The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 10, 1996
Filed:
Jan. 17, 1995
Leo M Cortjens, Norcross, GA (US);
Richard C Mays, Atlanta, GA (US);
Curtis M Smith, Lawrenceville, GA (US);
Videoconferencing Systems, Inc., Norcross, GA (US);
Abstract
A videoconferencing system which is easy to use. A camera unit (17) provides a picture which is displayed on the display screen of a monitor (21A, 21B). A controller (10) controls the operation of the camera and also causes a pointer or other indicator to be displayed on the display screen along with the picture. A user input device, such as a mouse (12) or a joystick (18), is connected to the controller. The mouse or joystick is used to position the pointer at a desired location on the picture or to designate an area of interest on the picture. The controller then causes the camera to pan and/or tilt in order to center the desired point or area of interest on the display screen, and to zoom, if appropriate, in order to fill the display screen with the desired area of interest. The range of operation of the camera is divided into a plurality of regions. The controller determines the selected region, that is, the region in which the selected picture occurs, and determines a focus setting for the camera based on the selected region. If a focus setting has not previously been determined for that region then the controller uses the focus setting for a parent region which encompasses the selected region.