44th week of 2008 patent applcation highlights part 27 |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20080266341 | CONTROL LOGIC FOR AN INKJET PRINTHEAD - Control logic for an inkjet printhead having a plurality of inkjet nozzles is disclosed. Each inkjet nozzle has an actuator for ejecting an ink droplet from the inkjet nozzle when a resistive element of the actuator is heated by an electrical current. For each nozzle the control logic includes a shift register comprising a plurality of successive registers, the shift register receives input data in a first register, and shifts the input data to successive registers upon receipt of a shift signal, a transfer register for latching data in one of the registers of the shift register; a control gate for outputting a control pulse in response to data in the transfer register, and a drive transistor for providing an energy pulse to the resistive element of the actuator upon receipt of the control pulse. The control logic includes at least 2000 shift registers, 2000 transfer registers, 2000 control gates and 2000 drive transistors on a single silicon integrated circuit. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266342 | PRINT HEAD WIPING - Various embodiments and methods relating to wiping of a print head are disclosed. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266343 | Multipass printing method - A multipass printing method comprises determining at the end of a printing pass if at least some dot depositing elements of at least one printhead require a servicing operation; in case the determination is positive, printing at least one incomplete printing pass in which at least the dot depositing elements of said at least one printhead that require a servicing operation are not operated to print; at the end of said incomplete printing pass, servicing at least said dot depositing elements of said at least one printhead; and printing at least one compensating printing pass adding to the information to be printed in said compensating printing pass at least part of the information that failed to be printed by said dot depositing elements of said at least one printhead in said at least one incomplete printing pass. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266344 | Liquid Ejector and Method for Ejecting Liquid - A liquid discharge apparatus that is capable of setting a proper deflection amount for deflecting an ink discharge direction even when the distance between the ink discharge surface and the ink landing surface of print paper varies and method of using same. The liquid discharge apparatus includes a head in which a plurality of nozzle-incorporated ink discharge sections are arrayed, discharge direction deflection means for deflecting the discharge direction of an ink discharged from a nozzle of each ink discharge section in the direction of ink discharge section arrangement, distance detection means for detecting the distance between the ink discharge surface of the head and the ink landing surface of print paper, and discharge deflection amount determination means for determining the ink discharge deflection amount (discharge angle) to be provided by the discharge direction deflection means in accordance with the results of detection by the distance detection means. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266345 | INK JET PRINTING APPARATUS AND INK JET PRINTING METHOD - An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printing apparatus and an ink jet printing method which can prevent print quality from being degraded by a non-ejection nozzle while maintaining high-speed printing performance based on a raster division method. The present invention sequentially performs, array by array, an operation of ejecting ink through a plurality of nozzle arrays to sequentially print an image in a plurality of raster forming areas of a print medium. At this time, if an expected printing result fails to be achieved owing to a nozzle included in any of the nozzle arrays which exhibits degraded ejecting performance, degrading image quality, then the ejection order of the plurality of nozzle arrays is changed. This enables a reduction in the degradation of print quality caused by the ejecting performance of the nozzles. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266346 | Apparatus And Method Of Tensioning Print Media - A method of tensioning a print medium on a drum comprising: supporting the medium on the drum; rotating the drum; and applying a gaseous flow to the medium on the drum, the gaseous flow having a major component that is tangential to the drum and in a direction that is opposite to the linear direction of the surface of the drum. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266347 | IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, IMAGE FORMING METHOD AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM RECORDED WITH A PROGRAM EXECUTING THE IMAGE FORMING METHOD - An image forming apparatus includes a medium transferring unit which transfers a printing medium to a predetermined target position and a controller which controls the medium transferring unit in a predetermined external disturbance prevention mode to transfer the printing medium a predetermined amount by transferring the printing medium past the target position first in a forward direction past the target position, then in a backwards direction past the target position and then to the target position in the forward direction. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266348 | PRINTING APPARATUS - The present invention aims to obtain preferable correction values to correct the conveying error of a conveying roller in accordance with the size of a printing medium, even when the conveying error caused by the eccentricity of the roller varies from a point to another in the longitudinal direction of a roller, depending on the amount and the state of eccentricity of the roller. To achieve this object, correction values are acquired using the whole part of or only a part of plural test patterns formed in the longitudinal direction of the roller. The correction values thus acquired correspond to the respective zones where the test patterns are formed. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266349 | PRETREATMENT FLUID AND METHOD OF MAKING AND USING THE SAME - A pretreatment fluid includes an effective amount of a fluorinated surfactant and a vehicle. The fluorinated surfactant is selected from at least one non-ionic fluorinated surfactant, at least one ionic fluorinated surfactant, and combinations thereof. The effective amount is selected based upon: a system in which the pretreatment fluid is used, an ink composition used in the system, system pretreatment time, pretreatment vehicle components, or combinations thereof. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266350 | APPARATUS TO PRINT PRINTING PATTERNS USING INKJET TECHNIQUE AND METHOD THEREOF - An apparatus to print printing patterns using an inkjet technique and a method thereof. The apparatus includes an inkjet head to eject ink on a substrate to form the printing patterns, and a solvent coating unit disposed on at least one side of the inkjet head to uniformize a solvent atmosphere formed around the printing patterns during a drying of the ink. The solvent coating unit coats a solvent layer on the substrate to surround the printing patterns formed on an edge of the substrate. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266351 | PRINTHEAD ARRANGEMENT HAVING A MAINTENANCE ASSEMBLY WITH A MOLDING TO FACILITATE VENTILATION - Provided is a printhead arrangement for an inkjet printer. The arrangement has a maintenance assembly operatively positioned adjacent a printhead. The maintenance assembly includes a maintenance chassis and a lower maintenance molding having air vents to facilitate ventilation of the printhead. The assembly also includes a retainer insert provided to fit within the chassis to provide added rigidity to the maintenance assembly, and an upper maintenance molding to enclose absorbent material within the retainer insert. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266352 | FLUID EJECTING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A liquid ejecting apparatus with a capping mechanism capable of performing a capping operation to cap the nozzle openings of a liquid ejecting head wherein groups of symmetrically arranged caps are moved toward the nozzle openings in a series of predetermined intervals so as not to apply an excessive load on the liquid ejecting head. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266353 | HEAD UNIT AND INK-JET RECORDING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - A head unit comprises: first and second heads, each having an ink ejecting face including a nozzle group, the nozzle group including plural nozzle rows extending in a first direction and arranged in a second direction orthogonal, each nozzle row including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink arranged along the first direction at a predetermined interval; and a holder for holding the first and second heads. Each of the nozzle groups of the first and second heads includes a rectangular region in which the plurality of nozzles are arranged apart at a predetermined distance in the first direction to form a rectangular shape. The first and second heads are held by the holder in parallel with each other so that the plurality of nozzles included in the rectangular regions of the first and second heads, respectively, are arranged apart at the predetermined distance in the first direction. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266354 | HEAD UNIT, DROPLET EJECTION APPARATUS, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING PANEL FROM BASE, IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A head unit includes first to fourth droplet ejection heads. The first and second droplet ejection heads are arranged along a first direction parallel to nozzle arrays so that the nozzles constitute a first consecutive long nozzle array when viewed from a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Also, the nozzles of the third and fourth droplet ejection heads constitute a second consecutive long nozzle array. In the first to fourth droplet ejection heads the nozzle arrays are arranged side by side in the second direction and the first nozzle array is shifted with a half pitch in the first direction with respect to the second nozzle array when viewed from the second direction. The nozzles of the first and second droplet ejection heads are arranged so as not to overlap with the nozzles of the third and fourth droplet ejection heads when viewed from the second direction. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266355 | Inkjet head and manufacturing method thereof - An ink-jet head and method of manufacturing the ink-jet head are disclosed. For an ink-jet head including a chamber containing an ink supplied through a channel, a membrane covering the chamber, and a nozzle jetting the ink, the manufacturing method may include forming the chamber by etching a portion of one side of a first substrate; forming the channel connected with the chamber by etching a portion of the other side of the first substrate; and bonding a second substrate to the one side of the first substrate such that the chamber is covered. This allows greater ease in manufacturing, while reducing the risk of damage in the wafer and increasing yield. Furthermore, the thickness of the chamber may be reduced regardless of the thickness of the chamber, which can improve the reaction speed to signals and improve frequency characteristics. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266356 | COMPACT NOZZLE ASSEMBLY OF AN INKJET PRINTHEAD - A nozzle assembly for an inkjet printhead is disclosed. The nozzle assembly includes an inkjet nozzle having an actuator for ejecting an ink droplet from the inkjet nozzle when a resistive element of the actuator is heated by an electrical current, a shift register comprising a plurality of successive registers, the shift register receives input data in a first register, and shifts the input data to successive registers upon receipt of a shift signal, a transfer register for latching data in one of the registers of the shift register; a control gate for outputting a control pulse in response to data in the transfer register, and a drive transistor for providing an energy pulse to the resistive element of the actuator upon receipt of the control pulse. The nozzle assembly covers an area of less than 20,000 square microns. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266357 | MULTI-CHIP PRINTHEAD UNIT FOR A PAGEWIDTH PRINTER - Provided is an elongate multi-chip printhead unit for a pagewidth printer. The unit includes a number of integrated circuits laid end-to-end, each having a multitude of micro-electromechanical nozzles for ejecting printing fluid. The unit also includes an ink distribution molding defining a plurality of elongate conduits for distributing printing fluid to the printhead. Also included is a printed circuit board (PCB) configured to relay data signals from a printer controller to respective ends of the integrated circuits, as well as busbars positioned to provide drive current to the micro-electromechanical nozzles of the printhead. The busbars are retained in position at one end by a socket, and at both ends by wrap-around wings of the PCB. The unit further includes a support member for holding the integrated circuits, molding, busbars and PCB in appropriate alignment. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266358 | Photonically Activated Fluid Dispensing System And Methods - A fluid dispensing system, including a photon source disposed on a moveable carriage and a fluid ejector array having a plurality of fluid ejection elements disposed on a substrate. Each fluid ejection element includes a fluid ejector, and a photodetector electrically coupled to the fluid ejector. Moving said photon source over at least a portion of the fluid ejector array, selectively illuminates the photodetectors, thereby selectively activating the fluid ejectors coupled to the illuminated photodetectors. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266359 | LIQUID RECORDING HEAD - A recording head configured to discharge ink from a nozzle includes a cantilever and a liquid chamber. The cantilever has a free end and a fixed end and bends to generate a pressure for discharging ink. The liquid chamber communicates with the nozzle. The cantilever is disposed in the liquid chamber. The cantilever has a stepped portion on or in a surface facing the nozzle and in the vicinity of the free end. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266360 | Ink-jet head and manufacturing method thereof - An ink-jet head and a method of manufacturing the ink-jet head are disclosed. The ink-jet head may include: an upper substrate, formed by processing a chamber in a silicon substrate; a middle substrate, bonded to the upper substrate and formed by processing an ink channel, which connects with the chamber, in a glass substrate; and a lower substrate, bonded to the middle substrate and formed by processing a nozzle, which connects with the ink channel, in a silicon substrate. With certain embodiments of the invention, a high level of precision may be obtained for the structures formed in the upper substrate and the lower substrate, and the middle substrate may be manufactured in low cost. Also, the substrates may be bonded together in a facilitated manner, so that production yield may be increased. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266361 | ENERGY CONTROL OF A NOZZLE OF AN INKJET PRINTHEAD - A nozzle assembly for an inkjet printhead is disclosed. The nozzle assembly includes an inkjet nozzle having an actuator for ejecting an ink droplet from the inkjet nozzle when a resistive element of the actuator is heated by an electrical current, a shift register comprising a plurality of successive registers, the shift register receives input data in a first register, and shifts the input data to successive registers upon receipt of a shift signal, a transfer register for latching data in one of the registers of the shift register; a control gate for outputting a control pulse in response to data in the transfer register, and a drive transistor for providing an energy pulse to the resistive element of the actuator upon receipt of the control pulse. Each energy pulse has energy of less than 1 microjoule. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266362 | RECORDING HEAD DRIVING METHOD AND RECORDING APPARATUS - A recording head includes electrothermal transducers associated with temperature sensing elements. A method for driving the recording head includes supplying driving energy to the electrothermal transducer, and evaluating a temperature change in a temperature fall interval, occurring after supplying of driving energy to the electrothermal transducer, based on temperature information acquired from the temperature sensing element. The method further includes changing a setting value of the driving energy supplied to the electrothermal transducer, determining an energy value for driving the electrothermal transducer based on the evaluated temperature change and an energy value supplied to the electrothermal conversion element, and recording data on a recording medium by driving the electrothermal transducer according to the determined energy value. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266363 | PRINTER SYSTEM HAVING PLANAR BUBBLE NUCLEATING HEATER ELEMENTS - A printer system is provided having a printhead including nozzles with bubble forming chambers, a heater element(s) disposed in each chamber configured for thermal contact with a bubble forming liquid, and drive circuitry corresponding to the nozzles for controlling operation of the heater elements via electrodes, such that the heater element forms a gas bubble in the liquid that causes drop ejection from the nozzle. Parts of the drive circuitry is disposed on opposing sides of the chambers. The heater element has a bubble nucleation section of smaller cross section than the rest of the heater element where the bubble nucleation section and the rest of the heater element are co-planar and remain co-planar when the heater element is heated. An actuation energy of less than 500 nanojoules is required to be applied to each heater element to heat it sufficiently to form the bubble. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266364 | METHOD OF EJECTING DROPS FROM PRINTHEAD WITH PLANAR BUBBLE NUCLEATING HEATER ELEMENTS - A method of ejecting drops of an ejectable liquid from a printhead is provided. The printhead has nozzles with bubble forming chambers, a heater element(s) disposed in the chambers configured for thermal contact with a bubble forming liquid and having bubble nucleation sections of smaller cross section than the rest of the heater element, and drive circuitry for controlling operation of the heater elements via electrodes, with parts of the drive circuitry disposed on opposing sides of the chambers. The method includes heating the heater elements by applying actuation energy of less than 500 nJ to form a gas bubble in the liquid that causes drop ejection from the nozzles and supplying the nozzle with a replacement volume of the liquid equivalent to the ejected drop. The bubble nucleation sections and the rest of the heater elements are co-planar and remain co-planar when heater elements are heated. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266365 | Ink-jet head - An ink-jet head is disclosed. The ink-jet head may include: a chamber containing an ink; a reservoir connected with the chamber to supply the ink to the chamber; a restrictor connected with the chamber and the reservoir to control a flow of the ink; a nozzle connected with the chamber to jet the ink, and located at a position corresponding to where a pressure supplied to the chamber is the maximum; and an actuator supplying a pressure to the chamber such that the ink is jetted. The ink-jet may be operated with a lower driving voltage, and the ink may be jetted in a more stable manner. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266366 | WASTE INK COLLECTION SYSTEM - An ink collection system includes at least one target surface and a fluid supply system in communication with the at least one target surface. The fluid supply system is configured to create a film of fluid across at least a portion of the at least one target surface, and wherein the film of fluid flushes away ink that impinges on the at least one target surface. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266367 | SINGLE PHASE PROXIMITY HEAD HAVING A CONTROLLED MENISCUS FOR TREATING A SUBSTRATE - A system for processing a substrate is described. The system includes a proximity head, a mechanism, and a liquid supply. The proximity head is configured to generate a controlled meniscus. Specifically, the proximity head has a plurality of dispensing nozzles formed on a face of the proximity head. The dispensing nozzles are configured to supply a liquid to the meniscus and the suction holes are added to remove a used liquid from the meniscus. The mechanism moves the proximity head or the substrate with respect to each other while maintaining contact between the meniscus and a surface of the substrate. The movement causes a thin layer of the liquid to remain on the surface after being contacted by the meniscus. The liquid supply is in fluid communication with the dispensing nozzles, and is configured to balance an amount of the liquid delivered to the meniscus with an amount of liquid removed from the meniscus, the amount of liquid removed from the meniscus including at least the thin layer of the liquid remaining on the surface of the substrate. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266368 | INK SUPPLY ASSEMBLY FOR AN INKJET PRINTHEAD ARRANGEMENT - Provided is an ink supply assembly for an inkjet printhead arrangement. The assembly includes an elongate extrusion defining a number of distribution channels for distributing ink to a printhead via an end cap operatively fitted to the extrusion. The end cap includes an upper plate and a lower plate hingedly linked by means of a spine. The end cap also includes a plurality of plugs defined on the spine to plug said distribution channels when the cap is fitted to the extrusion. The printhead assembly includes ink reservoirs and an air pump linked to the channels via delivery hoses and apertures defined in the upper plate. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266369 | Printhead assembly - A printhead assembly includes a base having a pocket formed therein, a substrate having at least one fluid passage formed therethrough received within the pocket of the base, and a printhead die supported by the substrate and communicated with the at least one fluid passage of the substrate. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266370 | Compact Ink Delivery In An Ink Pen - In one embodiment an ink pen for an inkjet printer includes: an ink filter chamber; a pressure regulator chamber downstream from the ink filter chamber along a path of ink flow through the pen; a pressure regulator in the pressure regulator chamber; a filter in the ink filter chamber; an inlet to the ink filter chamber upstream from the filter along the ink flow path; and an outlet from the ink filter chamber to the pressure regulator chamber downstream from the filter along the ink flow path such that ink flowing from the inlet to the outlet passes through the filter. In another embodiment a method implemented in an ink delivery system for an inkjet ink pen includes: chambering ink in the pen; filtering the chambered ink; and then regulating the pressure of filtered ink. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266371 | Matting liquid for ink-jet printing - A system and associated methods for printing matte and glossy images on a glossy media substrate comprising an ink set that comprises at least one pigmented ink-jet ink including an anionic surface charged pigment dispersed in a first liquid vehicle and a substantially colorless matting liquid with at least one matting agent dispersed or solvated in a second liquid vehicle. Additionally, when the pigmented ink-jet ink is printed on the glossy media substrate alone, the pigmented ink-jet ink has a glossy appearance, and wherein when the colorless matting liquid is overprinted or underprinted with respect to the pigmented ink-jet ink on the glossy media substrate, the pigmented ink-jet ink combined with the matting liquid exhibits a visually perceptible matte appearance compared to the glossy appearance of the ink-jet ink printed alone. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266372 | INK-JET PRINTER - An ink-jet printer includes a transporting unit that includes a plurality of transporting belts for transporting a print medium disposed at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the print medium; a first ink-jet head that discharges ink droplets to the print medium disposed on the transporting belts, the centerline of the printing area of the first ink-jet head in the width direction of the print medium corresponding to that of the transporting force of the transporting belts in the width direction of the print medium; a second ink-jet head disposed in series of the first ink-jet head in a direction in which the print medium is transported, the centerline of the printing area of the second ink-jet head in the width direction of the print medium corresponding to that of the printing area of the first ink-jet head in the width direction of the print medium; and a print-medium guide that adjusts the position of the centerline of the print medium in the width direction thereof such that the centerline of the print medium corresponds to that of the transporting force of the transporting belts in the width direction of the print medium when the print medium is placed on the transporting belts. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266373 | MULTICOLOR THERMAL IMAGING METHOD AND THERMAL PRINTER - A multicolor direct thermal imaging method wherein a multicolor image is formed in a thermal imaging member comprising at least first and second different image-forming compositions and a thermal printer for use in practicing the method. Heat is applied to at least the second image-forming composition while the first image-forming composition is at a first baseline temperature (T | 2008-10-30 |
20080266374 | PRINTER AND INK SHEET - A printer transfers to one image formation area a plurality of single colors of ink repeatedly arranged in a longitudinal direction of the ink sheet, to thus produce in an image formation area of an intermediate transfer sheet a transfer image formed as a result of lamination of single color images, and also transfers the transfer image of the intermediate transfer sheet to a subject to be printed, thereby producing a desired image on the subject. During the course of a first single color of ink C being transferred from the ink sheet to an image formation area of an intermediate transfer sheet, to thus produce a single color image in the first color on the intermediate transfer sheet, a position mark is transferred by use of a black ink area provided at a widthwise edge of an area of the first single color of ink of the ink sheet and outside the image formation area of the intermediate transfer sheet. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266375 | OPTICAL SCANNING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING AMOUNT OF LIGHT, AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - An optical scanning apparatus includes an approximation formula determination unit, a sensitivity correction value determination unit and a bias current controller. The approximation formula determination unit determines an nth-order approximation formula and an mth-order approximation formula, which represent the sensitivity characteristic of the image carrier along the main-scanning direction thereof, from sensitivity data representing the sensitivity of each area obtained by dividing the surface of the image carrier into a plurality of areas. The sensitivity correction value determination unit determines a sensitivity correction value, which is a correction value of sensitivity in each area, from the nth-order approximation formula and mth-order approximation formula. The bias current controller controls a bias current in accordance with the sensitivity correction value. A switching current controller controls a switching current in accordance with the sensitivity correction value and a current value that is for obtaining a target amount of light. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266376 | VISUAL COMMUNICATION SERVER AND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - According to one embodiment, a server includes a control unit which instructs establishment and end of connection for the video data communications between the client computers corresponding to the telephone terminals, in accordance with the call information event received by the call information event receiving unit, and a connection information transmitting unit which transmits connection information between the plurality of client computers for which one of the establishment and the end of connection is executed by the control unit, wherein even if the connection information transmitting unit receives a notification of completion or end of the connection from the client computers, when the connection information transmitting unit receives a notification which accompanies change of connection states of the client computers, the connection information transmitting unit transmits the connection information after waiting for the change of the connection states. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266377 | Video Telephony Service Method in Mobile Communication Network - The video telephony service method includes the step of the mobile communication system, which stores profile information, setting up a call between culling and called mobile communication terminals; the step of the mobile communication system transmitting the profile information of the calling mobile communication terminal to the called mobile communication terminal, as the calling mobile communication terminal transmits the profile information thereof to the mobile communication system; the step of the called mobile communication terminal consulting the profile information, and transmitting a response signal to the mobile communication system after establishing conditions for video telephony if it is determined that video telephony is possible for a received profile, and the mobile communication system transmitting the response signal to the calling mobile communication terminal; and the step of the mobile communication system establishing a communication path between the calling and called mobile communication terminals. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266378 | MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE CAPABLE OF STORING VIDEO CHATTING LOG AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF - A mobile communication device including a radio communication unit configured to establish a video telephony call between a first user of the mobile communication device and at least a second user of another communication device, a display unit configured to display a first image data of the first user and a second image data of the second user on the mobile communication device, and to display a chatting window on the mobile communication device when a video chatting service is selected such that the first and second users can perform a chatting operation in the chatting window, in which the first and second image data are transmitted/received through the video telephony call, a control unit configured to link chatting data displayed in the chatting window with at least one of the first image data of the first user and the second image data of the second user, and a memory unit configured to store the linked chatting data as a video chatting log. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266379 | Method and system for optimal balance and spatial consistency - A method for assigning video signals includes receiving a plurality of video signals from a plurality of cameras located at one or more remote sites, the plurality of video signals for display on a plurality of monitors at a local site. The method also includes determining an optimal monitor for displaying a first video signal associated with a first camera based on the location and alignment of the first camera in relation to one or more of the plurality of cameras. In addition, the method includes calculating a respective difference between a number of video signals assigned to the optimal monitor and a respective number of video signals assigned to each respective monitor of the plurality of monitors. The method further includes assigning the first video signal to the optimal monitor if the respective difference is not greater than a threshold value with respect to each of the plurality of monitors. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266380 | Video conference system with symmetric reference - A video conference system includes a first video conference environment, and a second video conference environment linked to the first video conference environment. Each video conference environment has a conference view direction and a reference view direction, the reference view directions being symmetrically oriented with respect to the conference view directions. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266381 | Selectively privatizing data transmissions in a video conference - A method of selectively privatizing data transmissions in a video conference is disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes initiating a data stream between at least two points in the video conference and selectively privatizing the data stream from one of the at least two points in the video conference to another of the at least two points whereby selectively privatizing the data stream includes altering the data stream to the one of the at least two points. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266382 | Indexing a data stream - A method of indexing a data stream is disclosed. The method includes initiating the data stream in the video conference, recording the data stream, indexing the data stream by generating a transcript of the recorded data stream, linking the transcript with a video portion of the data stream and storing the indexed data stream onto a data storage medium. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266383 | Method and system for identifying a multipoint control unit for hosting a conference - A method for identifying a multipoint control unit (MCU) for hosting a conference includes receiving a notification indicating one or more conference parameters and ranking a plurality of MCUs wherein the ranking is based on one or more, network conditions. The method includes selecting a first MCU based on a rank associated with the first MCU and determining whether the first MCU is capable of hosting the conference. In response to determining that the first MCU is capable of hosting the conference, the method includes assigning the conference to be hosted by the first MCU. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266384 | Media detection and packet distribution in a multipoint conference - A method for distributing media packets in a multipoint conference includes receiving a plurality of audio signals. Each of the plurality of audio signals includes audio packets, wherein one or more audio packets from each of the plurality of audio signals is coded with an audiometric, the audiometric including an acoustic measurement from a conference site. The method further includes, for each of the plurality of audio signals, extracting an audiometric from one or more audio packets and selecting an active audio signal based on the extracted audiometrics. In addition, the method includes determining a change in the active audio signal and in response to determining a change in the active audio signal, updating a media forwarding table, the media forwarding table including a directory for routing one or more of the plurality of audio signals. The method further includes distributing audio packets to one or more conference sites in accordance with the media forwarding table. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266385 | Automatically calibrating a video conference system - A method of automatically calibrating a video conference environment is disclosed. In an embodiment, the method includes initiating a calibration sequence in the video conferencing system, routing a test signal through the audio and video components of the video conferencing system, measuring a time delay associated with the test signal and utilizing the time delay to calibrate subsequent audio and video signal transmissions by the video conferencing system. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266386 | SYSTEM | 2008-10-30 |
20080266387 | Autostereoscopic Display Device - A switchable autostereoscopic display device comprises a display panel having an array of display pixels for producing a display, the display pixels being arranged in rows and columns; and an imaging arrangement for directing the output from different pixels to different spatial positions to enable a stereoscopic image to be viewed. The imaging arrangement is electrically switchable between at least three modes comprising a 2D mode and two 3D modes. The imaging arrangement comprises an electrically configurable graded index lens array. The display can be switched between a number of modes to enable the display to be adapted or to adapt itself to the image content to be displayed and/or the display device orientation. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266388 | Switchable Lens - A display apparatus has a switchable birefringent lens array. The display apparatus produces a substantially linearly polarised output. The lens array comprises birefringent material arranged between a planar surface of a first substrate and a relief substrate of a second substrate defining an array of cylindrical lenses. The lens array has electrodes for applying a control voltage across the birefringent material for electrically switching the birefringent material between a first mode and a second mode. In the first mode the lens array modifies the directional distribution of incident light polarised in a predetermined direction. In the second mode the lens array has substantially no effect on incident light polarised in said predetermined direction. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266389 | VEHICULAR VIDEO MIRROR SYSTEM - A video mirror system suitable for use in a vehicle includes an interior rearview mirror assembly having a reflective element and a video display screen module. The video display screen module may have a metallic enclosure and at least one of (a) a polarizer film and (b) a brightness enhancing film, and includes a liquid crystal display panel that is back lit by a plurality of white light emitting light emitting diodes. The video display screen module is fixedly disposed to the rear of the reflective element or near the reflective element or is extendable from a position at the rear of the reflective element to a position near the reflective element. The video display screen module, when activated, displays video images viewable by the driver and having a driver-viewable display luminance of at least about 700 candelas per square meter when viewable by the driver during daytime viewing. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266390 | Video Inspection Method for Inspecting Welds, Structural Beams, and Underdecks of Marine Vessels and Like Structures - A method for inspecting a marine vessel underdeck utilizes a video camera such as a digital video camera with a magnifying or telephoto lens. The method produces a magnified image on a monitor for viewing by an inspector that appears to be no more than about 24 inches (61 cm) away. The method includes the step of filming the underdeck of a distance of about 40-70 feet (12-21 m). The lens provides a focal length of between about 15 feet (4.6 m) and 150 feet (46 m). Thus the method is conducted at a workable focal range of between about 15 feet (4.6 m) and 150 feet (46 m). The lens preferably has a focal length of between 30 feet (9 m) and 75 feet (23 m). The method includes the step of scanning the suspect area of the underdeck of a speed of about 1 inch (2.54 cm) per second to three feet (91.4 cm) per second. The preferred method contemplates scanning of the suspect area of a rate of between about 0.5-1 foot (15.2-30.5 cm) per second. The digital video can be focused on a particular area for about 15-30 seconds to create a loop for vetting. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266391 | Apparatus for and Method of Measuring Image - An image measuring apparatus for acquiring an image captured by an optical system and a method thereof are disclosed. The apparatus includes a CCD camera for capturing the object and outputting the captured image, a lamp for generating light to illuminate a capturing area of the object, an illumination controller for controlling the lamp to be turned on, a projection grating formed with gratings, a projection grating driving unit for adjusting a distance between the projection grating and the object, an image capturing device for acquiring the image captured by the CCD camera, a driving signal generator for outputting a driving signal to the illumination controller, the projection grating driving unit, and the image capturing unit simultaneously according to an enable signal generated from the CCD camera, and an image signal processor for estimating a three-dimensional image of the object from data transmitted from the image capturing unit. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266392 | INFRA-RED CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION CAMERA ADJUSTING DISTANCE AND FOCUS BY ONE ELEMENT - The invention relates to a distance adjusting and focus adjusting Infra Red Closed Circuit Television (IR CCTV) surveillance camera offering distance adjusting and focus adjusting in a single unit, enabling a smaller sized camera while lowering production costs. A focus adjusting shaft, configured to drive a focus adjuster that adjusts focus by enlarging or reducing the lens aperture, is configured as a single unit with a distance adjusting shaft, configured to drive a distance adjuster that adjusts distance to the subject, by rotational adjustments. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266393 | INFRA-RED CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION CAMERA HAVING IR LED MOVING ACCORDING TO THE MOTION OF LENS - The invention relates to an Infra Red Closed Circuit Television (IR CCTV) surveillance camera equipped with IR LEDs that can irradiate IR light on a subject, properly illuminating the entire subject according to the distance to the subject, by moving the IR LEDs back from the subject and retracting the LEDs into reflecting sections when the subject is at a far distance, to thereby concentrate the IR light at a distance via a focused, concentrated, and/or collimated beam. The camera moves forward the IR LEDs toward the subject when the subject is nearby, such that the LEDs protrude from the reflecting sections to provide a dispersed beam to properly illuminate the entire nearby subject. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266394 | Audio Module for a Video Surveillance System, Video Surveillance System and Method for Keeping a Plurality of Locations Under Surveillance - The present invention refers to an audio module for a video surveillance system, a video surveillance system and a method for keeping a plurality of locations under surveillance. Video surveillance systems are widely used to monitor critical locations of public or private buildings or institutes like private homes, museums, prisons, factories, hazardous areas and so on from one or more central surveillance rooms. Commonly, the surveillance rooms are equipped with a plurality of monitors each displaying one of the critical locations or a mosaic display, which is divided in a plurality of cameos, whereby each cameo displays one of the critical locations. Additionally audio signals corresponding to the images displayed on the single monitors or cameos can be played. An audio module ( | 2008-10-30 |
20080266395 | USER ASSISTED CUSTOMIZATION OF AUTOMATED VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS - A surveillance system allows a user to characterize the user's environment and/or the user s surveillance application, via a selection from among a variety of predefined environments and/or applications. Preferably, the selection is from among a variety of scene configurations, such as the expected number and type of targets in a typical scene, the lighting conditions of the scene, and so on. The selected environments and/or applications effect a determination of the parameters that are used in the various algorithms and processing modules within the surveillance system. Because the selection is preferably from a variety of common scene configurations, no technical skills are required to effect an optimization of the performance of the surveillance system for a particular environment. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266396 | REAR OBSTRUCTION DETECTION - A method is provided using a system mounted in a vehicle. The system includes a rear-viewing camera and a processor attached to the rear-viewing camera. When the driver shifts the vehicle into reverse gear, and while the vehicle is still stationary, image frames from the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle are captured. The immediate vicinity behind the vehicle is in a field of view of the rear-viewing camera. The image frames are processed and thereby the object is detected which if present in the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle would obstruct the motion of the vehicle. The processing is preferably performed in parallel for a plurality of classes of obstructing objects using a single image frame of the image frames. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266397 | Accident witness - The unit is an apparatus that can capture the surroundings of a motor vehicle while travelling on the motorways or while parked unattended and allows the owner to remotely access & control the unit and retrieve the captured data if necessary via the internet. The unit also has the capability to surf the internet, receive and send email, play audio/video data and exchange data with external sources either through USB connections or wirelessly via the internet. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266398 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SPATIALLY ISOLATED ARTIFACT DISSECTION, CLASSIFICATION AND MEASUREMENT - Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method of measuring a test video frame. A test video input is provided, along with an artifact measurement control, a gradient change measurement is performed based upon the test video input and a gradient change measurement map is provided. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266399 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD - An image processing device including an encoder processor and a decoder circuit. The encoder processor receives image data from a sensor and encodes the data with padding data if a series of bytes indicative of command sequence occur within the image data. The decoder circuit receives the image data and the padding data, and removes the padding data from within the image data. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266400 | Testing system and testing method - A testing system including an image sensor, a transformer, and a display device is disclosed. The image sensor generates an image signal according to a light source. The transformer transforms the image signal into a processing signal. The display device displays a frame according to the processing signal. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266401 | Electronic device with variably positionable imaging device - An electronic device with a variably positionable imaging device comprises a housing having a recessed area for receiving the imaging device therein, the imaging device being disposed within a periphery of the housing when disposed in the recessed area, the imaging device removable from the recessed area and insertable in the recessed area with a lens of the imaging device disposed in each of at least two orientations. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266402 | METHOD AND DEVICES FOR LINKING AUDIOVISUAL CAPTURE DEVICE - A method and devices for linking an audiovisual capture device, which enable an operator to use a terminal device at his end to locate an audiovisual capture device installed at another end through a network architecture, thereby facilitating the Implementation of the subsequent installation and setting operations. The method includes: execution of a first processing procedure by the audiovisual capture device, and execution of a second processing procedure by the terminal device. After the two processing procedures have been completed, the information linking is effected between the terminal device and the audiovisual capture device, which enables the operator to use the terminal device to execute installation and setting up of the audiovisual capture device. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266403 | Universal printing method and universal printer driver module for printing out non-image file documents, and electronic device having the driver module - A universal printing method for printing out non-image file documents is executed by installing a universal printer driver on a smart phone or a PDA that supports PictBridge, and includes activating an application program and opening a non-image file document, converting the non-image file document into at least one image file through the driver and an OS rendering module, and finally transmitting the at least one image file to a printing device through PictBridge. The method permits conversion of multiple pages of non-image file documents that originally cannot be printed using PictBridge to image files for printing by a printing device supporting PictBridge. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266404 | LENS BARREL AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A lens barrel includes: an image pickup optical system; an image pickup element; and a plurality of reflection members including first to n-th reflection members in order from the subject. The first reflection member is arranged at a position to bend an optical path of an incident light flux to enter the image pickup optical system. An (n−1)-th reflection member is arranged at a position to bend an optical path in a direction in a plane perpendicular to the optical path of the incident light flux. The n-th reflection member is arranged at a position closest to the image plane to bend an optical path in a direction parallel to the optical path of the incident light flux. The lens barrel further includes an actuator for moving the image pickup element in a plane perpendicular to an optical path bent by the n-th reflection member for stabilizing an image. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266405 | IMAGING APPARATUS - An imaging apparatus includes: a first imaging sensor configured to acquire an image relating to a subject at the time of main photography; a second imaging sensor configured to acquire an image relating to a subject before the time of main photography; a display unit having a display screen capable of image display; an electronic viewfinder unit configured to perform consecutive image display on the display screen, based on images sequentially acquired by the second imaging sensor before the main photography; a position changing unit configured to change the position of the first imaging sensor; and a sensor-shift shaking correction unit configured to perform shaking correction at the time of the main photography, by changing the position of the first sensor with the position changing unit; the electronic viewfinder unit further including an electronic shaking correction unit configured to perform shaking correction of the consecutive image display, by changing the display position of the images on the display screen. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266406 | IMAGE SENSORS - A method of compensating for camera shake includes reading a sequential series of images from an image sensing array, establishing a sharpness value for each of the sequential series of images, and performing an image selection based upon each sharpness value. The sharpness value is calculated for each image of the sequential series thereof during the reading. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266407 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PERSONALIZING A USER INTERFACE OF A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE - A method of personalizing an interface of a portable electronic device comprises the steps of interfacing the portable electronic device to a workstation, modifying the existing version of the user interface so as to define a personalized version of the user interface, transferring information defining the personalized version of the user interface from the workstation to the portable electronic device, and implementing the personalized version of the user interface on the portable electronic device. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266408 | Apparatus and method for generating panorama image and computer readable medium stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method - The present invention relates to apparatus and method for generating a panorama image, and a computer readable medium stored thereon computer executable instructions for performing the method. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266409 | Device for Contactlessly Controlling the Surface Profile of Objects - The invention relates to devices for contactlessly measuring surface profiles and can be used for person identification in security systems. The inventive device for contactlessly controlling surface profile comprises a pulse illumination unit which is provided with a transparency and forms the transparency image on an object surface, an image recording unit and a computer. Said device also comprises a control unit which is connected to the image recording unit in the form of a TV camera with field interlacing, the pulse illumination unit and to the computer for synchronising the illumination of the object surface by said pulse illumination unit with the TV camera field and for synchronising the image processing by the computer with the TV interlacing. The transparency is embodied in the form of a line screen provided with an aperiodical different width band structure and an uniform transmission along each band, thereby making it possible to identify the sequence of the line screen images on the object surface. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266410 | Imaging Apparatus, Integrated Circuit for Image Pickup Device and Image Data Processing Method - The present invention is applied to imaging apparatuses including video cameras for recording moving pictures, electronic still cameras, monitoring devices and such. An image pickup means | 2008-10-30 |
20080266411 | MULTIPLE RESOLUTION CAPTURE IN REAL TIME COMMUNICATIONS - During remote communication session, there can be situations where information needs to be sent at a high resolution. Sending information at a high resolution allows for the capture of detail that can be lost without the use of a high resolution. A web camera can obtain information in both a higher resolution and standard resolution. A sending component can send this information encoded with markers that allow a receiving component to process and display the information. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266412 | PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS THAT EASILY CHANGES SETUP INFORMATION AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME - A photographing apparatus to easily change setup information and a method of controlling the same. The photographing apparatus displays setup information applied to the photographed image as well as a photographed image on an LCD. As a result, a user can change setup information easily, and confirm quickly an image according to the changed set values. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266413 | TECHNIQUES FOR ADJUSTING THE EFFECT OF APPLYING KERNALS TO SIGNALS TO ACHIEVE DESIRED EFFECT ON SIGNAL - A method and apparatus for adjusting the effect of applying a kernel to a signal is provided. The adjustment may be based on the magnitude of an effect that a kernel matrix is intended to have on the signal matrix. The adjustments can be based on factors including, but not limited to, a signal-to-noise ratio of the signal data, properties of a device (e.g., lens) used to capture the signal data, or a metric that is derived based on an analysis of the signal data. Processing image data in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is aimed at regaining lost contrast that may be due to properties of optics that are used to capture the image data. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266414 | COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHING METHOD AND MOBILE TERMINAL USING THE SAME - A composite photographing method and mobile terminal using the same are disclosed. The composite photographing method includes receiving a composite shooting request, demarcating a target scene into individual shooting areas on the basis of a touch event signal from a touch screen;, and photographing the individual shooting areas to produce a single composite photograph. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266415 | Image Pickup Device and Encoded Data Outputting Method - A method of transferring encoded data and an imaging device executing the method thereof are disclosed. The method of processing an image signal in accordance with the present invention extracts valid data only from image data encoded and sequentially inputted by an encoding unit, and sequentially outputs the valid data to a receiving part, and, in case the valid data finish outputting before coming to an end of a predetermined duration, outputs dummy data to the receiving part for a remaining time of the predetermined duration. Therefore, it becomes possible to increase the process efficiency of the back-end chip and to reduce the power consumption. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266416 | INFORMATION PROCESSING APPARATUS AND INFORMATION PROCESSING METHOD - A measurement line segment projection unit ( | 2008-10-30 |
20080266417 | White balance adjusting device, imaging apparatus, and recording medium storing white balance adjusting program - A white balance adjusting device includes a dividing unit which divides an image to be processed into plural small areas, a calculating unit which calculates evaluation values of each small area based on color information of the image, a judging unit which judges whether to use the evaluation values of a small area of attention for white balance calculation based on a relationship between the evaluation values of the small area of attention and the evaluation values of small areas adjacent to the small area of attention among the evaluation values of the plural small areas, and a calculating unit which performs white balance calculation based on a judgment result of the judging unit. Therefore, color failure is suppressed and white balance adjustment can be performed properly. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266418 | Method and apparatus for generating image - A method and apparatus for generating an image is provided. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images using different exposure amounts, white-balancing each of the raw images, and synthesizing the white-balanced images producing as a result an absolute HDR image. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266419 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING THE DECISIVE MOMENT FOR AN IMAGE ACQUISITION DEVICE - A method is operable in an image acquisition device for controlling an instant of exposure. A face is detected in a first image a scene, and further images are acquired substantially of the same scene. When a new face is detected in at least one of the further images, then a final image of the scene is acquired. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266420 | Information processing apparatus, information processing method and recording medium for electronic equipment including an electronic camera - A personal computer to which electronic equipment, such as, an electronic camera is connected reads recording units that are recorded in the electronic camera and displays a table consisting of recording information. In recording information such as a main image, a sub image and sound in the electronic camera, data within the electronic camera are inter-related by an index which indicates that the information is part of a common recording unit. The date having the same index are output and displayed in a same thumbnail area. When a recording unit for deletion is designated from the table, check boxes are displayed according to information contained in the recording unit. For example, an “x” is displayed in the check box of the information to be deleted, indicating that the information is a target of deletion. After the selection of information is completed and an “OK” button is pressed, the personal computer sends a control command to the electronic camera and deletes the designated information. Rather than deletion, the designated information can be read from the electronic camera into the personal computer. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266421 | IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - An image capture device includes: an imager for imaging an object and generating image data; an image file generator for generating an image file by adding, to the image data generated by the imager, a header portion which stores at least one type of information concerning shooting circumstances; a timer for outputting information indicating a current time; and a manipulation section which is used to set period information specifying a period. The image file generator changes the type of information to be stored in the header portion depending on whether a time of imaging as indicated by the information which is output from the timer at the time of the imaging falls within the period specified by the period information. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266422 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND CAMERA SYSTEM - An image processing apparatus includes a plurality of video processors, a video memory for recording video data, a plurality of ports, each connected between the video processor and the video memory, for accessing the video memory in response to supplied information, a plurality of memory map table units, each including at least one table for being set with management information for managing a memory area of the video memory in which video data is recorded, for selectively supplying the management information set to the table to a corresponding ports, and a processing unit having a function of setting the management information to the table of the memory map table unit. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266423 | IMAGE SENSING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An image sensing apparatus capable of reducing degradation of a signal-to-noise ratio property occurring when a driving frequency of an image sensing element is high, depending on a state of an operation mode. An information table is stored in a memory section, which includes information on a timing of a horizontal transfer driving signal for performing charge transfer in the horizontal direction in an image sensing element, information on a timing of a reset gate signal for performing charge sweep per pixel, and information on a timing of a feed-through sample-hold signal for sample-holding a feed-through section of the output signal of the image sensing element which becomes a black reference per pixel, in association with an operation mode of an image sensing apparatus. The information table associated with the set operation mode is selected from the memory section, and the element is driven based on the information table. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266424 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, IMAGE CAPTURING METHOD, EXPOSURE CONTROL METHOD, AND PROGRAM - An image capturing apparatus includes: an image capturing unit configured to generate a long-exposure image signal and a short-exposure image signal on the basis of light transmitted from a subject and output the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal as image capturing signals; a signal processing unit configured to generate a combined image signal by combining the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal, the combined image signal having a dynamic range that is relatively wider than that of at least any one of the long-exposure image signal and the short-exposure image signal; a detection unit configured to generate luminance information of the combined image signal; and a control unit configured to perform automatic exposure control for the short-exposure image signal using the luminance information in an exposure setting mode in which exposure control is performed in accordance with a user's setting. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266425 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENHANCED DIGITAL IMAGING - A method and digital imaging device, such as a digital camera module, is provided for digital imaging. The method includes the step of determining a signal-to-noise ratio associated with a first pixel location of a plurality of pixel locations and a signal-to-noise ratio associated with a second pixel location of the plurality of pixel locations, and the steps of assigning a first exposure time to the first pixel location in response to the signal-to-noise ratio associated with the first pixel location and assigning a second exposure time different from the first exposure time to the second pixel in response to the signal-to-noise ratio associated with the second pixel location. The method further includes the step of exposing the first pixel location for the first exposure time while exposing the second pixel location for the second exposure time to create a digital image. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266426 | DIGITAL CAMERA - To provide a digital camera which can correct a formed image within the digital camera immediately the image is formed and which utilizes easy calculation formulae and reduces the number of times of calculations for correction, so as to provide least load to be borne by not only the digital camera but also the photographer, there is provided a digital camera having an imaging unit, a display unit, a main control unit, a distortion correction unit, a main storage unit, and an auxiliary storage unit, the distortion correcting unit including a contour retrieval module, an image correction module and a correction control module, the contour retrieval module including a pixel number conversion module, a color space conversion module, a dividing module, a straight line retrieval module and a contour straight line selection module, the image correction module including an intersection point calculation module, a geometric projective conversion formula calculation module, a trimming module and a resize module, an integerizing module, a coordinate transformation module and a pixel interpolation module. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266427 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MEASURING LOSS OF DETAIL IN A VIDEO CODEC BLOCK - Picture quality measurement systems and methods are provided for measuring DC blockiness within video blocks. Block boundaries are located within a test video frame. The relative AC differences within each block are measured using a reference video frame, a statistically estimated reference or a default value of the white video level divided by two. An objective DC blockiness map, a subjective DC blockiness map or both may be generated. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266428 | IMAGING APPARATUS CAPABLE OF HIGHLY ACCURATE DEFECTIVE PIXEL CORRECTION PROCESSING - There is provided an imaging apparatus which uses a defect correction circuit to perform predetermined signal processing with respect to image signals output from an imaging section in which a plurality of pixels each formed of a photoelectric transducer with a color filter provided thereon are two-dimensionally arranged. The defect correction circuit includes a pattern extraction circuit which extracts image pattern information based on a signal of an adjacent pixel that is adjacent to a judgment target pixel and signals of peripheral pixels that are close to the adjacent pixel and have the same color as the adjacent pixel in the image signals, and a substitution circuit which substitutes a signal of the judgment target pixel by signals of peripheral pixels that are close to the judgment target pixel and have the same color as the judgment target pixel. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266429 | ADAPTIVE COMPENSATION FOR DEFECTIVE PIXELS - A system comprising a sensor having a photosensitive element that is adapted to capture images. The system also includes processing logic adapted to determine the probability that the photosensitive element is defective, based on digital values from multiple images. The digital values are associated with the photosensitive element. If the probability exceeds a threshold, the processing logic adjusts a digital value of another image captured using the photosensitive element. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266430 | Method and system for optimizing an image for improved analysis of material and illumination image features - In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a camera is provided. The camera comprises a lens and a sensor to record an image focused by the lens in N color bands, wherein N equals a number of color bands, with the number and respective locations and widths of the N color bands being selected to optimize the image for processing. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266431 | SENSOR - A sensor includes a first pixel for measuring a distance to an object by detecting reflected light applied from a light source and reflected by the object, wherein the first pixel includes a first charge increasing portion for increasing signal charges stored in the first pixel by impact ionization. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266432 | IMAGE PICKUP SYSTEM, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT - An image pickup system for processing a signal from a CCD includes a noise reducing unit for performing a noise reduction processing on the signal from the CCD, an edge direction detection unit for detecting an edge direction from the signal having been subjected to the noise reduction processing, and an edge extraction unit for extracting an edge component from the signal from the CCD on the basis of the edge direction. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266433 | Solid-state imaging device - In a solid-state imaging device, bus lines are provided at both sides of an imaging area vertically to send vertical-transfer clock pulses to shunt wires disposed on or over the imaging area at both ends of the signal lines of the shunt wires. Bus lines disposed closer to a horizontal transfer register are placed at a boundary area of the imaging area and the horizontal transfer register. Since the bus lines pass through an upper layer of the boundary area, imaging performed by light receiving elements is not performed but dummy pixels having almost the same structure as the light receiving sections are disposed and vertical transfer registers are provided in the boundary area to just transfer signal charges by the vertical transfer registers with a characteristic similar to that in the imaging area to the horizontal transfer register. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266434 | Solid-State Imaging Device, Optical Sensor and Method of Operating Solid-State Imaging Device - A solid-state imaging device and an optical sensor, which can enhance a wide dynamic range while keeping a high sensitivity with a high S/N ratio, and a method of operating a solid-state imaging device for enhancing a wide dynamic range while keeping a high sensitivity with a high S/N ratio are disclosed. An array of integrated pixels has a structure wherein each pixel comprises a photodiode PD for receiving light and generating and accumulating photoelectric charges and a storage capacitor element C | 2008-10-30 |
20080266435 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DARK CURRENT AND HOT PIXEL REDUCTION IN ACTIVE PIXEL IMAGE SENSORS - A method of operating an imager pixel that includes the act of applying a relatively small voltage on the gate of a transfer transistor during a charge acquisition period. If a small positive voltage is applied, a depletion region is created under the transfer transistor gate, which creates a path for dark current electrons to be transferred to a pixel floating diffusion region. The dark electrons are subsequently removed by a pixel reset operation. If a small negative voltage is applied to the transfer gate, electrons that would normally create dark current problems will instead recombine with holes thereby substantially reducing dark current. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266436 | TRANSFER PULSE SUPPLYING CIRCUIT - A transfer pulse supplying circuit for supplying transfer pulses to a solid-state imaging apparatus including a charge transfer unit includes N (N is an integer of two or more) transfer pulse supplying wirings to which the transfer pulses are supplied, and lead-in wirings connecting the transfer pulse supplying wirings to corresponding lead-out wirings from the charge transfer unit. The respective lead-in wirings have almost the same width and length as one another. At least part of the lead-in wirings is divided into a first region and a second region by slits, and the first region is connected to the transfer pulse supplying wirings and the lead-out wiring, the second region is connected to the lead-out wiring. Regions of the respective lead-in wirings connected to the transfer pulse supplying wirings have almost the same ratio of width to length as one another. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266437 | INTERLINE CCD IMPLEMENTATION OF HYBRID TWO COLOR PER PIXEL ARCHITECTURE - An image sensor includes at least first and second photo-sensitive regions; a color filter array having at least two different colors that selectively absorb specific bands of wavelengths, and the two colors respectively span portions of predetermined photo-sensitive regions; and wherein the two photo sensitive regions are doped so that electrons that are released at two different depths in the substrate are collected in two separate regions of the photo sensitive regions so that, when wavelengths of light pass through the color filter array, light is absorbed by the photo sensitive regions which photo sensitive regions consequently releases electrons at two different depths of the photo sensitive regions and are stored in first and second separate regions; at least two charge-coupled devices adjacent the first photo sensitive regions; and a first transfer gate associated with the first photo sensitive region that selectively passes charge at first and second levels which, when at the first level, causes the charge stored in the first region to be passed to one of its associated charge-coupled devices, and when the transfer gate is at the second level, charge stored in the second region is passed to one of the associated charge-coupled devices. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266438 | DIGITAL CAMERA AND METHOD OF OPERATION - A camera assembly and a method of camera assembly operation that separately establish camera settings for electronic viewfinder operation and for image capture operation. Further, the camera assembly may be operated in a viewfinder mode using the camera settings for the electronic viewfinder operation and, in response to an input command to take a photograph, the camera assembly may capture an image using the camera settings for the image capture operation. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266439 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus with a specific operation member for accepting an operation input includes a image pickup unit configured to receive a light image of a subject and generate an image signal, a display unit configured to display an image on the basis of the image signal, an electronic finder unit configured to cause the display unit to display the image relating to the light image before performance of a main shooting process on the basis of image signals generated in sequence by the image pickup unit, an optical finder unit configured to guide the light image to a finder window, and an allocation unit configured to allocate a function to the specific operation member in the case in which the optical finder unit is used and another function to the specific operation member in the case in which the electronic finder unit is used. | 2008-10-30 |
20080266440 | PREDICTIVE AUTOFOCUSING - A method of autofocusing includes capturing first, second and third images of a sample, at respective first, second and third sample distances and respective first, second and third lateral positions determined with respect to an objective; determining a quantitative characteristic for the first, second and third images; determining a primary sample distance based upon at least the quantitative characteristics for the first, second, and third images; and capturing a primary image of the sample at the primary sample distance and at a primary lateral position that is offset from the first, second and third lateral positions. | 2008-10-30 |