Abstract: A home videoconferencing system interfaces with traditional set-top boxes and typical home A/V equipment. The system includes a camera, a microphone, and a codec module. The module can couple to a modem connected to a television network and can couple to a display and a set-top box. Alternatively, the module can connect to a network for exchanging videoconference data and can connect between the set-top box and the display. The set-top box can connect to the television network on its own.

Abstract: A home videoconferencing system interfaces with traditional set-top boxes and typical home A/V equipment. The system includes a camera, a microphone, and a codec module. The module can couple to a modem connected to a television network and can couple to a display and a set-top box. Alternatively, the module can connect to a network for exchanging videoconference data and can connect between the set-top box and the display. The set-top box can connect to the television network on its own.

Abstract: A home videoconferencing system interfaces with traditional set-top boxes and typical home A/V equipment. The system includes a camera, a microphone, and a codec module. The module can couple to a modem connected to a television network and can couple to a display and a set-top box. Alternatively, the module can connect to a network for exchanging videoconference data and can connect between the set-top box and the display. The set-top box can connect to the television network on its own.

Abstract: Apparatus and method are provided which receive and sample an incoming video image signal asynchronously, and then processes the signal to recover the video image, including video format, for conversion into a preselected video format. The apparatus and methods first sample the video signal using a stable (crystal oscillator) time base clock to reconstruct the frequency of the video signal, i.e., to recover the video format and then using a contrast optimization process to determine the video signal pixel clock rate.

Abstract: Grayscale image data obtained by scanning a document to be duplicated is partitioned into contiguous image data blocks which are processed to determine whether the portions of the image represented by the data blocks correspond to text or continuous tone portions of the document. An average grayscale value is determined for each data block and used as an indexing variable for at least one additional characteristic determined for the block. Disclosed additional characteristics include a block variance, a block edge count, a block agreement count and a block text average. A one dimensional Gaussian distribution is generated to distribute the data values of any additional characteristics for each possible grayscale value of a block. The mean and standard deviation are determined for each data distribution and the Mahalanobis distance for each characteristic data value is determined.