Patent · US Expired

Electronic color imaging system and analog signal processor therefor

US5235412A · kind A · utility

12Cited by
7References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 17, 1992
Grant dateAug 10, 1993
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 17, 2012

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/133
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

There is disclosed an electronic imaging system employing a high efficiency CCD imaging unit and a plurality of unique analog signal processors (ASP's). The ASP's operate in unison for receiving a first color sequence, such as cyan (C), yellow (Y), and green (G), of color-component pixel image signals from the CCD unit and for providing respective output image signals of a second sequence of color components such as blue (B), red (R), and green (G), having proper white balance for combining into a high definition full color image. The dark background or zero level of the output image signals is referenced to a common "dark" reference voltage to minimize dark background variations in the combined color image. Each ASP is substantially identical and has a unique architecture which facilitates its implementation as an integrated circuit. The ASP has a dynamic range of substantially better than 8-bits and provides for a wide range of signal sample rates (e.g., 1 to 40 MHz). By employing masks of certain colors such as C, Y and G in the CCD unit itself higher efficiency and lower noise is obtained than by using colors such as R, G, and B.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.