Patent ID: 7933333

Claim:
A method of detecting an abandoned object in a video image comprising the steps of: connecting an MPEG compliant encoder to a video source that provides video images; storing a reference video frame; obtaining the current video image frame; determining the motion compensation for the current video image frame versus the reference video frame; comparing the motion compensation to a threshold value; compressing the current video image; storing an indication in the compressed video image that an abandoned object has been detected if the motion compensation is greater than the threshold value; starting a timer when the motion compensation is greater than the threshold value; continuing to increment the timer for each current video frame that has a motion compensation greater than the threshold value; resetting the timer if a current video frame has a motion compensation less than the threshold value; comparing the timer to a predetermined period of time; and indicating that an abandoned object has been detected if the timer is greater than the predetermined period of time.