Abstract: In an image-capturing device having multiple optical systems, power consumption is reduced and operativity by the user is improved. The image-capturing device has an optical system having a relatively wide angle of view, and an optical system having a relatively narrow angle of view. An image processing system displays an image obtained by the optical system on a display device, crops, from the image of the optical system, an image corresponding to an image-capturing area according to an amount of operation of a zoom operation lever by the user, and displays the cropped image on the display device. When the user operates a release button, the image processing system and a lens control system drive the optical system to an angle of view corresponding to the image-capturing area and stores an image obtained by the optical system in a storage device.

Abstract: Image data captured by digital cameras are shared among the digital cameras. Image data captured by digital cameras constituting members of an image-sharing group are shared, by way of a network, within the image-sharing group. Every time captured image data are output, the digital camera generates for each of the members distribution information, including a storage source directory, a distribution destination address, and a storage destination directory, all pertaining to the image data, by reference to a group list where member information is registered for each of the members, including a distribution destination address and a storage destination directory, to thus generate a distribution list having respective pieces of distribution information registered therein.

Abstract: A camera phone includes a phone stage for generating voice signals, a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output, a first fixed focal length wide angle lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor, a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output, and a second fixed focal length telephoto lens pointing in the same direction as the first lens and forming a second image of the same scene on the second image sensor. A control element selects either the first sensor output from the first image sensor or the second sensor output from the second image sensor. A processing section produces the output image signals from the selected sensor output, and a cellular stage processes the image and voice signals for transmission over a cellular network.

Abstract: The present invention relates to AG-AND-type flash memory which reads management information about a plurality of clusters in a short time, wherein a plurality of clusters are arranged as rows of a matrix, and a plurality of banks are arranged as columns. Single management information is stored in specific pages of all blocks belonging to a certain cluster. For instance, management information (having contents C0) about cluster is stored in specific pages of all blocks. Simultaneous access can be made to a plurality of the banks. Upon system startup, the management information is read obliquely such that the management information about cluster is read from bank 0; . . . , and such that the management information about cluster 3 is read from bank 3. Accordingly, the management information about a plurality of the clusters can be read in a single access operation.

Abstract: The present invention provides a digital camera that is capable of capturing a picture in which the brightness between a main subject and a nighttime background are well balanced. When an image capture instruction is received while a night scene portrait mode is set, in a pixel addition output mode, an image sensor 16 is set to a high sensitivity state by performing pixel addition, and outputs low resolution non-flash image data. Further, in an overall pixel output mode, the image sensor 16 outputs high resolution flash image data in a low sensitivity state without performing pixel addition. Next, a resolution conversion circuit 40 converts a resolution of non-flash image data to be equivalent to a resolution of flash image data. Then, an image combining circuit 60 adds respective pixel values of corresponding pixels in the non-flash image data and the flash image data having the same resolution and combines both sets of image data to generate image data for recording.

Abstract: By providing different switching points between two optical systems for the case where an image capture device such as a camera is zoomed in, when the angle of view for the captured image is transitioned from wide to tele, and for the case where the camera is zoomed out, when the angle of view of the captured image is transitioned from tele to wide, the number of switching operations between the two optical systems can be reduced.

Abstract: A network configuration file is generated at a host computer and downloaded to a digital camera. This file contains instruction information for communicating with a selected destination via a communications interface. The digital camera includes a “send” button or LCD icon which allows the user to easily transmit one or more images via a wired or wireless communications interface to a desired destination, which among other possibilities may be an Internet Service Provider or a digital photofinishing center. When the user selects this option, the communications port settings, user account specifics, and destination connection commands are read from the network configuration file on the removable memory card. Examples of these settings include serial port baud rate, parity, and stop bits, as well as account name and password.

Abstract: An electronic camera for capturing images that can be transferred to a service provider includes an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes and for producing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes; an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals to produce corresponding digital images; and a memory for storing a plurality of digital images. The electronic camera further includes a display coupled to the memory for displaying at least one digital image from the plurality of stored digital images; and a user interface for scrolling through the plurality of digital images stored in the memory in order to display and select a particular digital image to be transferred to the service provider and to select a user, wherein the selected user is provided permission to view the particular digital image when the particular digital image is transferred to the service provider.

Abstract: Coordinated image capturing is appropriately performed even if an error occurs in the synchronization between cameras that are connected via a network. Camera A for image capturing and camera B for providing strobe light are connected via a radio network, and camera A sets a point at which to start exposure for image capturing Tx and a point at which to start strobe emission Tf such that Tx is earlier than Tf, the time difference Id between Tx and Tf becomes larger than a synchronization error Ie between a synchronous clock of camera A and a synchronous clock of camera B, and the sum (Id+If+Ie) of the time difference Id, the strobe emission period If and the synchronization error Ie becomes smaller than exposure period Ix. Then, camera A outputs a strobe emission command with Tf designated and an exposure command with Tx designated, and controls the exposure control mechanism to start exposure at Tx in response to the exposure command.

Abstract: A compact or thin lighting system is provided. Light fluxes emitted from an arc tube 22 are made to enter from a light reception face c1 of an optical member 24 from a reflector 24 and to emit from a light emission face c3 orthogonal to the light reception face c1. Light fluxes entering the light emission face c3 at a small angle are reflected and turned to a main reflection face c2, and then emitted from the light emission face c3. By using total internal reflection of the light emission face, the size and thickness can be decreased.

Abstract: A storage compartment for loading and unloading batteries of varying sizes efficiently. The storage compartment is internally equipped with a position regulating plate part on a ceiling part, an ejection urging part, a thickness judging part, and a contact point part on an end surface at the back side. The position regulating plate part is equipped with rotatable position regulating plates urged to protrude vertically into the storage compartment. When a battery is inserted, the position regulating plates guide the battery and cause it to be pressed to a bottom surface part of the storage compartment. Any one of the position regulating plates that does not abut the battery opposes the battery in a perpendicular direction and prohibits movement of the battery in the thickness direction.

Abstract: A lid of a battery case is supported on a shaft fixed on a battery box. The lid comprises a cover portion and a support arm for attaching the cover portion to the shaft. A hook formed on the cover portion engages with a hook receiver provided on the battery box, so as to retain the lid in a closed position. The hook is disengaged by sliding the lid from the closed position along the axial direction of the shaft, and the lid is subsequently rotated about the shaft to an open position. During rotation of the lid, a stopper abuts a side surface of the support arm to prevent sliding movement of the lid. When the lid is being rotated to be closed, the abutting stopper prevents jamming of the hook on top of the hook receiver.

Abstract: An electronic image capture device for capturing a color image, comprising an image sensor comprised of discrete light sensitive picture elements overlaid with a color filter array (CFA) pattern to produce sensor color image data corresponding to the CFA pattern; an A/D converter for producing uninterpolated digital CFA image data from the sensor color image data; a processor for processing the uninterpolated digital CFA image data to produce interpolated image data and for forming a TIFF image file containing both the uninterpolated CFA image data and the interpolated image data; and a memory for storing the TIFF image file.

Abstract: An electronic still camera for capturing images to be transferred to at least one e-mail address is disclosed. The electronic still camera includes an image sensor for capturing a plurality of images of scenes and for producing image signals representative of the corresponding scenes; an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the image signals to produce digital images; and a removable memory card for storing a plurality of digital image files corresponding to the digital images. The electronic still camera also includes an internal memory for storing at least one digital image to be displayed and a plurality of e-mail addresses; a processor for controlling the transfer of the digital images from the removable memory card to the internal memory and for producing a utilization file; and a display coupled to the internal memory for displaying at least one digital image.

Abstract: To provide an auto white balance apparatus capable of performing stable white balance adjustment. A parent block is divided into child blocks by a block-dividing circuit 110, and a typical value is calculated every child block by a typical-value calculating circuit 120, and then the distance between the typical color difference component of each parent block and the typical color difference component of each child block is obtained on a color difference plane. A child block satisfying a condition equal to or less than a threshold value S is selected to recalculate reliability of a parent blocks by using only selected child blocks. Moreover, a white balance evaluating circuit 130 corrects reliabilities of parent blocks in accordance with the number of unselected child blocks.

Abstract: A method for producing a plurality of electronic job pages using a digital camera and a computer comprises the steps of capturing and storing a first group of digital images using the digital camera; designating, in response to a user input, that subsequent captured digital images are to form a second group of digital images; and capturing and storing a second group of digital images using the digital camera. The method further includes the steps of storing data in a memory of the digital camera which identifies the first and second groups of digital images; transferring the first and second group of digital images, and the data identifying the first and second groups of digital images, from the digital camera to the computer; and using the transferred data identifying the first and second groups of digital images to produce a first electronic job page including the first group of digital images and a second electronic job page including the second group of digital images.

Abstract: A method for customizing a digital camera for at least one particular user is disclosed. The digital camera includes a reprogrammable memory for storing firmware which controls the operation of the digital camera and a camera graphical user interface responsive to the firmware stored in the reprogrammable memory. The method includes providing customization software executed external to the digital camera which can access a plurality of firmware components having different camera features. A user selects desired camera features to cause the customization software to access the corresponding firmware component(s). The selected corresponding firmware component(s) are provided to the digital camera and the reprogrammable memory is reprogrammed to store the corresponding firmware component(s) to thereby customize the digital camera.

Abstract: To provide an accessing device which allows reliable protection of important data. A memory accessing device has a file system device which manages a logical memory space and a driver device which maintains a correlation information between the logical memory space and a physical memory space and which physically accesses a flash memory based on the correlation information. The flash memory is physically divided into a plurality of strings. The file system device manages the memory space by dividing the memory space into a plurality of partitions each of which is set to one of RO and RW. The driver device specifies a permission type to write the data in a string by correlating each string to a single logical partition.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus for performing exposure adjustment based on the luminance of screen images through photoelectric conversion includes a structure for providing a signal to be applied to a screen for viewing images, a structure defining a region satisfying a predetermined condition based on where the luminance is excluded from a base region predetermined in the screen signal, and a structure for automatically providing exposure adjustment on the signal based on the luminance of a remaining region in the base region.

Abstract: A digital camera includes a first image sensor, a first wide angle lens for forming a first image of a scene on the first image sensor; a second image sensor, a zoom lens for forming a second image of the same scene on the second image sensor, a control element for selecting either a first sensor output from the first image sensor or a second sensor output from the second image sensor, and a processing section for producing the output image from the selected sensor output. In one variation of this embodiment, the first lens is also a zoom lens, where the maximum focal length of the first lens is less than or equal to the minimum focal length of the second zoom lens.