Apple Inc.

John Bates

Gary F Feierbach

Mechanisms for displaying text or image over a background such as a video display frame that automatically improve legibility of text or image displayed against a background by increasing the contrast between text or image and background. The display frame may be a single image, but may also be an image within a dynamic sequence of recorded images such as a movie or other video media, or sequence of images captured in real-time by a camera or other device. In one embodiment, color component values are selected, and complementing and filtering applied to achieve contrast. In another embodiment, selecting a minimally used value for color components in the frame achieves contrast. In some cases both text or image, and background, may be altered to achieve contrast. Another embodiment provides background intensity modulation to achieve varying contrast within altered backgrounds, and smoothing over many frames in dynamic material.

Methods and apparatus for displaying a frame with contrasting text

An area within a frame is defined in which text or an image is to be generated. The text or image may also include an optional border surrounding and adjacent to the text or image. In accordance with one embodiment, in order to increase the contrast between the text or image and the background area of the frame, one or more color component values are selected for use in generating the text/image (or associated border). Specifically, a complement of one or more color component values associated with one or more pixels of the frame are determined. The complement may, for example, be obtained from an average color component value over a set of pixels. Alternatively, the complement may be obtained directly for each of a set of pixels in the frame from which an average value may then be obtained. The complemented-averaged color component value(s) may then be used to generate the text/image and/or associated border.

Growing community of inventors

Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

John Bates