Video enhancement system

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for enhancing analog video pulses. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, raw video pulses from a video camera are each converted into a multi-bit signal having an associated one of eight levels of quantization. Scans of multi-bit signals are selectively stored in an array of shift registers to form a preselected configuration of multi-bit signals, including a multi-bit center signal. The center signal is compared with the two multi-bit signals to its left, to its right, above it and below it in four respective PROMs to determine if the center signal is possibly one of the two or three highest level multi-bit signals of a character segment. Four-bit comparison codes (left and right horizontal codes and above and below vertical codes) are respectively outputted from these four PROMs. The right and left horizontal codes are compared in a horizontal axis decision PROM, while the above and below vertical codes are compared in a vertical axis decision PROM. In response to these comparisons the horizontal and vertical axis decision PROMs respectively determine again if that center signal is possibly one of the two or three highest level multi-bit signals of a character segment. Four-bit outputs from the axis decision PROMs are compared in an output PROM which decides whether the center signal should be a first or a second binary value.