System and method for video processing

• US 7,903,172 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2005
• Issued: 03/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Grass Valley USA Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snell Limited (Belden Inc.)
• Inventors: Palgrave-Moore, Edward, Hammond, Keith Steward
• Primary Examiner(s): YENKE, BRIAN P
• Application Number:
  US11/091,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20060221231A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,170 Days
• Field of Search: 348/441, 348/584, 348/598, 715/723, 715/726, 386/52
• US Class Current: 348/441
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/01 Conversion of standards , e.g. involving analogue television standards or digital television standards processed at pixel level

Abstract

A video processing apparatus can receive video at two different rates, which may be High Definition video and Standard Definition Video. The input video is stored and read into a processor at a fixed internal rate for processing at that rate. Processed video is output to a further store from which it can be read at either of the input rates.

Claims

1. Video processing apparatus for processing video conforming to at least a first and a second video standards, each video standard having a fixed standard number of frames per second and a fixed standard data rate, the first and second video standards having the same standard number of frames per second and respectively different standard data rates, the apparatus comprising

input storage for storing video data, capable of being written to in each of a plurality of video standards;

and

a video processor for reading stored video data from the input storage and processing the video data at the standard number of frames per second and at an internal data rate which is greater than the standard data rate of the first video standard and less than the standard data rate of the second video standard, such that first video data written to the input storage in a first video standard can be processed in the video processor at the same internal data rate as second video data written to the input storage in a second video standard.

2. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising a plurality of video processors, each video processor having input storage associated therewith, further comprising a cascade router coupled to the video processors and to the input storage, for routing internal video data output from one video processor to input storage associated with another video processor at the internal rate.

3. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the cascade router is a serial router, and further comprising a serialiser coupled between the output of a video processor and the cascade router, and a deserialiser coupled between the cascade router and the input to the video processor.

4. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein the output data rate is different from the standards data rate of the data and/or the internal rate.

5. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the cascade router routes all internal data routed using a data format substantially similar to HD serial data format SMPTE 292M.

6. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the video processor reads and processes video data from the input storage line-by line in dependence on a reference signal.

7. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the input storage is a FIFO memory.

8. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

output storage for storing processed video data generated by the video processor at an internal rate independent of the standards data rate; and

output means for reading video data out of the output storage at an output data rate.

9. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the output storage is a FIFO memory.

10. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the internal rate is different from the standards data rate and/or the output data rate.

11. Video processing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the internal rate is sufficiently high that the processing time for the active line portion of a line of video data is shorter than the time interval between lines for all video data standards accepted by the video processing apparatus.

12. Video processing apparatus for processing video data conforming to at least a first and a second video standards, each video standard having a fixed standard number of frames per second and a fixed standard data rate, the first and second video standards having the same standard number of frames per second and respectively different standard data rates, the apparatus comprising:

input storage for storing video data;

video processor for reading stored video data from the input storage and processing the video data at the standard number of frames per second and at an internal data rate which is greater than the standard data rate of the first video standard and less than the standard data rate of the second video standard; and

output storage for storing processed video data generated by the video processor at said internal data rate.

13. A video mixer comprising a video processing apparatus for processing video conforming to any one of a plurality of video standards, each video standard having a fixed standard number of frames per second and a fixed standard data rate, the plurality of video standards having the same standard number of frames per second and respectively different standard data rates, the apparatus comprising

input storage for storing video data, capable of being written to in each of a plurality of video standards;

and

a plurality of video processors for reading, stored video data from the input storage and processing the video data at the standard number of frames per second and at an internal data rate independent of the standard data rate associated with the video data, such that first video data written to the input storage in a first video standard can be processed in the video processor at the same internal data rate as a second video data written to the input storage in a second video standard, the mixer being adapted to process simultaneously video conforming to at least two different standards.

14. A method of simultaneously processing video data conforming to a first video standard with video data conforming to a second video standard, each video standard having a fixed standard number of frames per second and a fixed standard data rate, the first and second video standards having the same standard number of frames per second and respectively different standard data rates, comprising the steps:

storing video data in video data storage in each of a plurality of video standards;

reading stored video data; and

processing in a video data processor the read video data at the standard number of frames per second and at an internal data rate which is the same for video data conforming to the first video standard as for video data conforming to the second video standard.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14 where the step of storing video data in video data storage comprises the step of storing video data at the standards data rate associated with the video data.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14 further comprising the step:

routing video data output by the video data processor to a second video processor at the internal rate.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 wherein the video data is routed to the second video processor in a serial data format.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the video data is routed using a data format substantially similar to HD serial data format SMPTE 292M.

19. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein the video processor reads and processes video data from the video data storage line by line in dependence on a reference signal.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14 further comprising the steps:

storing processed video data generated by the video processor in output video data storage at an internal rate independent of the standards data rate; and

reading video data out of the output storage at an output data rate.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20 wherein the internal rate is different from the standards data rate and/or the output data rate.

22. The method as claimed in claim 14 wherein the internal rate is sufficiently high that the processing time for the active line portion of a line of video data is shorter than the time interval between lines for all video data standards accepted by the video processing apparatus.