Video tracking and display system

A bowling ball tracking and display device for displaying an image of a bowling ball at predetermined positions along a bowling lane, comprising:

• an image sensor for generating video signals of the bowling lane and for generating video signals of the bowling lane including the bowling ball moving therethrough, said video signals being generated over a plurality of frames;
• first memory means for storing video signals of at least one of said plurality of frames from the bowling lane;
• second memory means for storing video signals of said plurality of frames from the bowling lane including the bowling ball moving therethrough;
• means for comparing on a frame-by-frame basis said video signals stored in said first memory means with said video signals stored in said second memory means to thereby determine the presence of the bowling ball in each of said plurality of frames;
• and
• means for displaying the location of the bowling ball in each of said plurality of frames.

A bowling ball tracking and display device for capturing an image of the motion of a bowling ball moving over a bowling lane and for displaying an image of the bowling ball at predetermined positions, comprising:

• an image sensor for generating video signals for the bowling lane and for generating video signals of the bowling lane with the bowling ball moving therethrough, said video signals being generated over a plurality of frames;
• memory means for storing said video signals of said plurality of frames;
• means for comparing on a frame-by-frame basis said video signals stored in said memory means to thereby determine the presence of the bowling ball in each of said plurality of frames;
• and
• means for displaying the location of the bowling ball in each of said plurality of frames on a stored image of a bowling lane.

An image processing system for capturing an image of an object, comprising:

• an image sensor for generating analog video signals of the object;
• analog-to-digital converter means for converting said analog video signals to digital signals;
• means interconnected to said converter means for generating reference voltages;
• and
• means for dynamically adjusting said reference voltages to set, at the beginning for an entire period of use of said image processing system, optimum black and white levels used during the analog-to-digital conversion of said analog video signals, whereby said analog-to-digital converter converts said generated analog video signals into digital data, and modifies said data, if required, so that it is within said optimum white and black levels.

A method for dynamically adjusting an analog-to-digital converter to compensate for changes in the signal levels of an image sensor comprising the steps of:

• generating analog video signals from the image sensor;
• converting the analog signals to digital signals;
• generating reference voltages;
• applying the reference voltages to the analog-to-digital converter;
• and
• dynamically adjusting the reference voltages to set, at the beginning for an entire period of use of said image processing system, optimum black and white levels used during the analog-to-digital conversion of said analog video signals, whereby said analog-to-digital converter converts the generated analog video signals into digital data, and modifies said data, if required, so that it is within said optimum white and black levels.

A method for displaying the trajectory of an object moving through an otherwise substantially static scene, comprising the steps of:

• capturing the image of the static scene over a plurality of frames;
• capturing the image of the static scene including the moving object over a plurality of frames corresponding to the plurality of frames of the static scene;
• storing an image of a reference frame of the plurality of frames of the static scene;
• storing an image of the object moving through each of the plurality of frames;
• comparing the image of the object moving through each of the plurality of frames with the corresponding image of the reference frame;
• detecting the presence of the object in each of the plurality of frames;
• determining the location of the object within each of the plurality of frames based upon the comparison of the object moving through each of the plurality of frames and the corresponding image of the reference frame;
• and
• displaying the location of the object within each of the plurality of frames on a representation of the static scene.