System and method for providing zooming video capture

• US 6,323,878 B1
• Filed: 03/03/1999
• Issued: 11/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Kathleen, Nehme, Jad, Haffey, Samuel F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Brier, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): GOOD JOHNSON, MOTILEWA
• Application Number:
  US09/261,529
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 345/127, 345/131, 348/561, 348/578, 382/298, 382/299, 382/300
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2310/0229 De-interlacing
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/346 for systems having a bit-mapped display memory

Abstract

A method for transforming a video signal provided to a computer into an object in a zooming universe established in such computer, which zooming object may be enlarged and panned by manipulation by a user via a computer input device. At the time a video file is opened in a video player on such a computer, a zooming engine is enabled on the computer and a zooming universe is enabled therefrom. Frames of the video signal being played on the computer video player are copied to a video object in the zooming universe and displayed there. By manipulation of the parameters of the bounding box enclosing the zooming video object, through use of a computer input device, the user is able to scale and pan the video image in the zooming universe display up (or down) to a desired viewing size and perspective.

Claims

1. A method for providing a desired scaling for images related to a video data stream, said video data stream being arranged as an interlaced video signal capable of being run on a computer processing device, said method comprising the steps of:

causing an instance of said video signal to be run in a video player operated on said computer processing device, wherein said video signal is run in a video player of a first kind when a scale of an image is above a predetermined threshold and in a video player of a second kind when a scale of an image is below said predetermined threshold;

providing a zooming engine operable in conjunction with said computer processing device;

causing frames of said video signal running in said video player to be copied to an object in a zooming universe established by said zooming engine; and

scaling said zooming object to a desired level for said video image.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said video signal is swapped between said video player of a first kind and said video player of a second kind coincident with said image scale reaching said predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said video signal is run on both said video player of a first kind and said video player of a second kind for a limited scale distance on either side of said predetermined scale threshold.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said limited scale distance is selected to be approximately 10 pixels greater or lessor than said predetermined scale threshold.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said video player of a first kind operates on data from a normal direct video surface and said video player of a second kind operates on data from an overlay video surface.

6. The method of claim 1 including an additional step of panning within a plane of said video image.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said zooming video object is displayed in conjunction with a graphical user interface.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein said desired scaling level is selectable by a user during running of said video file on said computer processing device.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said user selectable scaling is input via an interactive input device cooperatively linked with said graphical user interface.

10. The method of claim 7 including an additional step of panning within a plane of a video image displayed in said graphical user interface.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein a location panned within said video image is selectable by a user during running of said video signal on said computer processing device.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein said user selectable panned location is input via an interactive input device cooperatively linked with said graphical user interface.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said zooming engine is implemented in JAVA programming language.

14. In a computer system comprising a processing means, a set of computer instructions constituted as an operating system and a display means for providing a visual display of graphical image data operated on by said processing means, a video imaging means operative to cause video images processed by said processing means to be displayed at a desired scaling from a base image size, said video imaging means comprising:

a video player means operating under said operating system;

a video frame grabber means operative to accept as an input a video signal and to transform said video signal into an input to said video player means, wherein said transformed video signal is run on said video player means, said video player means including a video player of a first kind for running said transformed video signal when a scale of an image is above a predetermined threshold and a video player of a second kind for running said transformed video signal when a scale of an image is below said predetermined threshold; and

a zooming engine means operating in conjunction with said computer system;

wherein frames of said video signal being run on said video player means are copied to an object in a zooming universe established by said zooming engine, said zooming object being thereby scaleable according to user input.

15. The computer system of claim 14 wherein said transformed video signal is swapped between said video player of a first kind and said video player of a second kind coincident with said image scale reaching said predetermined threshold.

16. The computer system of claim 14 wherein said transformed video signal is run on both said video player of a first kind and said video player of a second kind for a limited scale distance on either side of said predetermined scale threshold.

17. The computer system of claim 16 wherein said limited scale distance is selected to be approximately 10 pixels greater or lessor than said predetermined scale threshold.

18. The computer system of claim 14 wherein said video player of a first kind operates on data from a normal direct video surface and said video player of a second kind operates on data from an overlay video surface.

19. The computer system of claim 14 further including an interactive input means operative to transmit user selection of said desired degree of scaling to said video imaging means.

20. The computer system of claim 14 wherein said zooming engine is implemented in JAVA programming language.