Patent ID: 7656424

Claim:
A method of stabilizing images obtained by a controllable video camera ( 1 ) of an environment that has a given three-dimensional frame of reference associated therewith and in which objects ( 4 ) can move on preferred lanes ( 5 ), the method comprising: a first stage: determining via a computer processor, in a stable first images ( 20 ) obtained by the controllable camera, first portions ( 21 ) that correspond to the preferred movement lanes ( 5 ) for said objects ( 4 ); then determining in said first images, by a differential process, remaining second portions ( 22 ) that are complementary to the first portions; and then determining, in said remaining second portions ( 22 ), the reference position of the image point (P i ) corresponding to a first stationary object point (P o ) belonging to said environment ( 3 ), said first stationary object point having brightness different from the brightness of the zone of the environment that surrounds it; and a second stage following the first: determining in at least one second image ( 30 ) taken by the controllable camera ( 1 ) after said first images ( 20 ), the vector (V d ) corresponding to the movement of said image point relative to its reference position determined with said first images; and in processing the second image ( 30 ) output by the controllable camera as a function of the modulus and the direction of said vector (V d ) in such a manner that relative to said three-dimensional frame of reference associated with the environment, said image point (P i ) returns to its reference position.