Virtual pan-tilt-zoom for a wide-area-video surveillance system

Abstract

Advancements in the CMOS Image Sensor have enabled very high-performance, high resolution imaging systems to be built at relatively low cost. The availability of high-pixel count video imaging systems that can cover a wide field-of-view enables a surveillance technique called Virtual Pan-Tilt-Zoom. Virtual Pan-Tilt-Zoom provides the same functional properties as a mechanical pan-tilt-zoom setup, but it does not suffer from the physical limitations presented by a mechanical setup. A video system using Virtual Pan-Tilt-Zoom would have immediate continuous access to a high pixel-count image representing a wide coverage area, and it would enable a user to "virtually" pan, tilt, and zoom around the coverage area by reading out only the relevant image data associated with a Region of Interest that is dynamically defined by the user. This paper will examine the various camera electronics readout architectures that are possible to support the Virtual Pan-Tilt-Zoom function. Then, this project will examine and implement a specific implementation of the readout architecture for a high-resolution video camera system developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. The Multi-Aperture Sparse Imager Video System (MASIV) developed at MIT Lincoln Laboratory incorporates CMOS imagers to create an 880 Mega pixel image, and was used as the platform to implement the camera electronics for Virtual Pan-Tilt-Zoom functionality.