Distortion control for a seamless tile display system

A tiled display apparatus with distortion control, comprising:

• an image generator that generates display signals indicative of a desired image;
• a plurality of display devices, wherein each display device is subdivided into a plurality of sections, and the plurality of sections for each display device is capable of displaying a plurality of sectional images in response to display control signals applied to that display device, each display device including a dead-band region between each pair of adjacent sections;
• a screen;
• a plurality of lens assemblies optically coupled to the plurality of display devices for projecting the sectional images of the display devices to form a tiled image on the screen, at least one lens assembly being configured to provide magnification having a magnitude of greater than 1 such that the respective projected sectional image on the screen is larger than the corresponding sectional image on the display device, wherein the lens assemblies provide magnification to merge adjacent projected sectional images together to eliminate the dead-band regions from the tiled image;
• a detector that detects the tiled image and generates feedback signals, wherein the detector moves relative to an element displayed on the screen;
• and
• a display controller, coupled to the image generator, the display devices, and the detector, wherein the display controller generates the display control signals in response to the display signals to display the tiled image on the screen, and also receives the feedback signals from the detector and reduces distortion of the tiled image using the feedback signals.

A method of generating a tiled display with distortion control, comprising:

• providing a plurality of display devices;
• subdividing each of the display devices into a plurality of sections such that each display device includes a dead-band region between each pair of adjacent sections;
• displaying a sectional image on each section of each display device;
• magnifying each of the displayed sectional images to a magnitude of greater than 1;
• projecting the magnified sectional images onto a screen such that the projected sectional images are merged into a tiled image which eliminates the dead-band regions from the tiled image;
• detecting the tiled image and generating feedback signals therefrom, wherein detecting the tiled image includes moving a detector relative to an element displayed on the screen;
• and
• using the feedback signals to reduce distortion on the screen.

An apparatus for generating a tiled display with distortion control, comprising:

• a plurality of display devices;
• means for subdividing each of the display devices into a plurality of sections such that each display device includes a dead-band region between each pair of adjacent sections;
• means for displaying a sectional image on each section of each display device;
• means for magnifying the displayed sectional images to a magnitude greater than 1;
• means for projecting the magnified sectional images that are displayed on each section of each display device onto a screen with the projected sectional images merged into a tiled image which has the dead-band regions eliminated from the tiled image;
• means for detecting the tiled image and generating feedback signals therefrom;
• means for moving the means for detecting the tiled image relative to the tiled image;
• and
• means for using the feedback signals to reduce distortion on the screen.

For use in a tiled display apparatus comprising a plurality of display devices that are each subdivided into a plurality of sections for displaying a plurality of sectional images, a lens assembly configured to provide a magnification having a magnitude of greater than 1 to the sectional images, a screen onto which the sectional images are projected to display a tiled image, and a detector that detects the tiled image and generates feedback signals therefrom, a display controller comprising:

• means for generating display control signals that are based upon a desired image;
• means for applying the display control signals to the display devices to cause the plurality of sectional images to be displayed on the plurality of sections of each of the display devices;
• means for moving the detector relative to the tiled image;
• means for receiving the feedback signals from the detector;
• and
• means for correcting the display control signals using the feedback signals to reduce error between the desired image and the tiled image.

A computer readable medium having instructions thereon for causing a display controller to perform a method of generating a tiled image with distortion control, the tiled image being provided by a tiled display apparatus comprising a plurality of display devices each of which is subdivided into a plurality of sections for displaying a plurality of sectional images, the sectional images being magnified and then projected onto a screen to display the tiled image, and a detector that detects the tiled image and generates feedback signals therefrom, the method comprising:

• generating display control signals that are based upon a desired image;
• applying the display control signals to the plurality of display devices to cause the plurality of sectional images to be displayed on the plurality of sections of each display device;
• moving the detector relative to the tiled image;
• receiving the feedback signals from the detector;
• and
• correcting the display control signals using the feedback signals to reduce error between the desired image and the tiled image.