Method and system to scan motion picture film to develop television signals

Method of scanning motion picture film (1) to derive television signals, in which the images on the film are anamorphically distorted, comprising the steps of

• continuously scanning a film frame, sequentially, line by line and deriving scanned signals, including the step of scanning the line at half standard television line frequency;
• storing data represented by scanned signals in a memory (16);
• reading-out the data stored in the memory in accordance with television scanning standards;
• assigning the lines being scanned individual line addresses which are representative of the position of the scanned line in the film frame, said storing step including storing the signals in the memory, line by line, at said assigned line addresses, in which the step of assigning the addresses to the signals to be stored comprises storing said signals at the addresses normally assigned to signals derived upon scanning of undistorted film.

Method of scanning motion picture film (1) to derive television signal comprising the steps of

• continuously scanning of film frame, sequentially, line by line and deriving scanned signals;
• storing data represented by scanned signals in a memory (16);
• reading-out the data stored in the memory in accordance with television scanning standards;
• assigning the lines being scanned individual line addresses which are representative of the position of the scanned line in the film frame, said storing step including storing the signals in the memory, line by line, at said assigned line addresses, and wherein the step of assigning addresses to the signals comprises adding a predetermined address number corresponding to half the number of lines of a standard television frame to alternate lines being scanned and to provide for storage of said alternate lines at memory locations remote from the adjacent line and interlace of alternate lines upon sequential read-out of the memory location.

Method of scanning motion picture film (1) to derive television signals, comprising the steps of

• continuously scanning a film frame, sequentially, line by line, and deriving scanned signals, said scanning step comprising scanning the respective film frame at the frequency which is, selectively, less or higher than standard television repetition frequency, to permit reproduction of slow motion, or speeded-up motion respectively;
• storing data represented by said scanned signals in a memory (16);
• reading-out the data stored in the memory in accordance with television scanning standards;
• assigning the lines being scanned individual line addresses which are representative of the position of the scanned line in the film frame, said storing step including storing the signals in the memory, line by line, at said assigned line addresses,
• the step of assigning line addresses to the signals to be stored in the memory comprising assigning the signals of any one line being scanned that address in the memory which is next available at the beginning of scanning the respective line.

System of scanning motion picture film (1) to derive television signals comprising

• a film window (5);
• controlled drive means (6, 9, 33, 34) continuously moving the film past the film window;
• scanning clock means (19) providing a scanning control clock pulse train;
• scanning transducing means (12, 13, 19) connected to and controlled by said scanning clock means scanning sequential incremental areas, sequentially line by line, on the film as the film is being moved across the window, and furnishing a sequence of image signals representative of the image content of said incremental areas;
• an addressable memory (16) connected to said scanning transducing means and storing the image signals at predetermined address locations;
• read-out means (17) connected to said storage means and reading out the image signals stored in the memory, the read-out means being controlled to sequentially address said predetermined address locations in accordance with television scanning standards;
• a memory address control means (31) controlling the storage of said image signals at said predetermined address locations;
• and means (22, 23, 25, 32) to associate the line being scanned by said transducing means with the address of the memory in which the image signals will be stored comprising
• film frame transducing means (22) coupled to the film and providing frame signals representative of a regularly recurring predetermined location with respect to each film frame, and
• line position transducing means (23) providing line signals representative of the position of the film with respect to the regularly recurring predetermined location, said line signals and said frame signals being connected to and controlling said memory address control means (31) to furnish said predetermined address locations as determined by the position of the film with respect to said recurring location;
• and
• wherein the scanning clock means (19) comprises a controlled oscillator (40), at least one frequency divider (41, 42) at least one phase comparator (44, 47) and program control means (P;
• 43) controlling the division ratio of said at least one divider (41), the phase comparator having television synchronizing signals applied thereto;
• the controlled oscillator, said at least one divider, and phase comparator being connected into a closed phase-locked loop and providing signals synchronized with said television synchronizing signals at a rate controlled by program control means (P;
• 43).