METHOD OF DISTORTING AN IMAGE DISPLAYED ON A STAND OR STAIRWAY

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a method of distorting an image, preferably an advertising image, on a stand or stairway.

[0002] The present invention is particularly applicable to devices for displaying images on stands or stairways which comprise a plurality of screens which are positioned on the risers and/or treads of the stand or stairway. Document ES1234370U, from the present applicant, discloses devices of this type. The present invention is also particularly applicable to the case where the treads, landings or horizontal spans of stands or stairways have no image display elements. However, the invention is not necessarily limited to said cases or applications.

[0003] In the sports field advertising sector, different image distortion techniques, also known as anamorphic techniques, are widely known. Anamorphic techniques distort the image or logo to be displayed, allowing an image to be seen from a point of view (referred to in this application as the "vanishing point") with the desired characteristics. Said characteristics may be, for example, to observe the logo or image without distortion due to perspective, or to see said image in a vertical arrangement even though the advertising device is placed horizontally lying on the ground. Said devices are usually positioned on the ground in the sports field, outside the lines that delimit the field of play, or inside the field of play, and consist of a single laminar element placed on the ground (adhesive vinyl, painted layer, flat screen, etc.).

[0004] Document US7155849B2 discloses methods for representing an image on a staircase by dividing the image into partial images and projecting said partial images onto the partial surfaces where the whole image is to be displayed from an eyepoint located on the axis of sight in front of the partial surfaces.

[0005] Document CN101393711B discloses methods a display apparatus which displays an image as a transmitted projection image including a first screen and a second screen disposed adjacent to one another such that the normal line of the projection of the first screen crosses with the normal line of the projection from the second screen.

[0006] Document ES1160309U discloses methods of distorting images that are to be displayed on stands or stairways. In particular, two distortion methods are disclosed. According to a first method, the image to be displayed is distorted and split into fragments corresponding to the height of the risers on which the image is to be displayed. The image is split into contiguous, adjacent fragments, each fragment corresponding to the riser of a step. The image is therefore distorted, at least initially, to cover the sum of the height of the risers. An anamorphic distortion of the image thus transformed is then carried out, if desired, so as to be seen correctly from a specific viewpoint (usually a camera). Alternatively, the image is split into contiguous fragments corresponding to contiguous treads and risers of the stairway. The image is therefore distorted to cover the sum of the height of the risers and the sum of the depth of the treads of the span of the stairway or stand on which the image will be displayed. Next, only the portions of the image corresponding to the risers are anamorphically distorted, with just a connection between the lines corresponding to two contiguous risers being displayed on the treads.

[0007] Document ES1234370U discloses a device for displaying images on stands or stairways which comprises a series of screens. Preferably, the screens are placed only on the risers of the stand or stairway. The image displayed on the screens may be distorted using anamorphic techniques. This device is particularly applicable to the stands or stairways of sports venues, in particular those where the public are located.

[0008] The applicant has noted that the images produced in this way sometimes have display issues. In particular, if the focal length is small and/or the angle of vision of the stairway is large and/or the length of the tread or landing is very great (as is the tendency nowadays in the stands of sports venues), and/or of disparate physical dimensions, each of the images displayed on each of the treads appears to be independent of the others, and the message, image or logo displayed is weakened and therefore loses its informative or commercial value.

[0009] In the present invention, the terms "image" and "logo" should be considered to also include the graphic display of a text, in combination or not with other graphic elements. Both "image" and "logo" also refer to video (which is a succession of images).

[0010] The present invention comprises a composite distortion of the image, with height distortion of the image to be displayed applied prior to the anamorphic distortion, and subsequent application of the image thus obtained onto the available display area. The technique defined by this aspect is particularly advantageous when applied to stairways and/or stands.

[0011] The invention discloses a method by which the anamorphic distortion or vanishing point distortion is not produced on the real display surface but on a virtual surface which corresponds to a continuous hypothetical slope replacing the stand or stairway. The effect is that the human eye tends to "fill" the spaces present in the real display of the anamorphically distorted figure in the easiest way, and does not clearly notice the discontinuities corresponding, for example, to the absence of display on the treads of the stairway.

[0012] The present invention proposes a modification of the anamorphic technique to take advantage of the way the human brain operates when reconstructing images. The present invention is applicable to all anamorphic and/or vanishing point and/or perspective techniques.

[0013] The present invention discloses a method of anamorphically distorting an image to be displayed on the treads and/or risers of a stand or stairway, or a span of stand or stairway, as defined in claim 1, which comprises the steps of:

• applying the image to be displayed onto a virtual work area
• anamorphically distorting the image applied onto the virtual work area
• applying the distorted image onto an available work area, said available work area corresponding to the sum of the surfaces on which the image is displayed;

wherein the virtual work area corresponds to a continuous slope defined by the height and depth of said stand or stairway, or span of the stand or stairway, the distorted image being applied, after the anamorphic distortion, onto the available work area. The application may typically consist of stretching or shrinking the image from the size or length of the virtual work area to that of the available work area.

[0014] According to an aspect of the present invention, the available or real work area and the virtual work area prior to distortion do not coincide.

[0015] Preferably, said application consists of distorting the distorted image onto the available work area, adjusting said image to the size and shape of the available work area. This may be produced, for example, using commercially available programs, which adjust an image to fit the available pixels.

[0016] The virtual work area is an area that has a length equal to the value of the hypotenuse of a virtual triangle in which one of the legs is the sum of the heights of the risers of the stand, stairway or span, and the other leg is the sum of the lengths of the treads of the stand, stairway or span.

[0017] The available work area corresponds to the sum of the areas of the risers. Preferably, the distorted image applied to the available work area is displayed on a device that comprises a plurality of separate, mutually independent screens. According to the present invention, other applications are also possible.

[0018] An object of the present invention is to disclose a solution to the above-mentioned problem. The present invention allows the display of the image or commercial logo to be optimised and allows the focusing of the television camera to be taken into account, achieving optimum display of the logo or image on said stands or stairways.

[0019] For a better understanding, the accompanying drawings show an explanatory but non-limiting example of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows schematically a stand or stairway showing the distances on which the adaptation of the size and shape of the image or logo to be displayed is carried out.

Fig. 2 shows schematically the work area with no initial height distortion.

Fig. 3 shows schematically the work area after the initial distortion.

Fig. 4 shows schematically the work area with the logos to be applied thereto.

Fig. 5 shows schematically the work area following vanishing point distortion or anamorphic distortion.

Fig. 6 shows schematically the final reproduction content.

Fig. 7 is another embodiment from a viewpoint from which the image does not appear to be distorted.

Fig. 8 shows the embodiment in Fig. 7 from a different viewpoint from the one above.

Fig. 9 and 10 are photographs of the real application of an embodiment similar to the one shown graphically in Fig. 7 and 8.

[0020] Fig. 1 shows schematically the different lengths and/or surfaces on which the image to be displayed is applied before distorting and reproducing said image on the image reproduction device. In the image, "b" is the sum of the heights of the risers on which the image will be reproduced. Said sum therefore corresponds approximately to the surfaces of the reproduction screens in the case where only screens are provided on the risers. In that case, said sum may also be said to correspond to the sum of the real pixels on which the image is displayed. On the other hand, "a" is the sum of the treads of the stairway and "h" is the hypotenuse of the right-angled triangle formed by "a" and "b". In all cases, the real or available work area corresponds to the available display area. According to the present invention, for the purpose of calculating the anamorphic distortion or vanishing point distortion, the work area will be taken to correspond to said hypotenuse "h". In other words, the work area for the purpose of calculating the vanishing point distortion or anamorphic distortion is an ideal surface which has the available display width of the stairway or stand and the length "h", regardless of what the real working area for image display may be.

[0021] The geometric relationship between h, a and b corresponds to Pythagoras's theorem.

[0022] The surfaces correspond to the lengths shown in Fig. 1, with the corresponding available width in each case.

[0023] Fig. 2 to 6 show an example of a distortion process applied to a stand in a sports field. The available display areas 1 are positioned between the areas 2 shown in black, which typically correspond to the areas where the spectators are located.

[0024] Fig. 2 shows the "canvas" or real display area. In the case shown, said "canvas" corresponds only to the sum of the risers of the span of stairways available for display and has a height "b". According to the known technique, the image or images to be displayed are applied to the "canvas" before the vanishing point distortion or anamorphic distortion thereof is carried out. Using this technique ensures that the distorted image will correspond correctly to the display area.

[0025] Fig. 3 shows the work area or "virtual canvas" on which the vanishing point transformation or anamorphic transformation will be applied. The height thereof corresponds to the value "h". The logo or image to be displayed is applied to this "virtual canvas" or virtual work area (see Fig. 4). The virtual work area has been marked 1' to distinguish said virtual work area from the work area or canvas that is really available.

[0026] Next, vanishing point distortion or anamorphic distortion is applied, taking account of the position of the viewpoint from which the image should appear undistorted. Said viewpoint is typically that of a broadcast camera, for example a master camera. Said distortion is applied to the virtual work area concerned (see Fig. 5). In the figure, the displacement that must be applied to the upper side of the work area is marked x. In preferred embodiments, lateral displacement is applied to the work area to make the image taken by the master camera coincide with the stairways, as can be seen in the figure.

[0027] To conclude, the final distortion is carried out, which corresponds to adjusting the image that has been anamorphically distorted (vanishing point distortion) to the real work area or "canvas". The "canvas" corresponds to a continuous surface which is the sum of all the available real distortion surfaces (see Fig. 6).

[0028] Although the example shows a stand with various stairway aisles available for display, the method may also be applied to a single aisle or stairway. Moreover, the method may be applied to the entirety of the stairway or only to a span available for display.

[0029] Fig. 7, 8, 9 and 10 show another embodiment from two viewpoints. Fig. 7 shows how the logo appears apparently undistorted from the viewpoint of the master camera (the point taken to calculate the distortion). Fig. 8 shows the same image from another viewpoint in which the real distortion can be seen. The image in Fig. 7 and 8 has been displayed on a device like the one described in ES1234370U. It can be seen that although the image is displayed on vertical surfaces situated on the risers and not on the slope of length "h" taken as the virtual work area, the logo continues to appear to be displayed on a slope. The display device is seen in Fig. 7 from the position of a master camera. In the image in Fig. 8 the device is seen from the front thereof. When viewed from the front, said image can be seen to be distorted because each step reproduces content individually so that, on being seen by the master camera, the set of steps forms a single image.

[0030] The present invention and the different embodiments thereof may be applied to devices with 2D display screens, or to fixed display systems (paint, vinyl) or 3D image display systems.

Claims

1. Method of anamorphically distorting an image to be displayed on the treads and/or risers of a stand or stairway, or a span of a stand or stairway, which comprises the steps of:

- applying the image to be displayed onto a virtual work area

- anamorphically distorting the image applied onto the virtual work area

- applying the distorted image onto an available work area, said available work area corresponding to the sum of the surfaces of the risers, on which the image is displayed;

the distorted image being applied, after the anamorphic distortion, onto said available work area;

characterised in that the virtual work area corresponds to a continuous slope defined by the height and depth of said stand or stairway, or span of said stand or stairway, said virtual work area being an area that has a length equal to the value of the hypotenuse of a virtual triangle in which one of the legs is the sum of the heights of the risers of the stand, stairway or span, and the other leg is the sum of the lengths of the treads of the stand, stairway or span.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that said application consists of distorting the distorted image, adjusting said image to the size and shape of the available work area.

3. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the distorted image applied to the available work area is displayed on a device that comprises a plurality of separate, mutually independent screens.

Ansprüche

1. Verfahren zum anamorphotischen Verzerren eines Bilds, das an den Trittstufen und/oder Setzstufen einer Tribüne oder Treppe oder an der Erstreckung einer Tribüne oder Treppe anzuzeigen ist, wobei das Verfahren die folgenden Schritte umfasst:

- Anwenden des anzuzeigenden Bilds auf eine virtuelle Arbeitsfläche,

- anamorphotisches Verzerren des auf die virtuelle Arbeitsfläche angewendeten Bilds,

- Anwenden des verzerrten Bilds auf eine verfügbare Arbeitsfläche,

wobei die verfügbare Arbeitsfläche der Summe aus den Flächen der Setzstufen, an denen das Bild angezeigt wird, entspricht, und

wobei das verzerrte Bild nach der anamorphotischen Verzerrung auf die verfügbare Arbeitsfläche angewendet wird,

dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die virtuelle Arbeitsfläche einer kontinuierlichen Schräge entspricht, die durch die Höhe und die Tiefe der Tribüne oder Treppe oder durch die Erstreckung der Bühne oder Treppe definiert wird, wobei die virtuelle Arbeitsfläche eine Fläche ist, die eine Länge gleich dem Wert der Hypotenuse eines virtuellen Dreiecks, in dem einer der Schenkel die Summe aus den Höhen der Setzstufen der Tribüne, Treppe oder Erstreckung ist und der andere Schenkel die Summe aus den Längen der Trittstufen der Tribüne, Treppe oder Erstreckung ist, aufweist.

2. Verfahren nach Anspruch 1, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Anwendung aus dem Verzerren des verzerrten Bilds und dem Anpassen des Bilds an die Größe und Form der verfügbaren Arbeitsfläche besteht.

3. Verfahren nach einem der vorstehenden Ansprüche, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das auf die verfügbare Arbeitsfläche angewendete verzerrte Bild an einer Einrichtung, die eine Vielzahl von separaten, voneinander unabhängigen Bildschirmen umfasst, angezeigt wird.

Revendications

1. Procédé de distorsion anamorphique d'une image à afficher sur les marches et/ou les contremarches d'une tribune ou d'un escalier, ou sur une portée d'une tribune ou d'un escalier, qui comprend les étapes consistant à :

- appliquer l'image à afficher sur une zone de travail virtuelle

- distordre de manière anamorphique l'image appliquée sur la zone de travail virtuelle

- appliquer l'image distordue sur une zone de travail disponible, ladite zone de travail disponible correspondant à la somme des surfaces des contremarches sur lesquels l'image est affichée ;

l'image distordue est appliquée, après la distorsion anamorphique, sur ladite zone de travail disponible ;

caractérisé en ce que la zone de travail virtuelle correspond à une pente 15 continue définie par la hauteur et la profondeur de ladite tribune ou dudit escalier, ou par la portée de ladite tribune ou dudit escalier, ladite zone de travail virtuelle étant une zone dont la longueur est égale à la valeur de l'hypoténuse d'un triangle virtuel dont l'une des pattes est la somme des hauteurs des contremarches de la tribune, de l'escalier ou de la portée, et l'autre patte est la somme des longueurs des marches de la 20 tribune, de l'escalier ou de la portée.

2. Procédé selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que l'application consiste à distordre l'image distordue, en adaptant ladite image à la taille et à la forme de la zone de travail disponible. 25

3. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, caractérisé en ce que l'image distordue appliquée à la zone de travail disponible est affichée sur un dispositif comprenant une pluralité d'écrans séparés et indépendants les uns des autres.

Drawing