Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
348240100 | Using both optical and electronic zoom | 77 |
20080211935 | IMAGING APPARATUS HAVING A LENS DEVICE FOR A ZOOMING CONTROL OPERATION AND THE METHOD OF USING THE SAME - An object of the present invention is to suitably perform a zooming control operation in the case that a zoom ring is provided at a lens-side portion and zoom switches are provided at a camera-body-side portion of a lens-interchangeable video camera. To achieve this object, in the case-that no zoom lens stop request is provided from the camera-body-side portion, it is judged from information sent from the camera-body-side portion which of a tele direction and a wide direction the moving direction of the zoom lens group is. Moreover, when the zoom angle is not placed at a tele end or at a wide end, lenses are driven by calculating data for driving the lenses. Thereafter, tele information is set or cleared according to whether the zoom lens group is placed at the tele end. Subsequently, zoom-ring operating information is detected. The detected zoom-ring operating information is sent to the camera-body-side portion. Then, the zoom lens group is controlled by generating zooming control information at the camera-body-side portion according to the zoom-ring operating information and zoom-switch operating information. | 09-04-2008 |
20090122162 | Imaging system with multi-state zoom and associated methods - An image capturing device may include a detector including a plurality of sensing pixels, and an optical system adapted to project a distorted image of an object within a field of view onto the sensing pixels, wherein the optical system expands the image in a center of the field of view and compresses the image in a periphery of the field of view, wherein a first number of sensing pixels required to realize a maximal zoom magnification {circumflex over (Z)} at a minimum resolution of the image capturing device is less than a square of the maximal zoom magnification times a second number of sensing pixels required for the minimum resolution. | 05-14-2009 |
20090128664 | Compact Stationary Lens Optical Zoom Image Capture System - An electronic optical zoom system ( | 05-21-2009 |
20090167896 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus includes optical and electronic zooming units, and a controller configured to control an operation of the electronic zooming unit. When the first aspect ratio is selected, the controller operates the electronic zooming unit along with an operation of the optical zooming unit between a first zoom state and a second zoom state that is closer to a telephoto end than the first zoom state. When the second aspect ratio is selected, the controller does not operate the electronic zooming unit between the first zoom state and a third zoom state that is located between the first zoom state and the second zoom state, and operates the electronic zooming unit along with the operation of the optical zooming unit between the second zoom state and the third zoom state. | 07-02-2009 |
20090167897 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image pickup apparatus that includes an optical zooming unit, an electronic zooming unit, and a controller, wherein when the optical zooming unit moves from a first zoom region to a second zoom region that is closer to a wide-angle end than the first zoom region, the controller discretely moves the electronic zooming unit along with the operation of the optical zooming unit at the first change rate, and when the optical zooming unit moves from the first zoom region to a third zoom region that is closer to a telephoto end than the first zoom region, the controller discretely operates the electronic zooming unit along with the operation of the optical zooming unit at the second change rate. | 07-02-2009 |
20090167898 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - An image pickup apparatus that has an optical zooming unit and an electronic zooming unit includes a temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of the image pickup apparatus, and a controller configured to move the electronic zooming unit along with an operation of the optical zooming unit, and to move a telephoto end for control of the optical zooming unit toward a wide-angle side according to the temperature detected by the temperature detector. Along with control to move the telephoto end of the optical zooming unit to the wide-angle end, the controller sets smaller than a change rate of a zoom magnification of an electronic zooming unit in a first zoom region a change rate of a zoom magnification of an electronic zooming unit in a second zoom region that is adjacent with and closer to the telephoto end than the first zoom region. | 07-02-2009 |
20090251569 | IMAGING APPARATUS - In the imaging apparatus, an image signal derived from an imaging element is supplied to color signal producing means so as to be separated into a R(red) color signal, a G(green) color signal and a B(blue) color signal. These R, G, B signals are supplied to color-depending frequency component changing means. While predetermined information has been stored in a memory with respect to each of the R signal, the G signal and the B signal, and the predetermined information is used in order to change a signal level of a high frequency component every R, G, B signals, the color-depending frequency component changing means extracts a high frequency component from each of the R signal, the G signal and the B signal, and then, corrects frequency components of these extracted high frequency components in such a manner that the corrected frequency characteristics may constitute relevant signals. | 10-08-2009 |
20090256933 | Imaging apparatus, control method thereof, and program - An imaging apparatus includes: a layout assistant image storage unit to store multiple layout assistant images representing position and size where an object is to be disposed within an imaging range; an imaging unit to perform imaging of a subject to generate an imaged image; an object detecting unit to detect the object from the imaged image, and the position and size of the object therein; and a display control unit to display one of multiple stored layout assistant images overlaid on the imaged image. If a position difference between the position of an object determined by the displayed layout assistant image, and a size difference between the size of an object determined by the displayed layout assistant image and the size of the detected object within the imaged image, are both within predetermined ranges, a layout assistant image other than that displayed is displayed overlaid on the imaged image. | 10-15-2009 |
20090262220 | DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND RECORDING MEDIUM STORING COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR EXECUTING THE METHOD - Provided are a digital photographing apparatus having a zoom function, which may easily obtain still images having various viewing angles, a method of controlling the same, and a recording medium storing a computer program for executing the method. The digital photographing apparatus obtains data regarding a first still image at a first zoom ratio, and then automatically obtains data regarding a second still image at a second zoom ratio that is different from the first zoom ratio. | 10-22-2009 |
20090262221 | COMPACT OPTICAL ZOOM - A zoom lens system includes a variator lens group, a compensator lens group and a third lens group. The compensator lens group is arranged to only partially compensate for movement of the variator group. In order to provide further compensation for the zoom lens, an image enhancer implement wavefront coding and artifact reduction techniques. The compensator group may be fixed or alternatively, its movement relative to the variator may be effected by a simple cam mechanism. | 10-22-2009 |
20090268060 | System and method for effectively optimizing zoom settings in a digital camera - A system and method for effectively optimizing zoom settings in a digital camera includes a digital zoom module that performs a digital zoom function, and an optical zoom module that controls a lens unit of the digital camera to perform an optical zoom function. A depth of field manager performs a zoom-setting optimization procedure to select optimal zoom values for the optical zoom module and the digital zoom module to thereby optimize image quality characteristics of images captured by the camera device. | 10-29-2009 |
20090268061 | IMAGE SENSING APPARATUS, METHOD OF CONTROLLING IMAGE SENSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE RECORDING APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF DESIGNING OPTICAL SYSTEM - An image sensing apparatus which has an optical system, the focal length of which is variable, and an image sensing element that converts an image formed by the optical system into an electrical signal, and can sense and record a moving image and still image, includes a focal length detection circuit for detecting the focal length of the optical system, and a control unit for inhibiting recording of the still image in accordance with the focal length detected by the focal length detection circuit. | 10-29-2009 |
20090303354 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS WITH ZOOM FUNCTION - An image capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing unit which captures image data of an object, a zoom image data generating unit which generates items of zoom image data having different zoom magnifications, a display control unit which displays through images on a display unit based on the items of the generated zoom image data, a selection unit which selects one of the zoom magnifications by selecting one of the through images displayed on the display unit, and a recording control unit which records image data corresponding to the selected zoom magnification in a storing medium. | 12-10-2009 |
20100013960 | SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE DATA GENERATION APPARATUS WITH ELECTRONIC REDUCTION AND ENLARGEMENT SIGNAL PROCESSING CAPABILITIES - A recording mode control circuit controls a first recording mode in which still image data having a first image size corresponding to the number of pixels of an image sensing element is generated and recorded and a second recording mode in which moving image data having a second image size smaller than the first image size is generated and recorded. In generating the moving image data in the second recording mode, a camera signal processing circuit executes electrical zoom processing to obtain the second image size. At this time, a maximum magnification ratio setting circuit sets the maximum variable magnification ratio of electrical zoom processing in the camera signal processing circuit. With this processing, an image recording apparatus which allows a user to select a zoom mode with a small degradation in image quality in electrical zoom processing can be implemented. | 01-21-2010 |
20100141800 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND ZOOM CONTROL METHOD - An imaging apparatus calculates a depth of field, and when the calculated result is shallower than a set depth of field, the zoom operation at the telescopic side is switched to the electronic zoom. In addition, when face recognition may not be possible, the zoom is switched to the electronic zoom. Furthermore, when face recognition has become impossible, the optical zoom is returned to the wide angle side until faces can be recognized. When the number of faces that can be recognized has decreased, the optical zoom is returned to the wide angle side until the number of faces that can be recognized is restored. In addition, when subsequently carrying out zooming at the telescopic side, the zooming switches to the electronic zoom. | 06-10-2010 |
20100157102 | ELECTRONIC CAMERA - An electronic camera includes an image sensor. The image sensor has an imaging surface capturing an object scene through a zoom lens, and outputs an image representing the object scene. The image outputted from the image sensor is reduced in size by a zoom circuit arranged in a pre-processing circuit. A post-processing circuit extracts a reduced image belonging to an extraction area of a predetermined size, out of the reduced image created by the pre-processing circuit. Depending on a change of a magnification of the zoom lens, a CPU changes a size of the reduced image created by the pre-processing circuit in the same direction as a change direction of the magnification of the zoom lens. An angle of view of the reduced image extracted by the post-processing circuit decreases by a rate exceeding a decrease rate resulting from an increase in optical zoom magnification. | 06-24-2010 |
20100157103 | HIGH RESOLUTION ZOOM: A NOVEL DIGITAL ZOOM FOR DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERA - A camera system and a method for zooming the camera system is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating an electronic image by sensing an optical image received by the camera, the sensing including electronic cropping to a window size to establish an initial resolution for the electronic image, (B) generating a final image by decimating the electronic image by a decimation factor to a final resolution smaller than the initial resolution and (C) changing a zoom factor for the final image by adjusting both of the decimation factor and the window size. | 06-24-2010 |
20100245629 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME - An image capturing apparatus includes a zoom lens, a solid-state image sensor which photoelectrically converts an image formed by the zoom lens, a processing unit which processes image data obtained by the solid-state image sensor, and a correction units which processes the image data from the processing unit to correct distortion aberration of the image formed by the zoom lens, and outputs the corrected image data. The lens arrangement of the zoom lens, and the length of the diagonal line of the image capturing area in correcting distortion aberration are appropriately set. | 09-30-2010 |
20100277619 | Dual Lens Digital Zoom - A camera with a pair of lens/sensor combinations, the two lenses having different focal lengths, so that the image from one of the combinations has a field of view approximately two to three times greater than the image from the other combination. As a user of the camera requests a given amount of zoom, the zoomed image provided will come from the lens/sensor combination having the field of view that is next larger than the requested field of view. Thus, if the requested field of view is less than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by that combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. Similarly, if the requested field of view is greater than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by the other combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. | 11-04-2010 |
20100277620 | Imaging Device - Before performing a zoom in operation, a view angle candidate frame indicating an angle of view after the zoom in operation is superimposed on an input image to generate an output image. A user checks the view angle candidate frame in the output image so as to check in advance an angle of view after the zoom in operation. | 11-04-2010 |
20110069206 | HIGH RESOLUTION ZOOM: A NOVEL DIGITAL ZOOM FOR DIGITAL VIDEO CAMERA - A camera system and a method for zooming the camera system is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating an electronic image by sensing an optical image received by the camera, the sensing including electronic cropping to a window size to establish an initial resolution for the electronic image, (B) generating a final image by decimating the electronic image by a decimation factor to a final resolution smaller than the initial resolution and (C) changing a zoom factor for the final image by adjusting both of the decimation factor and the window size. | 03-24-2011 |
20110090373 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - Provided is a zoom lens including, in order from an object side to an image side: a positive first lens unit without moving for zooming; a negative second lens unit moving during zooming; a negative third lens unit moving during zooming; a positive fourth lens unit moving during zooming; and a positive fifth lens unit without moving for zooming, in which the second lens unit moves to the image side during zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, while the third lens unit moves along a locus convex toward the object side, and, when fw denotes a focal length of the entire system at the wide angle end, Z a zoom ratio, and fz a focal length of the entire system at a zoom position where the third lens unit is in the position closest to the object side, the following conditional expression is satisfied: fw×Z | 04-21-2011 |
20110149118 | Zoom Lens and Photographing Apparatus - A zoom lens and a photographing apparatus including the same. The zoom lens includes a first lens group having a positive refractive power, a second lens group having a negative refractive power, and an additional lens grouping having a positive refractive power, which are sequentially arranged from an object side, wherein the additional lens grouping comprises a third lens group having a positive refractive power. | 06-23-2011 |
20110228140 | Electronic camera having electronic zoom indicator - an electronic camera includes: an image-capturing unit that creates an image by capturing an image of a subject; an enlarged image generating unit that creates an enlarged image by enlarging a portion of the image created by the image-capturing unit; an optical viewfinder that enables verification of a subject range corresponding to a range of the image created by the image-capturing unit; and a warning output unit that issues a warning when the enlarged image generating unit is in operation. | 09-22-2011 |
20110267503 | IMAGING APPARATUS - Provided is an imaging apparatus including a lens unit having an optical zoom function of collecting light from a subject and optically changing an angle of view, an imaging unit that continuously generates electronic image data using the light collected by the lens unit, an electronic zoom unit that performs electronic zoom by sequentially trimming and enlarging an image corresponding to the image data, a setting unit that sets an enlargement area to be enlarged in the image, a lens manipulation unit that receives a manipulation signal for changing an angle of view, and a control unit that continuously controls, while switching between enlargement of a center of the image by the optical zoom of the lens unit and enlargement of the enlargement area by the electronic zoom of the electronic zoom unit, according to the manipulation signal received by the lens manipulation unit. | 11-03-2011 |
20110285877 | ELECTRICAL DEVICE WITH ZOOMING FUNCTION AND ZOOMING METHOD FOR THEREOF - An electrical device with zooming function includes an image-sensing module, a display unit and a processing unit. The processing unit is electrically connected to the image-sensing module and the display unit respectively. The image-sensing module senses an image. The processing unit includes an image display module, a selecting module and a zooming-control module. The image display module makes the display unit display the sensed image. The selecting module receives a selection signal for selecting a reference point from the image displayed on the display unit. The zooming-control module makes the image-sensing module sense another image, the reference point is in the center of which, by zooming. | 11-24-2011 |
20110292252 | Image forming optical system and electronic image pickup apparatus using the same - In an image forming optical system which includes in order from an object side, a first lens group G | 12-01-2011 |
20110304749 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - The image pickup apparatus includes an image production unit producing an image by using an output signal from an image pickup unit, a size detection unit detecting a size of a specific object in the image, a storage unit storing a target value of the size of the specific object, a control unit performing auto zoom control that automatically provides a zoom operation to make the size of the specific object equal or closer to the target value, and a position detection unit detecting a position of the specific object in the image. The control unit controls, in the auto zoom control, a speed of the zoom operation depending on the position of the specific object detected by the position detection unit. The apparatus can prevent easy disappearance of the specific object from the image when the auto zoom operation is performed. | 12-15-2011 |
20120038795 | Image pickup apparatus - A zoom lens includes, in order from the object side to the image side, a first lens unit having a positive refracting power and including a reflecting member having a reflecting surface, a second lens unit having a negative refracting power, a rear lens unit group having a positive refracting power as a whole and including at least three lens units, which includes in order from the object side, a third lens unit, a fourth lens unit, and a fifth lens unit. An aperture stop is provided between the second lens unit and the fourth lens unit. During zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, the first lens unit is kept stationary, the second lens unit is located closer to the image side at the telephoto end than at the wide angle end, and the distances between the lens units change. The first lens unit includes, in order from the object side, a negative lens component, the reflecting member, and a rear sub-lens unit including a first positive lens element and a second positive lens element. The second lens unit includes a plurality of lens elements including a negative lens element. The zoom lens satisfies certain conditions. | 02-16-2012 |
20120057052 | System and method for effectively optimizing zoom settings in a digital camera - A system and method for effectively optimizing zoom settings in a digital camera includes a digital zoom module that performs a digital zoom function, and an optical zoom module that controls a lens unit of the digital camera to perform an optical zoom function. A depth of field manager performs a zoom-setting optimization procedure to select optimal zoom values for the optical zoom module and the digital zoom module to thereby optimize image quality characteristics of images captured by the camera device. | 03-08-2012 |
20120162481 | DIGITAL IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHING APPARATUSES AND METHODS OF CONTROLLING THE SAME TO PROVIDE LOCATION INFORMATION - Digital image photographing apparatuses and methods of controlling the same to provide location information are disclosed. A disclosed example method includes generating a preview image by photographing an object; detecting the current location of the digital image photographing apparatus; detecting a photographing direction in which the digital image photographing apparatus photographed the object; generating distance information regarding the object; and displaying the distance information regarding the object according to the photographing direction around the current location of the digital image photographing apparatus. Digital image photographing apparatuses disclosed herein are capable of providing location information and/or additional information regardless of its their optical limits. | 06-28-2012 |
20120162482 | Zoom Lens System, Interchangeable Lens Apparatus, and Camera System - A compact and lightweight zoom lens system having excellent imaging performance, which is favorably applicable to an interchangeable-lens type digital camera system, is provided. The zoom lens system of the present invention includes, in order from an object side to an image side, a first lens unit having positive optical power and composed of not more than two lens elements, a second lens unit having negative optical power, a third lens unit having negative optical power, and a fourth lens unit having positive optical power. In zooming from a wide-angle limit to a telephoto limit, the fourth lens unit moves along an optical axis. Further, the following condition (9) and (10) are satisfied: 1.5006-28-2012 | |
20120169903 | Zoom Lens System, Imaging Device and Camera - A zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprising a positive first lens unit, a negative second lens unit, a positive third lens unit, and a positive fourth lens unit, wherein the first lens unit is composed of a cemented lens element of one object side negative lens element and one image side positive lens element, the fourth lens unit is composed of one lens element, in zooming, the first to fourth lens units are individually moved along an optical axis so that air spaces between the respective lens units vary for magnification change, and the conditions: vd | 07-05-2012 |
20120194707 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, IMAGE REPRODUCTION APPARATUS, AND IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus includes a target image generating portion that generates a target image by photography using optical zoom and digital zoom, and an output image generating portion that generates an output image by performing image processing on the target image. An entire image region of the target image includes a first image region and a second image region having a focus degree lower than that of the first image region. The image processing includes a blurring process for blurring an image in the second image region of the target image, and the output image generating portion performs the blurring process in accordance with a magnification of the digital zoom. | 08-02-2012 |
20120206625 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit configured to perform photoelectric conversion of an optical image, an optical zoom unit configured to perform optical magnification variation in response to a zooming operation, an electronic zoom unit configured to perform electronic magnification variation on a signal output from the imaging unit, and a controller configured to operate the electronic zoom unit together with the optical zoom unit in a first zoom range in response to the zooming operation, to operate the optical zoom unit without operating the electronic zoom unit in response to the zooming operation in a second zoom range, which is closer to a telephoto side than the first zoom range, and to operate the electronic zoom unit together with the optical zoom unit in response to the zooming operation in a third zoom range, which is closer to the telephoto side than the second zoom range. | 08-16-2012 |
20120206626 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - An image pickup apparatus including: an image pickup element; an image pickup optical system for forming an image of an object by using a beam; a phase modulating element disposed on a pupil plane, for modulating a phase state of the beam; a modulating element controller for controlling the phase modulating element; and an image pickup element controller for dividing the image pickup element into multiple areas, and reading, for each of the multiple divided areas, information on the image in a time-sharing manner, in which, when the image pickup element controller reads the information on the image formed on the image pickup element by an area-by-area basis for the multiple divided areas in the time-sharing manner, the modulating element controller controls the phase modulating element so as to reduce a wavefront aberration in the divided area from which the information is to be read. | 08-16-2012 |
20120268625 | ZOOM LENS AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS EQUIPPED WITH ZOOM LENS - A zoom lens includes a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, a second lens unit having a negative refractive power, a third lens unit having a positive refractive power, and a fourth lens unit having a positive refractive power in order from an object side to an image side. The second and fourth lens units move during zooming, and the first and third lens units do not move for zooming. A focal length fw of the entire zoom lens at a wide-angle end, a focal length ft of the entire zoom lens at a telephoto end, a focal length f | 10-25-2012 |
20120327272 | Zoom Lens System, Imaging Device and Camera - A zoom lens system comprising: a positive first lens unit; a negative second lens unit; a positive third lens unit; a fourth lens unit; and an aperture diaphragm provided between the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit, wherein in zooming, the first to third lens units are moved along an optical axis to perform magnification change, the third lens unit includes two or more lens elements and one or more inter-lens-element air spaces, and the conditions: −7.012-27-2012 | |
20120327273 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND REPRODUCING APPARATUS WHICH CHANGES FRAME RATE BASED ON ZOOM OPERATION - An imaging unit outputs a video signal at a frame rate higher than a standard frame rate. During a zoom operation period or a period including the zoom operation period and periods before and after the zoom operation, a video signal from the imaging unit is recorded in a recording medium at a high recording frame rate. Other than this period, a video signal is recorded in the recording medium at the standard frame rate. The recording frame rate and zoom operation information is recorded as metadata in the recording medium. During reproduction, based on a set reproduction mode, thinning processing is carried out on a video signal recorded during a zoom operation, and the processed signal is output at the standard frame rate. In this way, it is possible to change a frame rate in view of a photographer's intention and assure compatibility with existing viewing and reproduction environments. | 12-27-2012 |
20130027585 | Zoom Lens, Imaging Optical Device, and Digital Apparatus - A first lens unit having negative power, a second lens unit having positive power, a third lens unit having negative power, and a fourth lens unit having positive power are disposed in this order from an object side. At least the first lens unit to the third lens unit move to change intervals between lens units so that magnification is varied. The second lens unit has at least one air interval inside and is split into two lens units with a boundary of an air interval closest to an image side in the second lens unit, which includes a second-a lens unit on the object side and a second-b lens unit on the image side, and the second-b lens unit is moved in a plane substantially perpendicular to an optical axis for damping vibrations. | 01-31-2013 |
20130027586 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM, IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA - A zoom lens system has a plurality of lens units each composed of at least one lens element and, in order from the object side to the image side, comprises: a negative first lens unit being composed of two lens elements; a positive second lens unit; and a positive third lens unit, wherein in zooming from a wide-angle limit to a telephoto limit during image taking, the individual lens units are moved along an optical axis such that an interval between the first lens unit and the second lens unit decreases and that an interval between the second lens unit and the third lens unit increases, so that magnification change is achieved, and wherein on the image side relative to the second lens unit, an aperture diaphragm is arranged that moves along the optical axis integrally with the second lens unit during zooming. | 01-31-2013 |
20130057731 | Distribution of Offered Digital Zoom Levels and Gradual Zoom in Digital Photography - Offered digital zoom levels may be distributed at equal spacing of zoom factors. Offered digital zoom levels may be distributed among optically uniform digital zoom levels. Gradual zoom may be achieved by generating preview images at one or more intermediate digital zoom levels at which generation of a recordable image is not permitted. One or more intermediate digital zoom levels may be distributed generally evenly between two adjacent offered digital zoom levels. An image sensor supports a discrete set of zoom factors. One or more intermediate zoom factors may be distributed generally evenly between zoom factors that correspond to two adjacent offered digital zoom levels. | 03-07-2013 |
20130063626 | CAMERA WITH MULTIPLE VIEWFINDERS - A method and apparatus for controlling the display of a portable electronic device having a camera application, a viewfinder having at least two viewfinder resolutions, and a sensor array, is provided. When a zoom level of the camera application is 1×, a first image is generated by scaling a predetermined number of rows and columns of pixels of the sensor array to a first viewfinder resolution at a given frame rate. When the zoom level is greater than 1×, a region of interest of the predetermined number of rows and columns of pixels is cropped in accordance with the zoom level and a second image is generated by scaling the cropped region of interest to a second viewfinder resolution smaller than the first viewfinder resolution at a frame rate higher than the given frame rate. | 03-14-2013 |
20130107080 | SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS AND IMAGE DATA GENERATION APPARATUS WITH ELECTRONIC REDUCTION AND ENLARGEMENT SIGNAL PROCESSING CAPABILITIES | 05-02-2013 |
20130141616 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM, INTERCHANGEABLE LENS APPARATUS AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprising a first lens unit having negative optical power, a second lens unit having positive optical power, a third lens unit having negative optical power, and a fourth lens unit having positive optical power, wherein the second lens unit is, in order from the object side to the image side, composed of an object-side second lens unit and an image-side second lens unit, the image-side second lens unit moves in a direction perpendicular to an optical axis to optically compensate image blur, and the condition: 1<|f | 06-06-2013 |
20130155290 | Method and System for Image Centering during Zooming - The methods and systems described herein are directed to image processing. More specifically, the image processing described herein may include centering an object in the field of view during zooming. The image processing methods and systems may further include setting a magnification factor, positioning the camera in a first field of view capturing a first image, setting a second magnification factor, and capturing a second image. Additionally, the described techniques may include altering the first image to determine an offset and adjusting the camera based on the offset. | 06-20-2013 |
20130155291 | ELECTRONIC CAMERA - An electronic camera includes an imager. An imager has an imaging surface capturing an optical image representing a scene, and repeatedly outputs an electronic image corresponding to the optical image. An adjuster adjusts an imaging condition with reference to a partial image belonging to an adjustment area assigned to the imaging surface. A searcher repeatedly searches for a specific object image from the electronic image. An updater updates an arrangement of the adjustment area in a manner different depending on an attribute of the specific object image. A setter sets the arrangement of the adjustment area to a predetermined arrangement when a time period during which non-detection of the searcher continues has reached a threshold value. A controller controls a magnitude of the threshold value so that the magnitude increases as a specific object equivalent to the specific object image is close to a center of the scene. | 06-20-2013 |
20130169846 | Zoom Lens and Image Pickup Apparatus Using the Same - A zoom lens comprises in order from an object side, a first lens unit having a positive refractive power, and at the time of zooming from a wide angle end to a telephoto end, the first lens unit moves, and the zoom lens satisfies the following conditional expression (1). | 07-04-2013 |
20130208148 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS THAT PERFORMS CLOSE-UP SHOOTING, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An image pickup apparatus that reduces a camera shake and a motion blur during close-up shooting performed by increasing shooting magnification and depth of field. A control unit determines an aperture value and a shutter speed based on information on shooting magnification and a photometry result. In a situation where luminance information based on photometry result is the same, the aperture value is set larger when the shooting magnification is larger than a first value than when not larger than the same, and in a situation where the shooting magnification is larger than the first value and the luminance information is the same, the aperture value is set larger and the shutter speed is set lower when neither a camera shake nor a motion of an object within an imaging screen has occurred than when either has occurred. | 08-15-2013 |
20130215294 | Zoom Lens and Image Pickup Apparatus Using the Same - A zoom lens comprises a first lens unit G | 08-22-2013 |
20130265467 | IMAGING APPARATUS - An imaging apparatus includes an imaging unit, a display unit, an interested-position obtaining unit, a zoom operation obtaining unit and an image-processing unit. The imaging unit is configured to image an image of an object through a lens. The display unit is configured to display the image imaged by the imaging unit. The interested-position obtaining unit is configured to obtain specification of an interested position in the image displayed on the display unit. The zoom operation obtaining unit is provided for the lens and is configured to obtain a zoom operation. The image-processing unit is configured to perform, on the image, an electronic zoom processing of enlarging the interested position, in accordance with the zoom operation. | 10-10-2013 |
20130278800 | HAND-HELD ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND DISPLAY METHOD - The embodiments of the present disclosure provide a hand-held electronic device and a display method, the hand-held electronic device comprising an image processor configured to provide image data; a first display configured to display the first image based on the image data; a first optical system configured to receive light emitted from the first display and change the light path of the light emitted from the first display to form a first magnified virtual image, wherein the length of the light path between the first optical system and the first display is shorter than the focus of the first optical system; a first window configured to allow a viewer to see the first magnified virtual image through the first optical system when the viewer comes close to the first window. | 10-24-2013 |
20140036111 | IMAGE CAPTURING DEVICE WITH AUTO-FOCUS FUNCTION AND AUTO-FOCUS METHOD - An auto-focus method includes steps of receiving a first image from an image capturing unit, wherein the first image conforms to a first resolution of the image capturing unit; setting a focus frame in the first image; converting the first image into a second image, wherein the second image conforms to a second resolution of a display unit and the second resolution is smaller than the first resolution; and displaying the second image and the first image within the focus frame in the display unit. | 02-06-2014 |
20140036112 | DUAL LENS DIGITAL ZOOM - A camera with a pair of lens/sensor combinations, the two lenses having different focal lengths, so that the image from one of the combinations has a field of view approximately two to three times greater than the image from the other combination. As a user of the camera requests a given amount of zoom, the zoomed image provided will come from the lens/sensor combination having the field of view that is next larger than the requested field of view. Thus, if the requested field of view is less than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by that combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. Similarly, if the requested field of view is greater than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by the other combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. | 02-06-2014 |
20140168476 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD FOR IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS - An imaging apparatus includes: an optical system configured to form an image of an object; an imaging unit configured to image an image of the object and generate image data; a first image generating unit configured to generate a first image data based on image data from a first area of the image data; a second image generating unit configured to generate a second image data based on image data from a second area of the image data; and a controller which (A) detects a setting operation and then sets the first area in the second area, and (B) detects a zooming operation and then performs zooming of the optical system, wherein a zooming range of the optical system is limited based on a setting of the second area. | 06-19-2014 |
20140232907 | IMAGE SENSING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING SAME - If zoom magnification falls within an optical-zoom application scaling range of zoom magnifications Z | 08-21-2014 |
20140267834 | METHOD FOR PHOTOGRAPHING A TARGET SUBJECT - A photographing method includes (a) setting a subject as a target subject; (b) determining, automatically, at least one of whether the target subject is at a periphery of a photographer's photographing range and whether the target subject is leaving the photographer's photographing range; and (c) responsive to one of a determination that the target subject is at a periphery of the photographer's photographing range and a determination that the target subject is leaving the photographer's photographing range, cropping, automatically, an image include the target subject using a digital zoom operation. | 09-18-2014 |
20140313374 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CAPTURING SEQUENCES OF IMAGES WITH COMPENSATION FOR VARIATIONS IN MAGNIFICATION - A system for capturing sequences of digital images, including a lens, a digital sensor including a plurality of light-sensitive elements, a focusing module suitable for varying the focus of the lens on the sensor, and an electronic processing unit. The electronic processing unit is suitable for determining a variation in magnification between two consecutively captured digital images from a variation in the focus of the lens, and for determining a digital compensation for said variation in magnification. The electronic processing unit is further suitable for digitally processing at least one of the consecutively captured digital images on the basis of said predetermined compensation. The system enables compensation for visual effects resulting from changes in magnification between two consecutively captured images. | 10-23-2014 |
20140362258 | IMAGE PROCESSING APPARATUS, IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD, AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM - An image processing apparatus includes a special image processing unit. The special image processing unit includes an image resize unit that performs a resize process of resizing an image size of at least a partial area of an image area of image data by using one position in at least the partial area as a center, and an image composition unit that performs a composition process of compositing the image data and image data obtained through the resize process such that the respective one positions coincide with each other. | 12-11-2014 |
20150015744 | IMAGING APPARATUS HAVING FRAMING ASSIST CONTROL - In an imaging apparatus having framing assist control, a controller controls a change speed of the display angle of view changed by a second or a third instruction member faster than the change speed of the display angle of view changed by a first instruction member. The first instruction member is configured to issue an instruction regarding a change of a display angle of view and a change direction of the display angle of view. The second instruction member is configured to issue an instruction to change the display angle of view displayed on the monitor to a wide-angle side by a predetermined amount. The third instruction member is configured to issue an instruction to change the display angle of view displayed on the monitor to the display angle of view before the display angle of view is changed by the second instruction member. | 01-15-2015 |
20150015745 | Zoom Lens and Image Pickup Apparatus Equipped with Same - There is provided a zoom lens in which the load on the driving system for wobbling operation can easily made low and an image pickup apparatus equipped with the same. A zoom lens in which each of distances between a plurality of lens units changes during zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end, includes a focus lens unit that shifts along an optical axis to effect focusing from infinity to a close distance and a plurality of wobbling lens units that wobble after a shift of the focus lens unit at an amplitude smaller than the shift of the focus lens unit in focusing operation, wherein a combination of the wobbling lens units caused to operate changes in the middle of the zooming from the wide angle end to the telephoto end. | 01-15-2015 |
20150022694 | INTERCHANGEABLE-LENS CAMERA, AND VIEWFINDER DISPLAY METHOD - The information about an interchangeable lens is acquired, and the size of an image capture range, which is the range corresponding to a capture image in an optical image, is calculated based on the information about the interchangeable lens. When the image capture range is smaller than or equal to a range to be shown by the angular field of the optical image, a first image showing the image capture range in the optical image is displayed on a display device, and when the image capture range is larger than the range to be shown by the angular field of the optical image, a second image different from the first image showing the image capture range in the optical image is displayed on the display device such that the second image is superimposed on at least either of the four corner vicinities and four side vicinities of the optical image. | 01-22-2015 |
20150103211 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM, IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA - A zoom lens system, in order from an object side to an image side, comprising: a first lens unit having positive optical power; a second lens unit having negative optical power; a third lens unit having positive optical power; a fourth lens unit having negative optical power; a fifth lens unit; and a sixth lens unit, wherein in zooming from a wide-angle limit to a telephoto limit at a time of image taking, the first lens unit, the second lens unit, the third lens unit, and the fourth lens unit move along an optical axis so that an interval between the third lens unit and the fourth lens unit at the telephoto limit is larger than that at the wide-angle limit, and wherein focusing from an infinity in-focus condition to a close-object in-focus condition is performed by moving the fourth lens unit along the optical axis. | 04-16-2015 |
20150116547 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USE WITH MULTIPLE OPTICAL CHAINS - Methods and apparatus for supporting zoom operations using a plurality of optical chain modules, e.g., camera modules, are described. Switching between use of groups of optical chains with different focal lengths is used to support zoom operations. Digital zoom is used in some cases to support zoom levels corresponding to levels between the zoom levels of different optical chain groups or discrete focal lengths to which optical chains may be switched. In some embodiments optical chains have adjustable focal lengths and are switched between different focal lengths. In other embodiments optical chains have fixed focal lengths with different optical chain groups corresponding to different fixed focal lengths. Composite images are generate from images captured by multiple optical chains of the same group and/or different groups. Composite image is in accordance with a user zoom control setting. Individual composite images may be generated and/or a video sequence. | 04-30-2015 |
20150350559 | IMAGE PHOTOGRAPHY APPARATUS - An information processing apparatus that includes a camera unit including an imaging sensor that captures an image; a display that displays an image; and a processor that: clips an image region having a size corresponding to a photography zoom power from an image captured by the camera unit; adjusts a clipping position at a time of clipping the image region from the image; and controls the display to display the clipped image region on the display. | 12-03-2015 |
20160021315 | ZOOM CONTROL APPARATUS, ZOOM CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An apparatus includes a control unit configured to perform zoom control based on a size of an object indicated by acquired information and a set reference size, and a first detection unit configured to detect a first operation for instructing to change the reference size. In a case where the first operation has been detected during the zoom control in a first mode, the control unit performs the zoom control in a second mode until a first time elapses after the first operation has been detected, and, when the first time has elapsed, the control unit switches the second mode to the first mode. In the first mode, the reference size is set to a predetermined size and, in the second mode, the reference size is changed according to the first operation. | 01-21-2016 |
20160021316 | ZOOM CONTROL APPARATUS, ZOOM CONTROL METHOD, AND STORAGE MEDIUM - An apparatus includes a control unit configured to perform zoom control based on a size of an object indicated by acquired information and a set reference size. In the zoom control, the control unit switches between first control and second control according to the set reference size. In the first control, a zoom speed to be set is updated in such a way as to gradually increase, and, in the second control, a zoom speed to be set is not updated. | 01-21-2016 |
20160044248 | ZOOM RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS - Methods and apparatus for performing zoom in and zoom out operations are described using multiple optical chains in a camera device. At least one optical chain in the camera device includes a moveable light redirection device, said light redirection device being one of a substantially plane mirror or a prism. Different zoom focal length settings correspond to different scene capture areas for the optical chain with the moveable light redirection device. Overlap between scene areas captured by different optical chains increases during zoom in and decreases during zoom out. Images captured by different optical chains are combined and/or cropped to generate a composite image corresponding to a zoom focal length setting. | 02-11-2016 |
20160080641 | IMAGING DEVICE, DISPLAY DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AREA CHANGE - An imaging device includes an imaging unit that receives light coming from a subject and thus generates electronic image data; a display unit that displays an image corresponding to the image data; an angle-of-view setting unit that an angle of view to be changed for the image displayed by the display unit according to a first signal input from the outside; and a control unit that starts control of change to a predetermined angle of view set by the angle-of-view setting unit according to a second signal different from the first signal. | 03-17-2016 |
20160088232 | IMAGING APPARATUS HAVING FRAMING ASSIST CONTROL - In an imaging apparatus having framing assist control, a controller controls a change speed of the display angle of view changed by a second or a third instruction member faster than the change speed of the display angle of view changed by a first instruction member. The first instruction member is configured to issue an instruction regarding a change of a display angle of view and a change direction of the display angle of view. The second instruction member is configured to issue an instruction to change the display angle of view displayed on the monitor to a wide-angle side by a predetermined amount. The third instruction member is configured to issue an instruction to change the display angle of view displayed on the monitor to the display angle of view before the display angle of view is changed by the second instruction member. | 03-24-2016 |
20160116722 | ZOOM LENS SYSTEM, IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA - A zoom lens system includes a first lens unit, a second lens unit, a third lens unit, a fourth lens unit, a fifth lens unit, and a sixth lens unit. In zooming, at least the first lens unit, the second lens unit, and the third lens unit move along an optical axis so that an interval between the first lens unit and the second lens unit at a telephoto limit becomes larger than that at a wide-angle limit, and an interval between the second lens unit and the third lens unit at the telephoto limit becomes narrower than that at the wide-angle limit. An aperture diaphragm is disposed between the second lens unit and the third lens unit. A condition of 18.504-28-2016 | |
20160134816 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAGNIFICATION CORRECTION FROM MULTIPLE FOCUS PLANES - A method for correcting a magnification in image measurements is implemented using a computer device including one or more processors coupled to a user interface and one or more memory devices. The method includes acquiring a plurality of images of a target. Each image is acquired at a different distance from the target. The method also includes determining a distance between a lens used in acquiring the plurality of images and the target and determining a magnification of each acquired image. The method further includes determining a magnification correction with respect to a reference, determining a change in a size of the target, and outputting the determined change in a size of the target. | 05-12-2016 |
20160156849 | IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, METHOD, AND PROGRAM | 06-02-2016 |
20160191810 | ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, IMAGING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD OF ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A subject detection unit of an imaging apparatus detects a subject image from an image. An automatic zoom control unit automatically selects a specific composition among a plurality of compositions, sets a reference size of the subject image used to control a zoom magnification based on the selected composition, and controls the zoom magnification according to the reference size and a size of the subject image detected by the subject detection unit. The selectable composition differs between when a photographing state is a photographing preparation state of a still image and when the photographing state is a recording state of a moving image. | 06-30-2016 |
20160191811 | ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, IMAGING APPARATUS, CONTROL METHOD OF ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A subject detection unit of an imaging apparatus detects a subject image from an image. An automatic zoom control unit determines whether the subject detection unit detects the subject image in a specific region and performs first control such that a zoom magnification is controlled on a telephoto side based on a determination result when the subject image is not detected in the specific region. The automatic zoom control unit changes the first control to second control when the subject detection unit detects the subject image in the specific region, and controls the zoom magnification based on a reference size and a sequentially detected size of the subject image. | 06-30-2016 |
20160191812 | ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD OF ZOOM CONTROL DEVICE, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A subject detection unit of an imaging apparatus detects a subject image from an image. An automatic zoom control unit performs zoom control according to a size of a subject detected by the subject detection unit. The automatic zoom control unit automatically selects a specific composition among a plurality of compositions and sets a reference size of the subject used to control a zoom magnification based on the selected composition and the size and position of the detected subject. A process of determining a scene using information including a detection result by the subject detection unit, a composition selection process is performed on the determination scene, and one composition is selected from a composition of upper body of the subject, a composition of whole body, a composition of a subject face, and a composition of multiple people. | 06-30-2016 |
20160191814 | Dual Lens Digital Zoom - A camera with a pair of lens/sensor combinations, the two lenses having different focal lengths, so that the image from one of the combinations has a field of view approximately two to three times greater than the image from the other combination. As a user of the camera requests a given amount of zoom, the zoomed image provided will come from the lens/sensor combination having the field of view that is next larger than the requested field of view. Thus, if the requested field of view is less than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by that combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. Similarly, if the requested field of view is greater than the smaller field of view combination, the zoomed image will be created from the image captured by the other combination, using cropping and interpolation if necessary. | 06-30-2016 |