Sony Electronics Inc

Sony Corporation of America

Sony Corporation of Japan

Sony Corporation of Japan and Sony Electronics, Inc.

John B Carlucci

David C Collier

Kathlynn K Uenaka

Patrice J Capitant

David L Rossmere

Robert W Duffy

William Blake Brown

Robert Samuel Glenn, Jr

Vinson R Perry

Douglas D Kuper

Jon Earl Graham

A random access audio/video processor having multiple outputs is disclosed. The processor includes a main control unit with analog video and audio back panels, an analog input/output board, audio and video processing boards, video effects board, synchronization board, and a system board (containing the main CPU). The video processing board includes a compressor for compressing input video signals, and triple transfer buffers for intermediate storage of digital video path. The video processing board further includes decompression circuits coupled to each of two triple transfer buffers for decompressing compressed stored video, and providing the decompressed video channels to an effects board for the addition of special effects. The audio processing board contains processors for compression, decompression, and effects, as well as triple transfer buffers. The triple transfer buffers include present, past, and future buffers which jointly operate to minimize discontinuities in the output channels. The invention provides an E to C mode to allow the user to preview video which has been compressed and decompressed to verify that no unwanted system artifacts exist, or are created by the compression process. This previewing is done in real-time while the material is being compressed and stored. A user may also bypass the compression circuit and capture uncompressed still frames directly in the triple transfer buffer, and store the uncompressed still frames, thereby permitting the independent display of still and motion video in each output channel.

Random access audio/video processor with compressed video resampling to

A random access audio/video processor having multiple outputs is disclosed. The random access audio/video processor includes a main control unit having an analog video back panel, an analog audio back panel, an analog input/output (I/O) board. An audio processing board, a video processing board, a video effects board, a syncronization board, and a system board (containing the main CPU). The video processing board includes a compressor for compressing input video signals, and a triple transfer buffer, for intermediate storage of digital video path. The video processing board further includes decompression circuits coupled to each of two triple transfer buffers for decompressing compressed stored video, and providing the decompressed video channels to an effects board for the addition of special effects. The audio processing board contains four digital signal processors for audio compression, decompression, and effects processor. It also contains triple transfer buffers for intermediate storage of digital audio data. The system board contains the main CPU, DMA controllers and SCSI interfaces required to perform high speed audio-video data transfers to/from disk. The triple transfer buffers of the present invention include a present buffer, a past buffer and a future buffer, the purpose of which is to ensure that there is sufficient video and audio material in the present buffers to minimize any discontinuities in either the audio or the video channel outputs. The invention provides an E to C mode to allow the user to view video which has been compressed and decompressed to verify that no unwanted system artifacts exist or are being created by the compression process. The viewing of the compressed and decompressed material is done in real-time while the material is being compressed and stored. Under software control, a user may bypass the compression circuit and capture uncompressed still frames directly in the triple transfer buffer, and store the uncompressed still frames, thereby permitting the independent display of still and motion video in each respective output channel.

Random access audio/video processor with multiple outputs

A digital color correction system and method for correcting a color video signal representing a portion of a colored optical image by modifying the entire color space of each of the complementary colors which make up the color signal so that all objects which contain each color are modified at once. A correction means produces an output video signal having a plurality of complementary color components, each of which is related to a corresponding color component of the color video signal by a transfer function, and a modification means for independently modifying each of the transfer functions is provided. The entire color space for each color may be modified, or only selected portions of it. Thus, only objects falling within a desired range of the color space may be selectively modified.

Digital color correction system having gross and fine adjustment modes

A computerized interactive menu-driven video signal processing apparatus and method for selectively converting and processing color video signals from a color film scanner includes and provides a method for using a film scanner, a video color signal processor, a video signal storage device (e.g. high definition video tape recorder) and a computer with an interactive menu-driven operator control interface. The operator interface includes an alphanumeric keypad, a computer 'mouse,' a graphics display and a video monitor. While viewing analytical data (e.g. film masking coefficients, model film dye characteristic curves) on the graphics display and video images on the video monitor, the operator enters data and commands into the computer via the alphanumeric keypad or mouse to control the film scanner, the video color signal processor and the video signal storage device. Thus, the operator can precisely and interactively control every aspect of the video conversion and signal processing, including the scanning of the film, the actual video signal processing, and the storage and retrieval of the selectively processed video.

Computerized interactive menu-driven video signal processing apparatus

A digital color correction system and method provide for color correction in a film-to-video signal conversion system. Film color correction is done by correcting incoming digitized film color signals (e.g. red, green and blue) according to film color correction parameters which represent film characteristics, such as film speed, gamma, and minimum and maximum film dye density. The film color correction parameters are used to sensitometrically convert the film color signals to video color signals according to a sensitometric film model, such as the Hurter-Driffield ('HD') characteristic curve. Video color correction is then performed upon the corrected film color signals according to video color correction parameters which represent video signal characteristics, such as hue and saturation, as well as a video color standard model, such as SMPTE 240M. Alternatively, separate signals representing the film or video color correction parameters can be encoded as separate data into the corrected or uncorrected color signals. This color correction or color correction parameter encoding can be done on a field-by-field, frame-by-frame or scene-by-scene basis, so that each resulting video field, frame or scene, respectively, is appropriately color corrected or contains its own specific color correction information.

Digital color correction system and method

A method and system for generating icon displays representing digitized film scenes and scene processing operations, and manipulating the icon displays to initiate selected processing operations (such as transfers from one storage location to another) on the scenes. The invention can be embodied in a film scanning system having circuitry for digitizing scanned film images, for digitally correcting the digitized scanned images, and for inserting video sync information into the corrected images to convert the corrected images into a video signal. The system is also capable of inserting digital data in such a video signal, such as film in and out points, and data identifying a video storage location, and then storing the resulting video signal as a video format scene. In addition to generating a scene from a sequence of digitized film frames and related digital data, the system of the invention generates an icon representing the scene by compressing a selected one of the frames in the sequence. In response to a user command for information regarding a scene, the system displays the compressed scene image and other relevant scene data. The system also displays scene processing icons. In response to user selection of a scene icon and a scene processing icon, the system executes the corresponding processing operation on the corresponding scene.

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Milpitas, CA, United States of America

John B Carlucci