Digital camera with reduced image buffer memory and minimal processing for recycling through a service center
First Claim
1. A method of capturing and processing optical radiation data, comprising:
- within a hand-held camera, generating digital data of at least one frame of a pattern of optical radiation from a sensor having an array of photosensitive pixels upon which the pattern of optical radiation is incident, storing, in a non-volatile memory within the camera, the generated data and support data necessary to perform at least a first processing of the generated data to improve the quality of a resulting optical radiation pattern display frame formed therefrom, subsequently transferring the generated data and support data from the camera'"'"'s non-volatile memory to a workstation, and performing the first processing of the generated data within the workstation with use of the support data to produce processed data from which the resulting optical radiation pattern display frame has the improved quality.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital camera system in which capture, processing and storage functions are partitioned differently than in existing systems. A hand-held digital camera is used with a workstation that may exist in a commercial image processing service center. A minimal amount of image data processing is performed in the digital camera, thereby allowing significant digital camera cost reductions due to lower memory requirements, lower processing requirements, and lower power requirements. Real-time single pass image compression techniques are employed within this digital camera to permit rapid gathering and storage of raw or minimally processed image data. The workstation to which the image data are transferred performs the image processing normally done within existing cameras. This processing takes advantage of the increased computational power that is possible to have in such a workstation, compared to that of a small camera, and the increased time over which such processing may be performed.
68 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A method of capturing and processing optical radiation data, comprising:
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within a hand-held camera, generating digital data of at least one frame of a pattern of optical radiation from a sensor having an array of photosensitive pixels upon which the pattern of optical radiation is incident, storing, in a non-volatile memory within the camera, the generated data and support data necessary to perform at least a first processing of the generated data to improve the quality of a resulting optical radiation pattern display frame formed therefrom, subsequently transferring the generated data and support data from the camera'"'"'s non-volatile memory to a workstation, and performing the first processing of the generated data within the workstation with use of the support data to produce processed data from which the resulting optical radiation pattern display frame has the improved quality. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of capturing and processing data of image frames, comprising:
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generating digital data representative of pixels of a plurality of image frames in sequence in a plurality of primary colors from an image sensor within a hand held camera that includes an array of photosensitive elements, storing data representative of the generated digital data in a non-volatile memory internal to the camera without affecting the stored data by any of the following within the camera;
(a) processing the generated digital data sufficient to be able to display images of said plurality of image frames, (b) processing the generated digital data into a luminance/chrominance format, and (c) storing at least one full frame of data representative of the generated digital data in a frame buffer at one time, subsequently transferring the stored digital data from the non-volatile memory of the camera to a workstation, and processing the stored digital data within the workstation in a manner sufficient to be able to display images of said plurality of image frames including processing the transferred digital data into a YUV format. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of processing a frame of data from a sensor of an image thereon within a hand-held camera having a two-dimensional array of photodetecting elements that generate data in a plurality of primary colors, comprising within the camera:
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reading the image data from the photodetecting elements in a time sequence in different ones of the primary colors, writing the image data of different ones of the primary colors into a first memory in the order read from the photodetector in sequential strips across the image, reading the image data of individual image strips from the first memory in groups of image data of different ones of the plurality of primary colors, wherein the writing and reading occur at rates wherein less than fifteen per-cent of the frame of image data are stored in the first memory at one time, compressing the groups of image data of different ones of the plurality of primary colors within individual strips across the image read from of the first memory, and storing the compressed groups of image data in a second memory within the camera that is non-volatile. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A hand held camera, comprising within an enclosure:
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a two-dimensional sensor having an array of individual photodetectors of optical radiation that generate signals related to optical radiation directed onto the sensor in a plurality of primary colors, an optical system positioned through the enclosure to direct a field of optical radiation from outside the camera onto the sensor, a first memory receiving and temporarily storing data of values of the optical radiation directed onto the individual detectors of the sensor in a time sequence, said first memory having a storage capacity of an amount of data less than fifteen percent of an amount of data generated by the individual detectors of the sensor to represent one field of optical radiation directed onto the sensor, a processor that reads out the data in the first memory and compresses said data for each of the plurality of primary colors, a second memory that stores the compressed data of a plurality of fields of optical radiation in a non-volatile manner, and a communications device connected to the second memory for communicating the compressed data files outside of the enclosure. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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Specification