Global and local contrast control with brightness and shading adjustment of smart glass display

A smart glass display comprising:

• a first glass layer;
• a second glass layer;
• a display layer disposed between the first glass layer and the second glass layer and comprising an array of light emitting diodes and at least one ambient light sensor, wherein the at least one ambient light sensor includes one or more outer ambient light sensors and an interior ambient light sensor, the one or more outer ambient light sensors are disposed at an outer periphery of the display layer, and the interior ambient light sensor is disposed at a center of the display layer and being configured to detect a level of ambient light at the display layer, the level of ambient light being indicative of or related to an actual ambient light level of an area internal to a vehicle and inward from the smart glass display;
• an auto-shading layer comprising suspended particle devices each of which configured to selectively provide a plurality of different levels of transparency;
• and
• a control module configured i) based on an output of the at least one ambient light sensor, to adjust a transparency level of at least a portion of the auto-shading layer, and to adjust a dimming level based on an auto-shading level and an output of the interior ambient light sensor to compensate for the level of auto-shading, and ii) determine the actual ambient light level based on the output of the interior ambient light sensor and the level of auto-shading, wherein a multiplier is determined based on the level of auto-shading, and the actual ambient light level is generated based on the multiplier and the output of the interior ambient light sensor;
• wherein the control module is configured to i) use triangulation to determine locations of one or more selected points between the one or more outer ambient light sensors and the interior ambient light sensor, ii) estimate an ambient light level at the one or more selected points, and iii) based on the estimated ambient light levels at the one or more selected points, adjust at least one of a brightness level of a respective portion of the display layer and an auto-dimming level of a respective portion of the auto-shading layer.

A smart glass display comprising:

• a first glass layer of a window of a vehicle;
• a second glass layer of the window;
• a display layer disposed between the first glass layer and the second glass layer and comprising an array of light emitting diodes, a plurality of suspended particle devices, and at least one ambient light sensor, wherein the at least one ambient light sensor is configured to detect a level of ambient light at the display layer, and wherein the suspended particle devices are each configured to selectively provide a plurality of different levels of transparency, wherein the display layer is configured to transition between the plurality of different levels of transparency such that the smart glass display and a corresponding portion of the window transition between different levels of transparency including transitioning between a transparent state, an opaque state, and one or more intermediate states, the one or more intermediate states being more transparent than the opaque state and less transparent than the transparent state, and
• wherein the at least one ambient light sensor comprises one or more outer ambient light sensors and an inner ambient light sensor, the one or more outer ambient light sensors are disposed at an outer periphery of the display layer, and the inner ambient light sensor is disposed at a center of the display layer;
• and
• a control module configured to i) determine an actual ambient light level of an area internal to the vehicle based on an output of an interior ambient light sensor and a level of auto-shading of the display layer, wherein a multiplier is determined based the level of auto-shading, and the actual ambient light level is generated based on the multiplier and the output of the interior ambient light sensor, ii) based on the actual ambient light level, adjust a transparency level of at least a portion of the auto-shading layer, iii) use triangulation to determine locations of one or more selected points between the one or more outer ambient light sensors and the inner ambient light sensor, iv) estimate an ambient light level at the one or more selected points, and v) based on the estimated ambient light levels at the one or more selected points, adjust at least one of a brightness level of a respective portion of the display layer and an auto-dimming level of a respective portion of the display layer.