Digital stereo photographic system
First Claim
1. A stand-alone digital camera capable of taking three dimensional as well as two dimensional photographs, comprising:
- a pair of identical and linked lenses equipped with variable focus, variable aperture, and zoom capabilities;
an image capture device for each of said lenses and in optical communication therewith;
an image display for each of said image capture devices;
a means for capturing an image passing through said lenses;
a means for storing said captured image;
a means for displaying said captured image on said image display;
a means for recording audio before, during, and after capturing of said image; and
a means to set Depth of Field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a complete system for three-dimensional (3D) (stereo) still photography in a digital format. This includes capturing the image or photo, viewing, printing and projecting it. Intermediate steps would include downloading images to a computer, editing, enhancing or modifying, saving, recording photo images to other storage medium, and the printing of still photos. This invention is a significant advancement of the traditional analog film stereo slides, in that the digital format will allow viewing of the image in the camera in 3D, prior to, during, immediately after exposure and at any other time after exposure. With significant computer processing capability after exposure in editing, enhancing, color correcting, adding text and art, the images are further improved. The system includes the ability to view images, in 3D (stereo), in the camera, in a hand held viewer, on a computer screen on a standard television set as well as printed pairs or in anaglyph formats. The images can also be viewed with conventional digital projectors using conventional polarized glasses. The camera is also a significant advancement over the standard digital still cameras because it provides the three-dimensional image capture in a digital format. It also retains the full 2-dimensional capability of digital photography.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A stand-alone digital camera capable of taking three dimensional as well as two dimensional photographs, comprising:
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a pair of identical and linked lenses equipped with variable focus, variable aperture, and zoom capabilities; an image capture device for each of said lenses and in optical communication therewith; an image display for each of said image capture devices; a means for capturing an image passing through said lenses; a means for storing said captured image; a means for displaying said captured image on said image display; a means for recording audio before, during, and after capturing of said image; and a means to set Depth of Field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A hand-held stereoscopic viewer, comprising:
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a pair of image displays, each said image display for viewing a separately captured image; a memory card slot; a switch for menu access, item selection, and navigation; a means to play audio associated with the image being viewed; a means to removably attach a viewer attachment; a means to power said hand-held stereoscopic viewer, such as battery or external DC adapter; a means to turn power on and off; a means for transferring data to or from said hand-held stereoscopic viewer; and a means for displaying said captured image on said image display.
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8. A method of operating a digital stereo photographic system having a pair of matched and synchronized lenses;
- an image capture device for each of said lenses and in optical communication therewith;
an image display for each of said image capture devices;
a means for capturing an image passing through said lenses;
a means for storing said captured image;
a means for displaying said captured image on said image display, and software for use on a separate and stand-alone computer, said method comprising;passing an image through said lenses onto said image capture device; selecting the capability to add audio before or after exposure; capturing said image in a digital format; storing said captured image; displaying said captured image on said image display; and using computer software on a separate and stand-alone computer platform to modify standard 2D characteristics of brightness, contract, intensity, equalization, color, balance, gamma, hue/saturation, colors replacement, sharpness and 3D characteristics of horizontal, vertical, and rotational alignment, cropping, apparent window location control, and printing in 3D formats including side-by-side, over-under, anaglyph, pop-up phantograms, and standard stereoscopic cards (Holmes). - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- an image capture device for each of said lenses and in optical communication therewith;
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15. A stand-alone digital camera capable of taking three dimensional as well as two dimensional photographs, comprising:
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a pair of identical and linked lenses; an image capture device for each of said lenses and in optical communication therewith; an image display for each of said image capture devices; a means for capturing an image passing through said lenses; a means for storing said captured image; and a means for displaying said captured image on said image display wherein said pair of identical and linked lenses are equipped with variable focus, variable aperture, and zoom capability. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification