Freeze Frame Research Articles

A unified approach to restoration, deinterlacing and resolution enhancement in decoding MPEG-2 video

The quality and spatial resolution of video can be improved by combining multiple pictures to form a single superresolution picture. We address the special problems associated with pictures of variable but somehow parameterized quality such as MPEG-decoded video. Our algorithm provides a unified approach to restoration, chrominance upsampling, deinterlacing, and resolution enhancement. A decoded MPEG-2 sequence for interlaced standard definition television (SDTV) in 4:2:0 is converted to: (1) improved quality interlaced SDTV in 4:2:0; (2) interlaced SDTV in 4:4:4; (3) progressive SDTV in 4:4:4; (4) interlaced high-definition TV (HDTV) in 4:2:0; (5) progressive HDTV in 4:2:0. These conversions also provide features such as freeze frame and zoom. The algorithm is mainly targeted at bit rates of 4-8 Mb/s. The algorithm is based on motion-compensated spatial upsampling from multiple images and decimation to the desired format. The processing involves an estimated quality of individual pixels based on MPEG image type and local quantization value. The mean-squared error (MSE) is reduced, compared to the directly decoded sequence, and annoying ringing artifacts, including mosquito noise, are effectively suppressed. The superresolution pictures obtained by the algorithm are of much higher visual quality and have lower MSE than superresolution pictures obtained by simple spatial interpolation.

The Ambiguous Aura of Hollywood Stars in Avant-Garde Found-Footage Films

When working with footage of Hollywood stars, avant-garde filmmakers subject these stars' images to a complex dialectic of critique and admiration, analysis and appreciation, deconstruction and reconstruction. The resulting images invest the stars' original auras with a new, more ambiguous significance.

Editorial: What Is the Big Picture?

It is hard not to see September 11, 2001, as a frozen moment. A snapshot heard around the world. In the minds of many it was a defining time when everything changed. The freeze frame of hypnotic slow motion sharpened edges as much as blurred boundaries. While the initial disbelief found voice in an and them reaction, later calls understandably urged us to keep an eye on the bigpicture. Yet to visit the hole in the sky in lower Manhattan removed the comfort of the TV frame in a way that opened up new frailties of scale. Humanness became at once small and vulnerable, majestic and undeniable, yet also shadowy and unfathomable. For the many that wrap their reality around a world where art, education, and life all exist in tandem tension these times cannot be denied. But, what, indeed, is the big picture? What does the big picture reveal, and how might those of us charged with the task of teaching help to shape its making and understanding? First, what does the big picture represent? To some, the big picture is an emblem of democracy. The baby years of the new millennium are already being characterized as a period of post-development that follows in the wake of the fledgling democracies emerging from the past decades. Is it feasible that third and fourth world countries continue to be seen as developing in the shadow of first world economies? If the goal is global standards of citizenship, what does democracy look like? Further, what is the educational goal within this borderless landscape? As a common quest, it seems that educating for democracy awaits re-conceptualization. Then again, what are the art educational goals? Does art learning seek to achieve individual development and cultural progress, and is the art lesson mainly seen as a form of cultural investment? For others, the big picture represents alternative perspectives. This is an acknowledgment that we do, indeed, live within a disparate world of villages, and educational goals are directed towards cultural diversity, sharing, and tolerance. While the pragmatics of pluralism are relatively daunting, the payoff is believed to be worth it. In this scenario the art lesson becomes the change agent as art learning strives to empower the individual. Conversely, for someone who values local and regional interests, the big picture will actually be quite small. In this situation curriculum content is sought from within and is shaped by values shared by a group. As a consequence art learning serves instrumental goals and is mostly seen to illustrate views. The second question to ask is who creates the big picture? A popular response is to see that the big picture is made by artists of all ages. …

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Swimming behaviour in Monoporeia affinis (Crustacea: Amphipoda) - dependence on temperature and population density.

Swimming speed and swimming activity of the nocturnally active benthic amphipod Monoporeia affinis were measured in water temperatures from 3 to 18 degrees C and different population densities in the laboratory. Swimming speed increased with increasing temperature. Increasing water temperature reduced the percentage of active animals in the population, as measured by a "freeze frame" technique. At 7 and 10 degrees C a higher percentage of the population was active in higher animal densities. In all tested conditions swimming activity was highest at about 1 h after light-off and lowest shortly before the predicted time of light-on. The consequences of the documented behavioural responses to environmental stimuli are discussed in relation to population dynamics.

Evaluating Environmental Scenes Using Dynamic Versus Static Displays

Perceivers’ assessments of dynamic and static displays of environmental scenes were compared to evaluate how readily responses to static displays can be extrapolated to experience in situ. The dynamic displays were videotaped segments taken along a route presenting transition events characterized by the property mystery. The static displays were freeze frames from each segment. Results indicated that assessments of static displays do not simply parallel those of dynamic displays. Preference ratings were higher for static displays, but preference ratings in the dynamic condition were more strongly correlated with a wider range of variables. Moreover, epistemic ratings were higher for dynamic than static displays. Turn segments of the route, where the greatest amount of new information is revealed, produced the highest ratings on epistemic and evaluative variables. Differences across display modes point to a greater need for understanding environmental perceiving in relation to the dynamic quality of everyday experiences.

Picture story. Freeze frame.

Picture story. Freeze frame.

The task-capability interface model of the driving process

The aim of this paper is to expound a model of the determinants of driving task difficulty and driver capability and of the process by which collisions on the road occur it arises from a rejection of the concept of risk as currently used in behaviour adaptation models such as Risk Homeostasis theory and redefines it in terms of the threat of being unable to respond to the demands of the driving task with a safe outcome. It is argued that rather than probability of crashing, it is probability of loss of control — of the vehicle or of the driving task more generality — that represents the true nature of risk in the driving situation [ Summala, 1985]. The model attempts to integrate cognitive, human factor motivational, social, vehicle and environmental factors in a broad concetual frame work At the heart of the model is the interface between the demands of the driving task to achieve a safe outcome and what the driver is momentarily able to do; his or her capability. In this way it attempts to provide a freeze frame view of the driver's situation at any moment in time.

Freeze Frame: Alaska Eskimos In the Movies

Freeze Frame: Alaska Eskimos In the Movies. ANN FIENUP‐RIORDAN. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995. xxi. 234 pp., maps, illustrations, filmography, references, index.

Freeze Frame: Alaska Eskimos in the Movies

Freeze Frame takes a penetrating, often humorous, look at how Eskimos have been portrayed in nearly a century of film, from the pioneering documentaries of missionaries and Arctic explorers to Eskimo Pie commercials of the 1990s. Some of these works are serious attempts to depict a culture; others are unabashed entertainment, featuring papier mache igloos and zebra-skin parkas. Even film-makers who sought authenticity were likely to build igloos in villages that had never seen one, and to hire non-Native actors to portray the Eskimo principals. groundbreaking film, Nanook of the North, released in 1922, solidified the popular impression of Eskimos and set the precedent for dozens of ethnographic docudramas to follow. Freeze Frame documents the ideas that motivate and lie behind this abundant generation of images. first study to look at the popular image of Alaska Eskimos, it makes an important contribution to our understanding of Native American stereotyping. Anthropologist, Ann Fienup-Riordan is the author of numerous books on the peoples of Alaska, including The Living Tradition of Yupik Masks: Agayuliyararput, Our Way of Making Prayer.

Freeze Frame

The SciencesVolume 36, Issue 6 p. 22-26 Freeze Frame JOHN HALLETT, JOHN HALLETT John Hallett: is Edgar J. Marston professor of atmospheric physics at the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada in Reno. Through airborne measurements and laboratory investigations, he studies how the physics and chemistry of ice affect the formation of individual particles of snow and rain, the transfer of radiation in the atmosphere, and the climate. He works under grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA.Search for more papers by this author JOHN HALLETT, JOHN HALLETT John Hallett: is Edgar J. Marston professor of atmospheric physics at the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada in Reno. Through airborne measurements and laboratory investigations, he studies how the physics and chemistry of ice affect the formation of individual particles of snow and rain, the transfer of radiation in the atmosphere, and the climate. He works under grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA.Search for more papers by this author First published: November‐December 1996 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1996.tb03714.xCitations: 2 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume36, Issue6November‐December 1996Pages 22-26 RelatedInformation

An inexpensive videoprojection/digitization system for behavioral research

We present an inexpensive approach to image analysis of spatial coordinates for behavioral research. Image analysis of still video images (freeze frames) with current technology can be prohibitively expensive, as well as time consuming. The system outlined here provides an accurate, inexpensive, and fast approach to acquiring information from videotape. It consists simply of a video monitor, bellows, large diameter lens, and a digitizing tablet. The images are projected onto a digitizing tablet, and data acquisition is controlled with a series of three functions written in APL. We used this system to acquire positional information on fish responding to the threat of aerial predation. We discuss several approaches to design and construction of this system, as well as provide computer listings for initiation of communication with digitization boards.

Optimum Backwashing of Filters with Air Scour: A Review

The problems occurring in the filtration facilities of water treatment plants, such as mudballs and poor initial filtrate quality are associated with the effectiveness of backwashing. Backwashing with water alone to fluidize the media is an inherently weak cleaning process. The effectiveness of backwashing is significantly improved by the use of air scour simultaneously with subfluidization water wash. When air and subfluidization water flowed concurrently through porous media, a condition termed “collapse- pulsing” occurred in which air pockets formed and collapsed within the bed. A theory has been developed that predicted the combinations of air and water flows that caused collapse-pulsing to occur. Model filter systems have shown that the fluid mechanical condition termed “collapse-pulsing” is also the condition of optimum removal of particles from the media grains during backwashing. The theoretical aspects of collapse-pulsing have been confirmed with an experimental filter system having an endoscope, high speed video system with freeze frame capability for visual observations and an XY Coordinator with computer hardware and software which enabled the determination of velocities of filter grains during air scour. Additional studies on optimum removal of particles from media during air scour have also demonstrated that the results may be extended to dual media filters and are valid at the plant scale too.

The primary‐care nurse's dilemmas: a study of knowledge use and need during telephone consultations

In Sweden (population 8 million) there are 20 million calls every year to receptionist nurses at health-care centres. The aim of this study was, first, to develop a general description of these telephone consultations in terms of the decision-making process and interpersonal communication. Second, the dilemmas that receptionist nurses encounter were to be recorded and analysed. A two-level video method was used. At the first level, a video recording of the consultation was used to draw a 'consultation map'. At the second level, the receptionist nurses reviewed and commented on the video-recording using a 'freeze frame' technique for stimulated recall and the comments were categorized. Analysis of the consultation maps showed that the receptionist nurses focused mainly on tasks related to medical diagnosis and management strategy, with less time spent on the patient's concerns, ideas and expectations. Analysis of the dilemmas showed that medical dilemmas were the most frequent, occurring in two consultations out of three. Dilemmas in the area of interpersonal communication frequently concerned distrust, either in what the patient presented, or in what the patient was said to have understood. The conclusions are that the receptionist nurses were oriented towards medical management, and that they employed an informing rather than counselling strategy. Measures must be considered to support the receptionist nurses in the medical decision-making process. Action research is suggested to apply these results in the development of the work-role of the receptionist nurse.

Image and Signal Processing in Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging

An overview of signal-processing techniques used in the acquisition, display, manipulation, and analysis of echo scan data is presented. The principles of time-gain compensation, selective enhancement, log compression, fill-in interpolation, edge enhancement, image updating, write zoom, gray scale mapping, black/white inversion, freeze frame, frame averaging, read zoom, thresholding, contrast enhancement, filtering, and region-of-interest definition are reviewed. The concept of gray scale mapping, which dictates how the stored scan data are displayed, is explained with many illustrative examples.

Experience rounding with a hand-held two-dimensional cardiac ultrasound device

W e prospectively evaluated use of a miniature handheld 2-dimensional cardiac ultrasound device in the initial evaluation of acutely ill cardiac patients to test whether immediate cardiac imaging with such an instrument was useful in the cardiologist’s evaluation of the patient. Our hypothesis was that the miniature unit, despite its limited cardiac imaging ability, would provide clinically useful data conveniently. The study group consisted of 64 consecutive acutely ill patients evaluated by the cardiology critical care team over a 2-month period. All patients had an echocardiogram using the miniature device as part of their initial evaluation by a cardiologist (KQS). This evaluation included a history, physical examination, electrocardiogram, chest roentgenogram and routine blood work. In all patients, the miniature unit was the initial cardiac imaging tool used (except chest roentgenography in some cases). After each full evaluation and before additional cardiac imaging, the examining physician recorded a subjective assessment as to whether the study device provided information that answered the primary clinical question and therefore injluenced diagnostic or management plans. Confirmatory diagnostic data were sought within 3 days of admission (using cardiac catheterization with ventriculography, radionuclide angiography, standard echocardiography or Swan-Ganz catheterization). The study device was a 5-pound, battery powered, mechanical sector scanner, about the size of a hardbound book, with standard sized 3.5and ~-MHZ transducers (ScanMate, Damon Corp.) (Figure I). The rechargeable battery allowed approximately 30 minutes of continuous use. The 4.5 X 3 cm screen has 1 -cm scale dots on the edges of the image as the only on-screen help function. Controls are limited to on-off, gain, sector angle (40 to 80 continuously adjustable) and depth (10 to 18 cm). There are no capabilities for freeze frame, electrocardiogram display, M-mode, Doppler or hardcopy/video recording. Photographs of the screen can be made with a modified Polaroid camera. An example of an image obtained with the miniature unit is shown in Figure 2. A total of 71 studies was completed on 64 patients over a 2-month period. The time required to complete a study averaged <lo minutes (no time is spent making hard copies, video recording or performing M-mode or Doppler). All imaging was performed from standard parasternal, apical and subcostal windows. Images adequate to address the primary clinical question, such as wall motion in acute myocardial infarction, were ob-

Suzanne Lacy: Social Reformer and Witch

In the summer of 1982, Suzanne Lacy was in San Francisco producing Freeze Frame: Room for Living Room, one of her huge visionary pieces. It involved more than ioo women: groups of old, black churchwomen, old Jewish women, prostitutes, young professional women, bridge players, nuns, pregnant women, Chicana artists, teenagers, disabled women, and many others. Commissioned by the San Francisco International Theater Festival, Freeze Frame was staged in an expensive, elegant furniture showroom. It attracted a large audience (as diverse as the performers) who gathered around to listen to the women as they sat at tables and on sofas, chairs, and beds, talking amongst themselves about survival-emotional, financial, and political. In the fall of that year, Lacy, who had returned to her home in Los Angeles, wrote to me in La Jolla about the painful stresses of her private life, ending her letter with: need some vision, some exciting image to go for. [. ..] or is that possible in flat, burnt-out Los Angeles? I constantly think about a hundred or two old women in white, standing on the cliffs and by the side of the mountain, sitting on the beach around white tablecloths, telling each other secrets: 'Whisper, the Waves, the Wind.' Right down the street from your house! Secrets about dying? (Lacy 1982b). Two years later, after a year of intense organizing in the local community, Lacy created the brilliant, sunlit image of her Whisper, the Waves, the Wind in which over s15o white-clad women from a wide variety of cultural, racial, and class backgrounds and ranging in age from 60 to 98, sat on a La Jolla beach at small, white-covered tables.' On the cliffs above, I,ooo people watched and listened to the women's prerecorded voices as

Assessing the Usefulness of a Cartographic Curiosity: The 1673 Map of a Sugar Island

Abstract During the colonial period, maps of the New World were important sources of information to Europeans, providing graphic depictions of the resources and inhabitants of new lands as well as of the progress being made by colonists. Today these historic maps are intriguing to scholars, yet they are rarely used to the fullest extent possible as sources of historical data. The 1673 map of the eastern Caribbean island of Montserrat is used to demonstrate how cartometry, documentary research, and field study can be used to reap valuable information from a supposed unreliable source. After I corrected the map for spatial distortion, I checked the data it contained against contemporary documents and the results of archaeological and geographical field research. My conclusion is the map is so accurate that it may serve as a freeze frame of seventeenth-century colonial agency.

An improved video multiplexer for behavioral research

Wellens and Revert (1979) described a solid-state circuit that allowed two sources of video information to be multiplexed and recorded using one videotape machine. On playback, the demultiplexed video signal allowed the original video channels to be viewed independently on separate television monitors. Recent changes in videocassette recorder technology have improved the playback quality of recorded images but disrupt the demultiplexing process when freeze frame or search options are selected. Improved multiplexing techniques that overcome these limitations are described.

Digital TV

Digital TV, from a TV manufacturer's standpoint, could simply imply replacement of the conventional analog video signal processing system in a color TV receiver by digital signal processing. This concept could also be extended to the low level audio and deflection systems portion of the TV set. Digital TV could also imply the addition of "digital" features such as Picture-in- Picture (PIP), Multi Picture-in-Picture (MPIP), Freeze Frame, Zoom, etc. and picture performance improvements such as Progressive Scan, motion-compensated Noise Reduction and Frame Combing, etc. These latter schemes need storage of a field and/or frame of video information. This paper gives an overview of the above concepts and addresses them from several viewpoints, including implementation, cost, manufacturing advantages, picture quality etc.