Method and apparatus for calibrating a tiled display

In a system for controlling a tiled display system that receives an input video signal, the tiled display system having two or more displays, each manifesting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a viewing surface or screen to form a composite image, the improvement comprising:

• camera means for providing a capture image of at least a portion of the composite image, the tiled display system having a viewing side with said camera means located on the opposite of the viewing side;
• determining means for determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristics;
• and
• identifying means for identifying a transformation function that can be used to process the input video signal and provide processed input video signals to selected displays to reduce the one or more non-desirable characteristics.

A method for controlling a display system that has two or more displays, each display manifesting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a viewing surface or screen to form a composite image, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the composite image, the capture image being captured from a side of the viewing surface or screen that is opposite to a viewing side;
• determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristics;
• and
• identifying a transformation function that can be used to process an input video signal and provide a processed input video signal to selected displays to reduce the one or more non-desirable characteristics.

A method for controlling a display system that has two or more displays, each display manifesting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a viewing surface or screen to form a composite image, the method comprising the steps of:

• causing the at least one of the two or more displays to manifest a discrete image that has a predetermined pattern with a number of features;
• capturing a capture image of a selected portion of the composite image;
• identifying a spatial distortion in the capture image by examining the relative location of selected features in the capture image;
• and
• determining a transformation function that will at least partially remove the spatial distortion from the composite image.

A method for calibrating a tiled display system, the tiled display system having two or more displays, each receiving an input signal and each manifesting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a viewing surface or screen to form a composite image, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing an input signal to selected projectors to project a number of discrete images, each discrete image having a predetermined pattern with a number of corresponding features;
• capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the screen using a camera device;
• determining a distortion in the composite image by isolating the location of selected features in the capture image;
• identifying a transformation function that can be applied to the input signal of selected displays to at least partially remove the distortion from the composite image.

A method for calibrating a tiled projection display, the tiled projection display having two or more projectors, each receiving an input signal and each projecting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a screen to form a composite image, the method comprising the steps of:

• sequentially inputting to selected projectors an input signal that correspond to a flat field image of a first color for each of a number of luminance intensities;
• capturing a capture image of selected flat field images, the capture image being captured from a side of the screen that is opposite to a viewing side;
• determining a distortion in the projection display by examining the captured flat field images;
• and
• identifying a transformation function that can be applied to the input signal that will at least partially remove the distortion from the composite image.

A method for calibrating a tiled projection display, the tiled projection display having two or more projectors, each receiving an input signal and each projecting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a screen to form a composite image, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a physical template that includes a predetermined pattern adjacent the screen;
• capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the physical template using a camera device;
• and
• determining a camera distortion that is introduced by the camera device by comparing the capture image with a predetermined expectation.

A method for controlling a display system that has two or more displays, each display manifesting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a viewing surface or screen to form a composite image, at least one of the discrete images overlapping an adjacent discrete image to form at least one overlapping region, the method comprising the steps of:

• capturing a capture image of at least a portion of the composite image including at least a portion of one or more overlapping region;
• determining if the capture image has one or more non-desirable characteristics;
• and
• identifying a transformation function that can be used to process an input video signal and provide a processed input video signal to selected displays to reduce the one or more non-desirable characteristics.

A method for calibrating a tiled projection display, the tiled projection display having two or more projectors, each receiving an input signal and each projecting one of a number of discrete images separately onto a screen to form a composite image, at least one of the discrete images overlapping an adjacent discrete image to form at least one overlapping region, the method comprising the steps of:

• sequentially inputting to selected projectors an input signal that correspond to a flat field image of a first color for each of a number of luminance intensities;
• capturing a capture image of selected flat field images including at least a portion of one or more overlapping region;
• determining a distortion in the projection display by examining the captured flat field images;
• and
• identifying a transformation function that can be applied to the input signal that will at least partially remove the distortion from the composite image.