Interactive video production system

Abstract

An improved interactive image processing system (200,300) is provided which is capable of simultaneous processing of at least two different digitized composite color images to provide a displayable resultant composite color image. Each of the digitized composite color images have separate digitized red, blue and green image components and have an associated image information content. The system (200,300) includes separate image storage planes (246,346,70',72',74',70",72",74",70"',72'", 74"',370,372,374,370',372',374',370",372",374) for retrievably storing each of the digitized red, blue and green image components or other image data as well as graphic planes (78',378) for storing graphic control data for processing of the images. The digital image processing of the image components is accomplished in a digital image processing portion (208,308) which includes an image processor (210,310) which contains the various storage planes in a refresh memory (246,346) which cooperates with a pipeline processor configuration (86'), image combine circuitry (270,272,274,270',272',274') and other control circuitry to enable the simultaneous processing between each of the corresponding image planes on a pixel by pixel basis under interactive control of a keyboard (50'), data tablet (54') or other interactive device. The system may be employed for interactive video processing (200) or as an interactive film printing system (300) in which the simultaneous processing of the two different images, which may be iterative, can be monitored in real time on a television monitor (44',315). In the video system (200), the combining format of the image planes may be interactively varied on a pixel-by-pixel basis by creating different digital control masks for each pixel which are stored in refresh memory (246,346). In either system (200,300), the interactive simultaneous digital processing of the images is accomplished in an RGB format.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.