the user plays the game.
However, the lighting accessories disposed on the periphery of the host computer may come from different manufacturers. In other words, the light control methods of different manufacturers are usually different. Therefore, if the user assembles a custom-built computer by himself, the user often faces an embarrassing situation, the color lights emitted by the light devices at each position lacks coordination or consistency, and cannot achieve the extension effect of the situational light of the current display screen. On the contrary, it may become a burden of visual fatigue, resulting in a poor user experience. Although the gaming computer suit can use the motherboard or the chassis with the same specification of the light control interface, this type of product is often expensive. Once one of the light device is damaged, the lighting component that user replaces by himself usually cannot work with the original lighting system, thus causing a lot of inconveniences.
As described above, currently there is no light control system that can be applied to a variety of light devices. Based on the audio and video signals provided by the host, or based on display devices (such as computer screen, television screen), the light control system can control the light devices installed in different positions to emit colored lights that are corresponding to the multimedia signal or the display screens, giving the user a complete situational lighting experience.
In view of the above, the present disclosure proposes a light control system and a light control method, thereby integrating various types of light devices connecting to the personal computer, so that the illumination effect of the external light device is consistent and coordinated with the color of the display screen. Therefore, the visual aesthetic around the computer is increased, and the immersion of the user when playing the game is improved.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control system configured to electrically connect a host and a plurality of light devices, wherein the host electrically connects to a display device, and the display device displays a multimedia signal transmitted by the host, with the light control system comprising: a power connecting port electrically connecting to an external power source and adapted for providing a power to drive the plurality of light devices; a host connecting port having a communication connection with the host and adapted for receiving the multimedia signal; a first light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a first light device; a second light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a second light device; a microcontroller electrically connecting to the host connecting port, the first light connecting port, and the second light connecting port, wherein the microcontroller is configured to identify a device type of each of the first and the second light devices, obtain two configurations according to the two device types, and generate two dimming signals according to the two configurations and the multimedia signal, with two configurations corresponding to the two device types respectively; and a power distribution unit electrically connecting to the power connecting port, the first light connecting port, the second light connecting port, and the microcontroller, wherein the power distribution unit converts the two dimming signal to two driving signals configured to control the first light device and the second light device to emit colored lights associated with the multimedia signal.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control method for controlling a first light device and a second light device that electrically connects to a light control system, with the light control method comprising: identifying a device type of each of the first and second light devices by a microcontroller of the light control system and obtaining two configurations according to the two device types, with the two configurations corresponding to the two device types respectively; receiving a multimedia signal by a host connecting port of the light control system;
generating two dimming signals according to the two configurations and the multimedia signal by the microcontroller; converting the two dimming signals to two driving signals respectively by a power distribution unit of the light control system; and outputting a driving signal respectively by a first light connecting port and a second light connecting port of the light control system for controlling the first light device connected by the first light connecting port and the second light device connected by the second light connecting port to emit colored lights associated with the multimedia signal.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control system, comprising: a power connecting port electrically connecting to an external power source and adapted for providing a power to drive the plurality of light devices; a first light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a first light device; a second light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a second light device; a camera device taking an observation image and the observation image includes the two light devices and a display screen, wherein the display screen is a display device displaying a video signal transmitted by a host; a microcontroller electrically connecting to the camera device, wherein the microcontroller is configured to perform an image recognition procedure according to the observation image, wherein the image recognition procedure is configured to obtain positions of the two light devices and the display screen, and the microcontroller further generates two dimming signals according to the two positions and the display screen; and a power distribution unit electrically connecting to the power connecting port, the first light connecting port, the second light connecting port, and the microcontroller, wherein the power distribution unit converts the two dimming signal to two driving signals configured to control the first light device and the second light device to emit colored lights associated with the display screen.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control method configured to electrically connect a first light device and a second light device of a light control system, with the light control method comprising: taking an observation image by a camera device of the light control system, wherein the observation image includes the two light devices and a display screen, and the display screen is a display device displaying a video signal transmitted by a host; performing an image recognition procedure to obtain positions of the two light devices and the display screen by the microcontroller; generating two dimming signals according to the two positions and the display screen by the microcontroller; converting the two dimming signals to two driving signals by a power distribution unit of the light control system; and outputting the two driving signals by a first light connecting port and a second light connecting port of the light control system for controlling the first light device connected by the first light connecting port and the second light device connected by the second light connecting port to emit colored lights associated with the display screen.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control system configured to electrically connect a host and a plurality of light devices, wherein the host electrically connects to a display device, and the display device displays a multimedia signal transmitted by the host, with the light control system comprising: a power connecting port electrically connecting to an external power source and adapted for providing a power to drive the plurality of light devices; a host connecting port having a communication connection with the host and adapted for receiving the multimedia signal; a first light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a first light device; a second light connecting port adapted for electrically connecting to a second light device; three position sensors respectively installed close to the first light device, the second light device, and the display device, wherein the three position sensors send positions of their own; a microcontroller electrically connecting to the host connecting port and having communication connections with the three position sensors, wherein the microcontroller is configured to perform a position detecting procedure to obtain the three positions sent by the three position sensors and generate the two dimming signals according to the three positions and the multimedia signal; and a power distribution unit electrically connecting to the power connecting port, the first light connecting port, the second light connecting port, and the microcontroller, wherein the power distribution unit converts the two dimming signal to two driving signals configured to control the first light device and the second light device to emit colored lights associated with the multimedia signal.
According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, a light control method, configured to a first light device and a second light device that electrically connects to a light control system, with the light control method comprising: performing a position detecting procedure by a microcontroller of the light control system to obtain three positions of the three position sensors that are respectively close to the first light device, the second light device, and a display device; receiving a multimedia signal by a host connecting port of the light control system; generating two dimming signals according to the three positions and the multimedia signal by the microcontroller; converting the two dimming signals to two driving signals respectively by a power distribution unit of the light control system; and outputting the two driving signals respectively by a first light connecting port and a second light connecting port of the light control system for controlling the first light device connected by the first light connecting port and the second light device connected by the second light connecting port to emit colored lights associated with the multimedia signal.
With the above architecture, the light control system and method thereof proposed in the present disclosure integrate the light devices around the computer, such as a keyboard backlight module, a mouse backlight module, a display card or a light-emitting module inside the host computer, even the stage lights can be connected to the light control system of the present disclosure. Further, the light control system proposed in the present disclosure can be used in various application fields such as mood lighting, home lighting, and stage lighting. In addition, the configuration file for controlling the lighting can be stored in the microcontroller, the computer or the cloud server, so that the same lighting configuration can be used in different places, thus improving the portability of the light control system described in the present disclosure. The user's entertainment experience can be enhanced through the light control system of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitative of the present disclosure and wherein:
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawings.
In the following, three embodiments of the light control system of the present disclosure will be described sequentially, together with their corresponding light control method. In the first embodiment, the light control system uses the corresponding configuration based on different types of the light devices and controls the light device to emit colored light according to the multimedia signal sent from the host. In the second embodiment, the light control system uses the camera device to obtain the positions of light devices and the display screen of the display device and controls the light devices to emit colored lights according to the positions of the light devices and the display screen. In the third embodiment, the light control system uses the position sensors to obtain the position of light devices and controls the light devices to emit colored lights according to the multimedia signal transmitted by the host and the positions of light devices.
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The power connecting port Pa electrically connects to the external power source D0 and is adapted for providing a power to drive the first light device L1 and the second light device L2.
The host connecting port Pb has a communication connection with the host D2 for receiving the multimedia signal. In practice, the host connecting port Pb may use a physical wire or a wireless communication to connect to the host D2. The physical wire is such as the common used D-SUB (Subminiature), DVI (Digital Video Interface), HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI) or DisplayPort. The wireless communication is such as Bluetooth, BLE, or ZigBee. The multimedia signal received by the host connecting port Pb is at least one of a video signal and an audio signal.
The first light connecting port P1 is configured to electrically connect to the first light device L1. The second light connecting port P2 is configured to electrically connect to the second light device L2. In practice, at least one of the first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2 is USB (Universal Serial Bus). In this embodiment, the first and second light device connecting port L1, L2 preferably adopts the USB, thereby the light control system 1 of the present disclosure is suitable for any light device with a USB interface. Even the light devices with other connecting interfaces, it is easy to use a USB adapter to electrically connect to the light control system 1 of the present disclosure.
The microcontroller 11 electrically connects to the host connecting port Pb, the first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2. The microcontroller 13 is configured to identify a device type of each of the first light device L1 and the second light device L2 and obtain two configurations corresponding to the two device types. In practice, after a light device electrically connects to the light control system 1, the microcontroller 11 may detect a specific pin of the light device passively, or the light device actively sends an electrical signal having its hardware identification number to the microcontroller 11. Therefore, the microcontroller 11 obtains the necessary information of the light device. In addition, the light control system 1 further comprises a storage unit (not depicted) electrically connecting to the microcontroller 11. The storage unit stores a lookup table. The lookup table is configured to record a plurality of device types and a plurality of configurations corresponding to the device types in advance. In practice, the storage unit is, for example, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), or a flash memory. The present disclosure does not limit the hardware type of the storage unit. Since the lookup table is recorded in the storage unit in advance, the microcontroller 11 may compare the items in the lookup table with necessary information of the light device obtained previously one by one, thereby obtaining configurations of device types. The configuration is an electrical specification that makes the light device emit various colored lights such as the rated current value or rated voltage value. In addition, a default configuration can be written in the lookup table in advance. When the microcontroller cannot identify a device type of the light device, the microcontroller uses the default configuration and tries to control this special light device to emit a light. If there is no abnormality in the subsequent lighting of this special light device, it means that this default configuration is suitable for this special light device. Otherwise, the user can detect the abnormal state of this special light device early and make corresponding treatment. For example, add the configuration of this special light device to the lookup table.
As described above, the microcontroller 11 generates dimming signals according to the multimedia signal and configurations corresponding to the first light device L1 and the second light device L2. Specifically, the microcontroller 11 can control the first light device L1 and the second light device L2 to emit lights through the configurations. As for the color of the light, it is determined by the microcontroller 11 according to the multimedia signal. In practice, microcontroller 11 performs the corresponding processing procedure according to whether the multimedia signal received by the host connecting port Pb belongs to the video signal or the audio signal.
If the multimedia signal received by the host connecting port Pb belongs to a video signal, the microcontroller 11 performs a partition color evaluation procedure. This partition color evaluation procedure divides the video signal into one or more sub-video signals and obtains a representative color of each of the sub-video signals, and each of the sub-video signals corresponds to a partition of a display screen that the video signal displaying on display device D4 and the two dimming signals are associated with two of the representative colors. For example, microcontroller 11 regards the left half side and the right half side of the display device D4 as two partitions (the number of partitions is preset by the user). The video signal is divided into the first sub-video signal displaying on the left half side of the display device D4 and the second sub-video signal that displaying on the right half side of the display device D4, and then a mean value of trichromatic light (RGB) of all pixels in each of the two sub-video signals is calculated. Therefore, the microcontroller 11 obtains representative colors of the first and the second sub-video signals, these two representative colors are used to set the color settings of the colored lights of the two dimming signals. For example, the first light device L1 is responsible for emitting a light whose color corresponds to the representative color of the left half side, and second light device L2 is responsible for emitting a light whose color corresponds to the representative color of the right half side. It should be noticed that the number of the partitions of the above partition color evaluation procedure is not limited by the above example. For example, the display screen of the entire display device D4 can be viewed as one partition and all of the light devices collectively emit a colored light of the partition's representative color. In another example, each partition is assigned to a light device, and each light device individually emits a colored light corresponding to the partition's representative color. In addition, the number of the partition and the correspondence between partitions and the respective light devices can be preset in the storage unit of the microcontroller 11 by the user.
If the multimedia signal received by the host connecting port Pb belongs to an audio signal, the microcontroller 11 performs an audio feature recognition procedure. This audio feature recognition procedure generates a plurality of dimming policies according to a volume, a frequency, or a pitch of the audio signal in a time interval, each of the dimming policies comprises a light device number, a specified color and a starting time. The two dimming signals are associated with two of the dimming policies. Therefore, the microcontroller 11 may specify the light color most suitable for the audio signal in the dimming signal according to the characteristic of the current audio signal. In addition, the dimming policies may be specified by the user in advance. In an embodiment, the dimming policies set beforehand are stored in the aforementioned storage unit. Please refer to
Taking an eSport game as an example, in general, the video signal and the audio signal included in a multimedia signal are mostly transmitted at the same time. Therefore, after the microcontroller 11 performs the partition color evaluation procedure and the audio feature recognition procedure at the same time, if these two procedures generates dimming signals corresponding to the same light device have a color conflict, the microcontroller 11 may selectively choose to use the representative color of the sub-video signal or the specified color of the dimming policy, and the present disclosure does not limit herein.
The power distribution unit 13 electrically connects to the power connecting port Pa, the first light connecting port P1, the second light connecting port P2 and the microcontroller 11. The power distribution unit 13 converts the two dimming signals generated by the microcontroller 11 to two driving signals respectively. The power distribution unit 13 transmits the driving signals through the first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2, thereby controlling the first light device L1 and the second light device L2 to emit colored lights associated with the multimedia signal. In practice, the power distribution unit 13 is such as a LED Driver, and the driving signals are such as PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal or linear current adjusting signal.
As described above, the light control system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure can detect the device types of the light devices connecting to the first and second light connecting ports P1, P2, obtain the configurations corresponding to the device types, and perform the partition color evaluation procedure and/or the audio feature recognition procedure according to the video signal and the audio signal receiving from the host connecting port Pb, thus obtaining the representative color of the sub-video signal and the specified color sufficient to represent the audio signal. The microcontroller 11 generates two dimming signals according to the two configurations, the representative colors and/or the specified colors. The two dimming signals are converted to two driving signals by the power distribution unit 13. The two driving signals are respectively transmitted to the first light device L1 and the second light device L2 through the first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2. Therefore, the effect of controlling different types of light devices based on the multimedia signal to emit appropriate lighting colors can be achieved.
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Compared to the first embodiment, the light control system 1 of the second embodiment lacks the host connecting port Pb but adds a camera device 15 as shown in
The microcontroller 11 electrically connects to the camera device 15. The microcontroller 11 performs an image recognition procedure according to the observation image, and this image recognition procedure is configured to obtain positions of the two light devices and a position of the display device from the observation image. The microcontroller 11 further generates two dimming signals according to the two light device positions and the display screen position.
Regarding the light device position, the image recognition procedure finds an image block matching the characteristic of the light device from the observation image. For example, a light device appearance shape or a luminous color emitted by the light device can be used as the characteristic to perform the image processing, thereby the microcontroller can obtain the position of the light device in the observation image. The microcontroller 11 further stores the relationship between the light device positions and the display device D4 position. For example, the first light device L1 is above the display device D4 while the second light device L2 is under the display device D4.
Regarding the display screen, the image recognition procedure finds an image block matching the display screen from the observation image. For example, the image block with high variation frequency in the observed image can be used as the characteristic to perform the image processing, thereby the microcontroller can obtain the display screen position in the observation image. The microcontroller 11 further performs the partition color evaluation procedure introduced in the first embodiment based on this position, thereby obtaining the representative colors of each of the partitions of the display screen. For example, the partition color evaluation procedure divides the display screen into an upper partition and a lower partition, and the representative color of the upper half partition R is red while the representative color of the lower half partition B is blue as shown in
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As described above, the light control system 1 and the light control method disclosed in the second embedment take the observation image by the camera device 15. The microcontroller 11 performs the image recognition procedure to obtain the light device positions and the display screen position from the observation image. The microcontroller 11 generates the dimming signals according to the different partitions of the display screen and these partitions can correspond to the real positions of the light devices. The power distribution unit 13 converts the dimming signals to the driving signals. The first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2 transmit driving signals to the first light device L1 and the second light device L2 respectively. So the light control system 1 and the light control method disclosed in the second embedment achieve the effect of emitting consistent colored light based on the representative color of each partition of the display screen.
It should be noticed that the light control system 1 of the first embodiment may add the camera device 15 as described in the second embodiment to capture all the light devices and the display device D4. However, in the first embodiment, the image recognition procedure performed by the microcontroller 11 only needs to obtain the positions of all light devices and the position of the display device D4, and there is no need to perform a partition color evaluation procedure according to the display screen in the observation image. The light control system 1 of the first embodiment can achieve the color extension effect of the display screen introduced in the second embodiment.
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The light control system 1 described in the third embodiment also adopts the concept of “the representative color of the partition of the display device corresponds to the real position of the light device” as described in the second embodiment, the difference is that the third embodiment directly achieves the effect of confirming the position relationship by the position sensor 17 installed in the light device L1, L2 and the display device D4. The third embodiment saves the computing resource consuming by the microcontroller 11 performing the image recognition procedure in comparison with the second embodiment. In addition, since the light control system 1 of the third embodiment comprises the host connecting port Pb configured to receive the video signal and the audio signal transmitted by the host D2, the microcontroller 11 in the third embodiment further performs the audio feature recognition procedure described in the first embodiment to obtain the dimming policies corresponding to the audio signals. As described above, the light control system 1 of the third embodiment also comprises a storage unit or an internet communication unit 19 to store the dimming policies in the host or in the cloud server 50 that described in the first embodiment. In practice, the third light connecting port can be added to connect light devices with DMX512 interface depend on the requirement.
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As described above, the light control system 1 and the light control method according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure are to obtain the positions of the light device L1, L2 and the display device D4 through the position sensors 17. The microcontroller 11 performs the position detecting procedure to obtain the position relationship between the light devices and the display device D4. The microcontroller 11 maps the different partitions of the display screen to the respective light devices on the actual position and assigns the color setting in the dimming signal accordingly when generating the dimming signals. The power distribution unit 13 converts the dimming signals to the driving signals. The first light connecting port P1 and the second light connecting port P2 are used to transmit the driving signals to the first light device L1 and the second light device L2. the light control system 1 and the light control method according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure achieve the effect of extending the consistent color of the light based on the representative color of each partition of the display screen.
To sum up, the light control system and the light control method of the present disclosure integrate the illuminable light devices of the peripheral of a computer, such as the keyboard backlight module, the mouse backlight module, the display card, or the light emitting module inside the host, even the stage light can be connected to the light control system. Moreover, the light control system of the present disclosure is adapted for various domains such as a mood lighting, a home lighting, and the stage lighting. In addition, the configurations used to control the illumination can be stored in a device, a computer, or a cloud server, the same lighting configuration can be used in the different places, and the portability of the light control system of the present disclosure is thus enhanced. The user's entertainment experience can be improved through the light control system of the present disclosure.
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No. 62/511,873 filed in the U.S. on May 26, 2017, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20180368230 A1 | Dec 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62511873 | May 2017 | US |
