Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
348221100 | Exposure control | 27 |
20080297613 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE SAME - An image pickup apparatus including a photoelectric conversion element, first, a shutter speed for still-image pickup is set. Next, an image-pickup frame rate is set on the basis of the shutter speed for still-image pickup. Then, an operation of the photoelectric conversion element is controlled such that picked-up images are output at the set image-pickup frame rate. When the image-pickup frame rate that is set is higher than a moving-image-reproducing frame rate, a frame for use in a moving-image reproduction is generated from a plurality of frames of the picked-up images and reproduction is performed at the moving-image-reproduction frame rate. | 12-04-2008 |
20090040325 | Methods for remote imaging and systems thereof - Methods and systems for remote imaging include providing in substantially real time one or more images of an object captured with an imaging system to one or more client systems at one or more locations remote from the imaging system. In substantially real time, one or more instructions to interact with the imaging system are received from at least one of the client systems. In response to the instructions, one or more operations are executed at the imaging system and one or more updated images are provided to the client systems in response to the execution of the operations. | 02-12-2009 |
20090096881 | REMOTE STATUS MONITOR FOR HIGH SPEED VIDEO CAMERA - A high speed video camera | 04-16-2009 |
20090128647 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC IMAGE CAPTURE IN A HANDHELD CAMERA WITH A MULTIPLE-AXIS ACTUATING MECHANISM - A system and method for automatically and optically capturing an image in a handheld image capture device. The system includes an imager and an actuated mounting mechanism attached to the imager. The imager has one or more degrees of freedom (DOF) and includes at least one of a pan DOF, a tilt DOF, and a rotate DOF. In certain embodiments, the device can auto-center a selected object of interest in the image frame, auto-zoom in on the selected object of interest, and/or auto-rotate the captured image. The method includes providing an imager having a pan degree of freedom (DOF) and a tilt DOF, capturing an image by the imager to produce an image frame, selecting an object of interest from the captured image, and auto-centering the selected object in the image frame using one or both of the pan DOF and the tilt DOF. | 05-21-2009 |
20090213237 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS CONTROL METHOD - The system control unit executes the following control when switching the mode from the first mode to the second one. When the first accumulation period is shorter than the first readout period, the system control unit controls the image sensor driving circuit and readout circuit so that the sum of the first and second readout periods fits into a 2-frame period. When the first accumulation period is longer than the first readout period, the system control unit controls the image sensor driving circuit and readout circuit so that the sum of the first accumulation period and second readout period fits into a 2-frame period. | 08-27-2009 |
20090284612 | INTERCHANGEABLE LENS, CAMERA BODY AND CAMERA SYSTEM - An interchangeable lens mountable to a camera body includes an optical system operable to collect light from a subject to form a subject image, a diaphragm operable to adjust an amount of light of the subject image to be collected by the optical system, a driving unit operable to drive the diaphragm based upon an aperture value within a predetermined range, a storage unit operable to store speed information relating to a speed at which the driving unit can be set to drive the diaphragm, and a transmitting unit operable to transmit the speed information stored in the storage unit to the camera body. The speed information is provided for each of a plurality of aperture value ranges which are obtained by dividing the predetermined range of the aperture value, and relates to the speed indicating a settable rate of change in the light amount which changes as the driving unit drives the diaphragm. | 11-19-2009 |
20100165135 | EXPOSURE CONTROL BASED ON IMAGE SENSOR COST FUNCTION - The present invention relates to a method, a computer-readable medium, a computer program and an apparatus for exposure control. A histogram of the number of image sensor area elements of an image sensor that receive light at specific light reception rates from an image target is determined. At least one exposure time is determined for capture of said image target based on said histogram and on a cost function that expresses a performance of said image sensor as a function of light reception rate per image sensor area element and exposure time. | 07-01-2010 |
20100201831 | DIGITAL CAMERA WITH ASYMMETRICALLY CONFIGURED SENSORS - A method is described by which two, asymmetrically configured sensors, one being panchromatic and the other recording color, may be employed in a digital camera so as to exceed the performance, in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, resolution, and dynamic range, and with regard to visual perception, of a single sensor of the same approximate size. | 08-12-2010 |
20110273574 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus has a live view mode, and includes a computer configured to adjust an aperture value of an image pickup optical system so as to maintain constant a depth of field when a zoom position of the image pickup optical system is changed. In response to a signal indicative of an increase of the zoom position, the computer in the live view mode is configured to output a signal used to increase the aperture value and a signal used to increase a gain of the image pickup element, and to make the display unit display the image data with a changed zoom position, a changed aperture value, and a changed gain. In response to an instruction to obtain a still image, the computer is configured to obtain the still image with the changed zoom position, the changed aperture value, and the changed gain. | 11-10-2011 |
20120212634 | PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS AND PHOTOGRAPHING METHOD THEREOF - A photographing apparatus includes a detection unit for detecting light exposure error resulting from a difference in a moving characteristic between a mechanical rear curtain and an electronic front curtain using data of some area constituting an image sensor, a signal generating unit for generating a reset signal of the image sensor, and a control unit for controlling to correct a moving characteristic of the electronic front curtain using the detected light exposure error and generate a reset signal of the image sensor according to the corrected moving characteristic. Accordingly, a moving characteristic of an electronic front curtain may be conveniently corrected by a user. | 08-23-2012 |
20120212635 | INTERCHANGEABLE LENS, CAMERA BODY AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A camera body to which an interchangeable lens is mountable includes a receiving unit operable to receive speed information, a first controller unit operable to select a shooting mode from a moving image shooting mode and a still image shooting mode, a second controller unit capable of setting whether to operate in a silent mode provided for a situation where a drive sound of a drive unit in the interchangeable lens is desired to be at a low level during the moving image shooting mode, a third controller unit operable to generate a control signal for changing light amount which is changed by a diaphragm in the interchangeable lens, at a constant speed based on the speed information, when the moving image shooting mode is selected and the silent mode is not set, and a body transmitting unit operable to transmit the generated control signal to the interchangeable lens. | 08-23-2012 |
20120242851 | DIGITAL CAMERA HAVING BURST IMAGE CAPTURE MODE - A digital camera having a burst image capture mode, comprising: an image sensor; an optical system; a data processing system; an image memory; and a program memory storing instructions configured to implement a method for capturing a sequence of digital images in the burst image capture mode. The instructions include: capturing two or more evaluation digital images of a scene that includes a moving object; analyzing the evaluation digital images to determine a rate of motion for the moving object; determining a frame rate responsive to the rate of motion for the moving object; initiating an image capture sequence; capturing a sequence of digital images; and storing a set of captured digital images corresponding to the determined frame rate in the image memory. | 09-27-2012 |
20120268617 | ELECTRONIC CAMERA - An electronic camera includes an imaging section, an imaging controlling section, and an image processing section. The imaging section performs imaging of a subject image. The imaging controlling section makes the imaging section perform a photographing of moving image at a first frame rate at a time of performing moving image photographing, and makes the imaging section obtain images at a second frame rate which is a frame rate higher than the first frame rate when receiving an instruction of still image recording at the time of performing the moving image photographing. The image processing section generates a still image for recording by superimposing a plurality of images at the second frame rate. | 10-25-2012 |
20130063618 | IMAGE CAPTURE APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image capture apparatus comprises an image capture unit which captures an object image, a compensation unit which performs exposure compensation corresponding to a shooting scene when a display unit sequentially displays images based on image data obtained by continuously capturing images by the image capture unit, an illumination control unit which controls an illumination device for illuminating an object, and a control unit which, in turning on the illumination device which is OFF when the compensation unit performs exposure compensation and the display unit sequentially displays images based on image data obtained by continuously capturing images by the image capture unit, controls to decrease a compensation amount of exposure compensation by the compensation unit and then turn on the illumination device. | 03-14-2013 |
20130093909 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS - Image capturing is performed with an image pickup element being exposed to light, whereby a plurality of pieces of exposure image data are obtained. Image processing is performed on the plurality of pieces of exposure image data. The plurality of pieces of exposure image data output are combined into combined exposure image data. A plurality of pieces of dark image data are obtained and one piece of dark reference image data is generated. Image processing that uses a parameter based on the image processing performed on each exposure image data is performed on the one piece of dark reference image data, whereby a plurality of pieces of processed dark image data are output. The plurality of pieces of processed dark image data are combined into combined dark image data. The combined exposure image data is corrected in accordance with the combined dark image data. | 04-18-2013 |
20130215285 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus includes an image sensor that includes a plurality of first photoelectric conversion elements, and a plurality of second photoelectric conversion elements, a plurality of micro lenses each of which is provided for each pixel on the image sensor, and a controller configured to execute still image pickup using the plurality of second photoelectric conversion elements simultaneous with motion image pickup using the plurality of first photoelectric conversion elements. Each micro lens introduces a light flux from part of an exit pupil of the image pickup optical system to at least one first photoelectric conversion element, and a light flux from another part of the exit pupil to at least one second photoelectric conversion element. | 08-22-2013 |
20140085498 | IMAGE PROCESSOR, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND DIGITAL CAMERA - A digital camera includes: a horizontal reduction (resizing) processor | 03-27-2014 |
20150312485 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS - An image capturing apparatus comprises: an image sensor including a pixel region including a plurality of pixel units, arranged in a matrix, each having first and second photoelectric conversion units, and a storage unit provided for each column; and a driving unit configured to drive the image sensor by, for each pixel unit to be read of the plurality of pixel units, exclusively selecting an operation of combining a signal of the first photoelectric conversion unit and a signal of the second photoelectric conversion unit for each pixel unit and outputting the combined signal to the storage unit, an operation of reading a signal from the first photoelectric conversion unit of each pixel unit to the storage unit, or an operation of reading a signal from the second photoelectric conversion unit of each pixel unit to the storage unit. | 10-29-2015 |
20150334272 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A CAMERA IN A COVERED STATE, CAMERA FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE AND MOTOR VEHICLE - The invention relates to a method for operating a camera ( | 11-19-2015 |
20150358561 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXTRACTION OF A DYNAMIC RANGE ZONE IMAGE - Optimization of image acquisition relative resource usage, particularly power, is accomplished by use of a beehive algorithm, inspired by observation of the way that bees communicate foraging information by a dance. Analysis of relative gain associated with captured pixels facilitates isolation of one or more areas of particular interest for focusing one or more subsequent image capture operations. Selective enablement of picture acquisition elements targeting each isolated area facilitates obtaining images containing needed or useful information while minimizing resource use. | 12-10-2015 |
20160012562 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD | 01-14-2016 |
20160037044 | DEINTERLEAVING INTERLEAVED HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGE BY USING YUV INTERPOLATION - Systems and methods for generating high dynamic images from interleaved Bayer array data with high spatial resolution and reduced sampling artifacts. Bayer array data are demosaiced into components of the YUV color space before deinterleaving. The Y component and the UV components can be derived from the Bayer array data through demosiac convolution processes. A respective convolution is performed between a convolution kernel and a set of adjacent pixels of the Bayer array that are in the same color channel. A convolution kernel is selected based the mosaic pattern of the Bayer array and the color channels of the set of adjacent pixels. The Y data and UV data are deinterleaved and interpolated into frames of short exposure and long exposures in the second color space. The short exposure and long exposure frames are then blended and converted back to a RGB frame representing a high dynamic range image. | 02-04-2016 |
20160050351 | IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS, IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHING SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING PHOTOGRAPHING BY USING MULTIPLE IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUSES, AND IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHING METHODS THEREOF - An image photographing apparatus, an image photographing method thereof, and an image photographing system using a plurality of image photographing apparatuses, and an image photographing method thereof are provided. The image photographing apparatus includes: a camera configured to capture a first image of a subject by using a lens having a first focal distance; a combiner configured to combine the image photographing apparatus with another image photographing apparatus including a lens having a second focal distance different from the first focal distance; a controller configured to, in response to a photographing command being input, control the camera and the another image photographing apparatus to respectively perform photographing; an image processor configured to generate a captured image by using the first image captured by the camera and a second image captured by the another image photographing apparatus; and a display configured to display the captured image. | 02-18-2016 |
20160112637 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USING A CAMERA DEVICE TO SUPPORT MULTIPLE MODES OF OPERATION - In various embodiments a camera with multiple optical chains, e.g., camera modules, is controlled to operate in one of a variety of supported modes of operation. The modes include a non-motion mode, a motion mode, a normal burst mode and/or a reduced data burst mode. Motion mode is well suited for capturing an image including motion, e.g., moving object(s) with some modules being used to capture scene areas using a shorter exposure time than other modules and the captured images then being combined taking into consideration locations of motion. A reduced data burst mode is supported in some embodiments in which camera modules with different focal lengths capture images at different rates. While the camera modules of different focal length operate at different image capture rates in the reduced data burst mode, images are combined to support a desired composite image output rate, e.g., a desired frame rate. | 04-21-2016 |
20160127645 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image capturing apparatus comprises a mode switching unit which, in response to an instruction from a user, switches an operation mode of the apparatus, a display control unit which controls such that a reproduced image is displayed in a reproduction mode, and a control unit controls such that, when a reproduced image is displayed in the reproduction mode, in response to accepting a specific instruction, based on attribute information of the reproduced image being displayed, at least a part of settings from shooting settings for when the reproduced image was shot are set in the apparatus, switching from a reproduction mode to a shooting mode is performed, and a live view image in which the part of settings are reflected is displayed. | 05-05-2016 |
20160156826 | IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE AND IMAGE-CAPTURING METHOD | 06-02-2016 |
20160377708 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING EXPOSURE ESTIMATION USING A TIME-OF-FLIGHT SENSOR - This application relates to capturing an image of a target object using information from a time-of-flight sensor. In one aspect, a method may include a time-of-flight (TOF) system configured to emit light and sense a reflection of the emitted light and may determine a return energy based on the reflection of the emitted light. The method may measure a time between when the light is emitted and when the reflection is sensed and may determine a distance between the target object and the TOF system based on that time. The method may also identify a reflectance of the target object based on the return energy and may determine an exposure level based on a distance between the target object and a reflectance of the target object. | 12-29-2016 |