IMAGING APPARATUS

The present invention relates to imaging apparatus, particularly but not exclusively imaging apparatus for a fire.

Fires including imaging apparatus are known, the imaging apparatus producing image of flames to provide a flame effect. Recently, with the introduction of relatively small DVD players with liquid crystal display screens, attempts have been made to incorporate such players into fires. However, the image definition of such players is relatively poor. The screen size is relatively small, so that the image requires magnification, for example, by lenses. The player itself is relatively large in comparison with the space available in the fire. The screen is generally recognisable by the viewer as an LCD screen so that the viewer is aware that the image is a flame effect rather than a real flame. The image or image sequence is often "jumpy", betraying the fact that the image sequence is on a continuous repeating loop.

In other conventional arrangements larger LCD screens are used.

However larger screens typically require PC based hardware and software which is relatively expensive and bulky.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided imaging apparatus for a fire, the apparatus including a display screen on which an image is displayable in use and a controller which is arranged to provide a set of images to the display screen for display.

Possibly the apparatus includes masking means, which may be arranged to substantially prevent a viewer viewing part of the display screen. Possibly the masking means is arranged to substantially prevent the viewer viewing a top part and opposed side parts of the display screen.

Possibly the masking means includes a masking member. Possibly the masking member includes a first region and a second region. Possibly the first region permits the transmission of more light than the second region. Possibly the second region substantially prevents the transmission of light.

Possibly the first region substantially permits the transmission of light, and may be transparent. Possibly the masking member includes a transition region between the first region and the second region.

Possibly the second region in use extends around three sides of the first region, and may extend around two opposed vertical sides and a top side of the first region in use.

Possibly the masking member is substantially planar, and may be rectangular. Possibly the second region extends from a lower part of each of the vertical sides of the rectangular masking member. Possibly the second region extends upwardly inwardly in use from the lower part of each of the vertical sides, and may extend at an angle of between 75° and 85° to the horizontal, and may optimally extend at an angle of 80° to the horizontal.

Possibly the masking member includes a layer, which may extend over the second region. Possibly the layer includes a material which restricts the transmission of light therethrough.

Possibly the controller is arranged to repeatedly provide the set of images to the display screen for display. Possibly each image shows a subject, and when displayed in sequence in use the set shows the subject in motion.

Possibly the set of images includes at least one transition image, which may be positioned at the start or end of the set. Possibly the transition image includes two images of the subject which are combined. Possibly each of the combined images shows the subject in a different condition. Possibly each of the combined images have an intensity. Possibly the intensity of each of the combined images is less than the intensity of the other images of the set.

Possibly, one of the combined images is in sequence with the end of the sequence of images of the set. Possibly one of the combined images is in sequence with the start of the sequence of images of the set.

Possibly the set includes a plurality of transition images. Possibly each of the combined images relating to the end of the sequence is sequentially less intense than the respective previous end of sequence combined image.

Possibly each of the start of sequence combined images is more intense than the respective previous start of sequence combined image.

Possibly the controller is a microcontroller, which is in the form of a circuit board including a processor, serial ports, inputs, outputs, a clock and a graphic accelerator.

Possibly the apparatus includes a scaling device

Possibly the controller is arranged to provide an output signal to the scaling device, which may be in the form of a TTL (transistor-transistor-logic) signal. Possibly the scaling device is arranged to provide an LVDS (low voltage differential signalling) signal to the display screen.

Possibly, the scaling device is arranged to increase the number of pixels displaying the image. Possibly the controller is arranged to provide a 640 x 480 pixel image to the scaling device, and the scaling device is arranged to provide at least a 1280 x 720 pixel image to the screen.

Possibly the imaging apparatus is to provide a flame effect for a fire. Possibly the image is an image of a flame, and the set of images provides the effect of a moving flame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fire, the fire including imaging apparatus as described above in the preceding statements.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of displaying an image within a fire, the method including the steps of providing imaging apparatus, the imaging apparatus including _^ a display screen on which an image is displayable in use and a controller which is arranged to provide a set of images to the display screen for display.

Possibly the imaging apparatus includes any of the features described in the said preceding statements.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side sectional schematic view of a fire;

Figure 2 is a front view of part of the fire;

Figure 3 is a view of part of a masking member;

Figure 4 is a schematic view of a conventional set of images; and

Figure 5 is a schematic view of another set of images.

Figure 1 shows a fire 10, the fire 10 including imaging apparatus 12, the imaging apparatus 12 including a display screen 14 and a controller 16 which is arranged to provide an image or images to the display screen 14 for display.

As shown in Figure 1 , the fire 10 could include a grate 22 and fuel effect members 20, and the fire 10 could be mounted in a fire surround 24.

The display screen 14 is in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen, and could be mounted in any suitable orientation.

The imaging apparatus 12 includes masking means including a masking member 18 which is positioned in front of the display screen 14 so that a viewer 26 views the display screen 14 through the masking member 18. Referring to Figure 2, which shows the masking member 18 from the front, with the outline in dotted lines of the display screen 14 behind, the masking member 18 includes a first transparent or clear region 40 and a second substantially opaque region 42, the first region 40 permitting the transmission of more light than the second region 42, the first region 40 substantially permitting the transmission of light and the second region 42 substantially

preventing the transmission of light. The masking member 18 includes a transition region 44 between the first and second regions 40, 42.

The masking member 18 could include a layer 28 which extends over the second region 42, the layer 28 being formed of a material which restricts the transmission of light. The layer 28 could be formed of, for example, paint, a dye, smoke, or any other suitable material.

The second region 42 extends around three sides of the first region 40, extending from a lower part of each of the opposed vertical sides of the masking member upwardly and inwardly. In one example, the second region 42 extends upwardly and inwardly from each corner of the masking member 18 at an angle 46 of between 75° and 85° to the horizontal and optimally at an angle 46 of 80° to the horizontal.

As shown in Figure 2, the second region 42 will in use substantially prevent a viewer 26 from being able to see the side and top edges of the display screen 14. Additionally, the transition region 44 provides a transition from light to dark, so that the viewer 26 will not see any sharp edges. Thus the viewer 26 will see flame effect images displayed by the screen 14 through the first transparent region 40, and these images will appear more realistic since the viewer 26 cannot see the edges of the screen 14.

Various modifications could be made to the masking member 18. The masking member 18 could be of any suitable size and shape, and could be formed of any suitable material. The opacity of the second region 42 could be varied. For example, the second region 42 might not necessarily be completely opaque. The second region 42 could be any suitable colour. The opacity could be provided by any suitable means. The degree of opacity in the second region 42 could vary. For example in one example the opacity of the second region 42 could be provided by smoking glass, and the opacity of the second region 42 could vary across the second region 42. The transition region 44 could be of any suitable size and shape. The first, transparent region 40 could be of any suitable size and shape.

Figure 4 shows a conventional arrangement in which the controller 16 is arranged to repeatedly provide a set 50 of images 52A, 52B, . . . . . 52N to the display screen 14 for display. The set 50 of images could include a sequence of images showing a subject which in the case of Figure 4 is a flame, which when displayed shows the subject in motion.

In the example shown in Figure 4, the image of the flame in each sequential image 52A, 52B, . . . . . 52N increases in size. After the last image 52N is displayed, the set of images 50 is displayed sequentially again as indicated by arrows A, so that following image 52N, image 52A is displayed. The viewer 26 will therefore notice a jump in flame size between the relatively large flame shown in image 52N and the relatively small flame shown in image 52A.

Figure 5 shows another set of images 54 including two transition images 56A, 56B, each of which include two images of the subject which are combined, each of the combined images showing the subject in a different condition.

In the first transition image 56A, one of the combined images is the first image of the set 52A and the other of the combined images is the second to last image of the set 52N-1. Each of the combined images within the transition images 56A, 56B is less intense than the other images of the set. The second transition image 56B includes the second image of the sequence 52B as one of the combined images and the last image of the set 52N as the other of the combined images, and again the combined images are less intense than the other images of the set.

In the first transition image 56A, the combined second to last image of the set 52N-1 is more intense than the first image of the set 52A. In the second transition image 56B, the last image of the set 52N is less intense than the second image of the set 52B. Thus, the end of set combined images become less intense with each successive transition image, and the start of

set combined images become more intense with each successive transition image.

In this specification the term "intensity" is used in a relative sense to signify the degree of visibility of an image relative to the other images of the set which do not include combined images. Thus, for example the third image 52C and the third to last image 52N-2 (which are not transition images) would have an intensity of 100%. In the first transition image 56A, the first image 52A could have an intensity of 33%, and the second to last image 52N-1 could have an intensity of 67%. In the second transition image 56B, the second image 52B could have an intensity of 67%, and the last image 52N could have an intensity of 33%. Thus the transition images 56A, 56B provide a transition fade out of the end of the set and a transition fade in of the beginning of the set, so that there is no jump in images between the end and the start of the set.

The set of images 54 could include any suitable number of images N.

In one example, the set of images 54 includes 40 images. The images are normally displayed at approximately 25 images per second, and thus the set of images 54 displays in a loop approximately 1.6 seconds long. In one example, the set of 40 images includes six transition images which include combined images, the intensities of which are shown in Table 1.

Table 1

In the example shown in table 1 , the images 7 to 34 are single images of intensity 100%. Images 35 to 40 are combined with images 1 to 6 to form transition images. The intensity of the end of set images 35 to 40 reduces successively, and the intensity of the start of set images 1 to 6 increases successively, thus providing a transition from the flame of image 34 to the flame of image 7.

The use of six transition images in a 40 image set has been found satisfactory for the display of flame images in a fire.

Various other modifications could be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The image sets could include any suitable number of

images. The image sets could include any suitable number of transition images. The transition images could include any suitable number of combined images. The combined images could be of any suitable opacity. The image sets could be run at any suitable speed.

There is thus provided a means by which a relatively short set of images can provide a more realistic moving flame effect image for the viewer 26.

Typically, liquid crystal display (LCD) screens are available in two formats. Smaller, lower resolution screens use a TTL (transistor-transistor- logic) interface which is a relatively slow interface, and subsequently screen resolutions are restricted to the order of 640 x 480 pixels. Higher screen resolutions and larger screen sizes use an LVDS (low voltage differential signalling) interface, which is a faster interface, capable of addressing a higher number of pixels. Typically, a display system using a TTL interface will have lower memory and processor requirements since the image sizes are smaller, but the display output will be relatively small and of low definition. In contrast, a display system using LVDS will have relatively higher memory and processor requirements, but will produce a higher resolution image capable of display on a larger screen.

Referring to Figure 1 , the controller 16 is in the form of a microcontroller, which includes a processor, serial ports, inputs, outputs, an internal clock and a graphic accelerator. The microcontroller could be in signal communication with an infrared sensor 60, which could sense control signals provided by a remote control device (not shown) operated by the viewer 26. The apparatus could include a memory medium 30, which could be in the form of flash memory, and could store the set of images 54. Alternatively, the microcontroller could include permanently installed flash memory into which the set of images 54 is loaded.

The controller 16 is in signal communication with a scaling device 32, which in turn provides a signal to the display screen 14. The output signal 34

provided by the controller 16 to the scaling device 32 is in the form of a TTL signal, and could enable an image of 640 x 480 pixels. The scaling device 32 is arranged to convert the TTL signal to an LVDS signal, and is arranged to increase the number of pixels displaying the image. For example, the image of pixel size 640 x 480 pixels from the controller 16 could be increased by the scaling device 32 so that the scaling device 32 enables an image of 1280 x 720 pixels to the display screen 14.

The scaling device 32, which could be in the form of an upscaling device, thus permits the use of a relatively simple microcontroller which could be arranged to store a relatively short set of images 54. For example as described previously the set of images could include 40 images requiring relatively low memory storage, and a relatively small processor. The scaling device 32 converts the output of the microcontroller 16 to an output suitable for a relatively large screen size. Thus the displayed image size is increased, and the necessity for providing enlargement or magnification means of the screen 14 is eliminated.

In one example, the scaling device 32 could be provided on the same circuit board 62 as the controller 16. The circuit board 62 can be of relatively small dimensions, with a relatively low power requirement.

Various other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The controller could be of any suitable form, and could include any suitable components. The scaling device could be of any suitable form.

There is thus provided a fire which has a number of advantages over conventional arrangements. The fire includes a masking screen, which improves the visual appearance of the flame image by masking the sharp edges of the LCD screen. The image sets displayed include transition images which smoothly transition between the start and end of image sets, further improving the realism of the flame images. The use of a scaling device

enables a relatively simple and economic microcontroller to be used to store the images and provide the images to a relatively large display screen 14.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.