Adaptive scan converter

PATENT STATUS: Granted. A scan converter capable of converting from any of several input scan formats to a fixed output format, which may or may not have the same number of lines as the input, derives a current displayed (output) field or frame by interpolation from the current field of an input whose vertical scan frequency is the same as that of the output. The converter recognizes the number of lines in the input and automatically derives the appropriate interpolation routine to make the conversion to a desired fixed output format. Because th e vertical scan frequency is the same for the input and output, only a few lines of storage, instead of the frame store usually required, are needed to accomplish conversion with results comparable to that attainable when a full frame of information is stored.