Invalidity dossier
US 4263623
Slow-frame video camera/recorder and image-sensing and signal processing device for use therewith
Current assignee: Eastman Kodak Co
Added 9/23/2026, 6:13:14 PM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US 4,263,623 A
Title: "Slow-frame video camera/recorder and image-sensing and signal processing device for use therewith."
Assignee/Inventor: Original assignee Eastman Kodak Co. (assignment recorded 1980‑11‑06 to Eastman Kodak Company, N.J. corp.; assignors listed as Edmonds, Evan A. and Woo, Nea‑Yea). Inventors of record: Nea‑Yea Woo and Evan A. Edwards. (Note a spelling variance between "Edwards" and "Edmonds" as shown in the supplied text.)
Dates: Application no. US06/026,480; filed 1979‑04‑02; priority 1979‑04‑02; granted/published 1981‑04‑21; status "Expired – Lifetime," anticipated expiration 1999‑04‑02.
Purpose (per the excerpt): To reduce the bandwidth required of a video tape recorder so a self‑contained video camera/recorder can be miniaturized, trading vertical resolution — reminiscent of prior‑art "skip field" recording — by using extra recording time to lower recorder bandwidth rather than increase capacity.
Plain‑language scope: A solid‑state image sensing array generates a "slow‑frame" video signal (frames at a submultiple of standard field rate), which is recorded at that slow rate. On playback, frames are buffered, time‑compressed, and repeated to yield a standard field rate, with vertical resolution essentially that of a standard TV field. A single image sensing and signal processing device — first input register A, image sensing array B, second input register C, frame storage array D, and output register E — both generates the slow‑frame signal and, on playback (array B shielded), reads tape signals into array B, shifts charge to storage array D, reads out at a multiple of the original rate, and recirculates frames via register C for repeated readout. Operation resembles a frame‑transfer sensor, but at a slow‑frame rate. The device is described as a two‑phase CCD (could be three‑ or four‑phase, interline, surface or buried channel, optionally with a color filter array) on a semiconductor chip.
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US4263623/en
What the excerpt does not establish: It does not provide the full claims, the complete description, drawing details, or the identity of specific prior‑art references beyond a citation to U.S. Pat. No. 3,391,248. It also does not establish legal status as a conclusion, ownership beyond the recorded assignment, validity, or litigation history.
Generated 10/1/2026, 9:42:56 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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