IEEE news: PROTOTYPE DEVICE BLOCKS DIGITAL STILL AND VIDEO PHOTOGRAPHY

A device that can block digital camera function in a given area by looking for the reflectivity and shape of the cameras' charge couple devices (CCDs) has been developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who say the prototype uses off-the-shelf equipment -- camera-mounted sensors, lighting equipment, a projector and a computer -- to find and neutralize digital cameras. Researchers say the technology has commercial promise in protecting limited areas against clandestine photography and stopping video copying in larger areas such as theaters, which costs the film industry billions of dollars a year in lost revenue. The prototype uses visible light and two cameras to find CCDs, according to researchers, but a future systems might use invisible infrared lasers and photo-detecting transistors to scan for contraband cameras. The system would flash a thin beam of visible white light directly at the contraband camera's CCD, rendering recorded video unusable, researchers say. Read more: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060626092638.htm