Television system for displaying multiple views of a remote location

• US 5,187,571 A
• Filed: 02/01/1991
• Issued: 02/16/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TTI Inventions A LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Bell Communications Research, Inc. (Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson)
• Inventors: Smoot, Lanny S., Braun, David A., Nelson, Terence J., Nilson, William A. E. III
• Primary Examiner(s): Groody, James J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): HSIA, SHERRIE Y
• Application Number:
  US07/649,025
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 358/181, 358/185, 358/225, 358/85, 358/86, 358/87, 358/93, 358/103, 358/104, 358/108, 455/3, 455/5, 455/6, 379/53, 379/54, 354/94, 354/95, 352/69, 352/70, 352/133, 359/403, 359/419
• US Class Current: 348/39
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/41 Extracting pixel data from a plurality of image sensors simultaneously picking up an image, e.g. for increasing the field of view by combining the outputs of a plurality of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/268 Signal distribution or switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/147 Communication arrangements, e.g. identifying the communication as a video-communication, intermediate storage of the signals selecting H04Q
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/15 Conference systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A television system (100) comprises a sending station (70), a composing system (80) and a receiving station (90). The sending station (70) comprise a sequence of cameras (1,2,3, . . . ,N) arranged so that the fields of view merge contiguously to form an aggregate field of view. The composing station (80) includes circuitry which enables a local viewer at the receiving station (90) to select an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of the aggregate field of view for display on a local monitor (200).

Claims

1. A television system comprising

a sending station comprising a sequence of cameras and means for optically arranging said cameras such that the individual fields of view of adjacent ones of said cameras merge contiguously to form an aggregate wide angle field of view,

a composing station comprising means for generating a composite video signal for displaying an image of an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate wide angle field of view, and

a receiving station comprising a monitor for displaying said image.

2. The television system of claim 1 wherein said sending station further comprises a synchronization control circuit for synchronizing said cameras so that a horizontal line of a video signal generated by one camera ends at the beginning of a horizontal line of a video signal generated by the next camera in said sequence.

3. The television system of claim 1 wherein said cameras are NTSC cameras and said monitor is an NTSC monitor.

4. The television system of claim 1 wherein said generating means comprises,

first selection means for selecting first and second video signals produced by first and second cameras from said sequence, and

second selection means for selecting a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal for forming said composite video signal.

5. A television system comprising

a sending station comprising a sequence of cameras arranged so that the individual fields of view of adjacent ones of said cameras merge contiguously to form an aggregate wide angle field of view,

a composing station comprising means for generating a composite video signal for displaying an image of an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate wide angle field of view, and

a receiving station comprising a monitor for displaying said image, wherein said generating means comprises,

first selection means for selecting first and second video signals produced by first and second cameras from said sequence, and

second selection means for selecting a portion of said first video signal and a portion of said second video signal for forming said composite video signal,

wherein said first selection means comprises first multiplexing means for receiving a video signal from all but the last of said cameras in said sequence and second multiplexing means for receiving a video signal from all but the first of said cameras in said sequence, and

wherein said receiving station comprises a first counter for generating a selection signal for said first and second multiplexing means to output said first and second video signals, respectively.

6. The television system of claim 5 wherein said generating means further comprises a video sync generator for generating a black burst.

7. The television system of claim 6 wherein said generating means further comprises a third multiplexing means for multiplexing said selected portion of said first and second video signals of said first and second cameras and said black burst to form said composite video signal.

8. The television system of claim 7 wherein said generating means further comprises means for controlling the position of a horizontal blanking interval of said black burst relative to a line of video in said first video signal of said first camera.

9. The television system of claim 8 wherein said controlling means comprises a pulse generator for transmitting timing pulses to said video sync generator, and wherein said receiving station comprises a second counter for controlling the timing of said timing pulses relative to said first video signal of said first camera.

10. A composing station for use in a television system comprising

means for receiving a video signal from each of a sequence of cameras arranged so that their individual fields of view merge contiguously to form an aggregate wide angle field of view, and

means for generating from said received video signals a composite video signal for displaying on a display monitor an image of an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate field of view.

11. A composing station for use in a television system comprising

means for receiving a video signal from each of a sequence of cameras arranged so that their individual fields of view merge contiguously to form an aggregate wide angle field of view, and

means for generating from said received video signals a composite video signal for displaying on a display monitor an image of an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate field of view,

wherein said generating means comprises

means for selecting from said received video signals first and second video signals transmitted from first and second adjacent ones of said cameras,

means for generating a black burst, and

means for multiplexing selected portions of said first and second video signals and said black burst to form said composite video signal.

12. A television system comprising

a sending station comprising a sequence of cameras arranged so that the individual fields of view of adjacent ones of said cameras merge contiguously to form an aggregate wide angle field of view,

means for receiving video signals generated by said cameras and for generating one or more composite video signals, each composite video signal being formed from one or more of said received video signals and corresponding to an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate wide angle field of view, and

one or more monitors for receiving one of said composite video signals and for displaying an image of a subsection of said aggregate field of view.

13. A television system comprising

a sending station comprising a sequence of cameras arranged so that the individual fields of view of adjacent ones of said cameras merge contiguously to form an aggregated wide angle field of view,

a composing station comprising means for generating a composite video signal for displaying an image of an arbitrary and continuously variable subsection of said aggregate wide angle field of view, and

a receiving station comprising a monitor for displaying said image, wherein said sending station comprises first and second mirrors corresponding to each of said cameras, said first and second mirrors being positioned to fold the optical rays comprising the field of view of the corresponding camera such that there is sufficient room to mount said cameras at the common optical vertex.

14. An optical arrangement for contiguously merging image to form an aggregate wide angle field of view, comprising:

a plurality of cameras, i, (i=1 to N), each of said plurality of cameras having a field of view θ

_i ;

a plurality of first mirrors, j_i ; and

a plurality of second mirrors, k_i, wherein each of said first and second mirrors, j_i and k_i, respectively, correspond to one of said plurality of cameras, i, are positioned to fold the optical rays comprising the field of view of camera, i, such that there is enough room to mount said plurality of cameras at the common optical vertex, and wherein the field of view of each of said cameras merge contiguously with the fields of view of adjacent cameras so that the fields of view θ

_i are combined to form an aggregate wide angle field of view.

15. The optical arrangement of claim 14 wherein

a leftmost ray in the field of view θ

of each of said plurality of cameras does not intersect said first mirror, j_i, a second time after being reflected by said second mirror, k_i.

16. An optical arrangement for contiguously merging images to form an aggregate wide angle field of view, comprising:

a plurality of cameras, (i=1 to N), each having a field of view θ

_i ; and

a plurality of mirrors, h_i, wherein each of said mirrors, corresponds to one of said plurality of cameras, i, wherein each of said mirrors, h_i, is positioned to fold the optical rays comprising the field of view of camera, i, so that there is enough room to mount said plurality of cameras at the common optical vertex, and wherein the field of view of each of said cameras merge contiguously with the fields of view of adjacent camera so that the fields of view θ

_i are combined to form an aggregate wide angle field of view.

17. The optical arrangement of claim 16 wherein

each camera of said plurality of cameras inverts the image in its field of view.