Abstract: A camera system having an electronic flash with a variable illumination angle, comprising: an image forming system having a user-selectable field-of-view for forming an image of a scene onto an image plane; an electronic flash system including a plurality of fixed focal length illumination lenses having two or more different focal lengths and one or more light emitters positioned behind each of the illumination lenses, the light emitters being positioned relative to their respective illumination lenses to provide two or more different illumination angles onto the scene; and a flash controller that selectively fires different subsets of the light emitters responsive to the selected field-of-view of the image forming system.

Abstract: A method for determining a motion estimate, comprising: capturing at least two digital images of a scene at different capture times; designating one of the digital images as a reference digital image; designating a plurality of image regions; determining motion estimates for each image region by shifting the image regions within the non-reference digital images according to each of a plurality of spatial offsets relative to the image region within the reference digital image, computing merit function values for each spatial offset providing an indication of a difference between the image region in the reference digital image and the shifted image regions, computing a fitting function that provides an estimated merit function value as a function of spatial offset; and determining the motion estimate responsive to the determined non-integer spatial offset. A combined motion estimate is determined using weighting coefficients determined responsive to the shapes of the fitting functions.

Abstract: A digital video camera system that provides a video summary using a method that includes: designating a reference image containing a particular person; capturing a video sequence of the scene using the image sensor, the video sequence including a time sequence of image frames; processing the captured video sequence using a video processing path to form a digital video file; during the capturing of the video sequence, analyzing the captured image frames using a person recognition algorithm to identify a subset of the image frames that contain the particular person; forming the video summary including fewer than all of the image frames in the captured video sequence, wherein the video summary includes at least part of the identified subset of image frames containing the particular person; storing the digital video file in the storage memory; and storing a representation of the video summary in the storage memory.

Abstract: A digital video camera system that provides a video summary using a method that includes: specifying reference data, wherein the reference data indicates a feature of interest; capturing a video sequence of the scene using the image sensor, the video sequence including a time sequence of image frames; processing the captured video sequence using a video processing path to form a digital video file; during the capturing of the video sequence, analyzing the captured image frames using a feature recognition algorithm to identify a subset of the image frames that contain the feature of interest; forming the video summary including fewer than all of the image frames in the captured video sequence, wherein the video summary includes at least part of the identified subset of image frames containing the feature of interest; storing the digital video file in the storage memory; and storing a representation of the video summary in the storage memory.

Abstract: A method for determining image capture settings for an electronic image capture device, comprising: capturing at least two preview images of a scene; analyzing the preview images to determine a combined motion velocity; determining one or more image capture settings responsive to the combined motion velocity; and capturing an archival image according to the determined image capture settings. The determination of the combined motion velocity includes: defining a plurality image regions; determining local motion velocities for each of the image regions; and combining the local motion velocities to determine the combined motion velocity.

Abstract: A method for determining a motion estimate, comprising: capturing at least two digital images of a scene at different capture times; designating one of the digital images as a reference digital image; designating a plurality of image regions; determining motion estimates for each image region by shifting the image regions within the non-reference digital images according to each of a plurality of spatial offsets relative to the image region within the reference digital image, computing merit function values for each spatial offset providing an indication of a difference between the image region in the reference digital image and the shifted image regions, computing a fitting function that provides an estimated merit function value as a function of spatial offset; and determining the motion estimate responsive to the determined non-integer spatial offset. A combined motion estimate is determined using weighting coefficients determined responsive to the shapes of the fitting functions.

Abstract: A method for capturing an improved archival image using an electronic image capture device having a flash, comprising: capturing at least two preview images of a scene at different capture times using the image capture device; determining a scene brightness; using a processor to analyze the captured preview images to determine a motion velocity for the scene; determining a flash exposure setting and an ambient exposure setting responsive to a ratio between the determined scene brightness and the determined motion velocity; and capturing an archival image using the determined flash exposure setting and the determined ambient exposure setting.

Abstract: A method for capturing an improved archival image using an electronic image capture device having a flash, comprising: capturing at least two preview images of a scene at different capture times using the image capture device; determining a scene brightness; using a processor to analyze the captured preview images to determine a motion velocity for the scene; determining a flash exposure setting and an ambient exposure setting responsive to a ratio between the determined scene brightness and the determined motion velocity; and capturing an archival image using the determined flash exposure setting and the determined ambient exposure setting.

Abstract: A method of restoring a color image comprised of one or more colorants and which image may have faded over time, which image is represented by an image signal. The method uses both a restoration model and provides a means which enable a user to readily interact with the restoration process to obtain a final restoration. In a second aspect, the restoration model is used in conjunction with a lightness distribution mapping to provide a high quality restoration. The restoration model is a function of a variable time, and is the inverse of a model representing the fade rate of at least one of the colorants as a function of at least a variable time (and preferably also as a function of the other colorants). An apparatus for performing the method is provided. A computer readable medium has computer readable code means which can execute the method in a suitable computer.