Title: Method and apparatus for nonlinear anamorphic scaling of video images
Type: utility patent
Patent number: 7,158,158
Issue date: January 2, 2007
Filing date: March 12, 2003
Link to PDF: 
AIPW Summary: A method for scaling a video image horizontally and/or vertically so that the image scales to the target display area. This method is designed to reduce distortion of an image as it is scaled to different sizes, and can be used to preserve the aspect ratio of the components of the image. See Figures 2 and 3 of before and after views of horizontal non-linear scaling, and Figure 4 for before and after views of both horizontal and vertical non-linear scaling. The center area of the image has its aspect ratio preserved, while there may be some distortion of the image in areas outside of the center area (i.e., this is what non-linear scaling is; see column 5, lines 12-16).
