Digital video panoramic image capture and display system

Abstract

A system performing capture and display of both still and real-time motion picture panoramic images comprised of 360 degrees in azimuth and .+-.180 degrees in declination for a virtual spherical field of view wherein image capture is achieved via a horizontally scanned vertical slit image passing through a fish-eye lens, mirrors, and prisms rotated under servo motion control onto a stationary line-scan sensor to build up a continuous two dimensional image. A host computer system monitors a position encoder on the optical head, sends motion commands to the servo controller, controls sampling rate and integration time for the line-scan sensor, and does image data processing, encoding, and storage. Additional mechanisms in the optical head permit optical and solid-state image magnification, selective field of view and sub-sampling of pixel data, optical horizon shifting, and streak and slit-scan camera effects. Image display is possible either through various methods of mapping the spherical image to a conventional flat display, or using the same optical head to project the image onto the interior of a spherical screen. Synchronous image scanning and projection from a single optical head is accommodated. Variations on the optical head includes options for stereoscopic imagery and miniaturized optics. Designs permitting both adaptive and interactive control of image capture and display are presented.

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