| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 396164000 | Variable intensity control | 25 |
| 20080298794 | Methods and apparatuses for image exposure correction - Methods and apparatuses for image exposure include capturing a first image under a first illumination condition, determining a luminance of the first image at a plurality of sectors, capturing a second image under a second illumination condition employing an artificial light source, determining a luminance of the second image at the plurality of sectors, and determining if the artificial light source should be used to capture a final image using the luminances of the first and second images at the plurality of sectors. If the artificial light source is to be used, an output level of the light source is determined. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20080304817 | PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH POWER CONTROL UNIT - A photographic flash power control unit has two controls for adjusting the light output in F stops. One control increments the output in whole F stops and the other increments the output in tenths of F stops. | 12-11-2008 |
| 20090123143 | IMAGE TAKING SYSTEM, METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME AND RECORDING MEDIUM - An image taking system includes an image taking circuit which photographs the object upon receipt of a photographing instruction and obtains an image representing the object, a light emitting circuit which emits stroboscopic light, a photographing control circuit which controls the image taking circuit to execute a continuous photographing where a plurality of images are continuously taken including a plurality of images with following stroboscopic light, a stroboscopic light control circuit which controls the light emitting circuit to emit the stroboscopic light when photographing the images with following stroboscopic light, and an estimating circuit which estimates, when photographing the images with following stroboscopic light, the remaining energy in the charging unit after the photographing, on the basis of each light emission and the remaining energy in the charging unit upon the light emission. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090269047 | Illumination device for photography and photographic device - An illumination device for photography which can photograph an image expressing a movement of the object is provided. The device comprises a light emission unit which emits, continuously and at an constant emission amount, an illumination light, and a light emission control unit which controls the emission unit and changes a light emission intensity during the acquisition of a single still image by exposing object light on an imaging unit provided in a photographic device, wherein the light emission control unit, during the acquisition of the single still image, causes the illumination light to emit continuously at a first light emission intensity in a first time period, and causes the illumination light to emit continuously at a second light emission intensity with a lower intensity than the first light emission intensity in a second time period after the elapse of the first time period. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20100183289 | Illumination Device for Photography, and Camera - An illumination device for photography includes: a light emission unit that emits illumination light towards a photographic subject; and a control unit that performs control so as to change a light emission luminance of the light emission unit within an exposure time period that is set to the camera. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20110019991 | MOBILE TERMINAL HAVING CAMERA FLASH AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING CAMERA FLASH - A mobile terminal including an LED camera flash includes a lens, which is for photographing an object, an image sensing unit, which generates a sensor result value by executing automatic exposure and automatic white balance, a flash module, which includes a flash driving unit that controls the LED camera flash, an actuator, which moves the lens and records a distance traveled by the lens, and a camera control module, which sets an exposure gain value by using the sensor result value, extracts a distance current value and a distance gain value by using position information of the lens that is determined by using the distance traveled by the lens, and controls the flash driving unit so as to adjust a brightness of the LED camera flash according to a gain correction value, which is set by using the exposure gain value, the distance current value and the distance gain value. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110044680 | IMAGING APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - An imaging apparatus includes a light metering unit, a setting unit configured to set an exposure condition including exposure time and an aperture value at a time of flash photography based on a result of light metering by the light metering unit, and a first calculation unit configured to calculate an amount of light emission by a light emission unit to perform flash photography under the set exposure condition based on the result of light metering, wherein, when a first amount of light emission to perform flash photography under a first exposure condition is larger than a maximum amount of light emission that can be achieved by the light emission unit, the setting unit sets a second exposure condition having shorter exposure time and a smaller aperture value than the first exposure condition, and the first calculation unit calculates a second amount of light emission smaller than the maximum amount of light emission. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110123183 | SPATIALLY ADAPTIVE PHOTOGRAPHIC FLASH UNIT - Using photographic flash for candid shots often results in an unevenly lit scene, in which objects in the back appear dark. A spatially adaptive photographic flash ( | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110280561 | LIGHTING ASSEMBLY FOR AN IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM COMPRISING LED ELEMENTS - The invention relates to a lighting assembly for an image capturing system. The lighting assembly includes at least one lighting element for generating light and a control system arranged to control the at least one lighting element and to interface with at least one camera of the image capturing system. The control system is arranged for controlling an intensity and a spectrum of the at least one lighting element. The control system is arranged to provide a control for emitting a constant light or a pulsed light with the at least one lighting element. The at least one lighting element includes at least one LED being at least one high CRI white LED. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20120014683 | CAMERA FLASH SYSTEM CONTROLLED VIA MEMS ARRAY - A camera flash system may include a light source and an array that includes MEMS-based light-modulating devices disposed in front the light source. The camera flash system may control the array to transmit light through, or substantially prevent the transmission of light through, predetermined areas of the array. In some embodiments, the array may be controlled in response to input from a user, in response to detected ambient light conditions and/or in response to the proximity of a detected subject or other detected features. For example, the camera flash system may control the array to substantially prevent the transmission of light through an area of the array that is between the light source and the eyes of a detected subject. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120039592 | VIDEO CAMERA SUPPLEMENTARY WHITE LIGHT CONTROL METHOD - A video camera supplementary white light control method used in a video camera having installed therein a microcontroller, an image pickup device, a light sensor and a filter for controlling the operation of a supplementary lighting device that may be installed in the video camera or disposed outside the video camera. The method is to let the wavelengths beyond the overlapped area of the wavelength range sensed by the image pickup device and the wavelength range of the white light emitted by the supplementary lighting device be removed by the filter, so that the light sensor can receive a predetermined wavelength of light and compute the luminance of the received light, and the microcontroller can compare the luminance data to a reference data and then control the operation of the supplementary lighting device subject to the comparison result. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120082446 | ILLUMINATION APPARATUS AND EXAMINATION SYSTEM - The illumination apparatus includes a first light source and a second light source configured to generate light in wavelength bands required for at least two illumination modes; a dichroic mirror configured to transmit light in a predetermined band from the first light source, to transmit light in the predetermined band from the second light source while reflecting light that is outside the predetermined band in the direction of the optical axis of light from the first light source, and to combine the light from the first light source and the light from the second light source; and a control unit configured to control the illumination states of the first light source and the second light source. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120128340 | CAMERA-BASED MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FLASHLIGHT THEREOF - A camera-based mobile communication device includes a light sensor, a camera module, a flashlight, and a micro-processing unit (MPU). The light sensor is operable to detect a brightness value of an external light source. The camera module is operable to photograph an image. The flashlight is operable to generate a flash. The MPU is electrically connected to the light sensor, the camera module, and the flashlight. The MPU includes a comparison module, a face recognizing module, and a flashlight control module. The comparison module is operable to compare the brightness value with a threshold brightness icy value. The face recognizing module is operable to determine whether there exists a facial feature in the image. The flashlight control module is operable to turn on the flashlight when the detected brightness value is greater than the threshold brightness value and the facial feature is recognized from the image. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120213503 | ILLUMINATION DEVICE FOR A CAMERA - An illumination device performs a method for illuminating a scene monitored by a camera. The illumination device includes a first light emitting source having a first lens arranged so that the first light emitting source, at a first distance from the illumination device, provides illumination essentially within a first area of a predetermined size. A second light emitting source of the illumination device has a second lens arranged so that the second light emitting source, at a second distance from the illumination device, provides illumination essentially within a second area of the predetermined size. The output intensity of the first and the second light emitting source is individually controllable. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120263447 | ILLUMINATION DEVICE - An illumination device and method for illuminating a scene monitored by a camera uses a plurality of light emitting elements and an illumination control unit. The illumination control unit is arranged to individually control the output intensity of the plurality of light emitting elements based on a camera view direction setting, such that illumination is provided in a view direction of the camera. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120294599 | METHOD FOR ADJUSTING BRIGHTNESS OF IMAGE - A method for adjusting brightness of an image, suitable for an image capturing apparatus with a flash lamp, is provided. In the method, an intensity of a main flash of the flash lamp is raised, and a sensitivity is reduced. When the main flash is fired by the flash lamp, a raw image is captured according to the reduced sensitivity for calculating a brightness mean value. A gain ratio is calculated according to the brightness mean value and a brightness target, so as to use the gain ratio to compensate the brightness of the raw image. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120294600 | IMAGING APPARATUS, LIGHT EMITTING DEVICE, IMAGING SYSTEM, AND CONTROL METHOD - An imaging apparatus including a light emitting device includes a determination unit configured to determine a weighting coefficient of each of a plurality of light metering regions, a calculation unit configured to calculate an amount of main flash light of the light emitting device after performing weighting of the light metering value of each of the plurality of light metering regions according to the weighting coefficient determined by the determination unit, and a selection unit configured to select, from the plurality of light metering regions, a reference region which is used when the weighting coefficient of each of the plurality of light metering regions is determined by the determination unit, and the selection unit selects the reference region in such a manner that a light metering region different from a light metering region whose color information acquired by the color information acquisition unit satisfies a particular condition, is preferentially selected. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20130089313 | Systems and Methods For Changing Power States of A Remote Device Using One Or More Camera Body Controls and A Preset Delay - A control system for controlling power states of a controlled device, such as a lighting device, a special effects device and an in-scene device, in a photographic image-acquisition setting. The control system is configured to detect one or more camera body signals generated as a function of actuation of one or more camera body controls by a user. The control system generates a first power state change signal in response to the detected camera body signal(s) and transmits the power state change signal to the remote device so as to cause the remote device to operate at a first power state. The control system also implements a preset delay and causes the remote device to change from the first power state to a second power state in response to expiration of the preset delay. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130094845 | Systems and Methods For Communicating With A Device Using One Or More Camera Body Controls - A control system for communicating with a controlled device, such as a lighting device, a special effects device and an in-scene device, in a photographic image-acquisition setting using a camera body. The control system is configured to detect a preset pattern of actuation of one or more camera body controls by a user. In response to detecting of the preset pattern, the control system either communicates a power state change signal to the controlled device or causes the camera body to enter into a controlled device control mode that changes the functionality of one or more camera body controls from a camera body functionality to a controlled device control functionality, or both. Such a system can allow a photographer to control a controlled device while remaining at the camera body. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130195435 | CAMERA FLASH FILTER - Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a camera flash filter. In one embodiment, a processor determines an intensity of light to filter through areas of the flash filter based on the lighting of a scene. The processor may determine a color of light to filter though the areas of the flash filter based on the determined intensity of light to filter through the areas of the flash filter. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130230305 | FLASH APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE COLOUR TEMPERATURE OF LIGHT IN A FLASH - A flash apparatus comprising at least two flash tubes and at least two energy storage units is presented, wherein each of said at least two energy storage units is being arranged to be configured to strictly correspond to one of the at least two flash tubes for a flash. The flash apparatus is configured to control the amount of energy provided by the at least two energy storage unit(s) to their corresponding flash tube and control the flash duration of the corresponding flash tube dependent of each other, respectively for each flash tube, so as to obtain substantially the same colour temperature from each flash tube for a flash. A method and a computer program product for use in the flash apparatus are also presented. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130251357 | IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS AND CONTROLLING METHOD THEREFOR - An image pickup apparatus that is capable of reducing variation in the color temperature of a subject in a taken image and capable of shooting a more suitable image. The image pickup apparatus can shoot with emitting a light emitting unit. A color temperature acquisition unit acquires information about a color temperature of a light illuminating a subject. An emission control unit controls emission of the light emitting unit. The emission control unit determines emission light amount of the light emitting unit based on a color temperature difference between a color temperature of an illumination light of the light emitting unit and a color temperature based on the information acquired by the color temperature information acquisition unit. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130343741 | USER CONTROL OF FLASH LIGHT CHARACTERISTICS IN A CAMERA SYSTEM - A method includes providing, in a camera system, a flash light including one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) having color changing ability based on the one or more LEDs being constituted by a combination of semiconductor compounds, and providing a user interface on the camera system to enable a user of the camera system to modify a number of settings on the camera system. The method also includes modifying, through a flash light driver component, an intensity level of the flash light and/or a voltage supplied thereto through a flash light driver circuit of the flash light in accordance with an appropriate modified setting by the user on the user interface. The modification of the voltage supplied to the flash light enables an appropriate modification of a color of a light emitted by the flash light. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20150117849 | LIGHTING DEVICE, IMAGE CAPTURING SYSTEM, AND LIGHTING CONTROL METHOD - A lighting device includes a base unit arranged on a medium installation face on which a medium is disposed, an arm unit extending upwardly from the base unit, a top unit extending from the arm unit so as to face the medium installation face, a mounting face disposed on the top unit to mount an image capturing unit at a position capable of photographing the medium on the medium installation face, a lighting disposed in the top unit to irradiate the medium installation face, and a lighting control unit configured to adjust an amount of light of the lighting. The lighting control unit sets the amount of light of the lighting to a maximum at the time of photographing and, after the photographing, returns the amount of light to that before the photographing. | 04-30-2015 |
| 20150331301 | CAMERA INTEGRATED WITH DIRECT AND INDIRECT FLASH UNITS - A compact camera with a compact camera body integrated with a lens, a direct flash module and an indirect flash module. The direct flash unit includes a flash light emission window arranged to project direct illumination in a first direction toward an object to be photographed. The indirect flash unit includes an indirect flash light emission window arranged to project indirect bounce illumination in a second direction off of an indirect reflecting surface to the object. The camera also has a controller that receives a first signal containing information from a first light sensor connected to the direct flash unit, and a second signal containing information from a second light sensor connected to the indirect flash unit. In response to the received first and second signals, the controller selectively adjusts the amount of flash illumination projected from the direct and indirect flash units. | 11-19-2015 |
