Alioscopy Patents

[P3D Eric Muller <emuller@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

                                     ALIOSCOPY PATENTS

Three of the master patents concern auto stereoscopic image capture using a
single camera.(PCT/WO 26071)

Conventional optics are used so stereoscopic cameras can be developed and
manufactured at low cost.

European patent 305 274 granted 20 may 1992 covers a method of producing
auto stereoscopic images using a single lens array. With a single lens
array the image is a pseudo stereoscopic image in "reverse relief'.
Electronic processing produces an ortho stereoscopic image.(EP 305274,FR
2619664,EP 305274,US 5099320, CA 1334489,JP 63 / 207195)

The second master patent covers a stereoscopic camera using conventional
CCD image sensors.( FR 2705007)
The camera employs a large lens array and an image reducer system applying
the appropriate reduction ratio.
The image from the lens array is projected onto the standard CCD sensor
without degrading performance, in particular the stereoscopic baseline.

The third master patent concerns an auto stereoscopic and ortho
stereoscopic camera.(FR 2705006)
It uses a cylindrical array of concave lenses. An image reducer device
converts the resulting virtual image into a real image on a CCD image
sensor.

                                IMAGE TRANSFER

The fourth master patent concerns auto stereoscopic image transfer, i,e
recording and/or transmission via a telecommunication network with the
stereoscopic information preserved, even using conventional video recorders
or standard transmission channels.(FR 2705009)

The auto stereoscopic image is broken down into juxtaposed anamorphic flat
images. The transfer operation is performed and the auto stereoscopic image
is reconstructed. All these operations are carried out by an electronic
circuit that breaks down and reconstructs images by permutating pixels or
lines. This circuit can process video and computer-generated images,
whether analogue or digital, for transfer.

                                     DISPLAY

The fifth master patent concerns image projection and back-projection using
lens arrays with a pitch that can be smaller than the pixel size on the
screen. The viewer is therefore unaware of the array.(FR 2705008,PCT/WO
26072)

The sixth master patent concerns a device for displaying auto stereoscopic
images on a screen like that of a domestic TV receiver.
(FR 2704951,PCT/WO 9425891)

It uses a lens array with a small pitch. The red, green and blue picture
components are permutated electronically to provide a display with a lens
array pitch of 4/3 pixel, for example, as compared with four pixels for
images with four stereoscopic view points.

Stereoscopic images can be displayed on a conventional TV screen. As the
pitch of the array is in the same order of magnitude as the pixel size, the
viewer is unaware of the cylindrical nature of the array.

The seventh and eighth master patents, published in June 1996, will concern
more precisely digital images, endoscopy and cinema in 3D, without glasses.


                                      List of Patents


Cas 1   FR 2619664
        EP 305274
        US 5099320
        CA 1334489
        JP 63 / 207195

Cas 2   FR 2705007

Cas 3   FR 2705006

Cas 4   FR 2705009

Cas 2+3+4  PCT/WO 26071

Cas 5   FR 2705008
        PCT/WO 26072

Cas 6   FR 2704951
        PCT/WO 9425891

To read the patents, contact :

European Patent Office (EPO)
helpdesk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

or

Institut National de la Propri=E9t=E9 Industrielle (INPI)
26Bis rue St P=E9tersbourg
75008 Paris
Tel (33-1) 42 94 52 52
=46ax : (33-1) 42 93 59 30




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