Real-time two-dimensional electronic image filtering and live TV restoration

We describe novel architecture for a real-time image restoration system of live TV signals. No DSP is involved. The spatial filtering is obtained from two electronic analog filters, one for the raster lines and one for the columns. The very fast response of analog filters is the key for truly real-time video frame rate performance, The digital part of the system serves the purpose of pipe-lined parallel data conversion and flow, but not that of image processing (filtering) at all. Despite the lack of DSP, this architecture exhibits some very important advantages. It does not need any computational source, it is very fast, and it is much cheaper. Also our ''parallel analog computer'' can be easily incorporated in any complex system with video signal data as a simple ''plug-in'' between the camera and monitor. An important aspect is that the system carries lower digitalization noise than DSP, thus yielding better SNR characteristics at a lower price. The system is not bound to any specific kind of spatial frequency filtering and can be electronically tuned to obtain exact performance parameters. Because of these advantages, this architecture is promising for a wide variety of systems such as supermarket multicamera security, military and aerospace vision systems, and medical diagnostics.