Appeal No. 2003-0261
Application No. 09/126,203
The Invention
The invention relates to a method for use in imaging systems. A liquid crystal
color shutter is placed in front of an image sensor, see page 9, lines 15-16 of
appellants’ specification. The shutter provides alterable transmission spectra in
different color bands, e.g., red, green blue. The shutter is switched between the
different bands to provide the image sensor with light in each band, thus the image
sensor generates signals for each color band. The signals from the sensor can then be
combined to create a color image, see page 10 of appellants’ specification. The signals
provided in each band includes an infrared component, see page 11, line 9-11 of
appellants’ specification. The shutter also includes a “black signal” which blocks the
color and includes only the infrared portion of the signal. This black signal is then
subtracted from the color signals to produce color signals which do not have an infrared
component, see page 11, lines 15-23 of appellants’ specification.
Claim 16 is representative of the appellants’ invention.
16. An imaging method comprising:
sequentially producing a first output indicative of incident infrared radiation and
the absence of incident visible light and a second output indicative of incident radiation
in both the visible and infrared spectra; and
subtracting said first and second outputs to produce an output corrected for
infrared and dark current noise.
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