Method and system for displaying an instant image of the finish of a race from a temporal image of the photo finish type

A system (40) for displaying an instant image (20, 30) of a finish of a race, particularly of a sports discipline, from a temporal image of a photo finish type (10) of the same finish, the system being characterized in that it includes:

• a first camera (44) configured to acquire, at a first predetermined frequency, a first series of one-spatial-dimensional instant images of the finish line (19) of a race, the spatial dimension being directed along the finish line;
• a second camera (45) configured to simultaneously acquire a second series of two-spatial-dimensional instant images of the same finish line (19) at a second predetermined frequency, the first spatial dimension being directed along the finish line (19) and the second spatial dimension being directed in the direction of the race,
• a controller (42) configured to form a temporal image (10) of the photo finish type from the first series of instant images, the images being juxtaposed in the order of acquisition, such that the abscissa of the temporal image represents a temporal dimension, each point of the abscissa (11) corresponding to a given instant at the finish line (19), the controller (42) also being configured to analyse, based on choosing an instant (15, 22) of the temporal image that is formed from the first series of instant images, a two-spatial-dimensional image (20, 30) of the second series, from which the temporal image (10) has not been formed and that is correlated with the chosen instant (15, 22) of the temporal image that is formed from the first series of instant images, to determine at least one distance,
• a display (43) configured to display the analysed two-dimensional image (20, 30) with the determined at least one distance (21, 23, 24),
• wherein the controller (42) is further configured to allow a user to choose on the temporal image (10) the at least one distance (21, 23, 24) to be determined, while the temporal image (10) is displayed, and determine the at least one distance (21, 23, 24) with respect to the two-spatial-dimensional image (20, 30) of the second series based on the at least one distance (21, 23, 24) chosen by the user on the temporal image (10).