Method of color correcting digital video data

• US 6,016,167 A
• Filed: 04/14/1997
• Issued: 01/18/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pandora International Limited
• Original Assignee: Pandora International Limited
• Inventors: Brett, Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): HSIA, SHERRIE Y
• Application Number:
  US08/833,215
• Time in Patent Office: 1,009 Days
• Field of Search: 348/708, 348/571, 348/645, 348/646, 348/649, 348/650, 348/651
• US Class Current: 348/646
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/11 Scanning of colour motion picture films, e.g. for telecine
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/64 Circuits for processing colour signals H04N9/77 takes precedence; camera processing pipelines for processing colour signals H04N23/84
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/646 for image enhancement, e.g. vertical detail restoration, cross-colour elimination, contour correction, chrominance trapping filters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/69 for modifying the colour signals by gamma correction controlling camera response for colour signals H04N23/83

Abstract

A method of color correcting digital video data 21 is disclosed, comprising the steps of providing a workstation 22 connected to a source 20 of digital video data, analysing video data at the workstation 22 and making decisions relating to color corrections to be applied to the video data 21, generating color correction parameter data corresponding to the decisions, transmitting the video data and the corresponding color correction parameter data 23 to a remote color processor 28 for applying color corrections to the digital video data 26, applying color corrections to the digital video data in accordance with the correction parameter data, and returning the color corrected video data 27 from the color processor 28.

Claims

1. A method of colour correcting digital video data, comprising the steps of providing a workstation connected to a source of digital video data, analyzing video data at the workstation and making decisions relating to colour corrections to be applied to the video data, generating colour correction parameter data corresponding to the decisions, transmitting the video data and the corresponding colour correction parameter data to a remote colour processor for applying colour corrections to the digital video data, applying colour corrections to the digital video data in accordance with the correction parameter data, and returning the colour corrected video data from the colour processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein discrete packets of video information are transmitted from workstation to the colour processor, each packet containing a portion of the digital video data and also colour correction parameter data relating to the said portion of the digital video data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of workstations are provided, each of which is capable of transmitting video data and the corresponding colour correction parameter data to the remote colour processor.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the colour processor comprises multiple colour correction engines, an integer number (n1) of which are capable of being used together to process video data and colour correction parameter data corresponding to a relatively high data processing requirement, and an integer number (n2) of which are capable of being used to process video data and colour correction parameter data for video data corresponding to a lower data processing requirement, wherein n2 is in the range of 1 to a number less than n1, and wherein the colour processor processes simultaneously video data and the corresponding colour correction parameter data from the plurality of workstations for each of which the video data corresponds to lower than said relatively high data processing requirement.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein each of the multiple colour correction engines comprises a plurality of channels.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the colour processor comprises four colour engines, all four of which are used for the colour correction of film resolution video data, pairs of which are capable of being used for the colour correction of high resolution video data, and individual ones of which are capable of being used for the colour correction of standard definition video data.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the video data transmitted from the workstation to the colour processor contains only elements of the picture data which require correction.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein discrete packets of video information are transmitted from the workstation to the colour processor, each packet containing a portion of the digital video data and the colour correction parameter data relating to the said portion of the digital video data, and information identifying that the video data contains only elements of the picture data which require correction.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the colour processor comprises multiple colour correction engines, each engine comprising a plurality of channels, and wherein for a given set of picture elements picture corrections are capable of being applied using the channels of more than one engine.

10. A method of colour correcting digital video data, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of workstations each connected to a respective source of digital video data, analysing video data at the workstations and making decisions relating to the colour corrections to be applied to the video data, generating colour correction parameter data corresponding to the decisions, transmitting the respective video data and the corresponding colour correction parameter data to a remote colour processor for applying colour corrections to the digital video data in accordance with the corrected video data from the colour processor, wherein the colour processor comprises multiple colour correction engines, an integer number (n1) of which are capable of being used together to process high resolution data from one of the workstations, and a smaller integer number (n2) of which are capable of being used independently to process lower resolution data simultaneously from a plurality of the workstations.