Nino Burini

Modeling Power-Constrained Optimal Backlight Dimming for Color Displays

In this paper, we present a framework for modeling color liquid crystal displays (LCDs) having local light-emitting diode (LED) backlight with dimming capability. The proposed framework includes critical aspects like leakage, clipping, light diffusion and human perception of luminance and allows adjustable penalization of power consumption. Based on the framework, we have designed a set of optimization-based backlight dimming algorithms providing a perceptual optimal balance of clipping and leakage, if necessary. The novel algorithms are compared with several other schemes known from the literature, using both objective measures and subjective assessment. The results show that the novel algorithms provide better quality at a given energy level or lower energy at a given quality level.

Modeling LCD displays with local backlight dimming for image quality assessment

Traditionally, algorithm-based (objective) image and video quality assessment methods operate with the numerical presentation of the signal, and they do not take the characteristics of the actual output device into account. This is a reasonable approach, when quality assessment is needed for evaluating the signal quality distortion related directly to digital signal processing, such as compression. However, the physical characteristics of the display device also pose a significant impact on the overall perception. In order to facilitate image quality assessment on modern liquid crystaldisplays (LCD) using light emitting diode (LED) backlight with local dimming, we present the essential considerations and guidelines for modeling the characteristics of displays with high dynamic range (HDR) and locally adjustable backlight segments. The representation of the image generated by the model can be assessed using the traditional objective metrics, and therefore the proposed approach is useful for assessing the performance of different backlight dimming algorithms in terms of resulting quality and power consumption in a simulated environment. We have implemented the proposed model in C++ and compared the visual results produced by the model against respective images displayed on a real display with locally controlled backlight units.

How to evaluate objective video quality metrics reliably

The typical procedure for evaluating the performance of different objective quality metrics and indices involves comparisons between subjective quality ratings and the quality indices obtained using the objective metrics in question on the known video sequences. Several correlation indicators can be employed to assess how well the subjective ratings can be predicted from the objective values. In this paper, we give an overview of the potential sources for uncertainties and inaccuracies in such studies, related both to the method of comparison, possible inaccuracies in the subjective data, as well as processing of subjective data. We also suggest some general guidelines for researchers to make comparison studies of objective video quality metrics more reliable and useful for the practitioners in the field.

Block-Based Gradient Descent for Local Backlight Dimming and Flicker Reduction

Local backlight dimming technology is a two-fold improvement for LED backlit LCD screens that allows to reduce power consumption and increase visual quality. This paper presents a fast version of an iterative backlight dimming algorithm based on gradient descent search. The speed is increased by exploiting the local uniformity of backlight to reduce the complexity for determining the optimal backlight of a given image. The algorithm is adapted to video sequences by using the backlight of the previous frame as a starting point to calculate the backlight for the current frame. Fast variations of backlight dimming over time can produce a visually annoying flicker artifact. To avoid this artifact, a control mechanism is also proposed.

Quality assessment of images displayed on LCD screen with local backlight dimming

This paper presents a subjective experiment collecting quality assessment of images displayed on a LCD with local backlight dimming using two methodologies: absolute category ratings and paired-comparison. Some well-known objective quality metrics are then applied to the stimuli and their respective performance are analyzed. The HDR-VDP metric seems to achieve good performance on every source image.

Controlling Power Consumption for Displays With Backlight Dimming

Backlight dimming of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) is a technology which aims at saving power and improving visual quality. The evolution of energy standards and the increasing public expectations regarding power consumption have made it necessary for backlight systems to manage their power. Such a control is challenging to implement, because for LCD displays quality and power are closely interlinked, and one cannot be modified without affecting the other. To address this issue, we present a framework for power controlled backlight dimming defining some key concepts. Two methods to obtain backlights with a predefined power level for images are presented: one method has low complexity and the other achieves high performance in terms of quality/power trade-off. Those methods are evaluated on a modeled Light-Emitting Diode edge-lit backlight display. The high-performance method performs significantly better than other algorithms from the literature, when considering both calculated power and quality. This high-performance method is then extended to video in three modes. The first mode favors high quality in a power-aware manner and allow significant power variations, the second mode has strict power constraints and the third one provides a trade-off between the other two.

Image dependent energy-constrained local backlight dimming

In this work, we consider and propose two extensions to an optimization-based image dependent backlight dimming algorithm. The first extension introduces error weighting based on human perception of luminance, aiming to improve the perceived image quality; the second extension adds an adjustable term for power consumption to the cost function, allowing flexible power management. Experimental results show that the proposed solution can achieve better results than other algorithms at several power consumption levels.

Enhancing perceived quality of compressed images and video with anisotropic diffusion and fuzzy filtering

Fuzzy filtering has recently been applied and optimized for reducing distortion in compressed images and video. In this paper, we present a method combining the powerful anisotropic diffusion equations with fuzzy filtering for removing blocking and ringing artifacts. Due to the directional nature of these artifacts, we have applied directional anisotropic diffusion. In order to improve the performance of the algorithm, we select the threshold parameter for the diffusion coefficient adaptively. Two different methods based on this approach are presented: one designed for still images and the other for YUV video sequences. For the video sequences, different filters are applied to luminance (Y) and chrominance (U,V) components. The performance of the proposed method has been compared against several other methods by using different objective quality metrics and a subjective comparison study. Both objective and subjective results on JPEG compressed images, as well as MJPEG and H.264/AVC compressed video, indicate that the proposed algorithms employing directional and spatial fuzzy filters achieve better artifact reduction than other methods. In particular, robust improvements with H.264/AVC video have been gained with several different content types.

Adaptive local backlight dimming algorithm based on local histogram and image characteristics

Liquid Crystal Display (LCDs) with Light Emitting Diode (LED) backlight is a very popular display technology, used for instance in television sets, monitors and mobile phones. This paper presents a new backlight dimming algorithm that exploits the characteristics of the target image, such as the local histograms and the average pixel intensity of each backlight segment, to reduce the power consumption of the backlight and enhance image quality. The local histogram of the pixels within each backlight segment is calculated and, based on this average, an adaptive quantile value is extracted. A classification into three classes based on the average luminance value is performed and, depending on the image luminance class, the extracted information on the local histogram determines the corresponding backlight value. The proposed method has been applied on two modeled screens: one with a high resolution direct-lit backlight, and the other screen with 16 edge-lit backlight segments placed in two columns and eight rows. We have compared the proposed algorithm against several known backlight dimming algorithms by simulations; and the results show that the proposed algorithm provides better trade-off between power consumption and image quality preservation than the other algorithms representing the state of the art among feature based backlight algorithms.

Optimal Backlight Modulation With Crosstalk Control in Stereoscopic Display

Crosstalk between the left-eye and right-eye images is one of the main artifacts affecting the visual quality of stereoscopic liquid crystal display (LCD) systems. In this paper, a novel technique, called Optimal Backlight Modulation (OBM), is proposed to reduce crosstalk by taking the advantage of newly emerged light-emitting diode (LED) backlight panel. Unlike most existing techniques which solely aim at eliminating the effect of crosstalk, ignoring image brightness and contrast, OBM strikes a better balance by maximizing the output luminance while confining the crosstalk within a given level. A simple closed-form approximation of the optimization problem can be easily employed and solved in real time on LCD control hardware. Simulation results show that the proposed OBM algorithm provides the same or higher luminance while reducing the crosstalk by 60% compared with the other tested methods.