Lightfield Capture via Distributed Camera Encoding

The patent divides the lightfield camera array into multiple independent camera units, each capturing imagery from its own position. Each camera processes and encodes its captured data independently, then transmits only the encoded result to a central reconstruction system. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple camera feeds simultaneously, reducing overall processing time while maintaining complete lightfield data quality.

The patent applies preliminary encoding and compression to the imagery data captured by each camera before transmission to the central reconstruction system. By pre-processing the data at the camera level (including encoding and reducing data size), the system minimizes the amount of data that needs to be transferred and processed centrally, significantly reducing data transfer time and overall processing delay even when using high-end computers.

The patent extracts and removes redundant information from the captured video feeds through encoding and compression algorithms applied at each camera unit. By taking out only the essential encoded data rather than transmitting complete synchronized video files, the system maintains data capture completeness for lightfield reconstruction while dramatically reducing the bandwidth requirements for transferring image data from multiple cameras to the central system.

The patent segments the computational workload by distributing encoding tasks across multiple independent camera units rather than requiring one centralized system to process all data. Each camera performs its own encoding and prepares data for transmission, enabling parallel real-time processing. This segmentation reduces the computational complexity burden on any single device while maintaining real-time capture capability for filming and webcam applications.