NASA Scientists' Software Improves Video Quality

HUNTSVILLE, AL, May 5 -- NASA scientists have developed software technology that improves analysis of crime scene video. The technology also may prove useful in such applications as medical imaging, scientific applications and home video. A provisional patent has been filed, and the technology is expected to be available for licensing in the near future.
The video stabilization process, developed at Marshall Space Flight Center, does more than just remove noise or snow from videos. It eliminates flaws and blurs commonly found in poorly recorded video, and helps to stabilize images. It's like a video eraser, said David Hathaway, the technology's co-inventor at the Marshall Center. It removes defects due to image jitter, image rotation and image zoom in video sequences. Hathaway, a Marshall solar physicist, developed the software in order to clarify video images of the Sun. His partner, Paul Meyer, a Marshall atmospheric scientist, worked to refine image-processing techniques that assist in the analysis of space launch video and the study of meteorological images.