Background Color Compensator (BCC)

QuickLogic's BCC technology adapts Pico projector content for varied color surfaces

Traditional video projectors, such as those used in business conference rooms and movie theatres, always project onto a white screen. Professional content is always color-balanced for this, whether during the mastering or rendering process.

Picos are designed to be portable and be readily-used—and unintended consequence of this is that they are not always going to be projected onto a white surface. The consequence of this is that the color of the projected surface can significantly change how the content is perceived. Figure 1 shows an example of the same image projected onto a white surface, and then a green surface.

Figure 1. Typical Pico Projector on Various Color Surfaces

QuickLogic’s Background Color Compensator (BCC) technology, available on the ArcticLink II VX and ArcticLink III VX6 platform of CSSP devices, uses advanced color balancing and enhancement to adapt the colors of the projected content to best match the projected surface. This is shown in figure 2.

Figure 2. Typical Pico Projector on Various Color Surfaces with BCC

BCC can either operate in a manual or automatic mode. In manual mode, the user manually inputs, either through a GUI or mobile application, the color of the surface the pico is projecting onto. BCC then adapts the content immediately to that color background, insuring that details and color changes are not unintentionally lost.

In automatic mode, the QuickLogic CSSP containing BCC receives color information from an on-board color sensor, either directly through i2c or through the host OS. As this valuable information is received, BCC adapts projected content accordingly. Changes can be made on the fly by the user.

The number of colors to compensate for is at the discretion of the OEM or system designer, and is determined during the onset of design between QuickLogic and the OEM.

QuickLogic’s Background Color Compensator (BCC) technology is available on the ArcticLink II VX and ArcticLink III VX6 platform of CSSP devices, and is ideal for embedded and accessory pico projectors.