US 4,791,489 AGranted

General purpose video special effects system and method therefor

OwnerMichael Polatnickinventor

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Abstract

A general purpose video special effects system and method is provided which utilizes at least one video rate RAM which has stored in it pre-computed data which is stored at addresses determined by all possible values of the video inputs to be utilized. Each special effect has a pre-computation which is accomplished by a threaded interpretive code technique operating on a parameter stack to facilitate the speed of computation. By the use of more than one video rate RAM, the effect may be changed on a line-by-line basis or even faster. Special effects are stored using a "composition of functions" technique that allows the same special effect to be pre-computed for changing bit widths or positions of input and output channels. Special effects can be built by using or combining functions provided. New functions can be defined by the operator by composition of standard or previously created functions.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A general purpose video special effects system and method using random access memory (RAM) means in combination with one or more input sources, at least one being a video source, and with at least one video output destination comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of processing modules each having a predetermined function;
connecting said modules in accordance with said associated functions to provide a composition of functions which determines said special effects;
specifying connections representing signal flow between said input source and said processing modules and said output destination and said processing modules;
pre-computing said special effects for substantially all possible values of permutations of said input sources;
storing said pre-computations in said RAM means at addresses determined by said values of said input sources;
and
allowing said input sources to drive the address inputs of said RAM and read out said stored pre-computation contents of said RAM, in real time, to said video output destination.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.