Television – Camera – system and detail – Remote control
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-27
2001-09-11
Garber, Wendy R. (Department: 2612)
Television
Camera, system and detail
Remote control
C348S014080, C348S218100, C348S222100, C348S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06288742
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video camera and, more particularly, to a digital video camera including a plurality of lenses and image sensors and common digital video signal processing circuitry for processing signals from each of the image sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Visual communication over point-to-point telecommunication networks has become an increasingly useful and economic alternative for information exchange in business and consumer applications. A common element of all visual communication systems is the video input device. To date, video input devices have generally been based on variations of traditional video camcorder technology.
However, traditional camcorder-type video cameras impose severe limitations on the format and capabilities of present day video conferencing. For example, there often occurs a need to switch camera views quickly from one room view to another or from face-to-face view to face-to-document view. Present methods for achieving these various views incorporate motor driven pan/tilt stages and/or multiple cameras.
Unfortunately, such methods for achieving multiple views can be cost prohibitive since a plurality of complete camera units each including a pan/tilt stage are expensive to purchase, maintain and operate. In addition, the speed at which the typical pan/tilt stage operates limits the desirability of such a system which often must operate in real time. For example, during a multimedia conference in which a plurality of speakers are seated in one conference room, it may be desirable to switch views depending on which speaker is talking. If one camera having a pan/tilt stage is provided, by the time an operator positions the camera using the remote pan/tilt stage to capture a view of an active speaker, the speaker may change, thus requiring a further camera position change. A plurality of complete camera units can minimize this problem although this solution may be cost prohibitive.
The present invention is provided to overcome the above-noted disadvantages associated with the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a digital camera including a first lens for focusing a first image, a second lens for focusing a second image, a first sensor for converting a light intensity and color pattern of the first image into a first electrical signal, a second sensor for converting a light intensity and color pattern of the second image into a second electrical signal, a processing unit for processing the first and second electrical signals and a switch for selectively coupling either the first electrical signal or the second electrical signal to the processing unit.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a device in which images received through a plurality of lenses can be processed by the same processing circuit. An advantage of using a plurality of lenses is that a first lens can be a fixed focus lens that provides a relatively wide angle view of the room for face-to-face communication, for example, and a second lens can be a variable iris C-mount lens with manual focus control to provide higher resolution for face-to-document transmission, for example. In the alternative, a plurality of lenses can be arranged around the periphery of a conference room and the outputs fed to a common video processing unit. An operator can then control from which lens data is actively being received, by use of a keyboard or keypad provided on a controller or videophone, for example, or automatically by programming a camera controller.
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Hitachi Application Note: Digital Movie Camera Demonstration System MV-DS6A.
Ansari Ahmad C.
Shahraray Behzad
Whalen Matthew S.
Garber Wendy R.
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Vu Ngoc-Yen
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