Special effects video camera

• US 20050077470A1
• Filed: 11/15/2002
• Published: 04/14/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Tichit, Bernard, Botte, Bruno
• Granted Patent: US 7,259,375 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 250/341.800
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/18 wherein range gates are used
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4811 common to transmitter and receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/56 provided with illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2226 Determination of depth image, e.g. for foreground/background separation determining depth by image analysis in general G06T7/50; segmentation by image analysis in general G06T7/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/272 Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay

Abstract

The invention provides a video camera fitted with telemetry means which provide, in parallel with the image, information relating to the distance of each of the filmed points of an image. A clip key calculated on the information relating to the distance may be calculated in the same way as a chroma-key without using a coloured background.

Claims

1. Video camera system comprising:

image acquisition means for providing a video image stream,

telemetry means for providing, in parallel with at least one image and for each point of the at least one image, information relating to the distance between the camera and the subject point corresponding to the point of the image, the telemetry means including;

an intermittent source of invisible light,

an image sensor operating within the invisible light range of the intermittent source,

a shutter placed in front of the image sensor operating within the invisible light range,

synchronization means for synchronizing the shutter and the intermittent source, and

processing means for transforming the brightness information into information relating to distance,

wherein the sensor operating within the invisible light range takes first images while having the shutter open and/or the intermittent source continuously lit and second images while having the intermittent source and the shutter opening and closing several times in a synchronous manner, the first and second images being alternated and wherein the synchronization means comprise means for manually adjusting the shutter speed.

2. System according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent source is a source of infrared light.

3. System according to claim 1, wherein the intermittent source is placed inside the camera.

4. System according to 1, in which the image acquisition means comprise three CCDs, wherein the image sensor operating within the invisible light range is a CCD of the same type as the ones used in the image acquisition means.

5. System according to claim 4, wherein it has an optical splitter between the image acquisition means and an objective, the said optical splitter splitting the visible light and the invisible light in two different directions.

6. System according to claim 4, wherein the image sensor operating within the invisible light range operates at an image frequency which is twice the image frequency of the CCDs belonging to the image acquisition means.

7. System according to claim 1, wherein there is a phase shift between the shutting of the shutter and the intermittent source when they operate synchronously.