EP0336712A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Video switcher system with modular architecture
Assignee: Grass Valley Group Inc
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Filing: 1989-04-04
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2009-04-04
Abstract
Abstract Video signal processing apparatus comprises at least first and second source selectors (20A, 20B) each having a plurality of input terminals, for receiving a plurality of video signals respectively, and at least two output terminals. A set of video processors (24) each have an input terminal and an output terminal. A processor selector (26) is provided for connecting each source selector (20) output terminal selectively to each video processor (24) input terminal. First and second output devices (28A, 28B, 30A, 30B) each have a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors (24) respectively and also have an output terminal. Operator interfaces (22A, 22B) are connected to the processor selector (26) for defining a first subset of video processors (24) having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the first source selector (20A) and a second subset of video processors (24) having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the second source selector (20B). The operator interfaces (22A, 22B) are also connected to the first output device (30A) for selecting the output terminals of the first subset of video processors (24) and to the second output device (30B) for selecting the output terminals of the second subset of video processors (24).
Inventors
- 👤 Richard A. Jackson
- 👤 Peter D. Symes
- 👤 Richard S. Bannister
- 👤 Thomas A. Grancy
- 👤 Richard A. Frasier
- 👤 Ronnie D. Barnett
- 👤 Kevin D. Windrem
- 👤 John Abt
- 👤 James E. Blecksmith
- 👤 Neil R. Olmstead
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 13:28
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N5/00; H04N5/222; H04N5/262; H04N5/268
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
207 words
A video switcher system comprising: at least first and second source selectors each having a plurality of input terminals, for connection to a plurality of video signal sources respectively, and at least two output terminals, a set of video processors each having at least one input terminal and an output terminal, switch means for connecting each source selector output terminal selectively to each video processor input terminal, at least first and second output devices each having a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors respectively and also having an output terminal, and control means connected to the switch means for defining a first subset of video processors having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the first source selector and a second subset of video processors having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the second source selector, said control means also being connected to the first output device for selecting at least one output terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the first subset of video processors and to the second output device for selecting at least one output terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the second subset of video processors.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
207 words
A video switcher system comprising: at least first and second source selectors each having a plurality of input terminals, for connection to a plurality of video signal sources respectively, and at least two output terminals, a set of video processors each having at least one input terminal and an output terminal, switch means for connecting each source selector output terminal selectively to each video processor input terminal, at least first and second output devices each having a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors respectively and also having an output terminal, and control means connected to the switch means for defining a first subset of video processors having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the first source selector and a second subset of video processors having their input terminals connected to the output terminals of the second source selector, said control means also being connected to the first output device for selecting at least one output terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the first subset of video processors and to the second output device for selecting at least one output terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the second subset of video processors.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
58 words
A video switcher system according to claim 1, wherein each video processor has a single input terminal for receiving a single input video signal, and includes a circuit for limiting the video signal received by the processor in at least one of the amplitude domain and the spatial domain without transforming the video signal in the spatial domain.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
75 words
A video switcher system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second output devices each comprise video router means and a combiner, the control means being operative to cause the video router means of the first output device to select the output terminals of the first subset of video processors and to cause the video router means of the second output device to select the output terminals of the second subset of video processors.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
90 words
A video switcher system according to claim 3, comprising N video processors and wherein the combiner of the first output device has n input terminals, where N and n are positive integers greater than two and N is at least as great as n, and the video router means of the first output device comprise a primary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively and n output terminals connected to respective input terminals of the combiner of the first output device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
69 words
A video switcher system according to claim 4, wherein the video router means of the first output device further comprise a secondary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively, and at least one output terminal, and at least one input terminal of the first source selector is a re-entry input terminal connected to the output terminal of the secondary router.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
68 words
A video switcher system according to claim 1, wherein each video processor comprises a processing stage and a two-input combiner having a first input terminal connected to receive a video signal generated in the processing stage, a second input terminal, and an output terminal which constitutes the output terminal of the video processor and is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of another video processor.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
56 words
A video switcher system according to claim 6, comprising N video processors, where N is a positive integer greater than two, and the output terminal of the combiner of the ith video processor, where i is less than N, is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of the (i + 1)th video processor.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
35 words
A video switcher system according to claim 7, wherein the output terminal of the combiner of the Nth video processor is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of the first video processor.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
84 words
A video switcher system according to claim 6, wherein the first and second output devices comprise first and second video router means respectively, the control means being operative to cause the first video router means being operative to cause the first video router means to select the output terminal of the combiner of a video processor in the first subset and to cause the second video router means to select the output terminal of the combiner of a video processor in the second subset.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
261 words
A video switcher system comprising: source selector means having a plurality of input terminals, for connection to a plurality of video signal sources respectively, and a plurality of output terminals, a set of video processors each having at least one input terminal and an output terminal, the output terminals of the source selector means being connected to respective video processor input terminals, output router means having a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors respectively and also having at least first and second output terminals, and control means connected to the source selector means for selecting a first set of output terminals thereof, and thereby defining a first subset of video processors having input terminals connected to said first set of output terminals, and also selecting a second set of output terminals of the soruce selector means, and thereby defining a second subset of video processors having input terminals connected to said second set of output terminals, said control means also being connected to the output router means for selecting at least a first terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the first subset of video processors and causing the output router means to connect the first selected terminal to the first output terminal of the output router means, and for selecting at least a second terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the second subset of video processors and causing the output router means to connect the second selected terminal to the second output terminal of the output router means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
261 words
A video switcher system comprising: source selector means having a plurality of input terminals, for connection to a plurality of video signal sources respectively, and a plurality of output terminals, a set of video processors each having at least one input terminal and an output terminal, the output terminals of the source selector means being connected to respective video processor input terminals, output router means having a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors respectively and also having at least first and second output terminals, and control means connected to the source selector means for selecting a first set of output terminals thereof, and thereby defining a first subset of video processors having input terminals connected to said first set of output terminals, and also selecting a second set of output terminals of the soruce selector means, and thereby defining a second subset of video processors having input terminals connected to said second set of output terminals, said control means also being connected to the output router means for selecting at least a first terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the first subset of video processors and causing the output router means to connect the first selected terminal to the first output terminal of the output router means, and for selecting at least a second terminal from the group consisting of output terminals of the second subset of video processors and causing the output router means to connect the second selected terminal to the second output terminal of the output router means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
58 words
A video switcher system according to claim 10 wherein each video processor has a single input terminal for receiving a single input video signal, and includes a circuit for limiting the video signal received by the processor in at least one of the amplitude domain and the spatial domain without transforming the video signal in the spatial domain.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
64 words
A video switcher system according to claim 10, wherein the output router means comprise first and second video router means, the control means being operative to cause the first video router means to select the output terminals of the first subset of video processors and to cause the second video router means to select the output terminals of the second subset of video processors.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
51 words
A video switcher system according to claim 12, comprising N video processors, where N is a positive integer greater than two, and wherein the first video router means comprise a primary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively and an output terminal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
64 words
A video system according to claim 13, wherein the first video router means further comprise a secondary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively, and at least one output terminal, and at least one input terminal of the source selector means is a re-entry input terminal connected to the output terminal of the secondary router.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
68 words
A video switcher system according to claim 10, wherein each video processor comprises a processing stage and a two-input combiner having a first input terminal connected to receive a video signal generated in the processing stage, a second input terminal, and an output terminal which constitutes the output terminal of the video processor and is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of another video processor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
56 words
A video switcher system according to claim 15, comprising N video processors, where N is a positive integer greater than two, and the output terminal of the combiner of the ith video processor, where i is less than N, is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of the (i + 1)th video processor.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
32 words
A video switcher system according to claim 16, wherein the combiner of the the Nth video processor is connected to the second input terminal of the combiner of the first video processor.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
73 words
A video switcher system according to claim 15, wherein the output router means comprise first and second video router means respectively, the control means being operative to cause the first video router means to select the output terminal of the combiner of a video processor in the first subset and to cause the second video router means to select the output terminal of the combiner of a video processor in the second subset.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
60 words
A video switcher system according to claim 10, wherein the output router means comprise at least first and second output devices each having a plurality of input terminals connected to the output terminals of the video processors respectively and also having an output terminal, the output terminals of the output devices constituting the output terminals of the output router means.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
75 words
A video switcher system according to claim 19, wherein the first and second output devices each comprise video router means and a combiner, the control means being operative to cause the video router means of the first output device to select the output terminals of the first subset of video processors and to cause the video router means of the second output device to select the output terminals of the second subset of video processors.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
90 words
A video switcher system according to claim 20, comprising N video processors and wherein the combiner of the first output device has n input terminals, where N and n are positive integers greater than two and N is at least as great as n, and the video router means of the first output device comprise a primary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively and n output terminals connected to respective input terminals of the combiner of the first output device.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
68 words
A video switcher system according to claim 21, wherein the video router means of the first output device further comprise a secondary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively, and at least one output terminal, and at least one input terminal of the source selector means is a re-entry terminal connected to the output terminal of the secondary router.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
120 words
A video switcher system according to claim 10, comprising N video processors, where N is a positive integer greater than two, and wherein the output router means comprise a primary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively and at least first and second output terminals, constituting the output terminals of the output router means, and wherein the output router means further comprise a secondary router having N input terminals connected to the output terminals of the N video processors respectively, and at least one output terminal, and at least one input terminal of the source selector means is a re-entry input terminal connected to the output terminal of the secondary router.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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