7D-A144 906 REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR CARTOGRAPHIC VIDEO vi

DISCS(U) ARMY ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHIC LABS FORT BELVOIR VAD J COSTANZO JUN 84 ETL-R-066p NCLASSIFIED F/G 8/2 NL

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A BEFORE COMPLETING FORM1. 1' ;;ORT NUMBER #- 1 906 NO. 3. RECIPIENT*, CATALOG NUMBER

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4. TITLE (and Subtitle) S. TYPE OF REPORT &PE 0 E 0

Requirements and Specifications for CartographiVideo Discs

6. PERFORMING ORG. R ORTXUMBER

7. AUTNOR(a) 5. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER(*)

Daniel J. Costanzo

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK SAREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERS

US Army Engineer Topographic LaboratoriesFort Belvoir, VA 22060-5546

1I. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS 12. REPORT DATESEE 9 June 1984

13. NUMBER OF PAGES•

14. MONITORING AGENCY NAME & ADORESS(iI different from Controlling Office) IS. SECURITY CLASS. (of this report)

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16. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of this Report)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited

17. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of the abstract entered In Block 20, It different from Report)

IS. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 5

19. KEY WORDS (Continue on reveres aide It necessary end Identify by block number) "

Video discs ICartographicMicrocomputers .Software Requirements and Specifications

20, ABSTRACT (Cuartibu am reverse aft f ne-easy mrd Identify by block number)

Video discs can store large quantities of analog (paper, film, and video tapeand digital cartographic products on a compact, nonvolatile medium. Thesediscs can be interfaced with microcomputers to provide compact and portablesystems for accessing this cartographic information. Such interactive videodisc systems could be used for terrain analysis, navigation, map use trainingand command and control.

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TITLE: Requirements and Specifications for CartographicVideo DiscsDANIEL J. COSTANZOU.S. Army Engineer Topographic LaboratoriesFort Belvoir, Virginia 22060

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Video discs can store large quantities of analog (paper,*film, and video tape) and digital cartographic products on acompact, nonvolatile medium. These discs can be interfacedwith microcomputers to provide compact and portable systemsfor accessing this cartographic information. Such interactivevideo disc systems could be used for terrain analysis,navigation, map use training, and command and control.

Video discs used for cartographic data storage should betreated as mapping products in the same way as analog anddigital cartographic products. Thus, there is a need todevelop requirements and specifications to design and toproduce these video discs. Particular attention is needed inthe following seven areas: planning, gathering sourcematerials, filming, transf-erring film to video tape,mastering, replicating, and developing software.

The U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories (ETL)recently began research i-nto requirements and specificationsfor these video discs. ETL is developing experimentalcartographic video discs, investigating video map graphicdesign, and studying new technologies for video discs

BIOGRAPH Y:PRESENT ASSIGNMENT: Physical Scientist, U.S. Army

Engineer Topographic Laboratories.PAST EXPERIENCE: Cartographic Technician, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, 1977-1980.9/

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REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONSFOR

CARTOGRAPHIC VIDEO DISCS

DANIEL J. COSTANZOU.S. ARMY ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHIC LABORATORIES

AUTOMATED CARTOGRAPHY BRANCHFORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA 22060

INTRODUCTION

Storage and rapid retrieval of cartographic data are majorproblems for the military user. Often source materials end upin disorganized piles, stuffed into map file cabinets, andcrammed into desk drawers. This problem is compounded by thefact that modern cartographic information comes in a variety offormats ranging from digital data tapes, to video tapes, moviefilm, paper photographic prints, paper maps, charts, anddocuments. Each of these media has its own space andenviromental requirements for storage and use. The problemsinvolved in dealing with this wealth of diverse data can becomeboth frustrating, expensive, and in some cases life threateningon the battlefield.

Recently, laser video disc technology was applied to thisproblem of storing and displaying cartographic data. The videodisc offers the advantage of being a compact medium for storinginformation. A standard sized, rigid plastic video disc isabout the size and shape of a phonograph record. It can storeup to 54,000 frames of National Television System Committee(NTSC) standard television pictures per side. This is analogousto a 35-mm slide tray with 54,000 individual slides. Video discframes are accessed via a low-powered laser beam, reflectingoff microscopic pit and groove patterns on the disc surface.Unlike video tape, any single video disc frame can be randomlyaccessed by the laser in three seconds or less, and can be heldon the television screen indefinitely. Unlike magnetic tape ormagnetic disk, the video disc is impervious to magneticdisturbances.

Anything capable of being recorded onto video tape may bestored onto video disc. This includes paper maps, documents,and diagrams; photographs either on film or on paper; moviefilm; and video tape itself. Digital data can also be placed

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onto a video disc by first corvertin;. the iata into an analogvideo signal and then recording it onto video tape.

- Software can be developed to interface video discs withmicrocomputers (Figure 1). This software enables a user to scanthro4gh the cartographic data base, to bring up registeredscenes of various kinds of maps or imagery, to process thevideo signal to enhance important map and image features, toreference the video maps to geographic coordinates, and toplace computer generated graphics over video maps and images.Also, three-dimensional terrain views could be generated usingdigital data stored on the video disc.

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Figure I - The Map Video Processing (MVP) System at the U.S.Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories.

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Video discs can be used to create %rersatile and ruggedgeographic information systems. Such interactive video discsystems could find uses as command and control devices, cockpitand vehicle navigation aids, simulators, cartographic productcatalogs, and video atlases. By utilizing the small size andportability of the video disc-microcomputer combination, suchsystems offer more secure stations for battlefield analysis ofcartographic data.

There are, however, several disadvantages to present videodisc technology. A major factor is the limiting resolution ofstandard television monitors. The NTSC video signal fixeshorizontal television resolution to only 525 slightly slantedhorizontal lines. However, only 480 of these lines are visibleon the screen. Standard television also hat 325 verticalresolution lines. However, this vertical resolution can varyfrom 730 lines for high quality monitors, down to approximately280 lines for poor quality monitors. Screen-resolution alsodepends on the type, size, and quality of the video signalbeing fed into the monitor. Such low monitor resolution ca;sesproblems when viewing detailed map and image products.

Video discs also have the disadvantage of beingunalterable. To make a video disc, a video disc master iscreated from a master video tape. Plastic copies of the discare then. stamped out in much the same way as phonographrecords. Once created, these plastic discs are unalterable.More expensive Direct-Read-After-Write (DRAW) video discs areavailable, but these simply record new video pictures ontounused portions of the DRAW disc.

Finally, there are no established requirements andspecifications for putting cartographic data onto video discs.Currently, no two video discs for a given geographic areafollow exactly the same format. This creates problems whenvideo discs need to be viewed manually or interfaced withmicrocomputers. Such important features as ease of access,clarity, and geometric stability of the data on the discssuffer from this absence of requirements and specifications.

A cartographic video disc is a mapping product, just likethe paper map or digital data base. Thus, it should conform torigid requirements and specifications, just like othercartographic products. This paper describes importantrequirements and specifications for storing and accessinganalog cartographic products on video disc.

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Figure 2 illustrates the present design and productionprocess for cartographic video discs. The process can begeneralized into the following seven steps: planning, gatherings6urce materials, filming? transferring film to video tape,mastering, replicating, and developing software. Requirementsand ispecifications for each phase of the design and productionprocess are discussed in the following sections of this paper.

PLANNING

The amount of care and attention to detail going into theplanning stage determines the usefulness of the final videodisc product. Its 54,000 frames must be designed so thatsomeone manually viewing the disc should be able to follow thedisc's organization. This planning should minimize search timewhen randomly accessing frames. "Story boards,".which arediagrams illustrating the design of the disc, are a great aidto the planning process. Small scala maps zcring large areasshould precede larger scale maps so that pacing through thedisc shows more detailed views of a geographic area. Maps,aerial photographs, and satellite images for the same areasshould be grouped together on the disc.

Different cartographic products must be separated on thedisc by neatly lettered "slates." These would appear on thescreen and describe important information about the map orimage product. And finally, a clearly, typewritten index tothe disc must be created and followed. It must list, in order,the materials on the disc, along with their corresponding framenumbers.

Consideration must also be given to the type and qualityof hardware to be interfaced with the video disc. Thishardware must be integrated into a working system. A truly-interactive video disc system should consist of:

* One or more video disc players* 8-bit or 16-bit microcomputerSTwo floppy disk drives

* One hard disk drive* Three or more frame buffers* One or more television monitors* Light pen* Joystick and touch panel* Digitizing tablet* Facsimile image printer and line printer

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The next planning consideration relates to software designand development for this hardware system. This must be donebeifore the unalterable video disc is created, since software iscritical to ease of use of the final system. Softwarespecifications are given later in this paper.

-Planning must also consider new developments intechnologies related to video discs. New developments in film,video, computer, and optical disc technologies are constantlyappearing. For instance, erasable video discs are justbecoming available. They would eliminate expensive masteringneeded to replicate discs. Hybrid video discs are also beingdeveloped. They can store analog map and image frames plusdigital data and software. New 16- and 32-bit microcomputersare becoming available which are more powerful than present 8-and 16-bit machines. Video disc software should be designed tobe transferable to these new microcomputers. High definitiontelevision is also expected to become available-in a few years.It offers over a thousand lines resolution, instead of theseveral hundred lines of present television. This will be ofmajor importance to cartographic video discs.

Finally, planning must consider the time required tocreate an interactive video disc system. At least a fullcalendar year should be allotted for the entire design andproduction process.

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GATHERING SOURCE MATERIALS

Sufficient time must be allowed for gathering necessarysource materials to store on the disc. This can take sixmonths or more. It is critical that a complete set of maps beobtained for a given geographic area. Generalized, small scalemaps'with large letters should be used to provide an overviewof the area of interest. Consideration must also be given toobtaining aerial photographs, ground photographs, plus filmedaerial movies and video tapes. Organizational logos shouldalso be included among these materials.

Source maps and images should be mosaicked prior tofilming. This is necessary to achieve a sense of continuitywhen panning through the cartographic video disc data base.However, mosaicking must be done in a consistent manner. Allsource materials must be either on flat or rolled stock, notfolded, and have more than one copy. These paper products mustalso be kept away from cold or dampness. During mosaicking,some sort of geometric control must be used, and the mosaickingerrors kept to within specified limits. Once completed, themosaics must be filmed as soon as possible, before dampness andtemperature changes distort them.

The amount of control- for mosaicking affects the finalvideo map-accuracy when used with geographic referencingsoftware. Figure 3 shows a portion of two accurately mosaickedmap edges. There is no noticeable mismatch between contourlines, streams, and roads running across the map edges. Figure4 shows the intersection of four mosaicked map corners.Significant mismatch exists between features and grids on themap. In addition, the map in the upper right corner has adifferent style of design from the other three. Contour lineson this map portion are almost invisible, while the other threemap edges have prominent contour lines. This underscores theneed to obtain maps with consistent design and printingquality.

FILMING

In this phase, the source materials are photographed on35-mm movie-film. Several weeks should be allotted to do thistask. For filming, a camera is mounted on a gantry and movedby computer control over the map or image mosaic. This sameprocess could be done with a video camera and video tape, butfilm is less expensive than high quality video tape. Film also

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could be transferred to video tape for use with high definitiontelevision, when this becomes available.

It is critical that source material filming parameters beclearly specified. This is especially true when final videoframes of maps and images must register exactly With eachother. The photographer must know the following for everyframe:

* Frame size* Geographic coordinates* Frame orientation* Direction of filming* Percent overlap

Frame size is of critical importance. For maps, a framesize must be selected so that all text and symbols on the mapare readable on a television screen. This is approximately 2by 3 inches (5 by 7 centimeters) on the map. Thus, anindividual frame covers only a small portion of the map orimage (Figures 3 through 6). Continuous tone images, such asaerial photographs, have less stringent frame sizerequirements. The best way to determine correct frame size isto view the paper cartographic product with a video camera andtelevision monitor prior to filming.

If possible, frames should be centered on convenientgeographic coordinates, either Universal Transverse Mercator(UTM) or Latitude-Longitude units, to allow for easiermicrocomputer control.

Frame orientation should always have geographic coordinategrid lines parallel to the television screen borders, withNorth at the top of the screen.

The direction of filming should not-go across the sourcematerial in a serpentine manner. This causes problems whenwriting microcomputer software for the video disc. Instead,filming should be done in separate "horizontals" and"verticals." For curved grid lines, the camera must followthese curves to maintain a parallel grid from frame to frame.

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Figure 3 -Video disc map frdme covering the edge of twonosaicked maps. Note no not4.ceable mosaic mismatch.

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Figure 6 -Video disc map frame filmed out of focus.

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Percent overlap should be given as a percentage of overlapbetween adjacent frames in both vertical and horizontaldirections. Any value less than 75 percent results in ajumping, disorienting image motion as the user pans from frameto frame. However, less overlap allows for more frames to fitonto the disc.

Certain features on the source materials must be filmedseparately. These include map legends and scales, which mustbe filmed so that as much information as possible appears onthe screen at one time. This allows the user to read theinformation without losing it. among poorly overlapped frames.Separate frames should also be filmed centered on specificareas of interest. These include point features: urban areas,high hills, and choke points as well as linear features:rivers, coastlines, and avenues of approach.

A major problem of filming is photographing edges ofmosaicked products. Figure 3 shows the final video image of acarefully mcsaicked and filmed map. All map features arereadable, and all grid lines are parallel to the televisionscreen. Figure 5, however, shows a similarly photographedframe that falls along the intersection of two different UTMgrid zones. There is a significant difference in orientationof the grids, and not all grid lines are parallel to thetelevision screen. Figure 6 shows a map frame filmed out offocus. These problems must be addressed in requirements andspecifications for filming.

TRANSFERRING FILM TO VIDEO TAPE

At tnis stage, the film is transferred to a master videotape which is used to create the video disc master. The caretaken to produce the film can be totally negated if impropertransfer procedures are followed. The film must be transferredto the best quality video tape, i.e., 1-inch, type C. The.final video frames must match the film parameters for 35-mmfilming to avoid errors during the film-to-video transferprocess. Color imbalances can also occur at this stage. Thus,it must be specified that color on the video picture must becorrected to match the color of the source material.

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MASTERING

The master video tape is used to modulate a high-poweredlaser beam that burns pits and grooves into a photosensitiveglass video disc master. This must be L"nne in a cleanlaboratory setting, and not in the field. Only a few companiesare aapable of making glass video disc masters, so there canbe delays of several weeks before these masters are created.

A plastic pre-production check video disc should be madebefore going into the replicating stage. This disc can beevaluated on a video disc player by checking for mapping dataquality, completeness, and accuracy. Any problems can be notedand corrected on the master video tape before they show up inreplicated copies. A new disc master is then generated fromthe corrected video tape.

REPLICATING

The glass video disc master is used to make duplicateplastic copies, in much the same way phonograph records arecreated. At this stage, it is important to specify how thesediscs are to be replicated. The most dimensionally stablereplication technique is the *cold" method, which usesultraviolet light to cure the plastic disc. Use of thistechnique should be specified.

Instructions for packaging and delivering the discs mustalso be specified. Stick-on labels with organization logosshould be placed on each video disc and its disc album jacketto identify their contents. Duplicate copies of the video discindex must also be included with each disc. And finally, itshould be specified that the plastic replicated discs bedelivered, with all materials used to create the discs. Theseinclude:

* Source materials* Original film* Master video tape* Glass video disc master

These materials are necessary for making additional copiesof the disc.

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DEVELOPING SOFTWARE

By itself, the video disc is only a collection of tens ofthousands of individual television pictures. It becomesinteractive when integrated into microcomputer- systemscontrolled by extensive software. This software locatesindiVidual frames by finding their frame number on the videodisc and then displaying that frame on the screen. This isbasically where the role of the video disc ends and the role ofthe software begins. This software permits the user to workeffectively with mapping data on the disc. With properlywritten software, the user could do the following:

* Zooming

• Panning or scrolling• Geographic referencing• Computer graphic symbol placement* Video signal processing* Multigraphic overlaying* Frame fusing or mosaicking

Zooming allows the user to zoom in from a general view ofan area to a more detailed view-. The computer does this bypulling more detailed map and image frames from the video disc.The zoom effect is "jumpy"-or "smooth" depending on the numberof zoom levels recorded ci the video disc.

Panning or scrolling lets the operator move around withineach level of the data base. To do this, the computer rapidlydisplays consecutive frames from the video disc to give theillusion of motion. The effect will be "jumpy" or "smooth"depending on the amount of overlap between individual frames.

Geographic referencing allows a point on the video map orimage to be selected, and its geographic coordinates calculatedby the software. The accuracy of this feature depends on howwell the map or image was mosaicked, filmed, and displayed.

Computer graphic symbol placement lets the operator drawfrom a software library of symbols and places them over thevideo map on the screen. Screen positions of these symbolscould be stored and converted to geographic coordinates.

Video signal processing, multigraphic overlaying, andframe fusing or mosaicking options permit modifying the videopicture itself. These options permit enhancement of map andimage features, overlaying of separate frames on top of each

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other, and mosaicking of different frames simultaneously on thesame screen, respectively.

The task of writing software is extremely labor intensive.At least three to six calendar months should be allotted tocreate, test, and debug software before the final system isready for deployment. As mentioned earlier,.most of thedifficulty in creating this software can be avoided throughinitial planning. A software language should be chosen that isboth easy to work with and transferable to differentmicrocomputers. Creating the video disc in an organized *1fashion also saves time and effort during this developmentstage. Of critical importance is a complete index to the videodisc. Filming parameters for every map and image frame mustalso be available. For greatest efficiency, these parametersshould be placed in a computer readable format.

ETL VIDEO DISC RESEARCH

In 1982, the U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories(ETL) began studying mapping applications of video disctechnology. To date it has obtained a standard institutionalmodel video disc player interfaced to an 8-bit microcomputer(Figure 1). They are connected to a television monitoroffering both touch screen control and computer graphic overlaycapability. This equipment forms a testbed Map VideoProcessing (MVP) System.

In 1982 and 1983, ETL teamed up with three othergovernment organizations to create an experimental cartographicvideo disc. These other organizations were the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers Water Resources Support Center, the U.S.Geological Survey National Cartographic Information Center,and the U.S. Navy Civil Engineering Research Laboratory.The disc was designed to contain a variety of mapping products.This video disc has been evaluated by ETL and is being used todemonstrate the possibilities of cartographic video discsystems.

ETL recently concluded a study into map graphic design-forvideo discs. The study looked at the present state of the artin video disc research and development. It also investigatedhuman factors related to perception and understanding ofinformation derived from interactive video disc systems. Thisstudy demonstrated the need for requirements and specificationsfor putting mapping data on video discs. To fill this gap, ETL

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is developing such criteria and coordii-iting with othergovernment agencies. ETL will be performing ano&her study todesign special map graphics suitable for video display.

Lessons learned from this experimental video disc andgraphic design study are being used by ETL to create a FuldaGap demonstrator video disc, This disc will contain papermaps, aerial photographs, satellite images, and weaponsdiagrams. This disc will demonstrate use of a cartographicvideo disc for tactical defense situations of the Fulda Gap,Germany.

ETL is also investigating future technologies important tocartographic video discs. ETL is creating an experimentalhybrid video disc designed to contain both analog and digitalmapping data. This will permit microcomputer access to severalhundred megabytes of digital data, as well as analog images ofstandard maps. Another field'being investigated is largescreen displays and their applications to display maps fromvideo discs. ETL has also acquired a microcomputer-controlledimage digitizer for demonstrating video signal processing andmultigraphic overlaying. All of this hardware will beintegrated with the MVP system.

CONCLUS tON

Video discs have tremendous potential for cartographicapplications. Their capacity to hold maps, graphics, imagery,and even digital data solves many oE the major problems ofstorage and access of large quantities of mapping products.These discs can be integrated into rugged, compact systems foralmost any application, provided that rigid requirements andspecifications are established for each phase of their designand production process.

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