System and process for increasing the apparent resolution of a display
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorsSumit Basu, Patrick Baudisch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and process for creating an apparently higher resolution image on a display exhibiting a lower resolution is presented. The basic idea is to make multiple decimated versions of an image at different offsets in a smooth path (all of which will contain different bits of detail), and then animate through the resulting decimated images (i.e., show them in rapid succession). The viewer sees what looks like a higher-resolution image moving in a smooth path. The viewer sees this since the human eye is capable of integrating details over the continuous motion. Thus, images such as text enjoy an enhanced legibility.
Claims18
A computer-implemented process for creating an apparently higher resolution image of a scene on a display exhibiting a resolution that is lower than said apparently higher resolution, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
- generating a sequence of images which exhibit said lower resolution, wherein each of the images is generated by moving a sub-sampling grid comprising intersection points spaced apart so as to correspond to a prescribed sub-sampling frequency to a different offset in relation to an image of said scene having a higher resolution than the display and decimating the higher resolution image at each offset to generate a lower-resolution image, said moving and decimation comprising,
- assigning a fixed point on the grid,
- establishing a path on or adjacent the higher resolution image, said path having a plurality of predefined points thereon,
- for each point in turn on the path,
- finding the closest pixel of the image,
- aligning the fixed point of the grid with said closest pixel, and
- decimating the image to establish for each grid intersection point a single pixel value, thereby generating a decimated image;
- and
- displaying the sequence of images on the display in an order in which they were generated and at a prescribed rate, so as to create the appearance of an image of the scene having a higher resolution than that of the individual decimated images.
A system for creating an apparently higher resolution image on a display exhibiting a resolution that is lower than said apparently higher resolution, comprising:
- a general purpose computing device;
- a computer program comprising program modules loaded on a memory in communication with the general purpose computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to,
- input an image having a higher resolution than the display;
- establish a path on or adjacent the image which has a plurality of predefined points thereon;
- define a sub-sampling grid with a prescribed fixed point thereon, said grid having intersection points spaced apart so as to correspond to a prescribed sampling frequency;
- and
- for each point in turn on the path,
- find the closest pixel of the image,
- align the fixed point of the grid with said closest pixel,
- decimate the image using an area-type filter which establishes a pixel value for each grid intersection point, to generate a decimated image having a lower resolution than the input image;
- and wherein
- the resulting sequence of decimated images when displayed on the display in an order in which fall on the path and at a prescribed rate, creates the appearance of an image having a higher resolution than that of the individual decimated images which moves in a course corresponding to said path.
A process for creating an apparently higher resolution image on a display exhibiting a resolution that is lower than said apparently higher resolution, comprising:
- an inputting step for inputting an image having a higher resolution than the display;
- an establishing step for establishing a path on or adjacent the image which has a plurality of predefined points thereon, wherein the number of predefined points of the path exceeds a size ratio;
- a defining step for defining a sub-sampling grid with a prescribed fixed point thereon, said grid having intersection points spaced apart so as to correspond to a prescribed sampling frequency;
- and
- for each point in turn on the path performing,
- a finding step for finding the closest pixel of the image,
- an aligning step for aligning the fixed point of the grid with said closest pixel,
- a decimating step for decimating the image using an area-type filter which establishes for each grid intersection point a single pixel value, to generate a decimated image having a lower resolution than the input image;
- and wherein
- said size ratio is defined as the number of pixels in the input image to the number of pixies in each of the resulting sequence of decimated images, and
- the resulting sequence of decimated images when displayed on the display in an order in which fall on the path and at a prescribed rate, creates the appearance of an image having a higher resolution than that of the individual decimated images which moves in a course corresponding to said path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.