VIDEO STORAGE DEVICE, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING A VIDEO STORAGE DEVICE AND VIDEO MIXER

• US 20090185077A1
• Filed: 02/17/2009
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Grass Valley USA Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snell Limited (Belden Inc.)
• Inventors: MERRITT, Richard William Norman
• Granted Patent: US 7,800,695 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/593
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/038 Cross-faders therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/76 for mixing of colour signals H04N9/75 takes precedence

Abstract

A video mixer is employed to form a transition between two video compositions, for example a fade or a wipe. A video storage device is associated with the video mixer and plays out a video signal, the timing of which is controlled in dependence upon the progress of the transition made by the said video mixer.

Claims

1. A method of keying a first video signal into a second video signal using a key signal, in which the key signal is replayed from a video store and has a nominal playout length, wherein the timing of playout of the replayed key signal from the said store is varied in dependence upon the progress of a transition in the second video signal made by an associated video mixer between two video compositions, that transition having a duration, the variation of the timing of playout of the key signal serving to match the playout length of the key signal to the duration of the transition.

2. The method according to claim 1 in which the said transition is controlled by movement of a control actuator that simultaneously controls the said transition and the time sequence of the replayed key signal from the said video store.

3. The method according to claim 1 in which one of a plurality of stored frames is selected as the said key signal, the said selection being controlled by the progress of said video transition.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the time sequence of the replayed key signal from the video store is varied in dependence upon the progress of the transition made by the said video mixer between two video compositions

5. A method of controlling a video storage device associated with a video mixer comprising the steps:

receiving control signal information indicating progress of a transition made by the said video mixer between two video compositions; and

generating a read address for reading video data from the video storage device for supply to the video mixer, the read address being generated in dependence upon the control signal information.

6. A video storage device for a video mixer, comprising:

a video store, for storing video data therein;

control input for receiving control signal information indicating progress of a transition made by the said video mixer between two video compositions; and

an address generator for generating a read address for reading video data from the video store for supply to the video mixer, the read address being generated in dependence upon the control signal information.

7. A video mixer comprising a video storage device according to claim 6;

and an operator-controlled control actuator for controlling a transition made by the video mixer between two video compositions and the timing of playout of a replayed video signal from the video storage device.

8. A method of video mixing employing a video mixer to form a transition between two video compositions, that transition having a duration and a video storage device associated with the video mixer to play out a video signal from the video storage device;

that video signal having a nominal playout length, wherein the timing of playout of the video signal from the video storage device is varied in dependence upon the progress of the transition made by the said video mixer between two video compositions so that the playout length of the video signal matches the duration of the transition.