Samsung Patent Describes Automatic Adjustments of Display Screens

A recent patent filing from Samsung and Young Eun Cho, a Korean inventor based in the U.K., (US 2015/0235084) tells how a TV, tablet or smartphone screen can be adjusted automatically if the user is having difficulty viewing it. But the patent reveals that the system relies on extensive viewer surveillance. The patent was filed in 2014 but our patent searches showed Samsung has filed for similar ideas dating back a decade or more. The filing describes how the screen is paired with a video camera, which captures a running video image of the viewer’s face, and compares it with previously captured images. Changes in facial shape, eye size and eye-scroll motion, along with any changes in viewing distance and any decision to wear glasses are sent over the Internet to a remote server, the patent says. The server analyzes the data and returns a control signal, which adjusts the display to make viewing easier, for instance, by increasing text font size and increasing brightness or contrast. In 2004, four inventors working for Samsung in Korea filed claims (US 2006/0048189) for a “Method and apparatus for proactive recording and displaying of preferred television programs by user’s eye gaze.” That patent told how the screen watches the room with a camera, which analyzes the viewer’s gaze, and decides whether a program is capturing attention or whether the viewer’s eyes are wandering. When an arbitrary threshold of interest is exceeded, the system checks an electronic program guide and adds a “preferred” program tag, the patent said. When similar programs are subsequently detected in the EPG, the TV makes the decision to display and/or record, it said.