System for recording identical electronic and photographic images
Contents
1. dissipat ing its electrical charge 1 60th of a second longer than the immediately preceding line from the first field When the video image is displayed on video monitor 62 or on display monitor 70 the more the two fields differ in luminance intensity the more there will be an optical appearance of flicker or movement on the video monitor Accordingly computer 20 compensates by reading the overall luminance of the two fields and electronically balancing them in memory to eliminate the flicker appearance Computer 20 then enhances the digital image and displays the captured image on display monitor 70 display monitor 70 being located in a separate viewing room if desired Computer 20 now adjusts the electronic gain for standard ambient modeling light exposure i e com puter 20 resets the gain after the two captured video fields have been downloaded Finally the pose number is increased by one the film usage of photograph film 30 is increased by one and photographic video pickup 10 is moved automatically by computer 20 to the next pose position of subject S if necessary or desired After the posing session is complete a customer will view the poses i e images 101 106 on display monitor 70 To show the customer how the captured image 150 will look when surrounded by a frame 152 computer 20 generates various frames as selected by commands en tered into keypad 72 Thus the customer is not only shown a video image 150 wh2. means for displaying at least one image of an object recorded by said recording means
3. to shutter 40 and hence computer 20 sends a take signal to shutter 40 by a period of time equal to the lag time previously deter mined computer 20 sends a flash request signal to Strobes 82 and 86 at about the same time a take request signal is sent to the video camera portion of the system consequently the shutter is fully open at the same time both the flash is discharging and the video camera por tion is able to receive images whereby a photograph identical to a recorded video image is captured It is further contemplated that the length of time required for the shutter to open be determined under control laboratory settings and preprogrammed into the system Alternatively when the shutter lag time is de termined by a practice take the film advance can be decoupled so that no film is wasted Furthermore temperature monitors can be provided for measuring the temperature of the shutter for exam ple so that additional temperature compensation can be made especially if the temperature of the shutter com ponents differs from the temperature measured the pre vious time the shutter was operated When photographs are taken relatively closely spaced together tempera ture compensation will usually be unnecessary as the length of shutter lag time remembered by the computer will be an accurate estimate of the length of shutter lag time likely to occur in the present take When a photo graph taken is the first one of the day for exa
4. to the length of lag time determined by the deter mining means BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a schematic representation of a system for recording identical electronic and photographic images of an object FIG 2 shows the video image of a photographic subject aligned with a computer generated reference figure according to the invention FIG 3 illustrates the video image of a photographic subject aligned with a computer generated reference profile according to the invention FIG 4 shows a computer generated picture frame surrounding a video image of a photographic subject according to the invention and FIG 5 illustrates schematically a series of successive video image scanning fields and the relative times of Occurrence of different functions of the system accord ing to the invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of the sys tem for recording identical electronic and photographic images of an object The system includes a photographic video pickup 10 and a computer 20 electrically connected to operative components of photographic video pickup 10 The term computer as used throughout is to be under stood in its broadest sense to include all forms of control apparatuses data processing equipment microproces 5 389 984 5 Sors memory chips microprocessors hard wired elec trical and electronic configurations and the like A photographic film 30 i
5. United States Patent 15 Lovenheim AAU AAA A T US005389984A 11 Patent Number 45 Date of Patent 5 389 984 Feb 14 1995 54 SYSTEM FOR RECORDING IDENTICAL ELECTRONIC AND PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES 76 Inventor John E Lovenheim 190 Council Rock Ave Rochester N Y 14610 21 Appl No 983 955 2 Filed Dec 1 1992 51 Int Cl6 oe G03B 29 00 G03B 17 38 G03B 15 06 52 US CL acte 354 76 354 267 1 354 290 358 909 1 58 Field of Search 354 76 267 1 290 354 430 358 909 1 906 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 027 315 5 1977 Babney eee 354 76 4 285 587 8 1981 Schiff 354 76 X 4 566 767 1 1986 Akisada serre 354 76 4 603 966 8 1986 Brownstein 354 76 X 4 615 596 10 1986 M ller scere 354 76 4 616 926 10 1986 DiPietro 354 76 X 4 618 239 10 1986 Sakamoto 354 76 X 4 738 526 4 1988 Larish 354 290 X 4 799 072 1 1989 AKIMOTO sese 354 76 X 4 805 037 2 1989 Noble esses 354 76 4 835 563 5 1989 Larish sse 354 76 4 864 410 9 1989 Andrews sse 358 909 X 4 903 057 2 1990 Yamamoto 354 290 X 4 959 670 9 1990 Thayer Jr sse 354 76 4 972 221 11 1990 Obnuki et al 354 400 5 006 871 4 1991 Moble eee 358 909 5 008 697 4 1991 Noble 358 909 5 053 879 10 1991 Kubota 354 76 X 5 072 246 12 1991 Thay
6. a photographic medium comprising a means provided for recording an image of the Object on an electronic medium 5 389 984 11 b means provided for capturing an image of the object on a photosensitive medium c means provided for controlling said recording means and said capturing means for causing a sub stantially identical image of an object to be re 5 corded and captured said controlling means in cluding i means for sending a take request signal to said recording means and to said capturing means when an image of an object is to be recorded and captured ii means for determining a length of lag time re quired for the take request signal sent by said take request signal means to cause said capturing means to capture an image of an object and iii means operatively connected to said take re quest signal means for causing said take request signal means to send a take request signal to said capturing means at a predetermined time prior to sending a take request signal to said recording 20 means the predetermined time being substan tially equal to the length of lag time determined by said determining means and d whereby said recording means records an image of the object that is identical to the image of the 25 object captured by said capturing means 2 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 1 wherein 3 said recording means includes a photosensitive electronic image recording means for electr
7. ber is stored for use in identifying each individual segment of photographic film If desired one of computer generated stick figures 132 and 142 are displayed on video monitor 62 which is a hand held device under control of the operator The operator begins the camera shooting sequence by activating controls 64 Computer 20 sets the pose num ber to 1 and photographic video camera combination 10 is moved automatically to the first desired position by omnitilt mechanism 120 or by direct control of the operator Likewise main focusing lens L4 is automati cally or manually positioned The operator initiates the take i e tells the camera to take a photograph by pressing an appropriate one of controls 64 Computer 20 conducts a routine camera status check including determining whether a piece of photographic film 30 is present in photographic video pickup 10 whether film 30 is properly loaded whether the pose number is within acceptable limits whether the ID information has been accessed whether strobes 82 and 86 have been adequately charged and like status checks The take automatically continues or the de tected problem is communicated to the operator such as by displaying a problem code or a written synopsis of the problem on the screen of video monitor 62 Computer 20 automatically adjusts the electronic gain in the conventional unillustrated video capture boards associated with the charge coupled device 60 and video moni
8. board or frame 152 surrounds image 150 so as to provide the user with visual information as to how image 150 will appear when its photographic counterpart is placed in a picture frame and surrounded by a mat FIG 5 schematically illustrates a series of pairs of successive video image scanning fields i e alternating field one 1 and field two 2 of the standard 525 line scanning pattern used in the United States and also the remainder of North America South America and Ja pan The system according to the invention is equally suited for the television video standards found else where in the world yet will be explained with respect to this 525 line scanning pattern for simplicity The operation of the system according to the inven tion as well as additional details thereof will become more apparent from the description of the operation below 5 389 984 7 OPERATION When subject S is to be photographed the operator positions subject S in front of photographic video pickup 10 Ambient studio light illuminates subject S Conveniently the operator captures the subject s name address and other appropriate database informa tion by keypunching the data into computer 20 via keypad 72 A sitting reference number is assigned to the customer and the customer name and other informa tion such as the date is transmitted to computer 20 Preferably the date the sitting number and an assigned customer identification TD num
9. capturing means for causing a sub stantially identical image of an object to be re corded and captured said controlling means in cluding 10 15 35 40 45 65 12 i means for sending a take request signal to said recording means and to said governing means when an image of an object is to be recorded and captured ii means for determining a length of governing lag time required for the take request signal sent by said take request signal means to cause said gov erning means to go from said first state to said second state in which a photosensitive medium is able to be exposed and ii means operatively connected to said take re quest signal means for causing said take request signal means to send a take request signal to said governing means at a predetermined time prior to sending a take request signal to said recording means the predetermined time being substan tially equal to the length of governing lag time determined by said determining means and f whereby said recording means records an image of the object that is identical to the image of the ob ject captured by said capturing means 8 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 7 wherein a said recording means includes a photosensitive electronic image recording means for electroni cally capturing an image of an object 9 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 7 further comprising a a video display operatively conne
10. cted to said re cording means for displaying an image of an object to be recorded by said recording means 10 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 7 wherein a said governing means comprises a shutter 11 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 10 wherein a means is provided for moving said shutter from a closed position to an open position said closed position corresponds to said first state and said open position corresponds to said second state b means is provided for sensing when said shutter is in said open state and c said determining means includes means for timing a length of shutter lag time required for said shutter to go from said closed state to said open state after a take request signal has been sent from said take request signal means to said governing means 12 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 7 wherein a means is operatively associated with said control ling means for illuminating an object to be re corded and b said controlling means includes means for instruct ing said illuminating means to illuminate when said governing means is in said second state 13 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 12 wherein a means is provided for adjusting the gain of an image recorded on an electronic medium by said recording means and b said controlling means includes means for telling said gain adjusting means to adjust the gain by an a
11. e developed and processed as photo graphs An omnitilt device 120 may be connected to photo graphic video pickup 10 and operatively associated with computer 20 so that all up and down and side to side movements of photographic video pickup 10 rela tive to subject S can be governed by and or remem bered by the software of computer 20 Omnitilt mechanism 120 is useful for remembering a standard position for example so that if photogra 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 6 phic video pickup 10 is moved from its standard posi tion for taking a portrait photograph at a predetermined location the photographic video pickup 10 can be re turned automatically under the direction of computer 20 to its standard position Likewise omnitilt mechanism 120 can be used for making photographs based on a national standard such as standards promulgated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI for taking a series of three standard successive views of a criminal suspect Such so called mug shots generally consist of a left side close view a front close view and a front 2 view of a criminal suspect The omnitilt mechanism 120 in conjunction with programming of computer 20 to control all move ments of photographic video camera combination 10 such movements including height tilt all zoom lens movements such as focal length f stop focusing and like adjustments allows consistent mug shot photos to be taken ac
12. e invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that is self calibrating for ensuring that the system operates correctly over time It is yet another object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object on an electronic medium and on a photographic medium and that accurately records images regardless of lighting conditions It is a further object of the invention to provide a system that records identical images of an object while using a high intensity strobe light It is another object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that reduces the cumulative errors present in conventional systems arising from induced delays of operative com ponents It is yet another object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that is useful for law enforcement animal photography and commercial photography It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 60 65 4 facilitates the process of posing the subject to be photo graphed It is another object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that automatically provides a repeatable sequence of images of the subject It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system for recordin
13. er sss i 354 290 X 5 138 460 8 1992 Egawa 5 140 360 8 1992 Tsukamoto et al 354 430 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0233736 2 1987 European Pat Off 3018722 11 1981 Germany OTHER PUBLICATIONS Electra Vision EV2000 The Power to be Your Best brochure OMNI TILT Electra Vision A New Generation of Equipment For the Professional Photographer brochure Studio Pro TM Instant Preview Systems brochure Instant Proofing Systems Dr Harry J Oles You re a VIP with Cokesbury and Olan Mills Olan Mills p 135 A Whole Family of Instant Proofing Systems Proofless Operation Saves Time Boosts Sales Mike Daniel p 8 Highlights EPS Introduces the New Studio Pro In stant Preview System vol 1 No 11 Spring 1991 Highlights EPS Enters Electronic Imaging vol VI A Whole Family of Instant Preveiw Systems Studio Pro pp 78 85 Danny Mfg Co Inc Enters Market With New Elec tronic Preview System Background Times Electronic Proofing Has Landed Denny Variali Chairman of Denny Electravsion Co Inc 7 595 Plus Tax and Shipping Video Proofs Beattie LRX Video Proofs Sony Service Manual XC 711 711P Primary Examiner Michael L Gellner Assistant Examiner Jae N Noh Attorney Agent or Firm Shlesinger Arkwright amp Garvey 57 ABSTRACT Apparatus for recording a video image which is identi cal to a photograph of a pe
14. exactly the video image may look fine with the portrait subject wide eyed and smiling while the photo graphic image recorded at a slightly different time per iod may show the portrait subject s eyes closed In addition it is desirable to use photographic flash or strobe illumination of a portrait studio subject to achieve high quality video and photographic images High intensity lighting is desired as there is a substantial loss of light reflected from the portrait subject into the photographic camera and video camera respectively owing to the multiple lenses commonly found in such equipment Further high intensity light is desirable owing to the fact that the electric charge on a CCD dissipates leaks over time and results in lower voltage and intensity consequently the greater the initial illumination and 5 389 984 3 hence electric charge on a CCD the greater the re maining electrical charge will be when the CCD is downloaded into electronic storage Accordingly earlier efforts have been directed at controlling different aspects of recording video images capturing photographic images and subject illumina tion especially when high intensity flash or strobe light ing is used U S Pat No 4 805 037 to Noble et al discloses con trolling the timing of a video camera and preventing transfer of a charge from a CCD to the vertical registers when an image take signal is received in order to pre vent an illuminating f
15. flected by subject S travels along paths in a manner similar to the paths disclosed in U S Pat No 4 835 563 which is incorporated herein by reference Additional illumination of subject S is provided by a first flash strobe 82 which is operatively connected by a transmission wire 84 or by an unillustrated wireless transmitter to a second flash strobe 86 Computer 20 controls the firing of flash strobes 82 and 86 or inter cepts and processes the flash request signal unlike con ventional systems in which a signal from a photo graphic camera directly controls the flash An optional high reflection backdrop screen 90 is especially suited for use with background scenery or images such as a local fire engine for use when taking photographs of children or a background of shelves full of law books when photographing a lawyer or politi cian The background scenery can be projected from conventional photographic slides of the images onto highly reflective screen 90 by the use of a front projec tor disclosed in U S Pat No 4 835 563 described above Display monitor 70 displays a plurality of successive video images 101 102 103 104 105 and 106 Display monitor 70 aliows the user to view one or more of images 101 106 in a side by side fashion so that the user or the customer buying portrait photographs for ex ample can determine which of the images correspond ing to the successive images captured on photographic film 30 should b
16. g images of an object that eliminates the need for a photographic viewfinder In summary therefore a system for recording an object on an electronic medium and on a photographic medium is provided which includes means for record ing an image of an object on an electronic medium means for capturing an image of the object on a photo sensitive medium and means for controlling the record ing means and the capturing means for causing a sub stantially identical image to be recorded and captured In summary therefore a system for recording an Object on an electronic medium and on a photographic medium is provided which includes means for record ing an image of an object on an electronic medium means for capturing an image of the object on a photo sensitive medium and means for controlling the record ing means and the capturing means for causing a sub stantially identical image to be recorded and captured the controlling means including means for sending a take request signal when an image of an object is to be recorded and captured means for determining the lag time required for the take request signal to cause the capturing means to capture an image and means opera tively connected to the take request signal means for causing the take request signal means to send the take request signal to the capturing means at a predeter mined time prior to sending the take request signal to the recording means the predetermined time being equal
17. hat system works well yet does not take into account timing differences of the video and photographic cameras There is a need for an even more accurate system for consistently record ing identical electronic images of a subject correspond ing to the photographic images captured on a photosen sitive medium Conventional video cameras have a continuous scan ning cycle in which images are constantly being tempo rarily stored by a charge coupled device CCD which then downloads the image for storage on video film or into the memory of a computer When the CCD is being discharged into the vertical register memory the CCD is unable to record any new video images i e the video device is in a black download register state or vertical blanking state and is incapable of accepting new image data Accordingly problems arise in conventional still photography when a photographic camera is used in conjunction with a video camera for recording video images of a portrait subject so that the subject can view images of what is supposed to be on the photographic film negative It is desirable to have the portrait subject view these video images so that the subject can decide on which ones of the photographic negatives to develop Or print If the video image and the photographic image are not identical the video image corresponding to the photographic negative cannot be selected with cer tainty For example if those two images do not corre spond
18. ich is identical to the pho tographic image captured on photographic film 30 so that only the desired images are developed as finished photographs and so that the customer immediately sees video equivalents of images captured in the studio but the customer can see the complete package of captured subject S when a photographic image is eventually framed Once the customer has chosen the desired images of subject S the operator can enter the information into computer 20 whereby the method of payment the setting information the inventory of photographic film and the like are instantly updated A non limiting exemplary summary of the operation of a basic form of the system according to the invention is as follows the operator presses control 64 in order to take a desired picture of subject S control 64 signals computer 20 that a photograph is to be taken computer 20 determines at what point in the video scanning se quence the video components are computer 20 has been programmed to discharge the strobes 82 and 86 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 10 shortly before the vertical blanking period in field 1 accordingly an optimal time for discharging the strobes and for having shutter 40 of the photographic camera portion fully open is shortly before that vertical blank ing period computer 20 has determined the length of lag time required for shutter 40 to actually open after a take signal is sent from computer 20
19. l was sent from con trol 64 to shutter 40 to the time at which shutter 40 was actually physically in its shutter full open position Computer 20 determines when shutter 40 is in its full open position by receiving a signal from shutter open sensor 44 Alternatively a first sample take is made for calculating the shutter lag time This can simply be done as the first one of a series of photographs as multiple photographs will generally be made Thus for example if the previous take signal required a period of time equivalent to 650 lines i e a lag time 650 lines long then the shutter open signal will be sent from computer 20 to shutter 40 by that amount of lag time before sending an actuation take signal to the flash strobes Given the television video standards present in North America each scan line line described above as a reference time period is equivalent to about 0 064 seconds It is preferred that shutter 40 opens and flash strobes 82 and 86 discharge near to but not during vertical blanking period B and preferably within field 1 The flash is commanded to go off at this time not only be cause computer 20 has instructed the electronic gain of the capture boards to be adjusted according to the ex pected light intensity from the flash of strobes 82 and 86 but also because the electric charge on a conven tional charge coupled device dissipates leaks over time resulting in lower voltage intensity for image info
20. laim 15 wherein a said computer includes means for storing the length of time required for opening the shutter and 5 10 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 14 b said computer causes the take signal to be sent to the photographic camera at a predetermined time equal to the length of time required to open the shutter when an earlier photograph was taken 17 An apparatus as defined in claim 15 wherein a a flash is operatively connected to said computer and b said computer causes the flash to operate at the same time as the video camera makes a video im age 18 A system for recording an image of an object on an electronic medium comprising a means provided for recording an image of the object on an electronic medium b a video display operatively connected to said re cording means for displaying an image of an object to be recorded by said recording means in a display area of said video display C means provided for displaying a computer generated outline figure substantially within said display area of said video display and d said computer generated outline figure being su perimposed on said image of an object to be re corded so that the object to be recorded can be aligned relative to said computer generated outline figure on said video display area 19 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 18 wherein a a viewing monitor is operatively connected to said recording
21. lash from occurring during the video blanking period or to prevent the flash from being split between the first and second scanning video fields U S Pat No 5 006 871 to Noble discloses a system in which a flash strobe is delayed during and prior to the video blanking period so that the flash occurs entirely during field one or field two U S Pat No 5 008 697 to Noble includes a video timing generator clock for a video camera and during the flash the system interrupts the clock generator so image transfer does not take place from a CCD to the vertical registers The known prior efforts have been directed at delay ing the operation of different parts of the systems within the normal take sequence none of the conventional devices has coordinated the various elements in order to have the video image and photographic image captured at the identical and optimal point in time OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly it is an object of the invention to pro vide a system for recording identical images of an ob ject on an electronic medium and on a photographic medium that overcomes the drawbacks of conventional devices It is a further object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object that is easy and accurate to use It is a still further object of the invention to provide a system for recording identical images of an object at an optimal point in time It is another object of th
22. me time Computer 20 then saves these next two video fields in memory as these particular paired fields serve as the interlaced video fields which will make up the complete video image to provide the desired identical electronic image corresponding to the photographic image Computer 20 then digitizes the image and analyzes the luminance in each of the two fields The luminance is balanced in each field so as to fur ther reduce the flicker inherent in a standard video image comprised of two interlaced pictures i e inter 5 389 984 9 laced fields Each field is scanned in about 1 60 of a second the two interlaced fields forming a standard video image taken in 1 30 of a second The strobe flash generated by strobes 82 and 86 generally occurs in one or two microseconds 1 1000 2 1000 seconds As field 1 is read in 1 60th of a second each adjacent interlaced line in field 2 inherently will be read 1 60th of a second later than its neighboring line in field 1 In ordinary moving video of dynamic scenes this poses no problem because the charge coupled device is being constantly refreshed by normal ambient lighting In conventional video photography of static scenes this 1 60th of a second has presented a problem as the two fields will have even greater differences in lumi nance owing to the leaking of the electric charge on the CCD Each adjacent interlaced line from the second field will be inherently darker as it has been
23. mount required to compensate for illumination of an object illuminated by said illuminating means from ambient light to illuminating light when said instructing means instructs said illuminating means to illuminate 5 389 984 13 14 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 7 wherein a means is provided for remembering the length of governing lag time determined by said determining means and for providing a remembered length of governing lag time to said causing means for use as the predetermined time 15 An apparatus for recording a video image which is identical to a photograph of a person comprising a a video camera for making a video image b a photographic camera having an openable shutter for exposing a piece of film for taking a photo graph C a computer operatively connected to said photo graphic camera and to said video camera for send ing a take signal to said photographic camera at a predetermined time before sending a take signal to Said video camera the predetermined time being equal to the length of time required to open the shutter and d whereby the photographic camera takes a photo graph which is identical to the video image re corded by the video camera because the photo graph camera opens its shutter and exposes a piece of film at the same time as the video camera makes a video image as instructed by their respective take signals from said computer 16 An apparatus as defined in c
24. mple temperature compensation would have greater impor tance Additional monitors can be provided for monitoring bearing wear relative humidity and wear of other parts of the electromechanical shutter Still further it is contemplated that the video came ra photography system may include software for gov erning the optimal time for taking a photograph recording a video image based on the speed of the photographic film the temperature of the photographic film and other physical factors Likewise nine or more proofs may be displayed on a video monitor at one time It is anticipated that no photosensitive elements are required as the system synchronizes the timing of the photographic and video elements so that these elements operate to capture identical images independent of the timing of the flash While this invention has been described as having a preferred design it is understood that it is capable of further modifications and uses and or adaptations of the invention and following in general the principle of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within the known or custom ary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the central features hereinbe fore set forth and fall within the scope of the invention or limits of the claims appended hereto We claim 1 A system for recording an image of an object on an electronic medium and on
25. ny video cameras have auto matic gain controls built into the circuitry but none responds quickly enough to the changing lighting con ditions of a strobe flash to be of any practical use Ac cordingly it has been suggested by those practicing 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 55 60 65 2 video capture that the studio photography system be set to capture the video image just before the high intensity strobes go off by using the modeling light This scheme results in a video image which is captured earlier in time than the photographic image hence necessarily the video image and the photographic image although similar are not identical U S Pat No 4 835 563 to Larish discloses a portrait studio system for simultaneously recording a color video image of the portrait subject as seen by a photo graphic camera That system includes a lens for direct ing image forming light from a portrait subject to both a photographic camera and a video camera A beam splitter directs part of the image forming light to the video camera while allowing part of the image forming light to expose a piece of photographic film When a portrait photograph is to be taken the operator de presses a push button on the camera whereby the cam era circuitry in cooperation with a microprocessor actuates flashlighting of the portrait subject opens the shutter of the camera and simultaneously records a video image of the portrait subject T
26. on relates to a system for recording an image of an object on an electronic medium and for recording an identical image of the object on a photo graphic medium BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Despite the availability of inexpensive photographic cameras which allow amateur photographers to take photographs there remains a demand for studio portrait photography Studio portrait photography is still popu lar because beautiful accurate portraits of individuals are best made under controlled lighting conditions with high quality professional photographic equipment Traditionally a portrait photographer took various poses of a subject developed the photographs at a later time and had the subject return for approval of proofs The proofs selected by the subject would then be reproduced in greater quantity and in different sizes as desired by the subject customer Needless to say this was a very time consuming process that required lots of effort Furthermore occasionally no proofs would be satisfactory to the customer or through some mishap no photographs would be suitable and another photo graphic posing session would have to be scheduled One hour development of photographic film is now commonplace thanks to automation It is possible therefore to provide a customer with proofs relatively quickly However the problem remains that there may be problems with the actual images of the customer on the photographic proofs Acco
27. oni 30 cally capturing an image of an object 3 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 1 wherein a said capturing means includes a means for govern ing the exposure of a photosensitive medium 4 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 3 wherein a said governing means comprises a shutter 5 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 1 wherein a means is provided for splitting an image of an ob ject for directing substantially identical views of the object to said recording means and to said cap turing means 6 A system for recording an image as defined in claim 1 further comprising a a viewing monitor operatively connected to said recording means for displaying at least one image of an object recorded by said recording means 7 A system for recording an image of an object on an 50 electronic medium and on a photographic medium comprising a means provided for recording an image of the object on an electronic medium b means provided for capturing an image of the 55 object on a photosensitive medium c means operatively associated with said capturing means for governing the exposure of a photosensi tive medium d said governing means having a first state in which 60 a photosensitive medium is prevented from being exposed and a second state in which a photosensi tive medium is able to be exposed means provided for controlling said recording means and said
28. rdingly prior studio photography systems have been developed that allow a photography subject to view such as on a television or video monitor a likeness similar to the photographic image captured on a film negative whereby a decision can be made whetber or not to develop a particular negative To facilitate posing photographers currently use various reference marks scribed or written directly on a ground glass viewfinder or on an acetate overlay placed on the ground glass Furthermore in conventional pho tography a photographer must manually or through servomotors move and adjust both the camera and the lens settings In conventional studio photography when a take occurs there is an intense strobe flash light for providing the best image of the subject to be photographed and videoed Conventionally the photographer or a camera mechanism physically adjusts the f stop of the video camera lens to compensate for the increased amount of light which will result from the strobe flash and then physically adjust the f stop after the take back to the appropriate setting for the less intense ambient studio modeling lights If the settings on the video camera were always set for the high intensity strobe flash the video images would be severely underexposed for the modeling light live image Conversely if the video camera gain were set for the ambient modeling lights the flash strobe lights would overexpose the captured image Consequently ma
29. rma tion to be downloaded and hence stored and displayed on video monitor 62 Computer 20 uses the lag time measured in the previ ous take for determining how much earlier to send the shutter open signal in this example sending the shutter open signal 650 lines prior to sending the flash request i e the time period corresponding to 650 lines Computer 20 likewise measures the actual time re quired in the present take so that a most recently deter mined camera shutter delay lag time is always being used In this manner variations in the length of time required for the shutter 40 to actually open owing to mechanical changes in shutter 40 such as wear of shut ter 40 and wear on moving parts thereof as well as dynamic changes such as changes in temperature and humidity which also affect the operation of shutter 49 are continuously accounted for Consequently an opti mum time for sending the shutter open signal is con stantly being updated The strobe firing signal is sent by computer 20 to Strobes 82 and 86 when shutter 40 is in its full open position Photographic video pickup 10 works well because from the perspective of computer 20 the time required for shutter 40 to open fully after the shutter open signal has been sent is relatively long yet the period of time is relatively fast for shutter 40 which is essentially a mechanical device The customer ID information is exposed on a portion of the photographic film at the sa
30. ross the country all at consistent focal lengths and heights for example A series of prepro grammed movements of photographic video camera combination 10 can be executed by appropriate pro gramming of computer 20 and by electromechanical control devices available to a person having ordinary skill in the art Appropriate f stop settings correspond ing to a preprogrammed movement can be likewise concurrently carried out Turning to FIG 2 a schematic video screen 130 on which a computer generated outline FIG 132 functions as a guideline for positioning an image 134 of a subject S to be photographed Such a computer generated image is useful in assisting a relatively unskilled portrait photographer to take high quality photographs of sub ject S FIG 3 shows an image 140 of the right side of the head of a subject S A computer generated outline 142 of a standardized head of a subject to be photographed serves as a guide by which the user photographer knows that the head of subject S is in a proper position for a right side profile view such as is commonly re quired for state driver s licenses and other official uses The extent of outline figure guide 142 also provides the user with a visual check on the positioning and size of the image of subject S that will be captured by photo graphic video pickup 10 A single image 150 of a subject S can be displayed on display monitor 70 as illustrated in FIG 4 A comput er generated mat
31. rson includes a video camera for making a video image and a photographic camera having an openable shutter for exposing a piece of film for taking a photograph A computer is operatively connected to the photographic camera and to the video camera for sending a take signal to the photographic camera at a predetermined time before sending a take signal to the video camera the predetermined time being equal to the length of time required to open the shutter Thus the photographic camera takes a photo graph which is identical to the video image recorded by the video camera because the photographic camera and the video camera respond to their respective take sig nals at the same time 19 Claims 3 Drawing Sheets Sheet 1 of 3 5 389 084 Feb 14 1995 U S Patent LES OZI LL INNO 9g zg S di ig Ov o O06 a d 9E s Al LH vs fie a hoe 904 ZOL OZ z B usinaoo SOL pOL LOL oz U S Patent Feb 14 1995 Sheet 2 of 3 5 389 084 134 FIG 2 1 130 140 FIG 3 142 130 FIG 4 U S Patent Feb 14 1995 Sheet 3 of 3 5 389 084 FIG 5 VERTICAL BLANKING PERIOD B LINES 242 5 262 5 SEND SHUTTER OPEN SIGNAL 650 LINES VARIES TO FLASH BEGIN SHUTTER OPEN SHUTTER FULL OPEN FIELD 1 DOWNLOAD F CASP STROBES SHUTTER FULLY CLOSED FIELD 2 DOWNLOAD TO REGISTERS 5 389 984 1 SYSTEM FOR RECORDING IDENTICAL ELECTRONIC AND PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The inventi
32. s held between a film deliv ery cartridge 32 and a film take up cartridge 34 photo graphic film 30 being the medium on which photo graphic images of a subject S are captured Photo graphic film 30 is advanced in the direction of arrow 36 and an image I i e image forming light reflected from subject S is recorded on photographic film 30 when a shutter 40 is in an open position A shutter open sensor 44 determines when shutter 40 is in its closed or opened positions respectively This photography portion of the photographic video camera combination 10 records image I after image I passes through a first optical lens L and then through a first beam splitter B4 A video portion of the photographic video pickup 10 includes a charge coupled device CCD 60 electrically connected to a video display 62 having controls 64 all of which are electrically connected to computer 20 Computer 20 is likewise operatively connected to a display monitor 70 A keypad or other input device 72 is operatively connected to display monitor 70 com puter 20 and hence photographic video camera com bination 10 and video monitor 62 Image I reaches charge coupled device 60 by way of first passing through first lens L1 being reflected off a beam splitter B1 passing through a second optical lens L2 being reflected off an optional mirror or second beam splitter B2 and finally passing through a third optical lens L3 The path of image forming light being re
33. tor 62 in order that strobes 82 and 86 do not overexpose captured image 106 when strobes 82 and 86 fire Concurrently computer 20 is generating the external synchronization of the scanning fields of the photogra phic video pickup 10 namely of the video camera portions thereof the timing sequence being schemati cally illustrated in FIG 5 After computer 20 has determined where in the tim ing sequence the video portion of photographic video pickup 10 the capture boards are a camera take signal is sent to the camera portion specifically to shutter 40 of photographic video pickup 10 The optimal time for sending the camera take signal is calculated by computer 20 determining at what point in the timing sequence the present time period is deter mining the point at which field 1 will download to the registers Le during a vertical blanking period B which is generally during lines 242 5 262 5 of respec tive fields 1 and 2 of the two scanning fields comprising the whole scanning pattern that is the video scanning frame Alternatively computer 20 can read where in the timing sequence of the scanning fields the video portion of the system is by receiving data from the internal synchronization signals generated by conven tional video equipment Computer 20 will have previ ously measured and stored the amount of lag time re 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 quired from the time the take signa
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