Patent Application
20120113321
The present disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for transmitting an image from a mobile phone to a TV (television) set, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set.
As the use of mobile phones becomes increasingly widespread, mobile phone entertainments have become a part of modern people's life. However, a mobile phone can be used by only one or at most a few users simultaneously because of the small size of its display screen, so it cannot provide entertainment for a group of people simultaneously. Therefore, there is a need to maximize the display screen of the mobile phone.
Accordingly, improvements and advancements still have to be made in the art.
An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a method and an apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, which are intended to solve the problem that one mobile phone cannot be used for entertainment by a plurality of users simultaneously due to its small display screen.
The technical solutions of the present disclosure are as follows:
The present disclosure provides a method for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, comprising the following steps of:
step 11: generating standard RGB signals by an LCD controller in a central processing unit (CPU) of the mobile phone;
step 12: transmitting the RGB signals to an LCD of the mobile phone and a TV-OUT chip simultaneously;
step 13: enabling the TV-OUT chip to receive and recognize the RGB signals through configuration of commands;
step 14: carrying out video conversion on the RGB signals by the TV-OUT chip to output standard AV signals; and
step 15: transmitting the AV signals to a display of the TV set via a dock.
Preferably in the method for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the step 14 further comprises:
step 141: carrying out color processing and format conversion on the RGB signals by the TV-OUT chip; and
step 142: converting the RGB signals into the standard AV signals by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
Preferably in the method for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the commands in the step 13 are specific instructions in the corresponding chip specification.
Preferably in the method for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the specific instructions include a width, a height, colorway and a frequency of an input/output image whether the image is flipped by an angle, and a format of the output video.
The present disclosure provides an apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, comprising an LCD of the mobile phone, a TV-OUT chip, an LCD controller for generating standard RGB signals, a 30-pin interface of the mobile phone, a dock and a TV set display. The LCD controller is connected to the LCD of the mobile phone and the TV-OUT chip respectively; the TV-OUT chip is configured to receive the RGB signals, convert the RGB signals into standard AV signals and transmit the standard AV signals to the 30-pin interface of the mobile phone; the standard AV signals are transmitted to the dock via the 30-pin interface of the mobile phone and then transmitted by the dock into the TV set for displaying on the TV set display.
Preferably in the apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the LCD controller is integrated in a CPU of the mobile phone.
Preferably in the apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, a command communication interface is further disposed between the TV-OUT chip and the CPU of the mobile phone to transmit an instruction for video conversion from the CPU of the mobile phone to the TV-OUT chip.
Preferably in the apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the second pin in the 30-pin interface of the mobile phone is used for serial communication with software of the dock so as to accomplish data transmission/reception and functional operations.
Preferably in the apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, the dock connects to the TV set via an AV cable.
According to the method and the apparatus for communication between a mobile phone and a TV set, a TV-OUT chip is installed in the mobile phone and connected to a dock via the 30-pin interface of the mobile phone so that information on the LCD screen of the mobile phone can be transmitted to the display of the TV set.
In order to more clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, attached drawings to be used in the detailed description of the disclosure will be briefly described hereinbelow. Obviously, the attached drawings described hereinbelow only illustrate some of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and those of ordinary skill in the art can also obtain other attached drawings therefrom without the need of making inventive efforts, wherein:
The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. Referring to
Step 11: generating standard RGB (i.e., the three primary colors of Red, Green and Blue) signals by an LCD controller in a central processing unit (CPU) of the mobile phone.
In high-end mobile phones, transmission of data to be displayed between the CPU and the LCD is generally accomplished via an RGB interface. According to definition of a standard RGB interface, data is output from a display memory of the processor to the LCD via a data line under driving of a frame synchronous clock, a row synchronous clock and a dot synchronous clock; thus, refreshing of an image from the dot level to the row level and then to the frame level is accomplished.
Step 12: transmitting the RGB signals to the LCD of the mobile phone and a TV-OUT chip simultaneously.
This step is the key point of the method of the present disclosure. The RGB signals are transmitted in two paths: on one hand, the RGB signals are transmitted to the LCD of the mobile phone for display; and on the other hand, the RGB signals are transmitted to the TV-OUT chip newly added in the mobile phone for processing. Only after being processed by the TV-OUT chip, can the RGB signals from the mobile phone be transmitted to the TV set for displaying.
Step 13: enabling the TV-OUT chip to receive and recognize the data from the LCD controller through configuration of commands.
The TV-OUT chip needs to specify, through the use of commands, a width, a height, colorway and a frequency of the input/output image, whether the image is flipped by an angle, the format of the output video, and other parameters. Therefore, commands must be configured in the TV-OUT chip, and the commands for specifying these parameters are sent through a command communication interface between the CPU and the TV-OUT chip. All these commands correspond to specific instructions in the corresponding chip specification, and will not be further described herein.
Step 14: carrying out video conversion on the RGB signals by the TV-OUT chip to output standard AV (Austere Version) signals.
Step 15: transmitting the AV signals to the display of the TV set via a dock.
The step 14 described above further comprises the following two steps.
Step 141: carrying out color processing and format conversion on the RGB digital video signals by the TV-OUT chip.
Possible scenarios for the conversion are as follows:
1) the TV set has a landscape screen and the mobile phone also has a landscape screen, and the image from the mobile phone is copied to the TV set after being stretched at an equal ratio in two dimensions;
2) the TV set has a landscape screen but the mobile phone has a portrait screen, and the image from the mobile phone is stretched according to the maximum longitudinal height of the TV set's screen while the non-image regions in the lateral direction are filled with a configurable background color;
3) the TV set has a landscape screen but the mobile phone has a portrait screen, and the image from the mobile phone is rotated by 90° or 270° into a landscape image and then copied to the TV set;
4) the image from the mobile phone is displayed in primary colors, and saturation of the image copied to the TV set may be adjusted depending on the user's desire; and
5) the image from the mobile phone is displayed in primary colors, and the image copied to the TV set is displayed in black and white colors.
Step 142: converting the digital signals into analog video signals (i.e., standard AV signals) by a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
In the way described above, the content displayed on the LCD of the mobile phone can be copied to the display of the TV set so that the content from the mobile phone can be shared by a plurality of users.
In order to achieve communication between the mobile phone and the TV set, an intermediary device is needed. This device is just the dock mentioned in this embodiment. As shown in
The dock operation system 220 is responsible for operating all hardware and software in the dock; the dock software 221 comprises various system software and application software (e.g., related to time display setting, alarm clock setting and etc) installed in the dock operation system; the FM antenna 222 is configured to receive an FM signal so that the dock is provided with the function of receiving a broadcast signal; the LINE IN 223 is an audio input port for receiving an audio signal (i.e., a common microphone input interface); the LINE OUT 224 is an audio output interface for outputting the audio signal to the TV set; the TV-OUT interface 225 is configured to output a video signal to the TV set, and the TV-OUT interface 225 and the LINE OUT 224 connect to the TV set via an AV cable; the 30-pin interface 227 is used to connect with a 30-pin interface of the mobile phone; and the DC power supply 228 is a DC power supply input.
Referring to
The apparatus described above operates as follows.
Firstly, the dock 22 is connected to the DC power supply. The dock 22 is connected to the TV set via an audio cable and a video cable, and the AV mode is selected for the TV set 21.
Secondly, the mobile phone 20 in a power-on status is put into the dock 22 with the 30-pin interface 28 at the bottom being mated with the dock 22 (to be more specific, with the 30-pin interface 227 of the dock 22). The mobile phone 20 sends a power-on instruction to the dock 22 through the client-side software so that the dock 22 is powered on successfully. After the mobile phone 20 is inserted into the dock 22, the thirtieth pin of the 30-pin interface 28 of the mobile phone is pulled down to the ground so that a falling edge interruption is generated for the CPU 24 of the mobile phone to notify the inserting action. After the mobile phone 20 is removed, the pin will return to the default pull-up position, and then a rising edge interruption is generated for the CPU 24 of the mobile phone to notify the removal action.
Functions of the 30-pin interface for communication between the dock and the mobile phone are defined in the following table:
Thirdly, after the mobile phone 20 is connected to the dock 22 successfully, the client-side software is displayed by the mobile phone 20. Then, the user may operate the client-side software by clicking it or by means of a remote controller. Through communication protocols, the client-side software can execute the functions of mode switching, dock status inquiry, time setting, date setting, clock setting, music playing, and FM playing, all of which are displayed on the TV set 21.
The serial communication protocols between the mobile phone 20 and the dock 22 are as follows:
1) Table of Serial Communication Protocols:
2) Protocol Supplement Table 1:
3) Protocol Supplement Table 2:
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present disclosure without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201010156054.9 | Apr 2010 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2010/079900 | 12/16/2010 | WO | 00 | 12/31/2011 |
