Abstract: In order to provide a spray boom with a plurality of spray nozzles for a hydraulic descaling facility with which a high temperature constancy from beginning to the end of the rolling stock is insured and a too rapid cooling of the surface is prevented, it is proposed, in accordance with the invention, to assign a check valve to each spray nozzle.

Abstract: A controller for a writable optical media is presented. The controller includes a write control sequencer that monitors the transmission of data from a host device to the writable optical media without continuous supervision from a microcomputer. The write control sequencer monitors and controls data flow in response to descriptors which are loaded into the controller prior to the transfer by a microprocessor.

Abstract: A digital camera reduces the possibility that a user's release operation is disabled and performs photographing operations at the appropriate times. The digital camera (1) can load a memory card (40a) and a magnetic disk card (40b) as a plurality of recording media, wherein a CPU (17) can independently make accesses to the memory card (40a) and the magnetic disk card (40b). The CPU (17) performs a plurality of tasks in parallel, whereby a captured image is recorded on either one of the memory card (40a) and the magnetic disk card (40b) while predetermined processing is performed on the other. In such a configuration, a captured image which is stored in image memory (21) through a photographing operation can be recorded at an early stage on one of the recording media. This enables continuous photographing and the like even in such a condition that recording on a recording medium which is selected as a subject of recording is not allowed.

Abstract: A driving device for a memory card with a liquid crystal display which uses a material with a memory effect. A digital camera is an example of such a driving device. When the driving device receives data of a photographed image from a camera body, the image data are recorded to a flash memory of the memory card, and simultaneously a thumbnail image of the image data is displayed on the liquid crystal display.

Abstract: An image captured with a CCD is divided into blocks. Light amount correction data each set for each one of the blocks are read out from a correction value table 211g, a correction value generator 211h weights the light amount correction data in accordance with the positions of target pixels to thereby generate correction values for the respective target pixels, and image field edge brightness reduction correction is performed on the respective pixels based on the correction values. Since one piece of the data is set for each block, the volume of the data is small. This also prevents boundaries between the blocks from becoming noticeable.

Abstract: A power device and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The power device comprises a first conductive semiconductor substrate; a second conductive buried layer formed to a certain depth within the semiconductor substrate; a second conductive epitaxial layer formed on the conductive buried layer; a first conductive well formed within the conductive epitaxial layer; a second conductive well formed within the second conductive epitaxial layer, on both sides of the first conductive well; a second conductive drift region formed in predetermined portions on the first and the second conductive well; and a lateral double diffused MOS transistor formed in the second conductive drift region. The breakdown voltage of the power device is controlled according to a distance between the first conductive well and the second conductive buried layer.

Abstract: A zoom lens system for forming an optical image of a subject on the image-sensing surface of an image sensor has three lens units, namely, from the object side thereof, a first lens unit having a negative optical power, a second lens unit having a positive optical power, and a third lens unit having a positive optical power, and achieves zooming by varying the distances between the individual lens units in such a way that, during zooming from the wide-angle end to the telephoto end, the distance between the first and second lens units decreases. The first lens unit is composed of two or more lens elements, and the first lens element, i.e., the lens element disposed at the object-side end of the first lens unit, is a plastic lens element. Moreover, a prescribed conditional formula is fulfilled.

Abstract: A band-gap reference circuit includes a core reference circuit with a core output terminal, a voltage amplifier, coupled to the core output terminal and having a voltage amplifier terminal, a transconductance amplifier, coupled to the voltage amplifier terminal, and a shared voltage rail, coupled to the core reference circuit and the transconductance amplifier. The voltage amplifier and the transconductance amplifier can include multiple stages. The reference circuit can be operated at low voltages, including 1.3–1.4V. The reference circuit has low spreading within a batch of manufactured systems, partially due to the fact that the reference circuit does not utilize differential amplifiers. The reference circuit can achieve a power supply ripple rejection ratio in excess of 100 dB at low frequencies. Also, no startup circuit is required for the operation of the reference circuit.

Abstract: A VGA to analog video converter is useful e.g. for displaying video and/or graphics data from a computer onto a large screen television or television monitor. The RGB video signals output from the personal computer are first converted to digital form. The analog-to-digital converter which does this is clocked by a clock signal generated by a phase-locked loop using the horizontal synchronizing signal from the personal computer. The digital RGB signals are then converted to a YCbCR format. A flicker filter eliminates the flickering appearing on the TV monitor by operating on the luminance (Y) component. The YCbCr signals are encoded into NTSC or PAL Standard, and output in composite analog video or S-VHS format. A color subcarrier synthesizer generates the color subcarrier signal to generate an accurate subcarrier frequency for the video output signals. An analog-to-digital clock phase adjustment is used to ensure that the input RGB signals are sampled at the proper instant by the analog-to-digital converters.

Abstract: An image processing method includes the steps of obtaining an image in which a first area including a first image and a second area including a second image are discriminated with each other, and a control step for performing a blur control to a second image using a filter to obtain a blur-controlled second image while accompanying processing for reducing an influence of the first area at a boundary between the first area and the second area and therearound when the blur control is performed to the second image.

Abstract: A texture mapping apparatus for jointing a plurality of texture images where mapping positions are partially overlapped so as to map the texture images on a surface of a three-dimensional model. The texture mapping apparatus has a texture cutting out section which extracts a boundary between a texture portion and a background portion for each of the texture images, a texture evaluating section which weights segments obtained by segmentalizing the texture portion correlatively with a distance from the boundary using boundary information obtained by the extraction of the boundary, and a texturing blending section which calculates a mapping value by means of weighted average for overlapped portions of the plural texture images.

Abstract: In a photoelectric converting device, a photoelectric current (electric signal) generated by light entering a photodiode PD causes the gate voltage of MOS transistors T1 and T2 to rise, and thus a current corresponding to this gate voltage flows through the MOS transistor T2 into a capacitor C, shifting the voltage at the node “a” between the MOS transistor T2 and the capacitor C. Here, when the voltage ?VPS applied to the source of the MOS transistor T1 is adjusted in such a way that the MOS transistor T1 operates in a subthreshold region below its threshold level, the voltage at the node “a” varies on a natural-logarithm basis with respect to the photoelectric current. By contrast, when the voltage ?VPS applied to the source of the MOS transistor T1 is kept approximately equal to a direct-current voltage VPD, the voltage at the node “a” varies on a linear basis with respect to the photoelectric current.

Abstract: A battery pack (1) has a housing (2) with a floor part (5) and side walls (6.1, 6.2, 6.4; 8.1, 8.2, 8.4). The side wall (6.1, 8.1) has a recess (10.1, 11.1) oriented towards the inside of the housing. A plurality of cells arranged vertical to the floor part (5) are arranged in the housing (2). An actuation means (12.1) is provided in the recess (10.1, 11.1) for actuating the latching device and unlatching the detent element (13.1) from the receptacle of the electrical appliance. The actuation means (12.1) is guided on a guide means displaceable relative to the housing (2), and a translatory axis of the actuation means (12.1) is oriented vertical to the side wall (6.1, 8.1) and parallel to the floor part (5).

Abstract: Digital camera techniques improve the convenience of a live view display and the like. Image processing in a digital camera includes image processing (i.e., live view processing) for real-time display of a subject on a liquid crystal monitor and image processing performed on image signals followed by image capture for recording. Both the image processing is performed by a single common image processor. In image capture for recording, high-priority live view processing (Pc) is performed between writing (Pa) of image signals outputted from a CCD into memory and captured image processing (Pb). This shortens the time of not displaying a live view image, thereby preventing a shutter release opportunity from being missed and improving the convenience of a live view display.

Abstract: In the distance measuring device, even if there are unmeasurable distance measuring regions, suitable estimate is set as the distance data of the unmeasurable region in accordance with distance data of the measurable distance measuring regions and the space on the object of the unmeasurable distance measuring region. In this way accurate recognition is possible, for example, when an object is divided by an unmeasurable region, or objects are continuous.

Abstract: When an instruction to record an image is provided while a live view is being displayed, the image shot immediately before the provision of the instruction is displayed while a half mirror is moving to retract from the optical path, and the image to be recorded shot immediately therebefore is displayed while the half mirror is moving to advance onto the optical path. To indicate that shooting, preparations and recording of the image to be recorded are in progress, the brightness of the displayed image is gradually changed.

Abstract: A digital camera capable of photography using a flash exposure to illuminate a photographic subject is provided with an image sensor having a plurality of photoreceptor elements and capable of independently reading the electrical load of a specific photoreceptor element among the plurality of photoreceptor elements, and a detector for detecting the amount of load accumulation due to light exposure of a specific photoreceptor element when using a flash exposure. A controller stops the flash emission when the detection result of the detector reaches a predetermined level. In this way, light adjusting control is accomplished in real time.

Abstract: A digital camera has a half mirror that splits the optical path from a taking lens to the image-sensing device and an optical viewfinder that offers the light reflected from the half mirror as a visible image. Inside the optical viewfinder, a photometric device is disposed. The amount of light measured by the photometric device is used for exposure control in ambient-light shooting and for automatic light adjustment in flash shooting.