Video-photo frame size coordinator

Claim 1

A system comprising an x-ray image intensifier for converting an x-ray image to a corresponding optical image, a photographic camera arranged for recording the optical image on film, the area on the film on which said image is recorded being defined by the boundaries of a frame, a video camera arranged for simultaneously intercepting said optical image, said video camera being operative to convert said image to composite signals including vertical and horizontal sync pulses and video waveform signals, a raster scanned television monitor responsive to being supplied with said composite signals by displaying the image on its screen, and, the improvement for allowing an observer to determine if a region in the displayed image is within the boundaries of the frame, comprising: means that are selectively operable to generate. signals representative of at least portions of the boundaries of the frame, and means for supplying the generated signals to said television monitor concurrently with said composite signals for enabling said image and said frame boundaries to be displayed simultaneously on said screen with the frame boundaries superimposed on the image.

Claim 2

A system comprising an x-ray image intensifier for converting an x-ray image to a corresponding optical image, a photographic camera arranged for recording the optical image on film, the area on the film on which said image is recorded being defined by the boundaries of a frame, a video camera arranged for simultaneously intercepting said optical image, said video camera being operative to convert said image to composite signals including vertical and horizontal sync pulses and video waveform signals, a raster scanned television monitor responsive to being supplied with said composite signals by displaying the image on its screen, and, the improvement for allowing an observer to determine if a region in the displayed image is within the boundaries of the frame, comprising: means that are selectively operable to generate. signals representative of at least portions of the boundaries of the frame, and means for supplying the generated signals to said television monitor concurrently with said composite signals for enabling said image and said frame boundaries to be displayed simultaneously on said screen with the frame boundaries superimposed on the image.

Claim 4

A system comprising an x-ray image intensifier for converting an x-ray image to a corresponding optical image, a photographic camera arranged for recording the optical image on film, the area on the film on which said image is recorded being defined by the boundaries of a frame, a video camera arranged for simultaneously intercepting said optical image, said video camera being operative to convert said image to composite signals including vertical and horizontal sync pulses and video waveform signals, a raster scanned television monitor responsive to being supplied with said composite signals by displaying the image on its screen, and, the improvement for allowing an observer to determine if a region in the displayed image is within the boundaries of the frame, comprising: means for separating the vertical and horizontal sync pulses from the composite video signal, means operative to separate said sync pulses from each other an to output vertical and horizontal sync pulses, respectively, a first plurality of vertical sync pulse responsive timing means having input and output means, said timing means being responsive to simultaneous input of a vertical sync pulse by measuring first and second successive delay periods, each first delay period beginning upon occurrence of the vertical sync pulse and terminating later, and each second delay period beginning when the first one terminates and terminating later, the output means of each timing means changing from one signal level state to another state when said second delay period begins and changing back to said one state when said second delay period terminates, a second plurality of horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means having input and output means and being responsive to simultaneous input of horizontal sync pulses occurring coincident with vertical sync and in sequence after the vertical sync pulse by measuring first and second successive delay periods, each first delay period beginning upon occurrence of the respective horizontal sync pulses and terminating later, and each second delay period beginning when the first one terminates and terminating later, the output means of each timing means changing from one signal level state to another state when said second delay period begins and changing back to said one state when the second delay period terminates, four gate means each of which has at least two signal inputs and a signal output, any gate means output being in one signal state when both of its inputs are in the same state and being in another state when its inputs are not in the same state, one input of each gate means being coupled to an output means of one timing means in the first plurality of timing means and the other input being coupled to an output means of one cooperating timing means in the second plurality of timing means, respectively, said gate means outputs being connected to a common junction, such that when the inputs of any gate means become the same the output of that gate means and the junction will switch to the one output state corresponding to a write signal and thereby effect writing of parts of said frame outline on said screen, the first of said vertical sync pulse responsive timing means providing its first delay period for permitting said raster scan beam to move vertically from the top of the screen where it is when the vertical sync pulse occurs to the horizontal raster line on which the top line of said frame outline is to be written and then switching its output to said one state to provide one input to the first of said gate means to establish one condition for writing that persists for the duration of the second delay period to thereby establish the width dimension of the top line of the frame, the cooperating first horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means responding to the horizontal sync pulse corresponding to said top line providing its first delay period for permitting said beam to move from an edge of the screen to the point where writing the top line is to start and then switching its output to said one state to provide the other input to the first of gate means to establish the other conditions for writing for the duration of the second delay period, the second of said vertical sync pulse responsive timing means responding providing its first delay period for permitting said raster scan beam to move vertically to the horizontal raster line on which the bottom line of said frame outline is to be written and then switching its output to said one state to provide input to another of the gate means and establish one condition for writing that persists for the duration of its second delay period to thereby establish the width dimension of the bottom line of the frame, the cooperating second of said horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means responding to the horizintal sync pulse corresponding to the bottom line providing its first time delay for permitting said raster scan beam to move from an edge of the screen to the point where writing said bottom line is to start and then switching its output to said one state to provide the other input to the second gate means to establish the other condition for writing for the duration of the second delay period, the third and fourth vertical sync pulse responsive timing means cooperating respectively with the third and fourth horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means for writing the left and right vertically extending side frame lines on the screen, the outputs of both third timing means being coupled to the respective inputs of the third gate means and the outputs of both fourth timing means being coupled to the respective inputs of the fourth gate means, each of said third and fourth vertical sync pulse responsive timing means providing their first delay periods for permitting said raster scan beam to move to the horizontal raster line from which the left and right side vertical frame lines, respectively, should begin to be written and then each of the timing means switching its output to said one state to provide one input to each ot the third and fourth gate means, respectively, to establish one condition for writing for the durations of the second delay periods to thereby establish the vertical dimension of the side lines of the frame, the respective cooperating third and fourth horizontal sync pulse responsive means responding to horizontal sync pulses corresponding to successive horizontal raster lines by providing their first delay periods for permitting the raster scan beam to move to the successive .locations where a dot or segment for forming the left and right vertical side lines, respectively begin at which time the respective timing means switch their output means to said one state for to provide the other inputs to the respective third and fourth gate means to establish the other condition for writing successive dots or horizontal segments for the durations of the second delay periods.

Claim 5

A system comprising an x-ray image intensifier for converting an x-ray image to a corresponding optical image, a photographic camera arranged for recording the optical image on film, the area on the film on which said image is recorded being defined by the boundaries of a frame, a video camera arranged for simultaneously intercepting said optical image, said video camera being operative to convert said image to composite signals including vertical and horizontal sync pulses and video waveform signals, a raster scanned television monitor responsive to being supplied with said composite signals by displaying the image on its screen, and, the improvement for allowing an observer to determine if a region in the displayed image is within the boundaries of the frame, comprising: means for separating the vertical and horizontal sync pulses from the composite video signal, means operative to separate said sync pulses from each other an to output vertical and horizontal sync pulses, respectively, a first plurality of vertical sync pulse responsive timing means having input and output means, said timing means being responsive to simultaneous input of a vertical sync pulse by measuring first and second successive delay periods, each first delay period beginning upon occurrence of the vertical sync pulse and terminating later, and each second delay period beginning when the first one terminates and terminating later, the output means of each timing means changing from one signal level state to another state when said second delay period begins and changing back to said one state when said second delay period terminates, a second plurality of horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means having input and output means and being responsive to simultaneous input of horizontal sync pulses occurring coincident with vertical sync and in sequence after the vertical sync pulse by measuring first and second successive delay periods, each first delay period beginning upon occurrence of the respective horizontal sync pulses and terminating later, and each second delay period beginning when the first one terminates and terminating later, the output means of each timing means changing from one signal level state to another state when said second delay period begins and changing back to said one state when the second delay period terminates, four gate means each of which has at least two signal inputs and a signal output, any gate means output being in one signal state when both of its inputs are in the same state and being in another state when its inputs are not in the same state, one input of each gate means being coupled to an output means of one timing means in the first plurality of timing means and the other input being coupled to an output means of one cooperating timing means in the second plurality of timing means, respectively, said gate means outputs being connected to a common junction, such that when the inputs of any gate means become the same the output of that gate means and the junction will switch to the one output state corresponding to a write signal and thereby effect writing of parts of said frame outline on said screen, the first of said vertical sync pulse responsive timing means providing its first delay period for permitting said raster scan beam to move vertically from the top of the screen where it is when the vertical sync pulse occurs to the horizontal raster line on which the top line of said frame outline is to be written and then switching its output to said one state to provide one input to the first of said gate means to establish one condition for writing that persists for the duration of the second delay period to thereby establish the width dimension of the top line of the frame, the cooperating first horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means responding to the horizontal sync pulse corresponding to said top line providing its first delay period for permitting said beam to move from an edge of the screen to the point where writing the top line is to start and then switching its output to said one state to provide the other input to the first of gate means to establish the other conditions for writing for the duration of the second delay period, the second of said vertical sync pulse responsive timing means responding providing its first delay period for permitting said raster scan beam to move vertically to the horizontal raster line on which the bottom line of said frame outline is to be written and then switching its output to said one state to provide input to another of the gate means and establish one condition for writing that persists for the duration of its second delay period to thereby establish the width dimension of the bottom line of the frame, the cooperating second of said horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means responding to the horizintal sync pulse corresponding to the bottom line providing its first time delay for permitting said raster scan beam to move from an edge of the screen to the point where writing said bottom line is to start and then switching its output to said one state to provide the other input to the second gate means to establish the other condition for writing for the duration of the second delay period, the third and fourth vertical sync pulse responsive timing means cooperating respectively with the third and fourth horizontal sync pulse responsive timing means for writing the left and right vertically extending side frame lines on the screen, the outputs of both third timing means being coupled to the respective inputs of the third gate means and the outputs of both fourth timing means being coupled to the respective inputs of the fourth gate means, each of said third and fourth vertical sync pulse responsive timing means providing their first delay periods for permitting said raster scan beam to move to the horizontal raster line from which the left and right side vertical frame lines, respectively, should begin to be written and then each of the timing means switching its output to said one state to provide one input to each ot the third and fourth gate means, respectively, to establish one condition for writing for the durations of the second delay periods to thereby establish the vertical dimension of the side lines of the frame, the respective cooperating third and fourth horizontal sync pulse responsive means responding to horizontal sync pulses corresponding to successive horizontal raster lines by providing their first delay periods for permitting the raster scan beam to move to the successive .locations where a dot or segment for forming the left and right vertical side lines, respectively begin at which time the respective timing means switch their output means to said one state for to provide the other inputs to the respective third and fourth gate means to establish the other condition for writing successive dots or horizontal segments for the durations of the second delay periods.

Claim 8

A method of enabling an observer of a circular x-ray image being displayed on the raster scanned screen of a television monitor to identify the area of the displayed x-ray image which will be within the boundaries of the film frame of a camera that is arranged for simultaneously recording the image on film, comprising the steps of: generating signals corresponding to the vertical positions and widths of lines that define the top and bottom boundaries of the frame and signals corresponding to the length and locations of the vertical lines that define the left and right boundaries of the frame, and adding said signals to the composite video signals that cause said monitor to display said image to thereby enable said frame boundaries to be written on the screen concurrently with the image.

Claim 9

A method of enabling an observer of a circular x-ray image being displayed on the raster scanned screen of a television monitor to identify the area of the displayed x-ray image which will be within the boundaries of the film frame of a camera that is arranged for simultaneously recording the image on film, comprising the steps of: generating signals corresponding to the vertical positions and widths of lines that define the top and bottom boundaries of the frame and signals corresponding to the length and locations of the vertical lines that define the left and right boundaries of the frame, and adding said signals to the composite video signals that cause said monitor to display said image to thereby enable said frame boundaries to be written on the screen concurrently with the image.