Patent ID: 7327382

Claim:
A method for converting a sequence of electronically captured images into a sequence of modified images for providing the appearance of images captured by a film reproduction system, the film reproduction system being of the type that includes motion picture negative film printed onto a motion picture print film that is displayed, or a reversal motion picture system in which the reversal film is displayed, or a motion picture film electro-optically scanned to standard format video by a telecine and further displayed, or a motion picture film electro-optically scanned by a scanner suitable for producing digital data intended for additional digital image manipulation, further prepared as a digital master for electronic distribution or recorded out to another film to be used as a printing master for producing distribution optical prints for theatrical projection, said method comprising the steps of: (a) electronically capturing a sequence of images, resulting in linearized neutral-corrected electronically captured image data; (b) transforming the neutral-corrected electronically captured images with a non-linear function that renders the neutral-corrected electronically captured images with a tone scale of the film reproduction system, resulting in tonescale-corrected electronically captured images; (c) transforming the tonescale-corrected electronically captured images with a linear function that emulates a film color look provided by the film reproduction system, resulting in modified images that provide the appearance of an image captured with the film reproduction system, wherein the transformation steps are referenced to scanned film densities of a film used in the film reproduction system; (d) color balancing the modified images representative of scanned film densities before subsequent utilization by balancing a reference neutral to a predetermined scanner density, resulting in modified images; and (e) transforming color-balanced modified images to standard format video signals suitable for television.