Redundant storage device for image data in an image recording system

Abstract

The systems, methods, and devices disclosed herein can store a first copy of digital image data associated with an image, e.g., a scene. These systems, methods, and devices can store the first copy of the digital image data as unprocessed digital image data in a raw image format that includes color information for each pixel of the image. In many cases, not all available system resources, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, are utilized by these systems, methods, and devices to store the first copy of the digital image data. Some of the excess system resources can be utilized to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the raw image format and / or an image file format.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] (CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS) This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 18 / 335,655, filed June 15, 2023, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 434,310, filed December 21, 2022, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

[0002] Most modern digital cameras acquire images using a single image sensor overlaid with a color mask, such as a Bayer filter mosaic, that absorbs undesired color wavelengths so that each pixel of the single image sensor is sensitive to a specific color wavelength. The color mask is a mosaic of small color filters placed across the pixel sensors of the single image sensor to capture color information, such as the red, green, and / or blue color components of the red, green, and blue (RGB) color model, to name a few. In many cases, modern digital cameras read digital image data in a raw image format from the single image sensor row by row, i.e., one line at a time. However, the displays of these modern digital cameras cannot display the digital image data in the raw image format. Therefore, modern digital cameras reconstruct and store full-color images from the digital image data in the raw image format. However, this reconstruction inevitably results in a loss of information stored in the raw image format. For example, the image quality of the JPEG file format is less than that of the Raw image format because the JPEG file format accommodates only 256 color shades compared to the Raw image format's 4,096 to 65,535 color shades. Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0003] (overview)

[0004] The systems, methods, and devices disclosed herein can store a first copy of digital image data associated with an image, e.g., a scene. These systems, methods, and devices can store the first copy of the digital image data as unprocessed digital image data in a raw image format that includes color information for each pixel of the image. In many cases, these systems, methods, and devices do not utilize all available system resources, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, to store the first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, a portion of the excess system resources can be utilized by these systems, methods, and devices to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the raw image format and / or an image file format. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0005] The present disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

[0006] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image capture system, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0007] [Figure 2] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example operation of an example image recording system that may be implemented within an example image capture system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0008] [Figure 3]FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an example image recording system that may be implemented within an example image capture system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0009] [Figure 4] FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of an example venue, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0010] [Figure 5] FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an example computer system that may be implemented within an example image capture system and / or an example image projection system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] (Detailed explanation) The following disclosure provides many different embodiments or examples for implementing different features of the provided subject matter. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the disclosure. These, of course, are examples only and are not intended to be limiting. Aspects of the disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures. The disclosure may repeat reference numerals and / or letters in the various examples. This repetition does not, in itself, dictate a relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations discussed. It should be noted that, in accordance with standard practice in the industry, features have not been drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for clarity of discussion.

[0013] Exemplary Image Capture System for Capturing Images

[0014] 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image capture system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As described in further detail below, image capture system 100 can store a first copy of digital image data associated with an image, e.g., a scene, captured by image capture system 100. In some embodiments, image capture system 100 can store the first copy of the digital image data as unprocessed digital image data in a raw image format that includes color information for each pixel of the image, e.g., luminance and / or chrominance color components of the YUV color model and / or red, green, and / or blue color components of the red, green, and blue (RGB) color model, to name a few. As described in further detail below, not all of the available system resources of image capture system 100, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, are utilized by image capture system 100 to store the first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, a portion of the excess system resources can be utilized by image capture system 100 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in raw image format and / or image file format, as described in further detail below. As illustrated in FIG. 1, image capture system 100 can include a camera system 102 having a camera lens system 104 and a camera housing 106, which can be communicatively coupled to an image recording system 108 via a communications network 110. Although image capture system 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as including multiple discrete devices, those skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of these devices can be combined without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.For example, camera system 102 may include camera lens system 104, camera housing 106, and / or image recording system 108 as a single discrete device without communication network 110, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0015] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , camera lens system 104 projects an image within its field of view, e.g., light associated with a scene, onto image sensor 112 of camera housing 106, which will be described in further detail below. In some embodiments, camera lens system 104 can focus, e.g., converge, the captured light onto image sensor 112. For example, camera lens system 104 can focus, e.g., light reflected from one or more physical objects in a scene, onto image sensor 112. In some embodiments, camera lens system 104 can include a simple single lens. However, more complex compound lenses, such as doublet lenses, triplet lenses, and / or achromatic lenses, are also possible, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In these embodiments, the single lens and / or compound lens can be implemented using, by way of example, glass, crystal, and / or plastic, such as acrylic. In some embodiments, the compound lenses can be configured and arranged to form ultra-wide angle lenses, such as, to name a few, fisheye lenses that produce strong visual distortion intended to create a hemispherical image, and / or rectilinear lenses with little or no barrel or pincushion distortion, resulting in an image in which straight features, such as the edges of building walls, appear straight as opposed to curved as in a fisheye lens.

[0016] The camera housing 106 captures light focused by the camera lens system 104 onto the image sensor 112 and provides digital image data associated with the image. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the camera housing 106 can include the image sensor 112 and a processor 114. Generally, the image sensor 112 converts the light, i.e., photons, focused by the camera lens system 104 onto the image sensor 112 into an electrical signal. In some embodiments, the image sensor 112 can convert the electrical signal from a representation in the analog signal domain to a representation in the digital signal domain and provide digital image data to be stored by the image recording system 108, as described in further detail below. In some embodiments, the image sensor 112 can include small photographic elements, also referred to as pixels, which can include photosensitive elements, microlenses, and / or microelectrical components. In some embodiments, the pixels can be organized and arranged as a series of rows and a series of columns to form an array of pixels, e.g., a square array of pixels. In these embodiments, image sensor 112 may include 18,000 rows of pixels and 18,000 columns of pixels, forming a square array of 18,000 by 18,000 pixels. In some embodiments, image sensor 112 may be implemented as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or active pixel sensor, which may be fabricated in complementary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) and / or n-type metal-oxide-silicon (NMOS) technology. In some embodiments, image sensor 112 may be implemented as a color sensor that includes a color mask, such as a Bayer filter mosaic that absorbs undesired color wavelengths, such that each pixel of image sensor 112 is sensitive to a specific color wavelength, and / or a monochrome sensor without a color mask, such that each pixel of image sensor 112 is sensitive to all visible light wavelengths.In these embodiments, the digital image data may include color information for each pixel of the image sensor 112, such as the luminance and / or chrominance color components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model, to name a few.

[0017] The processor 114 can provide the digital image data developed by the image sensor 112 to the image recording system 108. In some embodiments, the processor 114 can read the digital image data from the image sensor 112 row-by-row, i.e., line-by-line, and / or column-by-column, i.e., column-by-column, in the raw image format. In these embodiments, the processor 114 can simultaneously read multiple rows and / or multiple columns of the digital image data in the raw image format. In some embodiments, the processor 114 can insert row and / or column markers into the digital image data in the raw image format. In these embodiments, the row and / or column markers can be used to correlate the digital image data in the raw image format with the image projected onto the image sensor 112. In some embodiments, the processor 114 can provide the digital image data to the image recording system 108 in the raw image format. In these embodiments, the raw image format includes color information of the image as read from the image sensor 112. Because there are many different designers and manufacturers of camera systems and / or image sensors, there are many different types of raw image formats. Some of the more common raw image formats include Digital Negative Image (.DNI), Canon Raw 2 Image File (.CR2), Nikon Electronic Format RAW Image (.NEF), and Sony Alpha Raw Digital Camera Image (.ARW), to name a few. In some embodiments, raw image formats can be used by camera system 102 to provide high-quality images that can accommodate a wide range of color depths, e.g., from 4,096 to 65,535 colors, and a wide dynamic range from shadows to highlights. In some embodiments, processor 114 can format the digital image data for transmission to image recording system 108 via communications network 110.

[0018] In some embodiments, processor 114 can reconstruct an image from the digital image data in an image file format and then provide the image to image recording system 108. In these embodiments, the image file format can include the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image file format, the Exchangeable Image File Format (EXIF), the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), the Bitmap Image File (BMP) format, or the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) image file format, to name a few. In these embodiments, processor 114 can implement one or more digital image processing techniques, also referred to as digital photographic processing techniques, to process the digital image data developed by image sensor 112 and reconstruct an image from the digital image data. In some embodiments, the one or more digital image processing techniques may include decoding, demosaicing, bad pixel removal, white balance, noise reduction, color conversion, tone reproduction, compression, systematic noise removal, dark frame subtraction, optical correction, contrast manipulation, unsharp masking, and / or any other suitable well-known digital image processing techniques that would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, processor 114 may format the digital image data and / or images for transmission to image recording system 108 via communications network 110. In some embodiments, processor 114 may compress the digital image data and / or images using, for example, lossless compression techniques, e.g., Lempel-Ziv-based lossless compression techniques, and / or lossy compression techniques, e.g., discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based lossy compression techniques. In some embodiments, processor 114 may include or be coupled to an electrical-to-optical converter to convert the digital image data from an electrical signal to an optical signal for transmission over an optical fiber network.

[0019] The image recording system 108 can receive digital image data in a raw image format and / or an image reconstructed from the digital image data in an image file format provided by the camera system 102. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can include, or be coupled to, an electrical-to-optical converter to convert the digital image data from an optical signal to an electrical signal. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can store a first copy of the digital image data in the raw image format as unprocessed digital image data. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can include one or more machine-readable media, which can include one or more mechanisms for storing, i.e., writing, the digital image data in a form readable by one or more electrical, mechanical, and / or electromechanical devices. In these embodiments, the one or more machine-readable media can include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and / or others, to name a few. Alternatively, or in addition, the one or more machine-readable media may include a hard disk drive, e.g., a solid-state drive, a floppy disk drive and associated removable media, a CD-ROM drive, an optical drive, a flash memory, and / or a removable media cartridge. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 may stripe the first copy of the digital image data across multiple machine-readable media. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 may interleave image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data across the multiple machine-readable media in a round-robin manner. Typically, the round-robin method cycles through the multiple machine-readable media sequentially, one after the other. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the round-robin method may cycle through the multiple machine-readable media in any suitable order without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.In these embodiments, the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data may be associated with different sections of the image, e.g., an upper section of the image, a middle section of the image, and / or a lower section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model. In some embodiments, the different sections of the image may be associated with different sections of a media surface of a venue, such as a music venue, e.g., a music theater, music club, and / or concert hall, a sports venue, e.g., an arena, convention center, and / or stadium, and / or any other suitable venue as would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.

[0020] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the image recording system 108 can estimate system resources of the image capture system 100, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, utilized by the image recording system 108 to store a first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, not all of the system resources are utilized by the image recording system 108 to store the first copy of the digital image data. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can estimate excess system resources, such as excess CPU resources, excess memory resources, excess system bandwidth, and / or excess power, to name a few, that are not being used by the image recording system 108 to store the first copy of the digital image data. As described in more detail below, the image recording system 108 can utilize the excess system resources by storing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in a raw image format and / or as processed digital image data in an image file format. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can reconstruct an image from the digital image data in an image file format. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 may implement one or more digital image processing techniques, also referred to as digital photographic processing techniques, to process the digital image data developed by the image sensor 112 and to reconstruct an image from the digital image data. In some embodiments, the one or more digital image processing techniques may include decoding, demosaicing, bad pixel removal, white balance, noise reduction, color conversion, tone reproduction, compression, systematic noise removal, dark frame subtraction, optical correction, contrast manipulation, unsharp masking, and / or any other suitable well-known digital image processing techniques that would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0021] After estimating the excess system resources, the image recording system 108 can store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data to utilize the excess system resources. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can stripe the second copies of at least a portion of the digital image data across multiple machine-readable media. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can interleave image data slices of the second copies of at least a portion of the digital image data in a round-robin manner across the multiple machine-readable media. In these embodiments, the image data slices of the second copies of at least a portion of the digital image data can be associated with different sections of the image, e.g., an upper section of the image, a middle section of the image, and / or a lower section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model.

[0022] In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can use excess system resources to evaluate the digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored as a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can intelligently determine the most important digital image data based on, for example, the relative distribution of foreground objects within the image, information related to areas of the image that will be viewed by an audience, and / or sections of the image that have more complexity, movement, or detail compared to other sections of the image. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can analyze the digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data and estimate the energy within different areas of the digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can effectively evaluate different areas of the digital image data and / or images from higher energy areas to lower energy areas. In these embodiments, these higher energy areas to lower energy areas can be determined based on compression efficiency. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can intelligently determine these higher energy areas as the most important digital image data. Alternatively, or in addition, the image recording system 108 may access a list of objects of interest describing various objects that have been predetermined to be the most important digital image data. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 may scan the digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data for objects of interest in the list of objects of interest, implementing object detection, e.g., any suitable well-known neural network-based or non-neural approach, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure.Alternatively, or in addition, image recording system 108 may assess excess system resources and use the excess system resources to intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored as a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In these embodiments, the excess system resources may include excess memory resources, such as storage space within image recording system 108 after the first copy of the digital image data has been stored in raw image format, and / or excess bandwidth available within image recording system 108 for storing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data.

[0023] In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can compress at least a portion of the digital image data to improve utilization of excess system resources. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 can compress at least a portion of the first copy of the digital image data such that the image recording system 108 uses fewer system resources, such as CPU resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, for storing the first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, the image recording system 108 can compress at least a portion of the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data such that the image recording system 108 uses fewer system resources, such as CPU resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, for storing the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In these embodiments, compressing the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data allows the image recording system 108 to store more digital image data. In these embodiments, the image recording system 108 may compress portions of the digital image data in raw image format and / or image file format using, for example, lossless compression techniques, e.g., Lempel-Ziv based lossless compression techniques, and / or lossy compression techniques, e.g., discrete cosine transform (DCT) based lossy compression techniques.

[0024] The communications network 110 communicatively couples the camera system 102 and the image recording system 108. The communications network 110 can be implemented as a wireless communications network, a wired communications network, and / or any combination thereof, as would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the communications network 110 can include a fiber optic network or a coaxial network that uses fiber optic or coaxial cable to deliver images from the camera enclosure 106 to the image recording system 108. In some embodiments, the communications network 110 can include a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network that combines fiber optic and coaxial cable to deliver images from the camera enclosure 106 to the image recording system 108.

[0025] Exemplary Image Recording Systems That May Be Implemented Within Exemplary Image Capture Systems

[0026] 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example operation of an example image recording system that may be implemented in an example image capture system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The present disclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The following discussion describes an example operational control flow 200 for storing digital image data, such as the digital image data described in FIG. 1 above. The operational control flow 200 can be executed by one or more computer systems, such as, for example, the image recording system 108 described in FIG. 1 above.

[0027] In operation 202, operation control flow 200 stores a first copy of the digital image data in a highest quality format, such as the raw image format described in FIG. 1 above. In some embodiments, the highest quality format may be characterized as having higher sharpness, lower noise, higher dynamic range, higher tonal reproduction, higher contrast, higher color accuracy, higher distortion, and / or higher artifacts compared to lower quality formats, as described in further detail below. In some embodiments, operation control flow 200 can stripe the first copy of the digital image data across multiple machine-readable media. In these embodiments, operation control flow 200 can interleave image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data in a round-robin manner across the multiple machine-readable media. In these embodiments, the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data can include components of color information for different sections of the image that can be reconstructed from the digital image data, e.g., red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model.

[0028] At operation 204, operational control flow 200 may estimate excess system resources, such as excess CPU resources, excess memory resources, excess system bandwidth, and / or excess power, to name a few, that are not being used by operational control flow 200 to store the first copy of the digital image data in the highest quality format from operation 202. Also, as described above, not all of the available system resources of one or more computer systems, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, are utilized by operational control flow 200 to store the first copy of the digital image data. Thus, operational control flow 200 may utilize excess system resources by storing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data from operation 204 in the highest quality format from operation 202 and / or in a lower quality format, as described in further detail below at operation 208.

[0029] In operation 206, the excess system resources from operation 204 are sufficient to store a second copy of the digital image data from operation 202 in the highest quality format from operation 202. Thus, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to store a second copy of the digital image data from operation 202 in the highest quality format from operation 202.

[0030] At operation 208, the excess system resources from operation 204 are sufficient to store a second copy of the digital image data from operation 202 in a lower quality format. Thus, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to store the second copy of the digital image data from operation 202 in a lower quality format, such as the image file format described in FIG. 1 above, that has lower image quality compared to the highest quality format from operation 202 when the excess system resources from operation 204 were sufficient. In some embodiments, the lower quality format may be characterized as having lower sharpness, higher noise, lower dynamic range, lower tonal reproduction, lower contrast, lower color accuracy, lower distortion, and / or fewer artifacts compared to the highest quality format from operation 202.

[0031] In operation 210, the excess system resources from operation 204 are sufficient to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data from operation 202 in the highest quality format from operation 202. Thus, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data from operation 202 in the highest quality format from operation 202. In some embodiments, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to evaluate the digital image data from operation 202 to intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored in a manner substantially similar to that described in FIG. 1 above.

[0032] In operation 212, the excess system resources from operation 204 are sufficient to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data from operation 202 in the lower image quality format from operation 208. Thus, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data from operation 202 in the lower image quality format from operation 208. In some embodiments, operation control flow 200 can utilize the excess system resources from operation 204 to evaluate the digital image data from operation 202 and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored in a manner substantially similar to that described in FIG. 1 above.

[0033] FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an exemplary image recording system that may be implemented within an exemplary image capture system according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As described in further detail below, the image recording system 300 may receive digital image data associated with an image, e.g., a scene, from a camera system, such as camera system 102 as described in FIG. 1 above. As described in further detail below, the image recording system 300 may store the digital image data. In some embodiments, the image recording system 300 may store a first copy of the digital image data as unprocessed digital image data in a raw image format, including, to name a few, the color information of the image, e.g., the luminance and / or chrominance color components of the YUV color model and / or the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model. As described in further detail below, not all of the available system resources of the image recording system 300, such as central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, and / or power, to name a few, may be utilized by the image recording system 300 to store the first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, a portion of the excess system resources may be utilized by image recording system 300 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in raw image format and / or image file format, as described in further detail below. As illustrated in Figure 3, image recording system 300 may include a controller 302, a memory switch 304, and a memory storage device 306. Image recording system 300 may represent an exemplary embodiment of image recording system 108 as described in Figure 1 above.

[0034] The controller 302 controls the overall configuration and / or operation of the image recording system 300 in storing digital image data. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the controller 302 receives the digital image data in raw image format from a camera system, such as the camera system 102 described in FIG. 1 above. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can include or be coupled to an electrical-to-optical converter to convert the digital image data from an optical signal to an electrical signal. After receiving the digital image data, the controller 302 provides a first copy of the digital image data in raw format to the memory switch 304 to be routed to the memory storage device 306 for storage. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to stripe the first copy of the digital image data across the memory modules 308.1-308.n of the memory storage device 306, which will be described in more detail below. In these embodiments, controller 302 can cause memory switch 304 to interleave image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data in a round-robin manner across memory modules 308.1-308.n. In some embodiments, controller 302 can segment the first copy of the digital image data into image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data to be interleaved across memory modules 308.1-308.n. In these embodiments, the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data can be associated with different sections of the image, e.g., an upper section of the image, a middle section of the image, and / or a lower section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model.For example, the controller 302 may segment the first copy of the digital image data into a first image data slice associated with the red color component of the upper section of the image, a second image data slice associated with the green color component of the upper section of the image, a third image data slice associated with the blue color component of the upper section of the image, etc. In some embodiments, the controller 302 may utilize row and / or column markers within the digital image data to identify the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data, as described above.

[0035] After segmenting the digital image data, controller 302 can identify corresponding memory modules from among memory modules 308.1-308.n that correspond to sections of the image and / or components of color information associated with image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data. In some embodiments, controller 302 can store a memory module routing map that assigns memory modules 308.1-308.n to different sections of the image, e.g., the top section of the image, the middle section of the image, and / or the bottom section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model. In these embodiments, controller 302 can utilize the memory module routing map to route image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data to corresponding memory modules from among memory modules 308.1-308.n that correspond to sections and / or components of color information of the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data. Controller 302 then causes memory switch 304 to store the image data slices of the first copy of the digital image data in the corresponding memory modules. From the above example, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store a first image data slice associated with the red color component of the upper section of the image in a first memory module from among the memory modules 308.1-308.n, a second image data slice associated with the green color component of the upper section of the image in a second memory module from among the memory modules 308.1-308.n, a third image data slice associated with the blue color component of the upper section of the image in a third memory module from among the memory modules 308.1-308.n, and so on.

[0036] In some embodiments, the controller 302 can estimate excess system resources, such as excess CPU resources, excess memory resources, excess system bandwidth, and / or excess power, to name a few, that are not being used by the image recording system 300 to store the first copy of the digital image data. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the controller 302 can estimate a system bandwidth at which the controller 302 provides the first copy of the digital image data to the memory switch 304. The controller 302 can then compare this estimated system bandwidth with a theoretical maximum system bandwidth at which the controller 302 could provide the first copy of the digital image data to the memory switch 304 to estimate the excess system bandwidth. After estimating the excess system resources, the controller 302 can utilize the excess system resources by providing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data to the memory switch 304, in raw image format and / or image file format, to be routed to the memory storage device 306 for storage. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can implement one or more digital image processing techniques, also referred to as digital photographic processing techniques, to process the digital image data and reconstruct an image from the digital image data. In some embodiments, the one or more digital image processing techniques can include decoding, demosaicing, bad pixel removal, white balance, noise reduction, color conversion, tone reproduction, compression, systematic noise removal, dark frame subtraction, optical correction, contrast manipulation, unsharp masking, and / or any other suitable well-known digital image processing techniques that would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can utilize excess system bandwidth by providing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data to the memory switch 304 for routing to the memory storage device 306 for storage.

[0037] After estimating the excess system resources, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store a second copy of at least some of the digital image data in raw image format and / or image file format to utilize the excess system resources. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to stripe the second copy of at least some of the digital image data across memory modules 308.1-308.n of the memory storage device 306, described in further detail below. In these embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to interleave image data slices of the second copy of at least some of the digital image data in a round-robin manner across memory modules 308.1-308.n. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can segment the second copy of at least some of the digital image data into image data slices of the second copy of at least some of the digital image data to be interleaved across memory modules 308.1-308.n. In these embodiments, the image data slices of the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data can be associated with different sections of the image, e.g., an upper section of the image, a middle section of the image, and / or a lower section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model.

[0038] In some embodiments, the controller 302 can estimate the required system resources needed to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In these embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data when the required system resources are less than or equal to the excess system resources. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can determine whether the excess system resources are sufficient to store the second copy of the digital image data in a raw image format. In these embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store the second copy of the digital image data in a raw image format when the excess system resources are sufficient. Otherwise, the controller 302 can adjust the image quality of the digital image data from the raw image format to the image file format when the excess system resources are insufficient to store the second copy of the digital image data in the raw image format, for example. Generally, the image recording system 300 utilizes fewer system resources to store the second copy of the digital image data in the image file format compared to the raw image format. For example, digital image data in raw image format typically occupies two to six times the storage space of digital image data in JPEG file format. However, the image quality of the JPEG file format is less than that of the raw image format because the JPEG file format accommodates only 256 color tones, compared to the 4,096 to 65,535 color tones of the raw image format. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can determine whether excess system resources are sufficient to store a second copy of the digital image data in the image file format.In these embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store a second copy of the digital image data in the image file format when excess system resources are sufficient. Otherwise, the controller 302 can, for example, adjust the amount of digital image data to be stored by the memory storage device 306 when excess system resources are insufficient to store a second copy of the digital image data in the raw image format and / or the image file format. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can determine whether excess system resources are sufficient to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the raw image format and / or the image file format. In these embodiments, the controller 302 can cause the memory switch 304 to store a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the raw image format and / or the image file format when excess system resources are sufficient.

[0039] In some embodiments, the controller 302 can use excess system resources to evaluate the digital image data and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored as a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In these embodiments, the most important digital image data can be determined from images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can use excess system resources to evaluate the digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored. For example, images can be projected onto a media surface at a venue during an event. The venue can represent a music venue, e.g., a music theater, a music club, and / or a concert hall; a sports venue, e.g., an arena, a convention center, and / or a stadium; and / or any other suitable venue that would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. The event can also include a music event, a theatrical event, a sporting event, a video, and / or any other suitable event that would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. In some embodiments, controller 302 may determine that one or more sections of the image to be projected onto one or more sections of the media surface within the field of view of the audience experiencing the event are the most important digital image data. In some embodiments, controller 302 may consider one or more sections of the image to be the most important digital image data that contain more complexity, movement, and / or detail compared to other sections of the image.

[0040] In some embodiments, the controller 302 can compress portions of the digital image data to improve utilization of excess system resources. In some embodiments, the controller 302 can compress at least a portion of the unprocessed digital image data in the raw image format and / or the processed digital image data in the image file format. In these embodiments, the controller 302 can compress the unprocessed digital image data in the raw image format and / or the processed digital image data in the image file format using, for example, a lossless compression technique, e.g., a Lempel-Ziv based lossless compression technique, and / or a lossy compression technique, e.g., a discrete cosine transform (DCT) based lossy compression technique.

[0041] The memory switch 304 receives the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. After receiving the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data, the memory switch 304 routes the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data to the memory storage device 306 for storage. In some embodiments, the memory switch 304 can stripe the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data across memory modules 308.1-308.n of the memory storage device 306, which will be described in further detail below. In these embodiments, the memory switch 304 can stripe the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in parallel across the memory modules 308.1-308.n. In some embodiments, the memory switch 304 may interleave image data slices of a first copy of the digital image data and / or a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in a round-robin manner across the memory modules 308.1-308.n.

[0042] The memory storage device 306 stores a first copy of the digital image data and / or a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the memory storage device includes memory modules 308.1-308.n. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the memory modules 308.1-308.n may include one or more hard disk drives, e.g., one or more solid-state drives, one or more optical drives, one or more flash memories, and / or one or more removable media cartridges, to name a few, and may store the first copy of the digital image data and / or the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In some embodiments, the memory modules 308.1-308.n may be assigned to different sections of an image, e.g., an upper section of the image, a middle section of the image, and / or a lower section of the image, and / or different components of color information for different sections of the image, e.g., the red, green, and / or blue color components of the RGB color model. In the exemplary embodiment, memory modules 308.1-308.n include twelve memory modules 308.1-308.12. In this exemplary embodiment, the twelve memory modules 308.1-308.12 can be associated with color components of a Bayer filter mosaic as follows: [Table 1] Note that the example mapping of memory modules 308.1-308.n in Table 1 above is for illustrative purposes only and is not limiting. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other mappings are possible for memory modules 308.1-308.n without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0043] Exemplary Venues of the Present Disclosure

[0044] FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical representation of an exemplary venue, according to some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As described above, an image recording system, such as image recording system 108 as described in FIG. 1 above and / or image recording system 300 as described in FIG. 3 above, to name a few, can use redundant system resources to evaluate digital image data and / or images that can be reconstructed from the digital image data and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored. For example, images can be projected onto a media surface 402 of venue 400 during an event. Venue 400 can represent a music venue, e.g., a music theater, music club, and / or concert hall; a sports venue, e.g., an arena, convention center, and / or stadium; and / or any other suitable venue as would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, the event can include a music event, a theatrical event, a sporting event, a video, and / or any other suitable event as would be apparent to one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4 , venue 400 may represent a three-dimensional structure, e.g., a hemispherical structure, also referred to as a hemispherical dome. In some embodiments, venue 400 may include one or more visual displays, often referred to as a three-dimensional media surface, that are spread across the interior, i.e., inner, surface, of venue 400. In these embodiments, the one or more visual displays may include a series of rows and a series of columns of photographic elements, also referred to as pixels, that form media surface 402. In these embodiments, the pixels may be implemented using one or more light-emitting diode (LED) displays, one or more organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, and / or one or more quantum dot (QD) displays, to name a few. For example, media surface 402 may include an approximately 16,000 by 16,000 LED visual display that wraps around the interior of venue 400 and forms an approximately 160,000-square-foot visual display.

[0045] In some embodiments, the venue 400 may project an image or series of images, often referred to as video, reconstructed from digital image data onto the media surface 402, for example, during an event. As illustrated in FIG. 4 , the media surface 402 may include an audience viewing section 404 located along the interior, i.e., inner, surface of the media surface 402. In some embodiments, the audience viewing section 404 may be characterized as having the highest optical image quality. In some embodiments, the audience viewing section 404 may be characterized as having a denser distribution of foreground objects compared to other sections of the image or video that have a less dense distribution of foreground objects. In some embodiments, the audience viewing section 404 may be characterized as having more complexity, movement, and / or detail compared to other sections of the image or video. In some embodiments, the audience viewing section 404 may be located generally on a haunch approximately halfway between the top and bottom of the media surface 402. The audience viewing section 404 may be characterized as having the highest optical quality, e.g., resolution, compared to other viewing sections of the media surface 402. In some embodiments, the optical quality of the image or video decreases from the highest optical quality of the audience viewing section 404 along the interior of the media surface 402 to another viewing section diametrically opposite the audience viewing section 404.

[0046] As described above, the image recording system can use redundant system resources to evaluate the digital image data and intelligently determine the most important digital image data to be stored as a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data. In some embodiments, the most important digital image data can be determined from images or videos that may be projected onto the media surface 402. In these embodiments, the image recording system can determine that one or more sections of the image or video that are projected onto one or more sections of the media surface within the audience's field of view, e.g., audience viewing section 404, are the most important digital image data.

[0047] Exemplary Computer Systems That May Be Implemented Within Exemplary Image Capture Systems

[0048] 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an example computer system that may be implemented within an example image capture system and / or an example image projection system, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The following discussion of FIG. 5 describes a computer system 500 that may be implemented within an image capture system 100 as described in FIG. 1 above and / or an image recording system 300 as described in FIG. 3 above.

[0049] In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, computer system 500 includes one or more processors 502. In some embodiments, one or more processors 502 can include or be any of a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit, or a digital signal processor, and their electronic processing equivalents (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") or a field-programmable gate array ("FPGA"), etc.). As used herein, the term "processor" refers to a tangible data and information processing device that physically transforms data and information using sequence transformations (also referred to as "operations"). Data and information can be physically represented by electrical, magnetic, optical, or acoustic signals that can be stored, accessed, transferred, combined, compared, or otherwise manipulated by the processor. The term "processor" can refer to single processors as well as multi-core systems or multi-processor arrays that include a graphics processing unit, a digital signal processor, a digital processor, or a combination of these elements. The processor can be, for example, an electronic device comprising digital logic circuitry (e.g., binary logic) or analog (e.g., operational amplifiers). The processor may also operate to support the performance of related operations within a "cloud computing" environment or as "software as a service" (SaaS). For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a group of processors available in a distributed or remote system, which are accessible via a communications network (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more software interfaces (e.g., application program interfaces (APIs)).In some embodiments, computer system 500 may include an operating system such as Microsoft Windows®, Sun Microsystems' Solaris®, Apple Computer's Mac OS®, Linux®, or UNIX®. In some embodiments, computer system 500 may also include a basic input / output system (BIOS) and processor firmware. The operating system, BIOS, and firmware are used by one or more processors 502 to control subsystems and interfaces coupled to one or more processors 502. In some embodiments, one or more processors 502 may include Pentium® and Itanium processors manufactured by Intel, Opteron and Athlon processors manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices, and ARM processors manufactured by ARM Holdings.

[0050] 5, computer system 500 can include machine-readable media 504. In some embodiments, machine-readable media 504 can further include main random access memory (“RAM”) 506, read-only memory (“ROM”) 508, and / or file storage subsystem 510. RAM 1030 can store instructions and data during program execution, and ROM 1032 can store fixed instructions. File storage subsystem 510 provides persistent storage for program and data files and may include hard disk drives, floppy disk drives and associated removable media, CD-ROM drives, optical drives, flash memory, or removable media cartridges.

[0051] The computer system 500 may further include a user interface input device 512 and a user interface output device 514. The user interface input device 512 may include, to name a few, a pointing device such as an alphanumeric keyboard, keypad, mouse, trackball, touchpad, stylus, or graphics tablet; a scanner; a touchscreen integrated into a display; an audio input device such as a voice recognition system or microphone; eye gaze recognition; electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern recognition; and other types of input devices. The user interface input device 512 may be connected to the computer system 500 by wire or wirelessly. Generally, the user interface input device 512 is intended to include all possible types of devices and methods for inputting information into the computer system 500. The user interface input device 512 typically allows a user to identify objects, icons, text, and the like that appear on some type of user interface output device, e.g., a display subsystem. The user interface output device 1020 may also include a non-visual display such as a display subsystem, a printer, a fax machine, or an audio output device. The display subsystem may include a flat panel device such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a projection device, or some other device for producing a visible image, such as a virtual reality system. The display subsystem may also provide a non-visual display, such as via audio output or haptic output (e.g., vibration) devices. Generally, user interface output devices 1020 are intended to include all possible types of devices and methods for outputting information from computer system 500.

[0052] The computer system 500 may further include a network interface 516 for providing an interface to outside networks, including an interface to a communications network 518, via which the computer system 500 is coupled to corresponding interface devices in other computer systems or machines. The communications network 518 may comprise many interconnected computer systems, machines, and communications links. These communications links may be wired, optical, wireless, or any other device for communicating information. The communications network 518 may be any suitable computer network, for example, a wide area network such as the Internet and / or a local area network such as Ethernet. The communications network 518 may be wired and / or wireless, and the communications network may use encryption and decryption methods such as those available with virtual private networks. The communications network uses one or more communications interfaces that may receive data from other systems and transmit data to other systems. Embodiments of the communication interface typically include an Ethernet card, a modem (e.g., telephone, satellite, cable, or ISDN), an (asynchronous) Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) unit, a Firewire interface, a USB interface, and the like. One or more communication protocols, such as HTTP, TCP / IP, RTP / RTSP, IPX, and / or UDP, can be used.

[0053] 5, one or more processors 502, machine-readable media 504, user interface input devices 512, user interface output devices 514, and / or network interface 516 can be communicatively coupled to each other using a bus subsystem 1020. Although the bus subsystem 1020 is shown diagrammatically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may use multiple buses. For example, a RAM-based main memory can communicate directly with a file storage system using a direct memory access (“DMA”) system. conclusion

[0054] The detailed description has referred to the accompanying figures to illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with this disclosure. References in this disclosure to "an exemplary embodiment" indicate that the described exemplary embodiment may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but that not all exemplary embodiments necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Also, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same exemplary embodiment. Furthermore, any feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an exemplary embodiment may be included independently or in any combination with features, structures, or characteristics of other exemplary embodiments, whether or not explicitly described.

[0055] The Detailed Description is not intended to be limiting. Rather, the scope of the present disclosure is defined solely by the following claims and their equivalents. It is understood that the Detailed Description section, and not the Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. The Abstract section may describe one or more example embodiments of the present disclosure, but is not exhaustive, and thus is not intended to limit the present disclosure and the following claims and their equivalents in any way.

[0056] The exemplary embodiments described within this disclosure are provided for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limiting. Other exemplary embodiments are possible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments while remaining within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This disclosure is described with the help of functional components that illustrate implementations of defined functions and their relationships. The boundaries of these functional building blocks are arbitrarily defined herein for convenience of description. Alternative boundaries may be defined so long as the defined functions and relationships are appropriately performed.

[0057] Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware, firmware, a software application, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computing network). For example, a machine-readable medium may include non-transitory machine-readable media, such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash memory devices, and others. As another example, a machine-readable medium may include a transitory machine-readable medium, such as an electrical, optical, acoustic, or other form of propagated signal (e.g., carrier wave, infrared signal, digital signal, etc.). Furthermore, firmware, software applications, routines, and instructions may be described herein as performing certain actions. However, it should be understood that such description is for convenience only and that such actions actually result from a computing device, processor, controller, or other device executing firmware, software applications, routines, instructions, etc.

[0058] The detailed description of the exemplary embodiments has fully revealed the general nature of the present disclosure, such that others, by applying the knowledge of those skilled in the art, may readily modify and / or adapt such exemplary embodiments for various applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without undue experimentation. Moreover, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and equivalents of the exemplary embodiments, based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology used herein is for purposes of description and not of limitation, as the terminology or terminology used herein would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings herein.

Claims

1. 1. An image capture system for capturing and storing digital image data associated with an image, the image capture system comprising: a camera system configured to provide the digital image data in a raw format including color information for each pixel of the image; An image recording system, comprising: storing a first copy of the digital image data in the raw format; estimating system resources utilized to store the first copy of the digital image data; storing a second copy of at least a portion of said digital image data in said raw format or in an image file format to utilize excess system resources; an image recording system configured to An image capture system comprising:

2. The image capture system of claim 1 , wherein the color information comprises luminance or chrominance color components of the YUV color model, or red, green, or blue color components of the red, green, blue (RGB) color model.

3. 2. The image capture system of claim 1, wherein the image recording system is configured to stripe the first copy of the digital image data or the second copy of the at least a portion of the digital image data across multiple machine-readable media of the image recording system.

4. The image capture system of claim 1 , wherein the image recording system is further configured to reconstruct the image in the image file format from the digital image data.

5. the image is reconstructed from the digital image data in the image file; 2. The image capture system of claim 1, wherein the image recording system is further configured to evaluate the images and determine, from among the digital image data, the most significant digital image data to be stored as the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data.

6. 6. The image capture system of claim 5, wherein the image recording system is configured to evaluate the images as projected onto a media surface of a venue and intelligently determine the most significant digital image data as digital image data associated with an audience viewing section of the media surface that is within the field of view of an audience in the venue.

7. The image capture system of claim 1 , wherein the system resources comprise central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, or power.

8. 1. An image recording system for storing digital image data relating to an image, said image recording system comprising: a memory bank having a plurality of memory modules; A controller, the controller comprising: storing a first copy of the digital image data in a raw format including color information for each pixel of the image across the plurality of memory modules; estimating system resources utilized to store the first copy of the digital image data; storing a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the raw format or in an image file format across the plurality of memory modules to utilize redundant system resources; a controller configured to: An image recording system comprising:

9. 9. The image recording system of claim 8, wherein the color information comprises luminance or chrominance color components of the YUV color model, or red, green, or blue color components of the Red, Green, Blue (RGB) color model.

10. 9. The image recording system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to stripe the first copy of the digital image data or the second copy of the at least a portion of the digital image data across the plurality of memory modules.

11. The image recording system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to reconstruct the image in the image file format from the digital image data.

12. the image is reconstructed from the digital image data in the image file; 9. The image recording system of claim 8, wherein the controller is further configured to evaluate the images and determine, from among the digital image data, the most significant digital image data to be stored as the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data.

13. 13. The image capture system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to evaluate the images as projected onto a media surface of a venue and intelligently determine the most significant digital image data as digital image data associated with an audience viewing section of the media surface that is within the field of view of an audience in the venue.

14. The image recording system of claim 8 , wherein the system resources comprise central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, or power.

15. 1. A method for storing digital image data associated with an image, the method comprising: storing, by a computing system, a first copy of the digital image data in a first image quality format; estimating system resources utilized by the computing system to store the first copy of the digital image data; storing, by the computing system, a second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data in the first quality format or in a second quality format having a lower quality than the first quality format to utilize excess system resources; A method comprising:

16. storing the first copy of the digital image data includes striping the first copy of the digital image data across a plurality of machine-readable media; 16. The method of claim 15, wherein storing the second copy of the digital image data comprises striping the second copy of the at least some of the digital image data across the plurality of machine-readable media.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising reconstructing, by the computing system, the image in the image file format from the digital image data.

18. the image is reconstructed from the digital image data in the image file; 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising evaluating, by the computing system, the images and determining, from among the digital image data, the most significant digital image data to be stored as the second copy of at least a portion of the digital image data.

19. 20. The image capture system of claim 18, wherein said evaluating includes evaluating said images as projected onto a media surface of a venue and intelligently determining said most significant digital image data as digital image data associated with an audience viewing section of said media surface that is within the field of view of an audience in said venue.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the system resources comprise central processing unit (CPU) resources, memory resources, system bandwidth, or power.

Images