Method and apparatus for controlling image data transfer in a photographic film scanner
US6211975A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 14, 1998 |
| Grant date | Apr 3, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 14, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N2201/0408
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A photographic film scanner has a line integration light sensor and a programmed controller which employs a plurality of lookup tables (LUT) sequenced by a common timer to control the timing of data collection and transfer to an asynchronously operating host computer. Delays in the transfer of image data to the host computer which exceed the light sensor line integration time can cause the integrated pixel scan information to become corrupted. Data corruption caused by delays in excess of line integration time is avoided by disabling the light sources and the related image scan operations until it is determined that prior line data transfer to the host is completed whereupon the accumulated data is collected and transferred to the host computer and normal scan operations are re-initiated. Even with the LEDs disabled, excessive build-up of dark current in the light sensors can corrupt the accumulated image information in the light sensor. This corruption is prevented by detecting the excessively long delay, flushing the corrupted data out of the light sensor and re-scanning the image line to develop a fresh line of image data for transfer to the host computer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.