Apple patent involves LED displays with more ‘pleasing visual effects’
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
May 15, 2008 at 10:47am
LED displays on Apple devices may get a “more pleasing visual effect under a variety of ambient lighting conditions,” according to patent 20080111500 (filed at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office) is used. Invented by Bryan Hoover, the patent generally relates to the field of illumination control and more particularly involves luminance control of lights.
The patent involves an apparatus and method for controlling the brightness and luminance of a light, such as an LED. The embodiment may vary the brightness and luminance of the LED in a variety of ways to achieve a variety of effects. The exemplary embodiment may vary the rate at which the LED’s luminance changes, such that an observer perceives the change in the LED’s brightness to be smooth and linear as a function of time, regardless of the ambient light level. Changes to the LED’s luminance may be time-constrained and/or constrained by a maximum or minimum rate of change.
The LED patent involves personal digital assistants, monitors, portable DVD players, and portable music players such as MP3 players that typically have multiple power states. Apple is wanting to make the LEDs more attractive through the use of things such as a transparent material that covers or overlays the LED. The light emitted by the LED is transmitted through the button and is seen by the user.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
