text:
|Illumination apparatus and projector display apparatus
|Liquid crystal display apparatus
|Yamamoto et al.
|Light emitting device projection methods and systems
|Childers et al.
|Illumination apparatus and projector display apparatus
|Laser guided display with persistence
|Minimizing frame writing time of a liquid crystal display
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/913,232, filed Oct. 31, 2007, which claims priority to PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/029795, filed Aug. 1, 2006, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/704,605, filed Aug. 2, 2005, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates in general to the field of display technologies in general, and more particularly to displays that utilize the principle of field sequential color to generate color information, whether in a projection-based system or a direct-view system.
Display systems (whether projection-based or direct-view) that use field sequential color techniques to generate color are known to exhibit highly undesirable visual artifacts easily perceived by the observer under certain circumstances. Field sequential color displays emit (for example) the red, green, and blue components of an image sequentially, rather than simultaneously, tied to a rapid refresh cycling time. If the frame rate is sufficiently high, and the observer's eyes are not moving relative to the screen (due to target tracking or other head/eye movement), the results are satisfactory and indistinguishable from video output generated by more conventional techniques (viz., that segregate colors spatially using red, green, and blue sub-pixels, rather than temporally as is done with field sequential color techniques).
However, in many display applications the observer's eye does partake of motion relative to the display screen (rotational motions of the eye in its socket, saccadic motions, translational head motions, etc.), such motions usually being correlated with target tracking (following an image on the display as it moves across the display surface). In the case of such image tracking, which involves oculomotor-driven rotation of the eye in its socket as the observer follows an object moving on the display screen, the object's component primary colors (red, green, and blue, for example) arrive at the observer's retina at different times. Even at a high frame rate of 60 frames per second, the red, green, and blue information from the display arrives at the retina 5.5 milliseconds apart. If the retina is in rotational motion, as would be the case if the observer were tracking an image (hereafter "target") that was moving across the display, the red, green, and blue information comprising the target would hit the retina at different places. A target that is gray in actual color will split into its separate red, green, and blue components distributed in overlap fashion along the path of retinal rotation. The faster the eye moves, the more severe the "image breakup," the decomposition of the individual colors comprising the target due to where those primary components strike the observer's retina. These visual artifacts have proven to be a barrier to the adoption of field sequential color displays in many critical applications, including video systems for training fighter pilots using flight simulation. A trainee in such a flight simulator needs to encounter an environment that matches reality closely, and a discontinuous smear of red, green, and blue ghost images that are not overlapped properly do not constitute an acceptably simulated target when the trainee is expecting to see the grey winged fuselage of an enemy fighter plane in the crosshairs.
The display system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, as representative of a larger class of direct view field sequential color-based devices, illustrates the fundamental principles at play within such devices. Such a device is able to selectively frustrate the light undergoing total internal reflection within a (generally) planar waveguide. When such frustration occurs, the region of frustration constitutes a pixel suited to external control. Such pixels can be configured as a MEMS device, and more specifically as a parallel plate capacitor system that propels a deformable membrane between two different positions and/or shapes, one corresponding to a quiescent, inactive state where frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) does not occur due to inadequate proximity of the membrane to the waveguide, and an active, coupled state where FTIR does occur due to adequate proximity, said two states corresponding to an off and on state for the pixel. A rectangular array of such MEMS-based pixel regions, which are often controlled by electrical/electronic means, is fabricated upon the top active surface of the planar waveguide. This aggregate MEMS-based structure, when suitably configured, functions as a video display capable of color generation by exploiting field sequential color and pulse width modulation techniques. Red, green, and blue light are sequentially inserted into the edge of the planar waveguide, and the pixels are opened or closed (activated or deactivated) appropriately, such that the duration of a pixel's being opened (activated) determines how much light is emitted from it, gray scale being determined by pulse width modulation.
Other direct view displays may use field sequential color techniques, but substitute amplitude modulation for pulse width modulation. For example, a monochromatic liquid crystal display with suitably fast switching times can be turned into a field sequential color display by replacing the white back light with a back light that can sequentially emit red, green, and blue light in sufficiently rapid succession. Liquid crystal pixels are variable opacity windows that modulate the amount of light passing through them by amplitude modulation rather than pulse width modulation. Undesirable visual artifacts arise for these systems as well, and for the same reason: the respective primary components of the image (target) fall on a moving retina at different places, causing the apparent breakup of the target as perceived.
Projection-based systems can also use field sequential color. The DLP (digital light processor) developed by Texas Instruments, Inc., employs a dense array of deformable micro-mirror structures that are used to create an image when red, green, and blue lights are directed onto them in rapid consecutive sequence. Light from activated micromirror pixels passes through a lens system and is focused on the final projection screen for viewing, while light striking inactive pixels are not sent through the lens system. Such systems tend to use pulse width modulation to generate gray scale. The red, green, and blue light being directed onto the micromirror array can be created either directly (with discrete red, green, and blue sources) or as the result of white light passing through a rotating color wheel composed of red, green, and blue filter segments. In either case, the undesirable artifacts are clearly visible on the image projected onto the display screen, for the same reason they appear in a direct view device: the respective red, green, and blue images do not fall on the moving retina at the same place, causing spatial decomposition and the resulting color breakup artifact.
Field sequential color displays bring many advantages to the display sector, whether one considers direct view displays (such as flat panel display systems) or projection-based systems. For example, in a flat panel display that uses conventional spatially-modulated color with red, green, and blue sub-pixels comprising an individual pixel, three control elements (usually thin film transistors) are required to separately control the red, green, and blue intensities from the pixel. A display with one million pixels would require three million transistors to drive it in color. The corresponding display using temporally-modulated color (field sequential color) needs only one thin film transistor per pixel, reducing the amount of transistors distributed over the display surface from three million to one million—an improvement that has significant implications for yield and production cost. Moreover, a field sequential color pixel can be much larger, since it fits in the area that would normally be occupied by three sub-pixels (red, green and blue), further improving production yield and reducing aperture drain (surface area on a display not given over to light emission). Conversely, this geometric advantage can be exploited to improve pixel densities without the heavy control overhead associated with standard sub-pixel-based architectures, yielding superior resolutions without exponential price increases. Accordingly, field sequential color displays have much to recommend them. But their utility in applications where color image breakup is unacceptable is sharply curtailed.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a means to mitigate and suppress the color image breakup artifacts traditionally associated with displays that employ the principle of field sequential color generation, whether in a direct view or a projection-based system. A display device that enjoys the benefits of field sequential color operation without generating unacceptable motion artifacts would bring the benefits of field sequential architectures (direct view and projection-based) to bear on applications where those benefits are most needed, e.g., critical flight simulation display systems.
The problems outlined above may at least in part be solved in one of several ways, depending on the inherent nature of the field sequential color display system in question (whether it is a direct view device or a projection-based device) and its gray scale generation methodology (pulse width modulation or amplitude modulation at the pixel level). Further distinctions may arise for a given system (e.g., a projection-based system may use discrete, individually controllable illumination sources to provide primary color light to the projection system, or may exploit a rotating color wheel through which white light is passed, the respective color filters on the wheel providing the desired primary colors to be modulated and then projected).
One artifact suppression technique that appears to dominate the existing art involves fabricating a feedback mechanism by which the head and/or eyes of the observer are positionally tracked, and compensatory adjustments to the sequentially displayed primary colors (usually red, green, and blue) are made so that the subcomponents of the color image all fall on the identical region of the retina. Such a system is clearly not self-contained, and is limited by the accuracy of head/eye tracking technology and the ability for computer software to properly predict where the next primary subframe should be displayed on a moving target (the observer's retinas). A self-contained system, where no extraneous hardware or tracking mechanisms are necessary, would be far more valuable and easier to realize. The present invention provides exactly such a self-contained system, where artifact suppression is realized in the display system itself.
The retina of the human eye does not actually provide infinitesimally continuous imaging (despite subjective perceptions to the contrary). The eye itself has finite resolving power limited by the area occupied by any one of its multitude of highly-tuned light receptors (the cones and rods of the retina). If a color image is decomposed into its primary components (e.g., red, green, and blue subframes) that are sequentially displayed, and these image components fall on the same location of the retina (within the limit of the size of a rod or cone), the subframes will be perceived to properly overlap and no color image breakup will be perceived. The resulting image will be unitary. Given the inherent limitations of oculomotor rotation of the eye even during saccadic motion (an upper limit of 700 degrees of arc per second), and the approximate size of retinal rods and cones, it is possible to determine how long the window of opportunity actually is to display primary colors and have them satisfy the temporal criterion set forth above. Truncation of primary propagation entails a minimal duration for all primaries of 4 milliseconds for any given frame (followed by no image information at all until the next frame begins), and a preferred duration for all primaries of as short as one millisecond.
In the case of a 60 frame per second system using red, green, and blue primaries, a conventional display system would divide a frame into three equal parts, one apportioned to each primary color. In such an instance, a frame lasts 16.6 milliseconds, and each primary color occupies a third of this total frame, or 5.5 milliseconds. But the present invention teaches the global modification of this strategy. For example, to achieve time truncation of 3 milliseconds for all color information, the red, green, and blue primaries would each bear duration of only 1 millisecond (not 5.5). They would fall one after the other without interposed delays, and then be followed by 13.6 milliseconds of black (no imaging data), thus totaling 16.6 milliseconds. In this way, the red, green, and blue information comprising the image arrives at the retina in the same location, despite any rotation of the retina to track or follow objects being displayed in the program video content being displayed.
In the example provided, it is insufficient to merely truncate the signals from 5.5 milliseconds per primary to 1 millisecond (assuming a 3 millisecond total truncation). By reducing the time by a factor of 5.5 (from 5.5 milliseconds to 1 millisecond), the perceived intensity of light falling on the retina has been reduced by the same amount. It is therefore needful to increase the intensity of the light source being modulated to compensate for the shortened time available to generate an image. In the example provided, this would require an increase in light intensity of 5.5 times base intensity so that the average amount of photons received during the frame is unchanged whether the present invention is invoked in a display system or not. This energy need only be dissipated during the 3 milliseconds it is needed, so that average energy consumption is equivalent under either scenario (with or without the present invention implemented).
The implementation of the present invention therefore has several prerequisites. The individual pixels that modulate the light are capable of generating gray scale accurately despite having a significantly shorter time in which to operate. The light sources are capable of more rapid cycling, followed by a long quiescent period between consecutive frames, and they are capable of reliably delivering much higher intensity lights, albeit in a shortened duty cycle marked by extended periods between frames where no light is required.
The foregoing principles have a straightforward implementation path for direct view displays, whether they use amplitude modulated or pulse width modulated gray scale generation. For projection-based display systems that utilize discrete light sources for the respective primaries, this adaptation is equally transparent. However, projection-based systems that use rotating color wheels to acquire primary colors by filtering a white illumination source require a different strategy for implementation of the present invention. The foundational principles are nonetheless analogous.
A conventional color wheel usually divides its area into equal segments apportioned to each desired primary color. The most common configuration is a color wheel comprised of red, green, and blue filters. Each color filter takes up 120 degrees of arc (the circle of the color wheel divided into three even segments). As the color wheel spins, it provides red, green, and blue light in rapid sequential succession. Images produced using such a wheel is subject to color image breakup as documented earlier. The color wheel is modified to implement the present invention.
In a modified color wheel using the example above, the red, green, and blue segments no longer proscribe equal segments of 120 degrees each, but a much smaller "slice" of the wheel. Three thinner slices (e.g., at 24 degrees each), one for red, one for green, and one for blue, are placed in close proximity, while the remainder of the color wheel (108 degrees) is made opaque. The white illumination source is intensity corrected (in this case, since the available illumination time is reduced by a factor of five, the intensity of the illumination source is increased by the same factor). The illumination source should preferably shut down to conserve energy when it would otherwise be directing light uselessly at the opaque part of the modified color wheel during its uniform rotation.
Additional refinements to the base invention can be implemented. It has been assumed that the truncated primary are synchronously distributed (the leading edge of each consecutive primary is equally spaced apart in time). In the example given above for a 3 millisecond total color pulse composed of consecutive red, green, and blue primaries, we may find red starting at t=0 (leading of global frame), green starting at t=1 millisecond (right after red has shut down), and blue starting at t=2 milliseconds (right after green has shut down), followed by 13.6 seconds of quiescence (black) before the next global frame begins (assuming a rate of 60 frames per second). However, such rigid structuring of start times might only be necessary when program content requires it, and a mechanism to make such a determination allows the present invention to further effect temporal truncation of image generation.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of one or more embodiments of the present invention in order that the detailed description of embodiments of the present invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates what causes the phenomenon of color image breakup when an observer views an image generated using field sequential color generation techniques during rotational motion of the observer's eye in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2A illustrates the perceived image that is desired irrespective of eye rotation and/or other motion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2B illustrates the actual perceived image due to eye rotation and/or other motion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a direct view flat panel display suitable for implementation of the present invention;
FIG. 4A illustrates a side view of a pixel in a deactivated state in accordance with an embodiment of the flat panel display of FIG. 3;
FIG. 4B illustrates a side view of a pixel in an activated state in accordance with an embodiment of the flat panel display of FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 illustrates a representative timing diagram for generating field sequential color as used in the flat panel display of FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 illustrates an unadjusted representative sequencing schema for achieving field sequential color generation at a conventional video frame rate in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that synchronously truncates in time the consecutive primary components of the displayed image to reduce and/or effectively suppress the phenomenon of color image breakup by virtue of the respective primary images falling on a geometric portion of the retina more closely approximating the imaging behavior of non-field sequential color displays;
FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that asynchronously truncates in time the consecutive primary components of the displayed image to further reduce and/or effectively suppress the phenomenon of color image breakup by virtue of the respective primary images falling on a geometric portion of the retina more closely approximating the imaging behavior of non-field sequential color displays, said truncation being determined by each consecutive frame's image content and aggregate primary color quantitation;
FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention where each consecutive frame's image content and aggregate primary color quantitation is analyzed in real time, whereby the image is re-encoded to maximize use of temporally-overlapped primaries to further reduce and/or effectively suppress the phenomenon of color image breakup by virtue of the respective primary images falling on a geometric portion of the retina more closely approximating the imaging behavior of non-field sequential color displays;
FIG. 10A illustrates a prior art color wheel filter for use in pulse width modulated display systems;
FIG. 10B illustrates an embodiment of the present invention of a color wheel filter where three colors are compressed into a small angular portion of the total area of the color wheel;
FIG. 11A illustrates a table of light intensity values as a function of time for each of the three colors for the prior art system shown in FIG. 10A in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 11B illustrates a diagram of light intensity versus time over two cycles, with each of the three colors shown in sequence, each being five and two-thirds milliseconds in duration in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12A illustrates a diagram of light intensity versus time in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 12B illustrates a diagram of light intensity versus time showing, in more detail, the beginning of the frame in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 12C illustrates the associated table of light intensity versus time in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, components have been shown in generalized form in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessary detail. For the most part, details concerning considerations of how a given display using field sequential color generation techniques actually creates and displays images on its surface have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention and, while within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art, are not directly relevant to the utility and value provided by the present invention.
The principles of operation to be disclosed immediately below assume the desirability of removing field sequential color artifacts in displays that temporally segregate the primary color components of a given image and present each frame of video information by rapid consecutive generation of each primary component. Such artifacts are understood to arise when the primary components making up a composite frame of video information do not all reach the same region of the observer's retina due to relative motion of the retina and the displayed image (or part of an image, viz., a putative target being displayed).
Among the technologies (flat panel display or other candidate technologies that exploit the principle of field sequential color generation) that lend themselves to implementation of the present invention is the flat panel display disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The use of a representative flat panel display example throughout this detailed description shall not be construed to limit the applicability of the present invention to that field of use, but is intended for illustrative purposes as touching the matter of deployment of the present invention. Furthermore, the use of the three tristimulus primary colors (red, green, and blue) throughout the remainder of this detailed description is likewise intended for illustrative purposes, and shall not be construed to limit the applicability of the present invention to these primary colors solely, whether as to their number or color or other attribute.
Such a representative flat panel display may comprise a matrix of optical shutters commonly referred to as pixels or picture elements as illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified depiction of a flat panel display 300 comprised of a light guidance substrate 301 which may further include a flat panel matrix of pixels 302. Behind the light guidance substrate 301 and in a parallel relationship with substrate 301 may be a transparent (e.g., glass, plastic, etc.) substrate 303. It is noted that flat panel display 300 may include other elements than illustrated such as a light source, an opaque throat, an opaque backing layer, a reflector, and tubular lamps, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491.
Each pixel 302, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, may include a light guidance substrate 401, a ground plane 402, a deformable elastomer layer 403, and a transparent electrode 404.
Pixel 302 may further include a transparent element shown for convenience of description as disk 405 (but not limited to a disk shape), disposed on the top surface of electrode 404, and formed of high-refractive index material, preferably the same material as comprises light guidance substrate 401.
In this particular embodiment, it is necessary that the distance between light guidance substrate 401 and disk 405 be controlled very accurately. In particular, it has been found that in the quiescent state, the distance between light guidance substrate 401 and disk 405 should be approximately 1.5 times the wavelength of the guided light, but in any event this distance is greater than one wavelength. Thus the relative thicknesses of ground plane 402, deformable elastomer layer 403, and electrode 404 are adjusted accordingly. In the active state, disk 405 is pulled by capacitative action, as discussed below, to a distance of less than one wavelength from the top surface of light guidance substrate 401.
In operation, pixel 302 exploits an evanescent coupling effect, whereby TIR (Total Internal Reflection) is violated at pixel 302 by modifying the geometry of deformable elastomer layer 403 such that, under the capacitative attraction effect, a concavity 406 results (which can be seen in FIG. 4B). This resulting concavity 406 brings disk 405 within the limit of the light guidance substrate's evanescent field (generally extending outward from the light guidance substrate 401 up to one wavelength in distance). The electromagnetic wave nature of light causes the light to "jump" the intervening low-refractive-index cladding, i.e., deformable elastomer layer 403, across to the coupling disk 405 attached to the electrostatically-actuated dynamic concavity 406, thus defeating the guidance condition and TIR. Light ray 407 (shown in FIG. 4A) indicates the quiescent, light guiding state. Light ray 408 (shown in FIG. 4B) indicates the active state wherein light is coupled out of light guidance substrate 401.
The distance between electrode 404 and ground plane 402 may be extremely small, e.g., 1 micrometer, and occupied by deformable layer 403 such as a thin deposition of room temperature vulcanizing silicone. While the voltage is small, the electric field between the parallel plates of the capacitor (in effect, electrode 404 and ground plane 402 form a parallel plate capacitor) is high enough to impose a deforming force on the vulcanizing silicone thereby deforming elastomer layer 403 as illustrated in FIG. 4B. By compressing the vulcanizing silicone to an appropriate fraction, light that is guided within guided substrate 401 will strike the deformation at an angle of incidence greater than the critical angle for the refractive indices present and will couple light out of the substrate 401 through electrode 404 and disk 405.
The electric field between the parallel plates of the capacitor may be controlled by the charging and discharging of the capacitor which effectively causes the attraction between electrode 404 and ground plane 402. By charging the capacitor, the strength of the electrostatic forces between the plates increases thereby deforming elastomer layer 403 to couple light out of the substrate 401 through electrode 404 and disk 405 as illustrated in FIG. 4B. By discharging the capacitor, elastomer layer 403 returns to its original geometric shape thereby ceasing the coupling of light out of light guidance substrate 401 as illustrated in FIG. 4A.
The display used to illustrate conventional, unadjusted implementation of field sequential color generation techniques operates according to the representative pattern disclosed in FIG. 5. The three tristimulus primaries, red, green, and blue, are inserted from appropriate light sources into the planar waveguide in sequential succession as indicated in FIG. 5. Each individual pixel is opened or closed according to a determinate shuttering sequence, as shown in FIG. 5, that is referenced to the amount of red, green, or blue light to be emitted during a given video frame from the pixel in question (with each pixel being independently controlled). Such a system as disclosed in FIG. 3 and further explicated in FIG. 5 utilizes pulse width modulation to generate gray scale values, but it should be understood that the present invention is no less applicable to field sequential color systems that incorporate amplitude modulation (differential opacity) to achieve gray scale at the pixel level.
As stated in the Background Information section, certain field sequential color displays, such as the one in FIG. 3, exhibit undesirable visual artifacts under certain viewing conditions and video content. The cause of such harmful artifacts proceeds from relative motion of the observer's retina and the individual primary components of a given video frame during the successive transmission in time of each respective subframe primary component. Such artifacts, whether arising in direct view systems or projection-based field sequential color displays, militate against the use of such color generation strategies in many critical application spaces, most notably flight simulation systems where target acquisition may become impossible due to image breakup. A mechanism to reduce or effectively suppress such artifacts in display systems that exploit the principle of field sequential color is needed.
The device of FIG. 3, based on a color generation schema as illustrated in FIG. 5, serves as a pertinent example that will be used, with some modifications for the purpose of generalization, throughout this disclosure to illustrate the operative principles in question. It should be understood that this example, proceeding from U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491, is provided for illustrative purposes as a member of a class of valid candidate applications and implementations, and that any device, comprised of any system exploiting the principles that inhere in field sequential color generation, can be enhanced with respect to artifact reduction or suppression where said artifacts stem from the primary components comprising a video frame falling on different geometric regions of the observer's retina due to relative motion of retina and display. The present invention governs a mechanism for expunging the source of said color image breakup artifacts for a large family of devices that meet certain specific operational criteria regarding the implementation of field sequential color generation principles, while the specific reduction to practice of any particular device being so enhanced imposes no restriction on the ability of the present invention to enhance the behavior of the device.
FIG. 1 illustrates in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the general phenomenon of color image breakup in field sequential color displays. The information being displayed on the display surface during a given video frame 100 proceeds to the observer's retina 109 as a series of collinear pulses (e.g., 101 and 105) comprised of the respective consecutively-generated primary information constituting each video frame. So video frame information for frame 101 is composed of temporally separated primaries 102, 103, and 104, while the video frame one frame prior in time to frame 101 (i.e., 105) is likewise composed of temporally separated primaries 106, 107, and 108. The information contained as an array of pulse width modulated colored light for each primary color arrives at the retina 109 to form an image. If the primary subcomponents 106, 107, and 108 arrive at the same location on the retina, the eye will merge the primaries and perceive a composite image without any color breakup. However, if the retina 109 is in rotational motion, then the phenomenon at the retina follows the pattern of video frame 110, where the individual primary components 111, 112, and 113 fall on different parts of the retina, causing the artifact to be perceptible.
In FIG. 2, the intended versus actual perceived results are depicted in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. For example, if the primary components comprising video frame 110 all arrived at the same location on the retina, the eye would merge the primary subframes to accurately form the composite image 201, which in this example is an image of a gray airplane. However, if the eye is in rotational motion, retina 109 moves with respect to the consecutive primaries comprising video frame 110, such that 111, 112, and 113 (the primary components comprising the entire frame 110) fall at different locations on retina 109, resulting in the perceived image 202, where the separate primary components 203, 204, and 205 are perceived no longer as fully overlapping, but rather distributed across the field of view in a dissociated form, as shown. Recovery of the intended image 201 is the goal of artifact suppression, whereby the splayed, dissociated image 202 is reduced or suppressed by virtue of extirpation of the cause of such dissociation.
FIG. 6 illustrates in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention unadjusted synchronous behavior of field sequential color display systems, using a representative frame rate of 60 frames of video information per second. A single frame 600 is 16.67 milliseconds in duration, and in a synchronous schema is subdivided equally by the number of primaries in use. In the representative example chose, the common tristimulus colors red, green, and blue, are employed. Three equal subdivisions of video frame 600 (601, 602, and 603) occur in consecutive succession, and each pixel within the display array generates and displays the appropriate level of gray scale during the available time window (red information 604 is displayed starting at the leading edge of time period 601, green information 605 during time period 602, and blue information 606 during time period 603. The leading edge of each consecutive burst of primary color light is equally spaced apart in time, thereby leading to this self-evident synchronous (clock-bound) behavior. (Temporally, the leading edge is signified by the left side of the time blocks). The amount of time it takes to display the video frame (up to the maximum of 16.67 milliseconds, the duration of the total video frame 600) is sufficiently large that artifacts due to color image breakup can occur during relative motion of the retina with respect to the display generating the color image.
FIG. 7 illustrates the first embodiment of artifact reduction and suppression as taught under the present invention, whereby the total frame duration 700 is no different than the unadjusted case (video frame 600), but the distribution of light energy over time is altered. Vastly shorter durations of primary light (701, 702, and 703) are emitted by the display. An intensity compensating mechanism is required to achieve equivalent image brightness, such that for identical program content being displayed in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the ratio of pulse width duration (604 divided by 701) is the factor by which the intensity of 701 is increased to ensure that the equivalent amount of light over time is received at the retina in both cases; the same adjustment is made to 702 and 703 as well (hereafter assumed as applying to all primaries without requiring explicit restatement for each individual primary color). In FIG. 7, the primary components 701, 702, and 703 are synchronous, insofar as the leading edge of 703 lags the leading edge of 702 by the same amount that the leading edge of 702 lags the leading edge of 701. A long quiescent period without light emission 704 fills the remainder of the video frame 700. As a consequence, depending on the frame rate, eye motion, and ratio of duration 704 to duration 700, image breakup artifacts can be either reduced or fully suppressed (imperceptible to the observer). Maximizing 704 with respect to 700, within the operability limitations of a given display technology, yields the most robust reduction and/or suppression of image breakup artifacts.
FIG. 8 depicts an asynchronous embodiment of the mechanism of FIG. 7, whereby the leading edge of each consecutive primary color is not determined by strict adherence to an underlying governing clock cycle but rather by program content. If program content contains 100% of each of the primary colors for every video frame displayed, there will be no difference between this embodiment and that depicted in FIG. 7. However, if there is less than 100% of any of the primary colors, then the leading edge of each successive primary color can be tied to the preceding trailing edge. For example, if program content contains 80% content of red, then at the end of the red subframe 801 (which represents 80% of the synchronous time 701 available to display the red subframe), the system can immediately trigger the beginning of the next primary subframe (in this example, the green subframe 802) rather than wait for the clocked signal to begin the next subframe (as is the case in FIG. 7, where a notable time gap occurs between red pulse 701 and green pulse 702). Such time gaps are closed in the asynchronous mechanism of FIG. 8, where such quiescent time is no longer situated between primary color subframes but rather fully allocated to a the single large block of quiescent inactivity 804. A mechanism for sampling, in real time, the primary components comprising each consecutive video frame being displayed is used, in turn, to determine the correct start and stop points for each primary color so as to maximize the ratio of quiescent duration 804 to the overall fixed frame rate 800. Where program content does not permit such asynchronous redistribution of the primary signals (e.g., there is at least one pixel displaying all primaries at all times, that is, a white pixel within the image), the default operational mode reverts to that disclosed in FIG. 7.
A further embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in FIG. 9, whereby the ratio of the quiescent period 904 to the overall video frame duration 900 is further increased by overlapping, where possible, the primary colors and re-encoding the frame rate to take advantage of such overlaps. Each video frame is individually sampled to determine feasibility of such primary color overlaps, and such determinations are unique to each video frame, requiring a real-time mechanism to assess and apply such video data acquisition and associated re-encoding of the signal. In the example provided, it is assumed that there is not only red information (901) and green information (902) but also enough yellow information (the color that results when red and green are simultaneously displayed) to permit the primaries to be overlapped to create a "virtual frame" of yellow. This embodiment requires the identification of all pixels with yellow content, the re-encoding of such yellow content (up to the maximum feasible within the frame) and the readjustment of all video content utilizing red and green, such that the final displayed result is no different than that to be obtained had the original embodiment of FIG. 7 been deployed.
By the same token, real time analysis of a given video frame may exhibit the potential to overlap the next pair of primary colors (902 and 903). In the example provided, green and blue can be simultaneously emitted to form cyan. The mechanism then determines cyan content for the video frame and re-encodes the frame to accommodate the presence of cyan to be either pulse-width or amplitude modulated to create cyan gray scale. In any case, the resulting image after data acquisition and re-encoding is to be no different in color than achieved in FIG. 7, except that the ratio of quiescent duration 904 to overall video frame duration 900 is larger than in the case of FIG. 7. If a given video frame contains at least one pixel containing only one pure primary at 100% intensity, this embodiment defaults to the operational pattern of FIG. 7 and there can be no occasion to overlap the primaries, since such overlap would bar proper color generation when program content contains at least one pixel displaying each primary color, and only that primary color, at 100% intensity. In any event, the intensity compensation mechanism for the embodiment of FIG. 9 is identical to that used in FIG. 8 and FIG. 7. The incremental improvement, based on program content, achieved by the embodiments of FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, allow the present invention to deliver augmented performance benefits. The vast majority of images recorded in the real world (versus generated by a computer) exhibit considerable proclivity for such enhanced truncation, since pure maximum-intensity tristimulus primaries rarely appear simultaneously in nature or man-made objects (and thus in video images recording them for playback).
The other embodiment of the present invention provides a method for mitigating image breakup in displays where a color wheel filter is used to create a plurality of primary colors from a white light source.
The rotating color wheel is used to create a consistently timed cycle of light emissions, such that for each frame, a plurality of primary colors are made available, each at a different time within the cycle. Gray scaling of each component color is accomplished, as is known to one schooled in the art, by a means of pulse width modulation.
An example of prior art of such a color wheel filter is shown in FIG. 10A, wherein the wheel 1000 is evenly divided into three segments and the primary colors are red 1001, green 1002 and blue 1003. Each color occupies an equal amount of the wheel; hence each delivers an equal amount of light emission during one cycle. As described previously in the emissive embodiments, the time span over which these different colors are delivered is long enough to create the image breakup artifacts when the mechanism and geometry of such a color wheel determines the resulting color timing cycle.
The present invention provides for a solution to eliminate said artifacts, wherein the duration of the light emission for a given cycle is abbreviated and a portion of the cycle becomes a dark phase, i.e. has no light emission. This embodiment provides a color wheel filter that is comprised of a plurality of primary colors, but that also includes an element that creates a significant span of dark time within the cycle, during which no light is emitted. The size of this opaque portion of the wheel shall be chosen advantageously to accommodate the timing and associated properties of the components and system that drive light emission from each pixel. In particular, a critical driver for the size of the opaque region will be the available white light intensity—the decrease in emission time created by the smaller color portion of the color wheel may be a component of the present invention, but it naturally carries with it the need for a correspondingly greater intensity of the light source so that the aggregate light energy delivered to the retina, over that shorter time, is equivalent to that which would have been delivered by the prior art color wheel 1000 over a longer emission time. In fact, the area ratio of opaque to colored on the color wheel 1004 will generally be proportional to the factor by which the present invention's white light intensity is greater than the prior art's white light intensity.
The remaining emissive portion of said color wheel is evenly divided among the primary colors so as to deliver each color for an equal time span per cycle, but the sum of said component time spans is significantly shorter than the full cycle.
An embodiment of the present invention of a color wheel filter where three colors are compressed into a small angular portion of the total area of the color wheel is illustrated in FIG. 10B. Referring to FIG. 10B, the wheel 1004 comprises three primary color filter segments and one opaque segment. In this embodiment, the three primary colors are red 1005, green 1006 and blue 1007, with the opaque segment shown as black 1008. Said wheel rotates in such a way as to advantageously first filter, and then block a white light source in a sequential manner that provides equal time spans of each color of light, said spans together comprising an emissive fraction of one cycle. The opaque segment 1009 causes the light emission to be interrupted and a corresponding dark portion of the cycle to exist between the aforementioned emissive portions of successive cycles.
The light output from the two aforementioned color wheel filters, shown in FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B, is different in significant ways, as will be apparent to one schooled in the art. Certain advantageous aspects of these differences will be disclosed in detail in the following figures. An example of light output from the prior art wheel 1000 in FIG. 10A is represented in a tabular fashion in FIG. 11A by table 1100. Said light output is plotted in FIG. 11B, with all three colors shown in sequence on the graph 1101, as they would be delivered from the output of the wheel. This follows directly from the previous art, as shown clearly in the relevant diagram, FIG. 14, of U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491, as specified and previously incorporated by reference. Said diagram includes optical output shown graphically as three separate output lines, one for each of the component colors, for the purpose of describing how a shuttering mechanism could be implemented to accomplish pulse width modulation in the aggregate output emission, thereby creating a desired mix of component colors within a given frame to deliver one of the possible 4,913 output colors said embodiment provides. The graph 1101 in FIG. 11B is analogous to the aggregate of the three aforementioned separate color lines in the cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,491, shown superimposed as one output. In said previous art, three full color cycles are shown.
Table 1100 and diagram 1101 show light output delivered by the wheel 1000 over two full cycles. Thus the repetitive aspect of the process is shown, and an important distinction is illustrated, namely that from the start of each cycle, the separation in time of the start of the first color to the start of the subsequent two colors is, respectively, one third, and two thirds, of the cycle's total duration. In numerical terms, said separation in time is 52/3 milliseconds (ms) from red to green, and 111/3 ms from red to blue. Therefore, even if the system were run with a higher maximum intensity and the duration reduced for each color's emission within a cycle, thereby realizing the same overall light output in a shorter time, the fundamental nature of this color wheel's design determines the aforementioned separation time between each color's start. Since this separation time is determined by the geometry 1000 shown, said separation may not be reduced, and the associated artifact resulting from said separation is likely to be present.
Two details of note, first the cycle time inferred by the times used to make up each cycle in this and the following diagrams corresponds to 60 Hz, as is common in the United States, wherein the cycle duration is 162/3 milliseconds (ms). Similarly, a transition time both for OFF to ON, and for ON to OFF, for each light emission is inferred in the table and likewise in the associated graph, both for this and the following diagrams. As long as said transition time is not longer than a given color's intended emission time within a cycle, it is not material. As will become apparent in the next figures, the comparative duration of each color's emission time will be much shorter in the present invention than in the aforementioned previous art, but, as those schooled in the art will appreciate, said duration will not be so short as to make reasonably attainable transition times a hindrance in achieving the benefits of the present invention.
FIG. 12A illustrates a diagram of light intensity versus time in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 12A, the light output of the present invention is illustrated in graph 1200, again showing two full cycles as in the previous graph 1101. Likewise, the intensity scale is similar to 1101, so that the relatively longer duration, lower intensity color emissions of the previous art in graph 1101 can be compared with the shorter duration, higher intensity color emissions of the present invention shown in graph 1200.
FIG. 12B illustrates a diagram of light intensity versus time showing, in more detail, the beginning of the frame in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. That is, FIG. 12B illustrates the light output of the present invention, but only shows the initial portion of one cycle. More particularly, graph 1203 corresponds in time to only the emissive phase of the present invention. In this embodiment, that emissive phase 1201 is much shorter than a full cycle. The remaining time in the cycle comprises T.dark. 1202, which corresponds specifically to the dark phase previously mentioned as the intended outcome of the opaque portion of color wheel 1005 in FIG. 10B. The numerical values of the light output corresponding to graph 1200, and likewise in part shown in graph 1203, are represented in a tabular fashion in FIG. 12C by table 1204.
It is the object of this invention to advantageously shorten the emissive phase of the cycle, and to create a subsequent dark phase (T.dark.) 1202 wherein no light is emitted. Said dark phase arises as a result of the opaque portion of the color wheel 1005, from FIG. 10B, selectively blocking the light from being emitted. As previously described, the combination of a shortened emissive phase during which all of the cycle's light energy is emitted, and a subsequent dark phase with duration (T.dark.) 1202 during which no light is emitted, results in a much smaller distance between the impact of the different colors on the retina, and therefore dramatically changes the perceived artifacts. Specifically, the distance between subsequent colors within a frame is sufficiently small, such that said distance becomes imperceptible to the viewer and the artifacts are no longer apparent.
A further embodiment of the present invention is comprised of the application of a color wheel filter similar to that found in prior art, as FIG. 10A, wheel 1000, but with said wheel rotating at a higher velocity than that required for matching the timing of one wheel rotation to the duration of a frame. Specifically, the rotation is increased by a whole number, i.e. 2, 3, or greater, such that a plurality of complete rotations are completed during each frame. In this embodiment, a means of interrupting the light source or path, before it emerges from the pixel, is also required. As will be known to one schooled in the art, said means of interruption can be accomplished through several reasonably available mechanisms, including, but not restricted to, a shutter in the light path, a selectable deflective mechanism in the light path, or a switch for the light source where the light first originates.
The unique construction and operation of these commonly available components, that accomplishes the benefits of the present invention, involves interrupting the light flow for all color wheel rotations after the first in a given frame, then removing the interruption to the light path at the start of the next frame, again for exactly one rotation of the color wheel. As this process is repeated, the output from said system makes available a plurality of primary colors, delivered in sequence at the beginning of a frame and lasting only a fraction of the frame's duration, as illustrated in graph 1200 in FIG. 12A. This abbreviated sequence of primary colors, when delivered to a means for pulse width modulation, can then be implemented by one schooled in the art to accomplish the benefits of the present invention.


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April 16, 2015
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Why in news?
6 of the 7 men accused in the 2018 rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua, J&K were convicted by a special court in Pathankot, Punjab.
What is the case about?
What is the recent verdict?
Why is the judgement significant?
Source: The Hindu
Related News: Dealing with Child Abuse Cases, Handling Child Rape Cases


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A Live Rat Savors a Cup of Joe at The San Francisco Dungeon
(Photo Courtesy of The San Francisco Dungeon)
The Immersive Time-Traveling Attraction Now Hosting Rat Pop-Up Café Through
End of June
Rat-uccino, anyone? For the adventurous at heart, The San Francisco Dungeon will be launching The Rat Café, an immersive pop-up experience available for a limited time this summer, starting in June.
Be forewarned: the fare at this pop-up experience is neither locally grown nor sustainably sourced. Guests can sip their coffee while seated at bistro-style tables, nicely draped with red and white gingham tablecloths… all while being surrounded by live rats. The special price starts at $29.99 per person and includes all-you-can-drink coffee and 15 minutes of interacting with the furry residents, as well as admission to The San Francisco Dungeon.
Guests who book this rodent encounter will arrive at The San Francisco Dungeon where they will be seated and served their coffee in the lobby reminiscent of the Barbary Coast. Once guests finish their cup of Joe and bid farewell to the rats, they will begin The San Francisco Dungeon experience, the first-of-its-kind attraction for North America, providing a 60-minute, live-action journey through 200 years' worth of the Bay Area's most riveting—and sinister—history. Located in Fisherman's Wharf, the experience begins with a suspense-filled descent in a rickety mine-shaft elevator to a realm where theatrical actors, captivating storytelling, special effects and spectacular stages offer up a dark, atmospheric—and often hilarious—interpretation of the city's deepest, darkest historical moments. From the Gold Rush to the Chinatown Plague (where more rats await!) to Alcatraz, interact with 10 distinct shows inspired by actual events from the city's history. As visitors pass from one show to the next, professional actors transform into various shady characters such as Sam Roberts, the leader of the Gangs of San Francisco, or infamous bar owner and crimper, Miss Piggott and her partner-in-crime, Shanghai Kelly.
"We want to offer a frighteningly funny encounter with creepy-crawly critters you could only find at The San Francisco Dungeon," says Matthew Clarkson, regional head of marketing for West Coast Midway Attractions, North America, Merlin Entertainments Group (parent company of The San Francisco Dungeon). "Drinking coffee while a rat is running around your feet? That's not for the faint of heart."
Guests can register here to be the first to be alerted when tickets officially go on sale.
The San Francisco Dungeon is the first attraction of its kind in North America, bringing to life the stories of the old Bay Area with a full theatrical cast, special effects, gripping storytelling, 360-degree sets, an underground boat ride and the brand new drop ride, Escape Alcatraz. The San Francisco Dungeon is the ultimate live action journey through the Bay Area's murky past where the audience is part of the show. Owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments, the attraction opens daily at 10 a.m., 365 days a year. The San Francisco Dungeon is fully-ADA accessible is and located in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf at 145 Jefferson Street next to Madame Tussauds San Francisco. For more information, click here.
MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS plc is the leading name in location-based, family entertainment. Europe's No. 1 and the world's second-largest visitor attraction operator, Merlin now operates 109 attractions, 12 hotels/four holiday villages in 23 countries and across four continents. The company aims to deliver memorable and rewarding experiences to its almost 63 million visitors worldwide, through its iconic global and local brands, and the commitment and passion of its managers and 26,000 employees (peak season).
Merlin has 25 attractions and two hotels in North America – including two stunning LEGOLAND Resorts – LEGOLAND Florida with its theme park, water park and hotel; and LEGOLAND California theme park with water park and the SEA LIFE aquarium and themed hotel; Orlando Eye; Madame Tussauds celebrity wax attractions in New York; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; Hollywood; Orlando and San Francisco; LEGOLAND Discovery Centers in Chicago; Dallas/Fort Worth; Kansas City, Missouri; Atlanta; Boston; Westchester, New York; Toronto, Canada; a Dungeon in San Francisco and SEA LIFE aquariums in Phoenix, Arizona; Kansas City, Missouri; Michigan; Dallas/Fort Worth; the Mall of America in Minneapolis; Orlando, Florida and Charlotte – Concord, North Carolina – underlining the company's position as the world's biggest global aquarium operator. Visit www.merlinentertainments.biz for more information.


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There are lots of cakes that you can acquire online currently. These cakes appropriate for any type of sort of events, whether you are seeking something for a wedding event, birthday celebration, wedding anniversary, business occasions, and even if it is simply something to please your existing food craving. You can currently position an order online and also a cake distribution solution can deal with your requirements also if you do not have whenever to see your regional cake store to get what you require.
Cake shipment solutions can bring your cakes to your front door quick. You can also have it sent out to an additional individual's address as a present if you cannot make the shipment on your own. Currently, there is no justification not to commemorate a person's wedding as you can get a cake quickly also if you go to job by visiting to your preferred baker's web site and also putting an order. The very best bake stores will certainly constantly have their web sites upgraded with their existing cake mixtures and also will certainly enjoy to take your order to make sure that they can bring it to you anytime you desire.
What is excellent regarding cake distribution solutions is that you will certainly never ever need to really feel the force end of somebody's rage when you neglect their birthday celebration or unique event. A cake constantly cheers up a person's state of mind as well as it makes events a lot more joyful. This is specifically the instance if you get a favored banh kem sinh nhat quan 8 of the celebrant or recipient. Likewise, you do not need to hurry out of your home simply to acquire one. By having it provided directly to the party, you will certainly not be bothered of needing to go to the store to order, get and also lug the cake around.
Suppose there is an occasion that needs you to commemorate? If your associate lately obtained advertised, nobody has actually obtained the moment to head out as well as purchase right stuff you require for an event as soon as possible. By simply going on the internet and also having a cake distribution solution bring you a cake that you desire, you will certainly have the ability to make immediate events additional unique, and also I wager the celebrant will certainly additionally really feel extremely thankful of your motion.


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Man oh man, this was another gig for the books! Second year that we got contracted for the annual ENS corporate event at Fancourt with some of the top entertainment on offer in the Garden Route!
Opening Night: 2 nights of bliss started off the The All & All's, local 2 duo that can do anything from mellow background music to upbeat covers that gets the dance floor rocking! Followed by local, Dj Mickey D, taking over the dance floor with his sleek and subtle build up of classic dance floor fillers to the latest hits and remixes that kept the dance floor going until closing!
Night 2: Opened by one of SA's top Dj / Producers, Dj Kent SA, he stepped in and jammed a unlike anything I've heard him play before. a humble, quiet man, that knows how to drop big beats did exactly that – he played a brilliant combination mashup mixes of classic party tracks, combined with his signature deep house beats. The highlight of the evening for me was when a group of execs from Mauritius came to me and requested some mauritian music (which I didn't have).. So they brought a phone and asked me to play 2 tracks from it. Fortunately we had an aux cable connected to a DI on stage, and with a bit of reluctance, I agreed to do it…
Then this happened…
Last year we had the senior execs which was slightly more challenging to get dancing, but this year was 445 of the young execs from across the continent and they partied up a storm! What a privilege it was to be a part of this event! We look forward to being back again next year!
A big thank you to CCPP for a brilliant production – AS ALWAYS, you guys have outdone yourselves!
Here are some pics of the 2 day event:
Video clips (we were having some fun with this one ;))


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CHD7 mutational analysis and clinical considerations for auditory rehabilitation in deaf patients with CHARGE syndrome.
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Citadines Trafalgar Square London
- Free WiFi
- Collect nights
More great choices
What's around Citadines Trafalgar Square London
- In London City Centre
- The Strand - 2 min walk
- Trafalgar Square - 4 min walk
- National Gallery - 4 min walk
- Regent Street - 7 min walk
- Leicester Square - 8 min walk
- Coca-Cola London Eye - 9 min walk
- Piccadilly - 9 min walk
Getting around
- London (LHR-Heathrow) - 43 min drive
- London (LCY-London City) - 31 min drive
- London (LGW-Gatwick) - 87 min drive
- London Charing Cross Station - 4 min walk
- London Waterloo Station - 14 min walk
- London Waterloo East Station - 16 min walk
- Charing Cross Underground Station - 3 min walk
- Embankment Station - 3 min walk
- Leicester Square Underground Station - 8 min walk
At a glance
Key facts
- 187 apartments
- Arranged over 8 floors
Check-in and check-out
- 24-hour check-in
- Check-out time is 11 AM
Required at check-in
- Credit card, debit card, or cash deposit required for incidental charges
- Government-issued photo ID required
Travelling with others
- Pets allowed (dogs and cats only) *
- Specific rooms only *
- 2 per room (up to 88 lbs)
- Free WiFi in public areas
- Free WiFi and wired Internet access in rooms
- No parking
Payment types at the property
Other information
- Smoke-free property
The manager
Speaks: English, French, Italian, Latvian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish.
At the aparthotel
- Continental breakfast daily (surcharge)
- Coffee/tea in a common area
- Use of nearby fitness centre (discount)
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Golfing nearby
- Business centre
- One meeting room
- Computer station
- 24-hour front desk
- Concierge services
- Tours/ticket assistance
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Laundry facilities
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Luggage storage
- Multilingual staff
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Year Built – 1995
- Lift
- Television in common areas
- Wheelchair-accessible path of travel
- English
- French
- Italian
- Latvian
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Slovak
- Spanish
In the apartment
- Coffee/tea maker
- Iron/ironing board
- Washer/dryer
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- Blackout drapes/curtains
- Private bathroom
- Deep soaking bathtub
- Free toiletries
- Hair dryer
- Flat-screen TV
- Digital TV channels
- Desk
- Free WiFi
- Phone
- Fridge
- Microwave
- Kitchen
- Cookware, dishware and utensils
- Dishwasher
- In-room safe
Recommended hotels
Special features
Awards and affiliations
Green / Sustainable Property
This property participates in Green Tourism Program, a program that measures the property's impact on one or more of the following: environment, community, cultural-heritage, the local economy.
Citadines Trafalgar Square London's small print
Also known as
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Aparthotel
- Citadines Trafalgar Square
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Hotel London
- Citadines Hotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London England
- Citadines Hotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London England
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Aparthotel
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Hotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Aparthotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square Aparthotel
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London Hotel London
- Citadines Hotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London England
- Citadines Hotel London
- Citadines Trafalgar Square London England
Pet-friendly rooms can be requested by contacting the property at the number on the booking confirmation.Please note that cultural norms and guest policies may differ by country and by property. The policies listed are provided by the property.
Mandatory fees
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at check-in or check-out:
- Cleaning fees vary based on length of stay and unit size
Optional extras
Self parking costs GBP 30 per night
Weekly housekeeping is provided; additional cleaning is offered for an extra charge of GBP 25 per day
Rollaway beds are available for GBP 30.0 per night
Continental breakfast is offered for an extra charge of GBP 12 for adults and GBP 6 for children (approximately)
Pets are allowed for an extra charge of GBP 12 per pet, per night
We have included all charges provided to us by this property. However, charges can vary, for example, based on length of stay or the unit you book.
Recent reviews
Fabulous 8.6 From 1,204 reviews
I love staying at this hotel in London it is in such a great location. They give you free coffee 24/7 so it helps when you are adjusting to the time difference. You can walk everywhere great restaurant around the area. Have stayed here 3 times now and will again.
Great location with comfortable room and multiple transport options.
Great clean hotel in an excellent area for checking out the local area.
There are two good things about this apart-hotel. The location and the coffee machines in the foyer. That's it. There's something like 139 rooms, and only four washing machines and TWO driers. And not the industrial type that dry your clothes quickly - no, they have the type you have at home that take an hour and a half. So what do you think happens when everyone has put on a load of washing, then wants to use a drier? And don't even get me started on the 'kitchen' which was the reason we booked this hotel - we could have stayed cheaper at a neighbouring hotel and used the difference to buy breakfast every day. We had two pots, no frypan and the instructions for the microwave were non-existent. There was a book, which contained one page about the microwave, telling you which light was for what. It didn't tell you which knob to turn, or what button to push to get the microwave to function. As we did not have a kettle or a toaster, I thought I would try toasting bread in the microwave (it had a grill function) but without instructions it was hopeless. I asked the front desk staff, and they said that there weren't any. Now, every microwave I have ever bought comes with an instruction book, how hard would it have been to put photocopies in the unit? The walls were paper thin, and you could hear doors slamming non-stop, and even hear the people in the unit above you walking around and scraping their chairs back and forth. Don't bother with this one.
Situated just down the road from Trafalgar Square, easy walk to Underground station & centrally located to the most popular London attractions. Apartment style room with cooking facilities also helps the budget.
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The provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that creates payment parity between Medicaid and Medicare was welcomed by family physicians and the AAFP when it was first introduced in 2012, but delayed implementation at the state level has caused concern for many family physicians. Now, the AAFP and other organizations are calling on Congress to extend the program for two years so it can be more effectively evaluated.
The program, which is scheduled to end in December 2014, brings Medicaid payments for certain primary care services up to at least Medicare levels for 2013 and 2014. Although the program began in January, many states were not ready to implement it, and, thus, some physicians treating Medicaid patients have not yet received the higher payment amounts.
"The extension is particularly important because its slow startup -- with many states only now beginning to pay at the higher Medicare rates -- combined with a lack of assurance that it will be extended beyond 2014 has not allowed an adequate enough time to demonstrate the program's effectiveness in improving access," said the coalition letter from the AAFP(3 page PDF), American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and American Osteopathic Association.
"The policy of increasing Medicaid payment rates to no less than the comparable Medicare payments is based on well-established research that shows that low Medicaid payment levels in many states (are) associated with fewer physicians accepting large numbers of Medicaid patients into their practices, resulting in reduced access to persons covered under Medicaid."
The groups pointed out that if the program is allowed to expire, it will create obstacles for patients looking for a patient-centered medical home. Improving access to physicians for Medicaid patients will lead to better care and decreased costs, they said, noting that many physicians currently do not take Medicaid patients because the payment rate is below the cost of providing care. "This results in reduced access to care for the most vulnerable patients and higher costs to federal and state governments," said the organizations.
In addition to their call for a two-year extension of the Medicaid primary care payment increase, the organizations also asked that Congress include physicians practicing obstetrics and gynecology as qualified specialists in the parity program, as long as they can meet the eligibility requirement that at least 60 percent of their Medicaid billings are primary care services defined by the authorizing legislation.
"We believe that inclusion of physicians practicing obstetrics and gynecology in the extension is integral to achieving the intended purpose of the Medicaid primary care payment increase," said the groups. "For many women, an OB-Gyn is the only physician they see regularly during their reproductive years and the only point of entry into the health care system."
Related ANN Coverage
AMA Delegates Defer Proposal to Extend 'Primary Care' Mantle to Subspecialists
Medicaid-Medicare Parity Proposal Will Get Further Review
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Posted By Steph Parras in Parenting on
Hi Steph
I was in your sons position when I was quite younger, I had my first boyfriend at age 16. My parents were extremely understanding of the situation. They weren't too intrusive and made sure that I had done all my homework and assignments before I could see him. This way I managed to organise my studies, and create structure throughout my earlier years of study.
I had other parents that were intrusive and didn't let their children have girlfriends or boyfriends. This made my friends sneak behind their parents, creating arguments and tension.
This trusting relationship with my parents is one of the reasons why I now have such a strong bond with both my father and mother.
Hope this helped Steph, Goodluck!


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So much of what we know about how the brain learns points to using all the senses -- moving, touching, smelling, looking, leaping, running, talking, writing, tracing, solving, thinking, responding, producing, revising, doing.
But, what about stillness?
What about a moment of doing nothing except making your body balanced and quiet, ready for learning?
In Math in Your Feet we call it 'finding your center.' This means, quite literally, to stop what you're doing and put your two feet in the middle of your square dance space. Arms by your sides. Eyes on the teacher. Mouth quiet. In control and in charge of your body. Ready and waiting for the next thing to happen.
One of the biggest concerns teachers have about bringing kinesthetic/movement/dance learning into their classrooms is that it's going to be chaotic and uncontrollable. I hear it every time I lead a professional development session for teachers. By the end of our workshop, however, they realize that just because it's movement doesn't mean that self-control is absent. This is something I bring up with kids, as well. Continuing to return back to your center is one of the ways that you can remind your body what it feels like to be in control. And then, you are ready to move again.
Movement is crucial to helping children learn, even if it just means there is time in the day to get up and move around the classroom. However, when you are using a lot of movement, children need stillness to counterbalance all the activity. This idea is worked into the flow of each class I teach in an academic setting. My formula has always been 3-5 minutes of moving, followed by 3-5 minutes of sitting and focusing on other things -- watching and responding to others' creative work, receiving information, clarifying content. This kind of non-moving time, coupled with 'finding your center,' becomes a powerful counterpart to all the jumping, sliding, stepping, turning, talking, collaborating, resolving, and creating the students do the rest of the time.
Whether you're a teacher, a teaching artist, a dancer or a parent (or a combination!) I'd love to hear what you think about the topics in this blog. Please consider sharing your thoughts and ideas in the comments sections or by sending me an e-mail. I hope to hear from you!


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What is the CVV2 number?
The CVV2 number is a 3 or 4 digit code printed on your credit card. We request this number as a security measure to our donors. Requiring this information helps to ensure that the credit card is present at the time of purchase. If you cannot find this number, or it is illegible, please contact your credit card issuer.


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Urban areas are growing at a continuous speed. Every day it is becoming increasingly evident for the need to find solutions to make cities a more sustainable place and manage the flow of people in areas of high congestion.
Last week, the City Council of Barcelona presented a pilot project at Smart City Expo World Congress 2016 (SCEWC), a pilot project to control the flow of visitors around the Sagrada Familia. The project has been developed between Eurecat and Mobile World Capital Barcelona, with the support of GSMA.
The aim of the study is to obtain an indicator on how to improve to improve the tourist offer, to strengthen the public services and to create personalised offers based on the origin or profile of the visitors. Through the installation of sensors wifi, GSM and 3D cameras, the movements of the visitors during the month of July were registered and monitored in order to know the profiles and patterns of the visitor behavior.
Focusing on the main points of entry and exit visitors, the first data results were presented by Barbara Vallespín, the Director of the Digital Transformation of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, and Marc Torrent, Director of the Big Data Center of Excellence. 80% of tourists only visit the Sagrada Familia area and the busiest hours are from 10 am to 12 am, 25% of the visitors are foreign, while almost 50% are from Spain.
Agustí Colom, the Councillor for tourism and business of the city of Barcelona noted that the use of the project "is potentially applicable in other areas of high frequency". He added "this is a clear example of how to improve in every tourism and manage the impact on other urban spaces with high frequency, that will allow us to improve the quality of the citizens life".


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The Real California Milk seal certifies that milk and dairy products bearing the seal are made exclusively with California milk. Nationwide the seal promotes the full range of dairy products made with California milk including butter, ice cream and yogurt.


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|Pigeon Spike Window Kits
|Casement Window Clips for Bird X Spikes - 1-Metre Pack
|Pigeon Spike and Glue Kits
|Pigeon Post and Wire Kits For Masonry
|Pigeon Post and Wire Kits For Surface Mounting
|Bird Proof Bird Repellent Gel by Bird-X
|Guano Removal Tool Kit
|Defender 4 Narrow Polycarbonate Pigeon Spikes Per Metre
|Defender 8 Medium Polycarbonate Pigeon Spikes
|Bird-X Pigeon Spikes Narrow in Stainless Steel by PestFix
|Bird-X Pigeon Spikes Medium in Stainless Steel by PestFix
|Bird-X Pigeon Spikes Wide in Stainless Steel by PestFix
|Bird-X Seagull Spikes in Stainless Steel by PestFix
|Triangular Ridge Seagull Spikes By Defender
|Starling and Sparrow Spikes Stainless Steel
|Defender Chimney Guard
|TV Aerial Bird Spikes Kit
|Rainwater Gutter Clips For Bird-X Bird Spikes - 1 Metre Pack
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|Pigeon Spikes Gutter Kits
|Soudal Silirub N Silicone Adhesive Clear Low Modulus
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Window ledges are one of the most common problem areas associated with pest bird infestations.
By their very nature they offer birds a high-up perch, roost and even nest site, often overlooking a food source. Sheltered ledges with overhead cover or in the lee of the building, away from prevailing wind and rain.
Predominantly Feral Pigeons and on Larger ledges Seagulls (Herring Gulls and Black-Backed Gulls)
An extensive range of solutions exists to protect ledges depending upon the severity of the bird infestation pressure present.
Light Pressure, perching only no food source present
Medium Pressure, roosting overnight either with or without a food source present and perching but with food sources present.
Heavy Pressure, Nesting, with or without food sources.
To improve your success rate try to remove any food sources prior to installing your chosen deterrent.


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ing. EJ (Erik) PekkerietSenior Business Development Manager Agro Food Robotics
Folgen Sie mir auf:
Erik Pekkeriet (born in 1970) is working as a Senior Business Development Manager in Agro Food Robotics. He completed his BSc in Mechanical Engineering at Emmen, The Netherlands in 1994. He specialized himself in Maintenance Technology and Management. After he finished his BSc he started his career at Philips as a project employee in maintenance management at a Philips production plant. After a few years he started as a consultant in innovation management in Greenhouse Horticulture. He started as a single consultant, but built and led a department with 5 innovation consultants. After 7 years he made a change to Wageningen UR, to work directly with real technicians and researchers again, building great robots, vision sorting systems and new greenhouse production systems for, and together with farmers and machine manufacturers. Main projects he developed and worked on were: vision sorting systems for pot plants, cut flowers and vegetables in X-ray-, NIR-, Fluorescence- en RGB-technology in 2D and 3D; robot harvesting systems for cutting roses, gerberas, cucumbers, sweet peppers and tomato leaves and new moving greenhouse production systems for chrysanthemum, pot plants and cucumber. Erik coordinated the 12M EU-project PicknPack (flexible robotic packaging systems). For the Dutch government he leads the scientific program: Precision Horticulture.
The last decade Erik broadened the robotic scope from greenhouse horticulture to open field, livestock, food and other Wageningen agri-food domains. Erik is now responsible for the business development of the Agro Food Robotics Program of Wageningen. Erik is also an IPMA-C certified project manager.
Video about robotics in horticulture


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4:54pm PT by Lacey Rose
Frances McDormand on 'Olive Kitteridge,' Female Protagonists
For Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge is a passion project half a decade in the making.
During her turn before the Television Critics Association Thursday, the actress revealed how she transformed the beloved novel into a forthcoming HBO miniseries. It began roughly six years ago, when a friend gave her Elizabeth Strout's book of 13 short stories set in a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy.
PHOTOS Summer TV Preview
McDormand insists she doesn't typically read novels with the eye of a filmmaker, adding that an adaptation of Kitteridge was never part of her initial plan. In fact, when another friend suggested Olive would be a killer role for McDormand to play, the actress brushed her off. "It certainly was not the novel that needed to be a movie," she says of her concerns of an adaptation, noting that a 90-minute film would "diminish" the material.
In her mind, dramas centered on female protagonists often demand more time to unspool than film can offer, which is why she believes episodic television has been a better forum for female stories. "90 minutes is never enough time to tell a women's story," she stated, adding that she's had more success on the film side playing supporting characters to male protagonists.
PHOTOS Inside THR's Comedy Actress Roundtable With Taylor Schilling, Zooey Deschanel
Once McDormand recognized that the small screen was a possibility, she decided to pursue the rights to Strout's novel. That the actress was in her early 50s at the time and thinking a lot about the next chapter of her career added to the project's appeal. She optioned Strout's book in 2009, the very same week it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.
The Jane Anderson-penned script landed at HBO, with Lisa Cholodenko attached to direct and a cast that included Richard Jenkins and Bill Murray. Now, five and a half years later, the 57-year-old McDomand is set to play Olive in the four-part TV adaptation she's eager to share.
Lacey firstname.lastname@example.com LaceyVRose


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Apr 08, 2014 11:35 AM EDT
Free SDKs and APIs For Android Mobile Security are available through tools and information for Developers.IT most certainly is vital in building out security and I've often seen organizations drop security on the laps of the IT departments because of this. Everything ultimately revolves around IT, some way, some how, in this modern age, so it's natural that IT be considered when planning and executing security policies.
The Android 4.4 API offers new features for users and app developers. The Android 4.4 system image and SDK platform is available for download from the SDK Manager. A device running Android 4.4 can be used to test on the Android emulator. Apps can be developed against the Android 4.4 platform to begin using the latest APIs.
Google's Android application with the Google Analytics SDK beta5 or higher enables native Android app installs to advertising campaigns and marketing of Google Analytics app reports. With Google's Android Analytics platform, users can measure across various devices and environments.
Mobile SDK is an entry point for developers who are creating an Android mobile app. Mobile SDK 2.1 is open-source. The SDK is now available for Force.com and Database.com developers. Salesforce Mobile SDK supports development of HTML5, hybrid and native mobile apps.
Android updates include SQLCipher to v2.2.2. The update will support Android 4.3 (Jellybean) and Android 4.4 (Kit Kat). Mobile SDK also includes functionality to merge Android Manifest files from its library. PasscodeActivity was also added. The 2.1 version features new functionalities and also library updates.
Mobile SDK also will support push notifications pilot registration. The push delivery notifications will support connected apps. The SDK will also provide a convenient option to develop REST request for Salesforce uploading, downloading and file sharing. SmartSync for REST endpoints will enable custom endpoints such as REST APIs and Apex through Force.
Information in the wrong hands is something very crucial. Companies and their IT Information security teams need to ensure that portables such as mobile and computers do not contain confidential business information. Information carried on Android phones and laptops need to kept minimal, users could login to the network using a VPN.
2. Feb 13, 2020
Meet the New App That Could Change the Way You Drive
3. Jan 15, 2020
Tech Takes the Borrowing Experience to New Speeds
4. Dec 21, 2019
Who Should Be Using a PowerPoint Design Agency?
1. Nov 02, 2019
Color Theory Gets a Technology Makeover with Appy Pie's Color Wheel
2. Oct 10, 2019
Is Your Data Center Hurting Your Business?
3. Sep 20, 2019
5 Facts About Mobile App Development That Will Keep You Up At Night
4. Sep 09, 2019
Why Software is Key to Growing Your Cannabis Business


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February 29, 2020 - Latest: What has happened to markets this year? by Darius McDermott
17th February 2014 by Patrick Connolly
It has been well documented that there has been a rise in the number of people who are making financial transactions without advice. There isn't much you can't do on an execution-only basis now. You can invest in pensions and ISAs, take out life assurance and income protection, buy an annuity and even go into income drawdown or purchase high risk venture capital trust or enterprise investment scheme products.
The results of this are plain to see with Hargreaves Lansdown seemingly announcing record sales and profits every few months, which is then reflected in their share price. Other discount brokers are trying to get their piece of the ever expanding pie by offering lower charges, although they have some way to go before they are able to knock Hargreaves off their perch.
The first question is whether such a huge rise in execution only business is good or bad.It is positive that people are able to make their own decisions and have plenty of options about where they do this and we are now seeing more price competition which should hopefully mean they pay less. However, the risk is that they get it wrong and if that happens they will have nobody they can blame but themselves.
The Retail Distribution Review, launched at the beginning of 2013, changed the way that financial advisers (as opposed to execution only firms) work. There have been many positive aspects to this including advisers having to be better qualified and increased transparency over how they charge and what clients get in return. However, it has also meant that many people are now unable to access independent financial advice or it simply isn't cost effective for them to do so.
The next question is how many people who can't afford advice actually need it.
For many people financial planning should consist of paying off debts, building cash savings, paying off their mortgage, joining their company pension scheme, checking what protection benefits are offered by their employer and if they have spare money they could look at investing in a stocks and shares ISA in a diversified equity, multi asset or tracker fund.
Most people don't need a SIPP with hundreds of fund choices, they're better off in their employer's scheme, and most people don't need to buy an ISA investing in AIM shares or in Japanese equities.
If people need one off pieces of advice, such as taking pension benefits or protecting their income or family, or if they have larger investment portfolios or income and need to achieve suitable diversification and tax efficiency they should ideally be prepared to for pay for advice.
Some execution-only firms try to convince people that they don't need advice, perhaps just a little but of guidance or research to point them in the right direction. I wonder how many people have taken out single life annuities when there is a dependent spouse who might need income in the future, or not put life assurance policies into trust so that benefits can be paid quicker and aren't liable to inheritance tax, or have transferred a pension to a 'low cost' SIPP and lost valuable benefits or guarantees as a result, perhaps without even knowing it, or are taking too much or too little risk with their investments, or don't have their finances structured tax efficiently.
Undoubtedly many people are making good use of execution-only services and their finances are benefiting as a result. However, many others will have made the wrong decisions and might not even be aware of it. If they do get anything wrong the execution-only firm won't take any responsibility, even if they have provided guidance or research, and the end customer will be very much on their own.
More financial industry scaremongering. So if I pay 2% annually of my net financial worth to the financial advice industry I will get value for money. Say most of us save for 40 years of working life, that equates to an 80% fee. Some advice!


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Transfer news: Manchester United set Nani valuation, say Galatasaray
Galatasaray have failed in a bid for Nani because Manchester United want £8.5m for him, according to the Turkish club.
Last Updated: 12/06/13 4:43pm
The Portugal international has never really fulfilled his potential at Old Trafford and new boss David Moyes is thought to be ready to sell this summer.
Galatasaray are among the clubs who are interested in signing Nani, who has just one year left on his contract, but claim they cannot meet United's valuation.
The Turkish club's chairman, Unal Aysal, said: "We offered €7million (£6m) for him. But they didn't accept. We can't give more than this.
"We are not going to follow Nani anymore. We can't give more than €7m for him.
"They want €10million (£8.5million). Because of this he is not on our transfer list anymore."