Patents Examined by Andrew Christensen
  • Patent number: 6816188
    Abstract: An electronic still camera includes an imaging device imaging an object. A release section puts the imaging operation of said imaging device into effect. A camera shake detection circuit detects the quantity of camera shake during the imaging operation of said imaging device. A sequence control circuit evaluates the quantity of camera shake during the imaging operation detected by camera shake detection circuit in response to the release operation by said release section and reads out an imaging signal when the result of camera shake detection is below a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2004
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventor: Yuji Imai
  • Patent number: 6816198
    Abstract: A light-electricity converting apparatus having a light-electricity converting device and a non-volatile storage device connected to the light-electricity converting device. The light-electricity converting device may be a photosensitive device for generating an electric signal in response to light. The non-volatile storage device may store the electric signal generated by the photosensitive device. Further, the light-electricity converting device may be a light emitting device for converting an electric signal into light. In this case, the non-volatile storage device may store the electric signal to be fed to the light emitting device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2004
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Keisuke Suzuki
  • Patent number: 6816187
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a high-performance camera calibration apparatus and method capable of accomplishing stable high-accuracy parameter estimation. A pattern whose geometrical configuration is known in advance is photographed by a camera to generate a picked-up image, with the generated picked-up image being temporarily stored as an image input in a frame buffer. In addition, a base image having a pattern univocally corresponding in geometrical configuration definition to the picked-up image is generated according to the CG technology or the like, and is stored in another frame buffer. An image registration is made between the base image and the picked-up image to minimize the luminance error, which enables the parameter estimation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2004
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshiaki Iwai, Takayuki Yoshigahara
  • Patent number: 6812965
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus having an imaging element for accumulating signal charge corresponding to an incident scene light flux in a photo-electric converting element section and transferring the accumulated signal charge through a vertical shifter to a horizontal shifter so as to be read out there from, and a shutter for selectively blocking the scene light flux to be incident on the imaging element is moved. The operating condition of the imaging apparatus is judged and the operation timings of the shutter and/or the imaging element are/is controlled on the basis of the judged operating condition. The operating condition judging function judges as the operating condition of the imaging apparatus at least one of the ambient temperature, the posture of the imaging apparatus, the power supply voltage level and the number of times of operation of the shutter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventors: Takayuki Kijima, Masataka Ide
  • Patent number: 6812960
    Abstract: A photoelectric transducer provided with a first photoelectric converting section for generating an electric charge according to incident light, an accumulating section for accumulating the electric charge generated by the first photoelectric converting section, an amplifying section for amplifying the electric charge outputted from the accumulating section with a prescribed gain, and a storage section for memorizing signal charges amplified by the amplifying section, characterized in that the prescribed gain in the amplifying section is altered in 1 field/1 frame period on the basis of the number of electric charges accumulated in the accumulating section during a prescribed period before the application of the gain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyoshi Komobuchi, Takahiro Yamada, Junichi Onoue
  • Patent number: 6812963
    Abstract: Apparatus and techniques for transferring image signals to readout electronics from image sensors. Electronic charges from multiple photosensitive elements are combined during and after transfer to detection electronics resulting in a greater signal to noise ratio. This enhanced signal to noise ratio provides the ability to make focus and exposure level measurements at lower light levels and often at greater speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1999
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2004
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventor: Oscar R Herrera E.
  • Patent number: 6809765
    Abstract: A digital camera is provided having a lens for focusing light from an image through a RGB mosaiced filter on to a solid state photosensor array containing a matrix of CCDs. The CCDs provide a single-channel mosaiced image output. A demosaicing process includes a first color transformation after separation for determining luminance and a luminance interpolation for interpolation of missing luminance components. The demosaicing process further includes a second color transformation for obtaining chrominance components. A chrominance interpolation for interpolation of missing chrominance components and an inverse color transformation transforms the components into the RGB space for combination into an image output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, Sony Electronics Inc
    Inventor: Bo Tao
  • Patent number: 6809770
    Abstract: A digital camera including a CCD imager and a complementary color filter mounted on a light receiving surface thereof. The complementary color filter has color blocks each having 8 rows×4 columns while the CCD imager has, at its light receiving surface, pixel blocks corresponding to those color blocks. The color block is assigned in its each row, with all the kinds of color components, i.e., G, Mg, Ye and Cy, at least one in number per kind. A timing generator reads, from respective columns, pixel signals including all the kinds, of color components at least one in number per kind. A timing generator reads from respective rows pixel signals including all tile kinds of color components at least one in number per kind, and transfers the read pixel signals in vertical direction. The timing generator also transfers the pixel signals in a horizontal direction each time vertical transfer by 8 rows has been completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Ide
  • Patent number: 6809772
    Abstract: A shutterless digital camera includes an optical viewfinder having a pair of spaced apart mirrors for facilitating in one mode of operation through-the-lens viewing of an object image to be captured and for facilitating in the same one mode of operation through-the-lens display unit viewing of a captured object image. A mirror control system facilitates the moving of at least one of the mirrors to permit the object image to be captured and further facilitates the moving of at least the other one of the mirrors to permit display unit viewing of the captured object image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Ricardo J Motta, Mina Farr
  • Patent number: 6809763
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus is constructed as including: a smear level detecting section for detecting smear components of CCD image pickup device; a smear correcting section for correcting effective pixel signals based on the detected smear components; an output deteriorated pixel determining section for determining corresponding effective signal pixels as output deteriorated pixels when the level of smear component has reached a predetermined value; a compensation condition determining section for determining whether an output deteriorated pixel satisfies predetermined compensation conditions or not; and a data compensating section for performing data compensation of pixels determined as satisfying the compensation conditions by using information of neighboring pixels, the other pixels determined as not satisfying the compensation conditions at the compensation condition determining section being subjected to correction at the smear correcting section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hideaki Yoshida
  • Patent number: 6809773
    Abstract: An electronic camera includes a camera main body and a lens barrel arranged on the front face of the camera main body to extend forward therefrom, and to hold an image-pickup lens therein. A U-shaped protruding cover is attached to the lens barrel to extend downward therefrom. The bottoms of the camera main body and the protruding cover are level with each other. First and second windows are arranged on the front face of the protruding cover. A lamp for emitting an auto-focus assist light is arranged in the protruding cover to face the first window. A sensor for receiving a light signal from a remote control is arranged in the protruding cover to face the second window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Watarai, Koh Yokokawa, Kaoru Kaneko
  • Patent number: 6809768
    Abstract: A double-slope MOS active pixel sensor disposed on a semiconductor substrate has a first light-to-output-voltage transfer gain up to a first charge accumulation threshold, has a second light-to-output-voltage transfer gain lower than the first light-to-output-voltage transfer gain above the light accumulation threshold, and comprises first and second photodiodes each having a first terminal coupled to a fixed potential and a second terminal. The second photodiode is smaller than the first photodiode. First and second semiconductor reset switches each have a first terminal coupled respectively to the second terminal of the first and second photodiodes and a second terminal coupled respectively to first and second reset potentials that reverse bias the photodiodes. First and second semiconductor amplifiers each have an input coupled respectively to the second terminals of the first and second photodiodes and have their outputs coupled together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Foveon, Inc.
    Inventor: Richard B. Merrill
  • Patent number: 6803957
    Abstract: To eliminate after-image due to residual charges to provide an output form that is easy to obtain effective on-light output. The outputs of photo-diodes 1 are read out as sequential signal outputs on a common signal line 15 through connected amplifiers 3, and two states of before and after resetting the photo-diodes 1 are outputted in order for each light receiving element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Seiko Instruments Inc.
    Inventors: Satoshi Machida, Masahiro Yokomichi, Yukito Kawahara
  • Patent number: 6803948
    Abstract: An image camera (e.g. a professional or consumer camera/camcorder, an electronic still picture camera) comprises a frame memory (82) between its image sensor (2) and an electronic signal-processing circuit (3). A scene can be “frozen” in response to a remote control command (91). Critical adjustments (e.g. skin colour) can now be carried out without requiring persons acting in the scene to stand still. Adjustments can also be carried out on the basis of an image in which the camera operator himself acts in the scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventor: Peter C. Schmale
  • Patent number: 6803947
    Abstract: A video camera that generates an interlaced video signal by mixed-line-pair readout from a solid-state image sensor also operates in a still-picture mode, in which even lines and odd lines of sensor elements are read out separately, without being mixed. The image information read from the image sensor in the still-picture mode is stored in a memory, then read twice to generate two fields. The image information from the even lines is combined with the image information from the odd lines in one way in the first field, and in another way in the second field. The two fields form one frame, yielding a still picture with full vertical resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroshi Tomioka
  • Patent number: 6803951
    Abstract: In a digital video camera unit wherein its CCD outputs an image pickup signal with an odd line and an even line in the 1HD period to convert the image pickup signal to luminance signal and color signal, a line memory portion for separating each line of two image pickup signals existing in the 1HD period to two lines, an address controller and a control circuit for controlling write/read into the line memory portion are provided. At the time of write to the line memory portion, an analog delay amount is absorbed in order to output signals at the same timing as design time upon reading. By changing the write/read frequency with respect to the line memory portion, signals of different frequencies can be processed in a single circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 12, 2004
    Assignee: Victor Company of Japan, Limited
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Matsukawa, Takehiko Kuhara
  • Patent number: 6801248
    Abstract: An image pick-up device for producing a synthesized image signal having a wide dynamic range by partially exchanging a plurality of image signals from a solid state image sensing element in an image synthesizing unit (41), said image signals being obtained by picking-up a subject moving on a bright background with different exposure amounts, including a synthetic unsuitable portion detecting unit (42, 44) for detecting a synthetic unsuitable portion by comparing said plurality of image signals picked-up with different exposure amounts, a synthetic unsuitable portion correcting unit (46, 48) for correcting a pixel signal of said synthesizing unsuitable portion to derived a corrected synthesized image signal, and a low pass filter (47) for combining said corrected synthesized image signal from said synthetic unsuitable portion correcting unit with said synthesized image signal from said image synthesizing unit to derive a corrected synthesized image signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1999
    Date of Patent: October 5, 2004
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhito Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 6798449
    Abstract: There is disclosed an automatic white-balance correction method for digital camera, which divides a captured picture into multiple sampled regions for performing a white-balance correction. The image data of the captured picture is transformed form RGB format to YCrCb format. Then, the mean values of Y, Cr, and Cb are calculated for each sampled region based on the multiple sampled regions. Finally, Cr and Cb are used as two coordinate axes to define four quadrants, and the values of Cr and Cb of each sampled region are used to determine a corresponding quadrant for each sampled region, thereby determining a correction direction based on the number of sampled regions in each quadrant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Kinpo Electronics, Inc.
    Inventor: Wen-Chieh Hsieh
  • Patent number: 6798451
    Abstract: A solid-state image pickup device including a matrix of unit pixels, each unit pixel including five transistors, a plurality of horizontal signal lines wired on a row-by-row basis and a vertical signal line commonly wired for the plurality of the horizontal signal lines. A reset transistor resets a floating diffusion region FD, and the reset level of the reset transistor is output to the horizontal signal lines through an amplifying transistor. In succession, a signal charge of a photodiode is read out into the floating diffusion region FD through a read out transistor, and the signal level based on the signal charge is output to the horizontal signal lines through the amplifying transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoji Suzuki, Takahisa Ueno, Koichi Shiono, Kazuya Yonemoto
  • Patent number: 6798454
    Abstract: Every time signal charges, which are generated in pixels “1”, “3”, “5”, . . . of one 1a of pixel rows 1a and 1b spaced from each other by a distance D, are transferred to a final stage 4a of an analog shift register 3a to be fed to a charge detecting part 5 in synchronism with a transfer clock &PHgr;1B, a reset pulse RS is generated to discharge the signal charges to a reset drain 8. Signal charges, which are generated in pixels “2”, “4”, “6”, . . . of the other pixel row 1b, are transferred to a final stage 4b of an analog shift register 3b, and then, stored in a capacity 6 of the charge detecting part 5 in synchronism with a transfer clock &PHgr;2B. Then, the quantity of the stored signal charges is read out, and the stored signal charges are outputted from an output circuit 9 as an output signal OS.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2004
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Kashiwagi, Yoshinori Kanesaka