259 results about "Distortion free" patented technology

The invention features an image reader and a corresponding method for capturing a sharp distortion free image of a target, such as a one or two-dimensional bar code. In one embodiment, the image reader comprises a two-dimensional CMOS based image sensor array, a timing module, an illumination module, and a control module. The time during which the target is illuminated is referred to as the illumination period. The capture of the image by the image sensor array is driven by the timing module that, in one embodiment, is able to simultaneously expose substantially all of the pixels in the array. The time during which the pixels are collectively activated to photo-convert incident light into charge defines the exposure period for the sensor array. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the exposure period occurs during the illumination period.

A freestanding GaN single crystal substrate is made by the steps of preparing a (111) GaAs single crystal substrate, forming a mask having periodically arranged windows on the (111) GaAs substrate, making thin GaN buffer layers on the GaAs substrate in the windows of the mask, growing a GaN epitaxial layer on the buffer layers and the mask by an HVPE or an MOC, eliminating the GaAs substrate and the mask away and obtaining a freestanding GaN single crystal substrate. The GaN single crystal has a diameter larger than 20 mm and a thickness more than 0.07 mm, being freestanding and substantially distortion-free.

The invention features an image reader and a corresponding method for capturing a sharp distortion free image of a target, such as a one or two-dimensional bar code. In one embodiment, the image reader comprises a two-dimensional CMOS based image sensor array, a timing module, an illumination module, and a control module. The time during which the target is illuminated is referred to as the illumination period. The capture of the image by the image sensor array is driven by the timing module that, in one embodiment, is able to simultaneously expose substantially all of the pixels in the array. The time during which the pixels are collectively activated to photo-convert incident light into charge defines the exposure period for the sensor array. In one embodiment, at least a portion of the exposure period occurs during the illumination period.

A system and method for correcting distortions that occur in image capture systems is disclosed. The present invention in some preferred embodiments includes provisions to correct or change magnification differences for all causes including position errors in zoom lens positioning mechanisms as well as those caused by chromatic aberration, CCD alignment errors, lens distortion off center variations, pincushion / barrel lens distortion, magnification distortions, camera and lens misalignment errors, and lighting variations (including flash-to-flash illumination variations). A significant feature of the present invention in contrast with the prior art is that with the use of a movable calibration plate in the present invention it is possible to image capture both the calibration plate and the input object image in a single image capture, thus permitting simultaneous compensation for a variety of lighting and illumination variations not possible with the prior art.

A panoramic annular lens system (PAL), a unitary video camera and a PC-based software system that unwraps a 360° video image into a seamless, distortion free horizontal image image in real time. The PAL system of the preferred embodiment has a 360° horizontal field of view and a 90° vertical field of view in a 40 mm diameter compact package. The invention is not limited to any particular type of lens system. In fact, there are numerous lens systems for providing a 360° panoramic view. The video camera may be a CCD or CMOS based device having a pixel resolution of either 1280×1024 (high resolution) or 720×480 (NTSC). The unwrapping system is a radiometric ray tracing program carried out using a computer's graphics card capabilities to produce highly efficient regional transformation while minimizing software overhead. The result is real time, high resolution 30 fps conversion from a spherical distorted image to a flat panoramic image in Cartesian coordinates.

A panoramic annular lens system (PAL), a unitary video camera and a PC-based software system that unwraps a 360° video image into a seamless, distortion free horizontal image image in real time. The PAL system of the preferred embodiment has a 360° horizontal field of view and a 90° vertical field of view in a 40 mm diameter compact package. The invention is not limited to any particular type of lens system. In fact, there are numerous lens systems for providing a 360° panoramic view. The video camera may be a CCD or CMOS based device having a pixel resolution of either 1280×1024 (high resolution) or 720×480 (NTSC). The unwrapping system is a radiometric ray tracing program carried out using a computer's graphics card capabilities to produce highly efficient regional transformation while minimizing software overhead. The result is real time, high resolution 30 fps conversion from a spherical distorted image to a flat panoramic image in Cartesian coordinates.

The invention provides a visual ranging-based simultaneous localization and map construction method. The method includes the following steps that: a binocular image is acquired and corrected, so that a distortion-free binocular image can be obtained; feature extraction is performed on the distortion-free binocular image, so that feature point descriptors can be generated; feature point matching relations of the binocular image are established; the horizontal parallax of matching feature points is obtained according to the matching relations, and based on the parameters of a binocular image capture system, real space depth is calculated; the matching results of the feature points of a current frame and feature points in a world map are calculated; feature points which are wrongly matched with each other are removed, so that feature points which are successfully matched with each other can be obtained; a transform matrix of the coordinates of the feature points which are successfully matched with each other under a world coordinate system and the three-dimension coordinates of the feature points which are successfully matched with each other under a current reference coordinate system is calculated, and a pose change estimated value of the binocular image capture system relative to an initial position is obtained according to the transform matrix; and the world map is established and updated. The visual ranging-based simultaneous localization and map construction method of the invention has low computational complexity, centimeter-level positioning accuracy and unbiased characteristics of position estimation.

A system for detecting and graphically displaying a contents of a fast-moving target object comprises: a radiation source, having a position such that at least a portion of radiation emitted from the radiation source passes through the fast-moving target object, the fast-moving target object having a variable velocity and acceleration while maintaining a substantially constant distance from the radiation source and being selected from the group consisting of: a vehicle, a cargo container and a railroad car; a velocity measuring device configured to measure the variable velocity of the fast-moving target object; a detector array comprising a plurality of photon detectors, having a position such that at least some of the at least a portion of the radiation passing through the target object is received thereby, the detector array having a variable count time according to the variable velocity and a grid unit size; a counter circuit coupled to the detector array for discretely counting a number of photons entering individual photon detectors, the counter circuit measuring a count rate according to a contents within the fast-moving target object; a high baud-rate interface coupled to the counter circuit for sending count information from the counter circuit at a rate fast enough to support real-time data transfer therethrough; and a processor coupled to the velocity measuring device and to the high-baud-rate interface, receiving count information from the high baud-rate interface and generating distortion-free image data in real time as a function of the count information and the variable velocity. A method for using the system is also disclosed.

The present invention provides mathematically accurate image processing algorithms for extracting natural looking panoramic images and distortion-free rectilinear images from images acquired using a camera equipped with a wide-angle lens which is rotationally symmetric about an optical axis and devices implementing such algorithms. Imaging systems using this method can be used not only in security•surveillance applications for indoor and outdoor environments, but also in diverse areas such as video phone for apartment entrance door, rear view camera for vehicles, visual sensor for unmanned aerial vehicles and robots, camera phone, PC camera, and broadcasting camera. Also, it can be used to obtain panoramic or rectilinear photographs using a digital camera.

An image processing apparatus is capable of generating distortion-free accurate image data. The image processing apparatus has an image entering unit, an image processor, and a memory. Slice data read by the image entering unit is stored in the memory. The image processor determines whether the slice data stored in the memory is of significance or not. Then, the image processor calculates a moved distance and tilt of the slice data that has been detected as being of significance, and calculates positional coordinates of a reconstructed image area to which the slice data is to be projected, based on the moved distance and tilt of the slice data which have been calculated, and generates reconstructed image data. The generated reconstructed image data is stored in the memory.

A method for fabricating a substantially smooth-surfaced anti-reflective coating on a semiconductor device structure including generating a plasma from an inert gas in a process chamber in which the anti-reflective coating is to be deposited. The anti-reflective coating may include silicon, oxygen and nitrogen, and is preferably of the general formula Si.sub.x O.sub.y N.sub.z, where x equals 0.40 to 0.65, y equals 0.02 to 0.56 and z equals 0.05 to 0.33. Preferably, x+y+z equals one. The method may also include fabricating a silicon nitride layer over the anti-reflective coating. A semiconductor device which includes a silicon nitride layer over the anti-reflective coating has a density of less than about 40,000 particles or surface roughness features in the silicon nitride of about 120-150 nanometers dimension per eight inch wafer. Accordingly, a mask that is subsequently formed over the silicon nitride layer has a substantially uniform thickness and is substantially distortion-free.

A hybrid, wide angle imaging system combines high sensitivity superposition arrays with a high resolution apposition array to generate distortion free images with an infinite depth of field. A conformal, superposition array of Keplerian telescope objectives focuses multiple apertures of light through the tubes of a louver baffle. The baffle tubes are terminated by field stops that separate the focused light into inverted, intermediate sub-images. A superposition array of field lenses, positioned immediately after the field stops, reverses the angles of the light beams. An apposition array of erector lenses, linked optically to the superposition arrays and field stops, refocuses and adjoins the beams into a single, upright image. The upright image is formed on the convex surface of a fiber optic imaging taper, which transfers the image to the flat bottom of the taper where it can be viewed through an eyepiece or digitized by a detector array.

A system and method for correcting distortion in projected images caused by the projection of an input image by a projector lens onto a projection screen having a surface that is not orthogonal to the projection axis of the projector. Projection parameters including the focal length of the projector lens and the angles that represent the pan, tilt and roll angle of the projector are obtained. Then the projected area and the best viewable rectangular area that fits within said projected area is determined. The distortion is then characterized by using a distortion transformation which corresponds to the transformation that exists between the vertices of the best viewable rectangular area and the corresponding vertices of the projected area. Finally, the distortion transformation is inverted and applied to input image to obtain a distortion free projected image.

The invention provides a medical device and method to reduce the occurrence of pseudophakic pupillary block following implantation of an intraocular lens. The device includes an intraocular lens configured with channels traversing through the surfaces of the lens optic. The invention includes special edge angulations and locations in the optic zone that eliminate optical distortion from channels. The channels perform as valves configured to allow flow of a patient's aqueous humor from one surface of the lens through to the other surface of the lens, thereby preventing fluid pressure from building up in a patient's eye.

Current methods of embedding hidden data in an image inevitably distort the original image by noise. This distortion cannot generally be removed completely because of quantization, bit-replacement, or truncation at the grayscales 0 and 255. The distortion, though often small, may make the original image unacceptable for medical applications, or for military and law enforcement applications where an image must be inspected under unusual viewing conditions (e.g., after filtering or extreme zoom). The present invention provides high-capacity embedding of data that is lossless (or distortion-free) because, after embedded information is extracted from a cover image, we revert to an exact copy of the original image before the embedding took place. This new technique is a powerful tool for a variety of tasks, including lossless robust watermarking, lossless authentication with fragile watermarks, and steganalysis. The technique is applicable to raw, uncompressed formats (e.g., BMP, PCX, PGM, RAS, etc.), lossy image formats (JPEG, JPEG2000, wavelet), and palette formats (GIF, PNG).

The invention discloses a system and method for repairing a bad display area of a liquid crystal display panel. The system for repairing the bad display area of the liquid crystal display panel comprises an image acquisition device, a distortion-free compression module, a storage and a color spot repair module, wherein the image acquisition device is used for acquiring data of images, containing the bad display area, of the liquid crystal display panel, the distortion-free compression module is used for carrying out difference operation on the collected data of the images to achieve distortion-free compression processing, the storage is used for storing the compressed data processed through distortion-free compression processing, and the color spot repair module is used for carrying out decompression processing on the compressed data stored in the storage, carrying out color spot repair on the decompressed original data of the images to generate feedback information, and sending the feedback information back to the liquid crystal display panel. According to the system and method for repairing the bad display area of the liquid crystal display panel, due to the facts that values of the images which will be stored in the storage, and contain data of the bad display area are processed through distortion-free compression and decompression, then, color spot repair is carried out, and the information is output to the liquid crystal display panel, the storage size of the storage can be reduced, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the De-Mura processing effect cannot be reduced.

A multiple aperture array, wide angle imaging system incorporates compound refractive optics modeled after the eyes of insects. The system channels light through the apertures of a convex spatial filter and a pair of lenslet arrays hot press molded on a positive meniscus form. The lenslets act as afocal Keplerian telescopes to superpose light from hundreds of adjacent channels to a common point on the convex surface of a fiber optic imaging taper. The superposed light from all the channels form a curved, high intensity image that is transformed by the taper into a flat format for readout by a mosaic detector array. The image is upright and distortion free with an infinite depth of field. Ghost images are blocked by a honeycomb louver baffle positioned between the lenslets and the imaging taper. The system is conformable to the geometry of any convex mounting surface, whether spherical, aspherical, or cylindrical.

In a scanned-spot-array lithography system, a modulated array of radiant-energy source spots is imaged by a projection lens onto a printing surface, which is scanned in synchronization with the spot modulation to print a synthesized, high-resolution raster image. Similarly, in a scanned-spot-array microscopy system, an array of radiant-energy source spots is imaged by a projection lens onto an inspection surface, and radiation reflected from or transmitted through the image spots is collected and detected to acquire a synthesized, high-resolution raster image of the surface. In either case, the spot-generation optics can be configured to counterbalance and neutralize imperfect imaging characteristics of the projection lens, enabling perfectly flat-field, distortion-free, and aberration-free point imaging of the entire spot array. The spot-generation optics can also be further configured to achieve narrow-band achromatization of the optical system, and to optimally control the intensity and polarization characteristics of the image-plane radiation.

A laryngoscope including a handle and a spatula that is detachably connected thereto via a coupling. So that an image can be transmitted free of distortion over an image conductor from the spatula in the handle, spatula and handle are connected via first and second projections. The projections make it possible to twist the spatula in relation to the handle as well as snap-fit them to each other.

A multiple aperture array, wide angle imaging system incorporates compound refractive optics modeled after the eyes of insects. The system channels light through the apertures of a convex spatial filter and a pair of lenslet arrays hot press molded on a positive meniscus form. The lenslets act as afocal Keplerian telescopes to superpose light from hundreds of adjacent channels to a common point on the convex surface of a fiber optic imaging taper. The superposed light from all the channels form a curved, high intensity image that is transformed by the taper into a flat format for readout by a mosaic detector array. The image is upright and distortion free with an infinite depth of field. Ghost images are blocked by a honeycomb louver baffle positioned between the lenslets and the imaging taper. The system is conformable to the geometry of any convex mounting surface, whether spherical, aspherical, or cylindrical.

The present invention provides a system for precision in-game dynamic advert placement in computer games, comprising: a. networked game playing means; b. at least one game, stored in at least one game domain; c. means for obtaining at least one real-time AV caption of the output generated by said computer game; d. identifying means, having access to said at least one AV output of said at least one computer game; e. means for superimposing at least one remotely stored advertising content onto the entirety of caption, or onto parts thereof; wrapper means, located at said game domain, wrapping said game; f. means for customizing ads to be downloaded by said wrapper. Said ad customizing means synchronizes the audio-visual display generated by said game with said superimposed advertising content, and controls the insertion and removal of said advertising content, thereby offering a distortion-free viewing experience.

For an optical sensor, a simple approach to obtain a mapping function that transforms sensor coordinates of a generic imaging system to coordinates of a virtual, projective camera. The sensor plane of this virtual camera is established using a planar calibration object and does not require known features on the object. Two in-plane motions are sufficient to establish the distortion-free virtual camera. The sensor plane of the virtual projective camera is used to calibrate all subsequent images obtained by the optical sensor. For a generic sensor, the present method is a simple approach to obtain a mapping function that transforms sensor measurements into a virtual sensor system. The virtual sensor system is established using a uniform bias. The virtual sensor system is used to calibrate all subsequent measurements obtained by the sensor.

The present invention describes an article that is substantially free of optical distortion and a method for eliminating or substantially reducing the need for conventional polishing of transparent objects. The article comprises a laminate of an optically distorting transparent object bonded with an adhesive to at least one transparent object that has a distortion-free surface. The indices of refraction of the adhesive and the objects are preferably within 0.2. The method includes adhesively bonding an optically distorting transparent object to one or more transparent objects having distortion-free surfaces so that the distortion-free surface is exposed.

An image processing device for a projector including an image formation section that emits light of an image, and a projection system that projects the emitted light onto a projection surface. The image processing device includes: a target display area determination section that determines, in a display area serving as a reference on the projection surface, based on a current value of a parameter, any of target display areas set for values possibly taken by the parameter within an allowable range to be targeted on a distortion-free image for display on the projection surface; a reference formation area determination section that determines, corresponding to the reference display area, based on information about a projection angle of the projector with respect to the projection surface, a reference formation area to be formed with a virtual distorted image that is supposed to be formed in the image formation section when the distortion-free image is displayed in the reference display area; and a correction application section that generates corrected image data for supply to the image formation section by correcting any provided original image data to form a target distorted image in a target formation area, which corresponds to the target display area as is defined by a relationship between the reference display area and the reference formation area, and is formed with the target distorted image that is supposed to be formed in the image formation section when the distortion-free image is displayed in the reference display area.

A method is provided for reading distorted optical symbols using known locating and decoding methods, without requiring a separate and elaborate camera calibration procedure, without excessive computational complexity, and without compromised burst noise handling. The invention exploits a distortion-tolerant method for locating and decoding 2D code symbols to provide a correspondence between a set of points in an acquired image and a set of points in the symbol. A coordinate transformation is then constructed using the correspondence, and run-time images are corrected using the coordinate transformation. Each corrected run-time image provides a distortion-free representation of a symbol that can be read by traditional code readers that normally cannot read distorted symbols. The method can handle both optical distortion and printing distortion. The method is applicable to “portable” readers when an incident angle with the surface is maintained, the reader being disposed at any distance from the surface.

The invention discloses a high thermal deformation halogen-free flame retardant material and a preparation method thereof. The flame retardant material comprises the following components in parts by mass: 20-50 parts of polybutylene terephthalate; polybutylene terephthalate 10-40 parts of ethylene glycol formate; 15-24 parts of organic phosphate flame retardant; 1-3 parts of phosphorus liquid flame retardant; 10-30 parts of glass fiber; 2-4 parts of inorganic oxide. The preparation method of the high-heat deformation halogen-free flame-retardant material provided by the present invention simplifies the preparation process of the halogen-free flame-retardant material compared with the prior art, and reduces the production cost of the halogen-free flame-retardant material; the halogen-free flame-retardant material prepared by the present invention By adopting the components provided by the invention and the proportions among the components, compared with the existing flame retardant materials, the heat distortion temperature, glow wire temperature and flame retardancy are higher, and it has good mechanical properties.

A base sheet of transparent polycarbonate material has a formed shape including a center portion and a peripheral portion. The center portion is formed by a non-contact forming operation occurring at a temperature above the glass transition temperature and below the melt temperature of the transparent polycarbonate material, thereby resulting in the center portion of the base sheet being free of visual distortion. A top coat layer is disposed over the base sheet. The top coat layer has a greater resistance to abrasion than the polycarbonate material and provides UV protection to the base sheet. A primer coating is disposed between the base sheet and the top coat layer to facilitate bonding therebetween. The peripheral portion can have a shape created by a contact forming operation occurring at a temperature above the glass transition temperature and below the melt temperature of the polycarbonate material.

The invention relates to the field of computer-assisted navigation systems and discloses a surgical navigation system and method for assisting orthopedic surgery. The surgical navigation system comprises a surgical navigation tool, a position tracker, a navigation system display screen and a workstation and is characterized by further comprising a space monitoring lens and an image processing module, wherein the space monitoring lens comprises a gyroscope module, a wide-angle distortion-free lens and a high-speed infrared camera, the high-speed infrared camera is used for capturing the change of a 3D space skeleton position, and the gyroscope module is used for calibrating the standard body position of a patient; the image processing module is used for performing 3D reconstruction on 3D motion information about 2D image data of the patient before surgery, the track of limb motion of the surgery part of the patient and the motion track of a surgical instrument. The surgical navigation system has the advantages that the surgical navigation system is precise in navigation, capable of being placed near a table, convenient to mount and rapid and simple to register.

The invention discloses an anti-interference realization method of a self-adaptive array antenna, and aims at providing an anti-interference method with small calculated amount, strong real-time and better anti-interference effect. The method is realized through the following technical schemes: a data pre-processing module performs N-order time domain tapping on M path digital signals to obtain continuous space-time two-dimension snapshot data in a uniform circular array antenna with antenna array element number of M, and a space-time two-dimension guiding vector is obtained according to a desired signal direction provided by an upper computer; a guiding vector residual matrix is computed by using the space-time two-dimensional guiding vector through a minimum variance distortionless response MVDR algorithm simplification realization module, and the space-time two-dimension beam synthesis and space-time two-dimension weight iteration are synchronously performed according to a built-inbeam synthesis module and a weight iteration module by combining the space-time two-dimension snapshot data; and an array output module converts the digital signal after the beam synthesis into an analog signal through a digital-to-analog DA converter, and the analog signal is sent to a back-end processor after being output in a up-conversion way through an up-conversion module.