Hewlett-packard Company

Mark F Resman

William E Egbert

Gregg S Goyins

Dale A Mack

An imaging device includes plurality of illumination elements interspersed among a plurality of light sensing elements so that each illumination element is adjacent to a light sensing element. The illumination elements each include a ferroelectric liquid crystal element positioned over a LED. The light sensing elements each include a photodiode. The illumination elements and the light sensing elements are arranged so that adjacent to each illumination element is a light sensing element. Illumination control logic can selectively illuminate each of the illumination elements. The light sensing elements are coupled to analog shift registers. The light sensing elements generate charges related to the intensity of the impinging light. Sensor control logic is used to load the charges generated by the light sensing elements corresponding to the illuminated illumination elements into the shift registers. The charge data in the shift registers is sequentially shifted to the input of an amplifier. The amplifier generates a voltage proportional to the value of the charge data.

Imaging device

A touch screen panel having varied region-specific combinations of resolution and touch sensitivity may also incorporate display functionality. For a first embodiment of the invention, the majority of the screen area exhibits low resolution, high touch force characteristics. A smaller area of the screen exhibits low touch force and high resolution properties. For a second embodiment of the invention, at least a portion of the peripheral regions (i.e., regions near the circumferential edge) of the screen are provided with regions of low touch force high resolution properties. These regions may be programmed to act as scroll bars, which would allow the user to change locations in a document of which only a portion is displayed on the screen. In the central regions of the screen, higher touch force and lower resolution provide palm rejection and coarse marking or movement capability with low bandwidth utilization. Either the varied screen properties may be incorporated into the screen during its manufacture, or the screen may be designed so that different resolution and touch sensitivity properties can be assigned to different regions of the screen to suit the user's needs.

Touch-sensitive input screen having regional sensitivity and resolution properties

There is provided a method and apparatus for categorizing substantially simultaneous inputs to a touchscreen. The method is described within a computer device having a display screen adapted to receive touchscreen input. In a first step, the display screen is divided into a plurality of sectors. Next, the sectors are sequentially scanned for input. When a plurality of substantially simultaneous inputs are sensed in respective sectors, the location by sector of each input is ascertained. A unique value is then assigned to each input received, the assigned values corresponding to the sequence in time of the respective inputs based upon the sequentially scanned sectors in which the inputs occurred. The apparatus includes a display screen adapted to receive touchscreen input. A touchscreen driver/sensor is provided to divide the display screen into a plurality of sectors and to sense input in each of the sectors. A sequence counter is used to actuate the driver/sensor to scan the display screen sectors sequentially and at predetermined intervals for input, and to assign a unique value to each input received.

Palm pressure rejection method and apparatus for touchscreens

An adaptive method allocates RAM between procedures having both higher and lower priorities. The RAM is provided with first and second portions, the first portion for assignment to higher priority procedures and the second portion for assignment to lower priority procedures, higher priority procedures being able to access also the second portion of RAM. The adaptive method comprises the steps of: responding to a request for allocation of RAM to a higher priority procedure by determining if RAM is available from the first portion and, if not, allocating RAM from the second portion to the higher priority procedure. The method enables allocation of RAM from the second portion to a lower priority procedure when available RAM in the first portion exceeds a first threshold level. The system continues the enablement until the available RAM in the first portion falls below a lower, second threshold level at which point, the allocation of memory in the second portion of RAM to the lower priority procedure is inhibited. The inhibition of allocation of RAM from the second portion to a lower priority procedure continues until the available RAM in the first portion again exceeds the first threshold level.

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Boise, ID, United States of America

Mark F Resman