Film digitizer

• US 7,110,020 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2003
• Issued: 09/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Florida Atlantic University (State University System of Florida)
• Original Assignee: Florida Atlantic University (State University System of Florida)
• Inventors: Glenn, William E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): YODER III, CHRISS S
• Application Number:
  US10/690,494
• Publication Number:
  US 20040135893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 348 84- 87, 348/96, 348/97, 348/209.99, 348/335, 348342-344, 348362-363
• US Class Current: 348/97
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/46 Systems using spatial filters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0282 Using a single or a few point light sources, e.g. a laser diode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/02895 Additional elements in the illumination means or cooperating with the illumination means, e.g. filters H04N1/02885 takes precedence; optical elements other than lenses per se G02B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/04 Scanning arrangements , i.e. arrangements for the displacement of active reading or reproducing elements relative to the original or reproducing medium, or vice versaH04N1/387 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/12 using the sheet-feed movement or the medium-advance or the drum-rotation movement as the slow scanning component, e.g. arrangements for the main-scanningsheet-feed movement by translatory movement of a flat picture-bearing surface H04N1/1008; main-scanning using oscillating or rotating mirrors H04N1/113; using multi-element arrays H04N1/19
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/193 using electrically scanned linear arrays , e.g. linear CCD arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0408 Scanning film strips or rolls
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/253 Picture signal generating by scanning motion picture films or slide opaques, e.g. for telecine scanning details therefor H04N3/36 ; standard conversion therefor H04N7/0112

Abstract

A method for producing electronic signals representative of images on a source film includes the following steps: illuminating the film with a light source to obtain an illuminated frame; providing an electronic image sensor; providing a lens array for projecting the illuminated frame on the electronic image sensor, and providing an aperture in conjunction with the lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image; and reading out image representative electronic signals from the electronic image sensor.

Claims

1. A method for producing electronic signals representative of images on a source film, comprising the steps of:

illuminating said film with a light source to obtain an illuminated frame;

providing an electronic image sensor;

providing a lens array for projecting said illuminated frame on said electronic image sensor, and providing an aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image;

reading out image representative electronic signals from said electronic image sensor; and

closing down the aperture until alias frequencies from the film grain are removed.

2. The method as defined by claim 1, further comprising focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

3. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said focusing step comprises focusing with a field lens. of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said image sensor.

4. The method as defined by claim 3, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said image sensor.

5. The method as defined by claim 4, further including recording, on an object film, images represented by said electronic signals, said recording including the steps of:

providing a further light source;

providing an electro-optical medium that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the further light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals;

providing a lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and providing a further aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image.

6. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a rectangular aperture.

7. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprising providing a square aperture.

8. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a hexagonal aperture.

9. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a diamond shaped aperture.

10. The method as defined by claim 2, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said image sensor.

11. The method as defined by claim 2, further comprising the step of storing said image-representative signals as digital signals.

12. The method as defined by claim 1, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said image sensor.

13. The method as defined by claim 12, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said image sensor.

14. The method as defined by claim 12, where said step of providing a lens array comprises providing a copy lens array, and said step of providing an aperture comprises providing said aperture within said copy lens array.

15. The method as defined by claim 12, further including recording, on an object film, images represented by said electronic signals, said recording including the steps of:

providing a further light source;

providing an electro-optical medium that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the further light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals;

providing a lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and providing a further aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image.

16. The method as defined by claim 1, wherein said step of illuminating said film with a light source comprises providing a laser beam and a beam expander.

17. The method as defined by claim 1, where said step of providing a lens array comprises providing a copy lens array, and said step of providing an aperture comprises providing said aperture within said copy lens array.

18. The method as defined by claim 1, further comprising the step of storing said image-representative signals.

19. The method as defined by claim 1, wherein said step of illuminating said film with a light source comprises illuminating said film sequentially with different colored light.

20. The method as defined by claim 1, further including recording, on an object film, images represented by said electronic signals, said recording including the steps of:

providing a further light source;

providing an electro-optical medium that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the further light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals;

providing a further lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and providing a further aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image.

21. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing an electro-optical medium comprises providing an electro-optical panel.

22. The method as defined by claim 21, wherein said step of providing an electro-optical panel comprises providing a liquid crystal panel.

23. The method as defined by claim 21 wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing an aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said electro-optical panel.

24. The method as defined by claim 20, further comprising focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

25. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing a rectangular aperture.

26. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprising providing a square aperture.

27. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing a hexagonal aperture.

28. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing a diamond shaped aperture.

29. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said electro-optical panel.

30. The method as defined by claim 20, further comprising the step of adjusting the size of said further aperture.

31. The method as defined by claim 20, where said step of providing a further lens array comprises providing a camera lens array, and said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing said aperture within said further copy lens array.

32. The method as defined by claim 20, wherein said step of providing a further light source comprises providing, sequentially, different colored light sources.

33. A method for recording, on an object film, images represented by electronic signals, comprising the steps of:

providing a light source;

providing an electro-optical panel that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals;

providing a lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and providing an aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image, said aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said electro-optical panel.

34. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an electro-optical panel comprises providing a liquid crystal panel.

35. The method as defined by claim 33, further comprising focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

36. The method as defined by claim 35, wherein said step of focusing the image of said light source comprises focusing with a field lens.

37. The method as defined by claim 35, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said electro-optical panel.

38. The method as defined by claim 35, further comprising the step of adjusting the size of said aperture.

39. The method as defined by claim 35, where said step of providing a lens array comprises providing a camera lens array, and said step of providing an aperture comprises providing said aperture within said camera lens array.

40. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a rectangular aperture.

41. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprising providing a square aperture.

42. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a hexagonal aperture.

43. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a diamond shaped aperture.

44. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said electro-optical panel.

45. The method as defined by claim 33, further comprising the step of adjusting the size of said aperture.

46. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing a light source comprises providing a laser beam and a beam expander.

47. The method as defined by claim 33, where said step of providing a lens array comprises providing a camera lens array, and said step of providing an aperture comprises providing said aperture within said camera lens array.

48. The method as defined by claim 33, wherein said step of providing a light source comprises providing, sequentially, different colored light sources.

49. Apparatus for producing electronic signals representative of images on a source film, comprising the steps of:

means for illuminating said film with a light source to obtain an illuminated frame;

an electronic image sensor;

a lens array for projecting said illuminated frame on said electronic image sensor, and an aperture in conjunction with said lens array for implementing high spatial frequency cutoff in the image, said aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said image sensor; and

means for reading out image representative electronic signals from said electronic image sensor.

50. Apparatus as defined by claim 49, further comprising means for focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

51. Apparatus as defined by claim 50, wherein said focusing means comprises a field lens.

52. Apparatus as defined by claim 50, wherein said step aperture has a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said image sensor.

53. Apparatus as defined by claim 50, where said lens array comprises a copy lens array, and said aperture is disposed within said copy lens array.

54. Apparatus for recording, on an object film, images represented by electronic signals, comprising:

a light source;

an electro-optical panel that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals; and

a lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and an aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image, said aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said electro-optical panel.

55. Apparatus as defined by claim 54, wherein said electro-optical panel comprises a liquid crystal panel.

56. Apparatus as defined by claim 54, further comprising means for focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

57. Apparatus as defined by claim 56, wherein said means for focusing the image of the light source comprises a field lens.

58. Apparatus as defined by claim 56, wherein said aperture has a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said electro-optical panel.

59. Apparatus as defined by claim 56, wherein said light source comprises a laser beam and a beam expander.

60. Apparatus as defined by claim 56, where said lens array comprises a camera lens array, and said aperture is disposed within said camera lens array.

61. A method for producing electronic signals representative of images on a source film, comprising the steps of:

illuminating said film with a light source to obtain an illuminated frame;

providing an electronic image sensor;

providing a lens array for projecting said illuminated frame on said electronic image sensor, and providing an aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image, said aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said image sensor; and

reading out image representative electronic signals from said electronic image sensor.

62. The method as defined by claim 61, further comprising focusing the image of the light source at the plane of said aperture, said image of the light source being less than one-fifth the size of said aperture.

63. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said focusing step comprises focusing with a field lens.

64. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a rectangular aperture.

65. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprising providing a square aperture.

66. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a hexagonal aperture.

67. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing a diamond shaped aperture.

68. The method as defined by claim 61, wherein said step of providing an aperture comprises providing an aperture having a high frequency cutoff in the range 0.7 to 1.4 times the Nyquist limit for the pixel spacing of said image sensor.

69. The method as defined by claim 61, further comprising the step of adjusting the size of said aperture.

70. The method as defined by claim 61, further including recording, on an object film, images represented by said electronic signals, said recording including the steps of:

providing a further light source;

providing an electro-optical medium that receives image-representative electronic signals and also receives input light from the further light source, and produces output light containing the image represented by said electronic signals;

providing a further lens array for projecting said output light onto said object film, and providing a further aperture in conjunction with said lens array for high spatial frequency cutoff in the image.

71. The method as defined by claim 70, wherein said step of providing an electro-optical medium comprises providing an electro-optical panel.

72. The method as defined by claim 71, wherein said step of providing a further aperture comprises providing an aperture having a shape matched to the pixel pattern of said electro-optical panel.