Patents by Inventor Akira Irinouchi

Akira Irinouchi has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8988562
    Abstract: Defective pixels are to be selected so as not to cause image degradation. A defective pixel correction unit 13 in an image processing apparatus 1 obtains an imaging signal a12 from an imaging sensor 16 via a gain adjustment unit 12, and calculates an absolute value for the pixel value difference between a pixel to be tested for a defect of the imaging sensor 16 and each of its surrounding pixels, respectively. Next, the defective pixel correction unit 13 compares the differential with a defective pixel determination threshold value and determines the pixel being tested as defective, if the differential is greater than the threshold value. It should be noted that the threshold value is changed according to the magnitude of an image transition, by detecting the image transition of a video signal a14 in an image transition detection unit 15.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Industry & Control Solutions, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Irinouchi, Makoto Asuka
  • Patent number: 8804011
    Abstract: An imaging device includes an imaging unit having an imaging element to conduct photoelectric conversion on incident light from a subject and output an electric signal, a signal gain control unit for controlling an output signal level of the imaging unit, a plurality of defective pixel correction units for correcting defective pixels contained in a signal output from the signal gain control unit, an image signal processing unit for generating an image signal from a signal which is output from the defective pixel correction units, a temperature measurement unit for measuring temperature in the vicinity of the imaging element, and a system control unit for generally controlling the imaging unit, the signal gain control unit, the correction units, and the image signal processing unit. The system control unit uses the plurality of defective pixel correction units jointly and causes them to operate according to occurrence causes of defective pixels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirotomo Sai, Shinichi Nonaka, Akira Irinouchi
  • Publication number: 20120154646
    Abstract: An imaging device includes an imaging unit having an imaging element to conduct photoelectric conversion on incident light from a subject and output an electric signal, a signal gain control unit for controlling an output signal level of the imaging unit, a plurality of defective pixel correction units for correcting defective pixels contained in a signal output from the signal gain control unit, an image signal processing unit for generating an image signal from a signal which is output from the defective pixel correction units, a temperature measurement unit for measuring temperature in the vicinity of the imaging element, and a system control unit for generally controlling the imaging unit, the signal gain control unit, the correction units, and the image signal processing unit. The system control unit uses the plurality of defective pixel correction units jointly and causes them to operate according to occurrence causes of defective pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2011
    Publication date: June 21, 2012
    Inventors: Hirotomo Sai, Shinichi Nonaka, Akira Irinouchi
  • Patent number: 7756409
    Abstract: An image pickup device and image pickup method are disclosed, wherein an image is picked up by changing the shutter speed in accordance with the illuminance of an object in the case where the rate at which the object moves in the whole image is smaller than a predetermined value, and an image is picked up without changing the shutter speed regardless of the illuminance of the object in the case where the rate at which the object moves in the whole image is not smaller than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Irinouchi, Haruhiko Miyao
  • Publication number: 20070058966
    Abstract: An image pickup device and image pickup method are disclosed, wherein an image is picked up by changing the shutter speed in accordance with the illuminance of an object in the case where the rate at which the object moves in the whole image is smaller than a predetermined value, and an image is picked up without changing the shutter speed regardless of the illuminance of the object in the case where the rate at which the object moves in the whole image is not smaller than the predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2006
    Publication date: March 15, 2007
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Akira Irinouchi, Haruhiko Miyao