JPS61182035A - Method for recording audiovisual slide presentation - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field This invention relates to photographic slide transparencies;
In particular, it concerns recording spoken language on slides.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Schwartz (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,014,604 and 4,102,569) describes a diapositive, a frame with a window associated with the diapositive, and a soundtrack carrier on a portion of the frame. Teaching audio slides with. The audio track carrier is coated on both sides with a layer of magnetic material. One or more pairs of magnetic recording and reproducing heads are supported by a carrier that is rotatable, linearly displaceable, or both simultaneously to scan the magnetic material. One problem with using magnetic materials for recording is that their information storage capacity is low. A standard 2x2 inch frame is
It must be expanded to hold 30 to 60 seconds of speech. Holding more than two minutes of speech is not possible without more than doubling the dimensions of the frame beyond the standard dimensions.

Yet another problem is that magnetic recording media wear out. In addition to the wear caused by contact with the recording and playback heads, the media also suffers when multiple slides are stacked together or during handling.

In the past, the film industry used 35ml to carry visual images.
An audio track recorded on a 0.1 inch wide strip of 1l film was used. Sound is typically recorded on film by varying the exposure to light in response to the sound vibrations. Synchronization of audio and photography allows the video to be accompanied by analog data about the image.

The purpose of this invention is to record audio directly onto a film slide.
It is to provide a means for recording control data and digitized visual images to accompany the images before, during, or after exposure to form such images.

Another object of this invention is to record audio on high capacity media such that it can be recorded for 30 to 60 seconds on a standard 2 inch by 2 inch frame.

Another object of the invention is to provide a medium that does not require contact between the recording or playback technique and the medium and is wear resistant.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The above objects are met by a novel method for recording an audiovisual slideshow using photographic slides.

Each slide has a photographic image attached to a holder. This holder has a border area surrounding an image in which a strip of laser recording material that is direct read or thermally developed is placed. The image may also be generated using computer graphics. good.

After assembling a set of slides with photographs covering a wide topic and placing a laser recording strip on the slide, a data pattern is written onto the strip with a laser. The laser beam records data on the strip by ablation, melting, physical or chemical change, or deformation, forming a spot that exhibits a change in reflectance detectable by a photodetector. In this way, data regarding the visual image can be recorded and read directly from the strip.

The data patterns correspond to the spoken words that give the built-in characteristics of the pictures on the slide. The spoken word may be human speech spoken into a microphone and digitized (or the spoken word may be artificial speech, such as phonemic speech; digital information representing a control signal; or Alphanumeric information displayed on a CRT display may also be recorded on the strip. Music may also be recorded.

When the recording strip is a direct read-after-write material, no post-laser recording treatment is required for the strip. Laser recording materials that require heat treatment after laser recording can also be used. The uniform surface reflectance of this strip before recording is typically
It will be in the range of 8% to 65%. Laser recording may create a low reflectivity spot in a reflective field, or a highly reflective spot in a low reflectance field. The average reflectivity of laser-recorded holes is in the range of 5% to 25% in high reflectivity fields and 40% in low reflectivity fields.
It may be in the range of 50% to 50%. Thus, the reflective contrast ratio of the recorded holes would be in the range of 2:1 and 7:1. Photographic pre-formatting will produce spots with 10% reflectivity in high reflectance fields or 40% reflectance in low reflectivity fields. Processing of the exposed silver halide emulsion has no effect on the recordability of the reflective strip. If the substrate used is transparent, the recorded data may also be read out by light transmission through the recorded holes.

An advantage of this invention is that a 1 inch long strip of 1611 wide laser recording material can produce 50 seconds of human speech or 8 seconds of human speech.
It is capable of retaining minutes of phonemic speech. The strip attaches flush to the slide border of a standard 2" x 2" slide. Furthermore, since reading is performed using a laser, no wear occurs due to contact with the read head. The strip can also be protected against scratches by a laminated plastic coating or other means.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1, the recording medium of the present invention is seen to include a photographic film 11 having a flat major surface 13 divided into a photographic image area 15 and a data strip 17. obtain. Photographic film 11 is preferably in sheet form, such as a slide transparency film. Photo image territory ti! 15 is a conventional photographic image, produced by conventional photographic techniques, typically exposing and developing film.

This image may also be generated by computer graphics. The image area 15 may occupy the entire film, except for the data strip or discrete areas shown in FIG.

Several images may be provided on one film member. Alternatively, only one image may be on the film, such as in a slide transparency film.

The invention features an optical data strip 17 that is a DRAW material that may have pre-recorded information or user-written information or both. The type of DRAW material used may be a relatively highly reflective material that forms a shiny field against the pits, craters, and holes in the reflective surface that seek to absorb light energy.

Differences in contrast between the pits and the shiny reflective field surrounding them cause the detector to detect spots when those spots are illuminated by less intense light than the light that originally created them. causes fluctuations in Alternatively, the material may form a reflective spot for the absorbing field. An example of the latter type is described in US Pat. No. 4,343,879.

Data strip 17 is intended to provide spoken word to accompany a photographic image on the same material, just as a movie soundtrack accompanies a series of frames of film. Data is written in longitudinally extending individual tracks, as shown by spot patterns 19, and these spot patterns are such that the data tracks contain a much higher information density and are typically in transmission rather than in transmission. Similar to a film soundtrack, except it is read out in reflection. The information density is greater because each of the spots on the data pattern is about 5 microns in diameter, with a spacing between spots of about 5-10 microns. These spots may be digital or analog data, but in either case, e.g. Bouldin et al.
ldin.

et al., US Pat. No. 4,278,756.

FIG. 2 shows that larger photographic media 21 are arranged in rows 23
．． 1st except used with 25 and 27
Similar to the figure. Corresponding data strips 33, 35 and 37 accompany each row of images.

These data strips are similar in configuration to the strips of FIG. Again, each row need not have an individually different image. Each row may consist of multiple images or one image. The embodiment of FIG. 2 is a microfiche type medium in which each row of images has corresponding data on a data strip. The image is such that it can be seen with the naked eye or with low magnification (magnification) optics. On the other hand, the data strip cannot be read with the naked eye, but needs to be read out by microscopy or preferably by reflection of a scanning laser beam as described below.

In FIG. 3, a photographic slide 10 for use in an audiovisual slide show is shown. Photo image 12 is! &12
The holder 14 has a border 16 surrounding the holder 14 . Typically, the image is on a 24 x 36 mm transparency mounted in a conventional 2 x 2 inch mount, but slides of other dimensions may be constructed. Multiple slide projectors also accept unmounted slides as replacements for the single image of FIG. 1, for example. The holder or mounted slide may be cardboard or preferably plastic.

On the border 16 of the holder 14 is a strip 1 of DRAW laser recording material with laser-written speech.
8 is provided. The laser creates a spot 20 that shows a change in reflectance on the strip. The contrast difference between the spot 20 and the surrounding field of the strip 18 can be detected by a photodetector when the spot is illuminated with a light intensity that is less than the light that originally created the spot. When provided on conventionally sized boundaries 16, the strips may be up to 2 inches long. The strips are typically 16em wide. Alternatively, the strip may be placed directly on the film, adjacent to the image, as in FIG.

The speech is recorded as a data pattern of spots 20. The data may be human speech, which is spoken into a microphone and then converted to a digital signal. Drexler et al.
U.S. Patent No. 4.28 issued to tal)
A 16 inch wide, 1 inch long strip of the material described in 4.716 can hold 50 seconds of human speech. Artificial speech may also be recorded using a computer. Three different techniques for synthesizing speech are described in Business-Week.
k), “Ta1kino Chips: Now
, More Choices,” page 68A, E.
, July 28, 1980. Phonemic speech may be used to record ten times more speech than human speech.

FIG. 4 shows a set of slides 29 forming an audio-visual slide show. These slides are of FIG. 3, or alternatively, are in the single image format of FIG.

Each of the slides in the collection has images that address a wide range of topics. Sets 29 are assembled and a strip of laser recording material 18 is placed on each of the slides. A data pattern corresponding to a spoken word is written on each of the strips 18 using a laser. The recorded words typically provide a built-in feature of the photographic image on the slide. After writing the spoken words on the strip, a subset of slides taken from the set may be assembled. A subset of slides deals with a topic within the broader topic that makes up the slide show.

FIG. 5 shows a first configuration of the recording medium shown in FIG. The cross-sectional view includes a substrate 22, which is transparent and may be one of a number of polymeric substrate materials known in the photographic art.

Alternative layers, not shown, and emulsion layer 24 are applied to substrate 22. This emulsion layer has photographic image areas 15 created by exposure and development in the conventional manner.

The undulating lines 26 represent fibrous black silver particles, which characterize the black and bright images of conventional photographs. Data strip 17 is one of many laser recording materials. For example, it can be applied by the silver diffusion transfer process described in U.S. Pat.
A laser recording material made from silver halide emulsions with fine grain sizes, smaller than 1 micron.

In the patented process, a silver halide emulsion is exposed to non-saturating levels of actinic radiation to activate the silver halide. The activated emulsion is then photodeveloped to red light to a gray color with an optical density of 0.05-2.0 to form an absorbing underlayer. No fixing occurs after this first development step. The surface of the emulsion strip is first fogged with a fogging agent such as boron hydride to nucleate silver precipitation from the unexposed and undeveloped portions of the silver halide emulsion. The strip is then contacted with a bath containing a silver halide solvent and a silver reducing agent to complex and transfer the remaining unexposed and undeveloped silver and form a reflective non-fiber at the location of the nuclei on the surface. It is reduced to silver. Reflective layer is 20%
It contains 1% to 50% silver particles, of which 1% to 50% is silver above the lines formed in the initial development step. Beneath the reflective layer is an absorbent underlayer.

The reflective surface layer is characterized by non-fibrous particles 28 overlying a concentration of fibrous particles forming an absorbent underlayer. An untreated silver halide buffer area 30, which generally remains transparent, separates the data strip from the image area because it has not been exposed or developed.

Buffer region 30 is not necessary, but desirable;
Because the chemical treatment of data strip 17 is
This is because it is different from the processing in step 5. The buffer region ll1Ii30 may be fixed to remove the silver halide so that the region remains transparent.

This is optional. Both treatments may be performed by spraying the chemical onto the surface of the film, with the mask covering the buffer area 30. Such atomization processes are well known in photolithography. However, in the present case, it may be necessary to proceed in two steps.

In a first step, conventional photographic processing of image area 26 is performed. The image area, along with the buffer area 30, is then masked to allow further processing of the data strap 28. After processing is complete, a transparent layer 32 is applied to the emulsion to form a protective layer. Layer 32 may be any of the well known protective coatings and includes a layer of clear gelatin.

Apart from the data strip 17, the rest of the film need not have fine grain size. Data strips 17 can also be added to photographic film in the form of adhesive tape, which is adhered to the photographic film either before or after the film is developed.

FIG. 6 shows that, except when substrate 34 is coated with silver halide emulsion only to the right of line 36,
Similar to Figure 5. Image area 15 is exposed, developed and fixed. A protective coating 38 may then be applied. Preformed strip 40 of laser recording material
may be provided on the substrate. This may be a strip of Drexon material.

Drekunun is based on the aforementioned U.S. Patent No. 4,312.9.
is a trademark of Drexla Technology Corporation for reflective silver-based laser recording materials, as described in No. 38. Such a preformed strip of laser recording material has its own thin substrate 39 carrying the emulsion layer. Alternatively, the recording material can be used, for example, as described by De Bont, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230. al.
Any of the other direct read after write laser recording materials as described in US Pat. No. 938,
This patent covers Bi, Te, Ind, Sn, Cu, AIJ
,, Pt, Au, Rh, As, Sb
teaches thin metallic recording layers of reflective metals such as , Ge, Se, Ga. Preferred materials are those with high reflectivity and low melting points, especially Cd, Sn
, T1. Ind.

Bi and amalgam. These materials may be formed directly onto the substrate 34, such as by sputtering, or may be prefabricated onto a very thin substrate and adhered to the substrate by alternate layers.

After depositing the laser recording material on the substrate, a transparent protective coating 44 is applied. This coating material may be the same as the protective material 38.

Referring to FIG. 7, the substrate 52 has a notch or groove 54 that has a DRAW
Allows placement of material 56. This laser recording material is
In situ, from a silver halide material pre-existing in the groove, as in the case of FIG. 5, or from a pre-existing laser recording material placed in the groove, as in the case of FIG. may also be processed. In either case, photographic image areas 15 are exposed and developed as usual, while unexposed and undeveloped areas 58 protect data strips 56. Since emulsion area 58 is unexposed and undeveloped, it remains transparent and forms a protective layer on the data strip.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8, there are no grooves in the substrate 60. Rather, photographic image areas 15 are exposed and developed in the conventional manner, and the remainder of the substrate is covered with an emulsion that is masked and protected from exposure and development, leaving protected areas 62 exposed and developed. Form.

On top of the protected area 62 a strip of laser recording material 64 is positioned. This laser recording material is
When the data strip 17 of FIG. 5 is processed, it may be formed in situ by applying a silver halide emulsion strip to be processed, or by a preformed strip applied as shown in FIG. There may be. This strip is then covered with a protective coating 66.

Referring to FIG. 9, a substrate 70 is shown which carries a photographic image in a portion of the substrate not shown. This image may be on the surface of the substrate or in a groove in the substrate, as described above.

The substrate carries a secondary substrate 72 which is a thin flexible material and only a few mils thick of solder carries the laser recording material 74.

Secondary substrate 72 is adhered to primary substrate 70 by an adhesive or sticky substance similar to the transfer adhesive found on tape. The laser recording material is a DREX material, except that a secondary substrate 72 is used in place of the previously described substrate.
It may be any of the materials discussed above, such as ON materials. A protective coating 76 is applied over the laser recording material. Using this embodiment, prior art photographs may be converted to optical data and image media of the present invention. In this situation, although not shown in the drawing of FIG. 9, a portion of the image area is converted into a non-image area by applying an adhesive laser recording material. The laser recording material is similar to FIG. 8, except that the emulsion is exposed and developed in the area underlying the secondary substrate.
overlying the developed silver halide emulsion.

In all of these embodiments, the strip of laser recording material is positioned adjacent to one or more photographic images to provide a similar quality of data storage for data as for photographic images. . Comments in the form of alphanumeric characters, audio or digitized photographs may be recorded adjacent to the photographic image. By this measure, audio and visual forms of communication are not separated. This arrangement is particularly valuable for adding spoken word attachments that give the built-in character of the photographic image on the slide.

Of course, the photographic image may be read out by conventional means, but a low power laser or photodetector array device must be used to read out the data strip.

The laser apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 10, which shows a side view of the longitudinal dimension of the medium of FIG. 1 consisting of a data strip in combination with a photographic image. The data strip portion 41 of this medium is typically received in a movable holder 42 that brings the strip into the trajectory of the laser beam. A laser light source 43, preferably a pulsed semiconductor laser of infrared wavelength, emits a beam 45 which passes through optical means 47 for creating and converging parallel beams.

The beam is sampled by beam splitter 49, which transmits a portion of the beam through converging lens 51 to photodetector 53. Detector 53 confirms laser writing. The beam is directed to a first servo-controlled mirror 55 which is mounted for rotation along an axis 57 in the direction indicated by the arrow. The purpose of the mirror 55 is, in the coarse mode of operation, to find the lateral edge of the data strip, and then, in the fine mode of operation, to identify the data path that exists at a predetermined distance from the edge. It is.

A beam is directed from the mirror 55 in the ff161 direction.

This mirror is mounted for rotation on a pivot 63. The purpose of mirror 55 is to provide fine control of the beam movement along the length of the data strip.

Coarse control of the longitudinal section of the data strip with respect to the beam is achieved by movement of the movable holder 42. Holder position may be established by a linear motor regulated by a closed loop position subsystem of the type used in magnetic disk drives. Reference position information may be pre-recorded on the card so that a position error signal may be generated and used as feedback in motor control. When reading one data path.

Mirror 55 is rotated slightly. The motor moves the holder 42 in the longitudinal direction so that its path can be read out again, for example. When light is scattered and reflected from a spot of laser recording material, the reflectivity of the beam changes with respect to the surrounding material where no spot is present.

The beam should deliver enough laser energy to the surface of the storage material to create a spot of altered reflectivity in the data cooling mode, but not to create surface fragmentation that creates difficulties in the data readout mode. Don't be fooled. The wavelength of the laser must be compatible with the recording material to achieve this purpose. In storage mode, the output is approximately 5% to 10% of the record or write output.

The difference in reflectance between the bit and the surrounding material is detected by a photodetector 65, which may be a photodiode. The light is focused onto detector 65 by beam splitter 67 and focusing lens 69 . A servo motor, not shown, controls the position of the mirror and drives the mirror according to instructions received not only from the feedback device but also from the control circuit. Detector 65 generates electrical signals corresponding to the bits. Other optical means, not shown, are used to observe the optical image, while data is read or written on the data strip.

Photodetector arrays such as CODs may also be used. It can be either a linear array or an area array. The number of detector elements per track will be approximately 3 elements to create readout redundancy. The surface will be illuminated with low cost light emitting diodes that produce output primarily in the near infrared to match the sensitivity spectrum of the photodetector array.

The process of recording speech on slide 10 is shown in FIG. Human speech is recorded by speaking into microphone 71.

Sound waves are converted into electrical signals by a microphone. An analog-to-digital converter 73, connected to microphone 71, samples the amplitude of the electrical signal from the microphone and converts it to a digital signal. The numbering rate of A/D converter 73 is typically 25,000 to 50,000 bits per second. Alternatively, a digital signal representative of artificial speech, such as phonemic speech, may be obtained from computer 77. A person may enter data into the computer 77 through an input device 75, such as a computer keyboard.

Digital signals from computer 77 or A/D converter 73 communicate with modulator 79 to control laser 81. Scanning and focusing optics 83, such as the optics described with reference to FIG. 10, direct the laser beam onto the strip of laser recording material on slide 10.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a top view of an optical data storage medium for use with the transparencies of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a top view of another optical data storage medium for use with the transparencies of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the photographic slide of the invention. FIG. 4 is a top view of a set of slides forming the slide show of the present invention. 5-8 are alternating cross-sectional configurations of the media of FIG. 1 taken along line A--A of FIG. FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of an alternating optical data storage medium. 10 is a plan view of an optical device for reading and writing to the data strip portion of the media shown in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of the steps for writing spoken words on the media of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a photographic film, 13 is a principal surface, 15 is a photographic image area, 17 is a data strip, 19 is a spot pattern, 23.25 and 27 are images, 33.35 and 37 are data strips, and 30 is a buffer area. , 26 is an image area, 28 is a data strip, 10 is a photo slide,
14 is a holder, 16 is a border, and 29 is a set of slides. Patent applicant Drexler Chikunoroshii = ηφ10

Claims (12)

[Claims] (1) A method for recording an audiovisual slide show, the method comprising collecting a set of slides, each slide having a photographic image covering a broad topic, and each slide having a border surrounding the photographic image. placing a laser recording material in the border area of the photographic slides creating said set of slides, and depositing on said laser recording material, with a laser, data corresponding to spoken words imparting embedded features of the photographic image on the slides; A method for recording an audio-visual slide show by writing a pattern and assembling a subset of slides from a set of slides that address a topic within a broader topic, thereby forming a slide show. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the spoken language comprises human speech. (3) The method of claim 1, wherein the spoken language includes artificial speech. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the spoken language includes phonemic speech. (5) A photographic slide for use in an audiovisual slide show, comprising a photographic image mounted in a holder having a border surrounding the photographic image, and a strip of laser recording material disposed in the border, the strip a photographic slide having laser-written speech, said speech including features of a photographic image. (6) The slide according to claim 5, wherein the laser-written speech is human speech. (7) The slide according to claim 5, wherein the laser-written speech is artificial speech. (8) The slide according to claim 5, wherein the laser-written speech is phonemic speech. (9) When combined with similar slides having different photographic images, each slide having a unique laser-written speech containing features of the corresponding photographic image, thereby forming a slide show. Slide described in Section 5. 10. The slide of claim 5 comprising digital information recorded on said strip representing alphanumeric information to be displayed on an attached CRT display. 11. The slide of claim 5 including digital information recorded on said strip representing a control signal. (12) The slide according to claim 5, wherein the photograph is generated by computer graphics.