Delay detector apparatus and method for plural image sequences

摘要

The apparatus and method described herein shows a system of determining the delay of a delayed version of a sequence of images with respect to a relatively undelayed version. The system operates to take multiple samples of the delayed and undelayed versions at approximately the same sample position on the image and to correlate these samples over multiple image frames to determine which of a plurality of delayed images most closely match a given undelayed image. By knowing which delayed image frame most closely matches a given undelayed image frame it is shown to arrive at a coarse number of frames of delay. A fine delay measurement is achieved by adding a measure of the instantaneous frame to frame delay with respect to a known corresponding feature of the respective video type signals. The invention is also useful for comparing a given image to other images to determine the closest match.