Patents Examined by Jason Whipkey
  • Patent number: 8264550
    Abstract: There is provided a shake correction apparatus having an image pickup optical system that includes a correction lens capable of moving in a direction orthogonal to an optical axis. The shake correction apparatus comprises: a detection unit that detects shake applied to the shake correction apparatus; a determination unit that determines a reference position of the correction lens; and a drive unit that drives the correction lens with the reference position serving as a center position, so as to correct the shake detected by the detection unit. The determination unit determines the reference position, in a range where a condition that a Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) of the image pickup optical system when the correction lens is positioned at the determined reference position is equal to or larger than a threshold is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiro Shibata, Kenichi Miyasako
  • Patent number: 8264586
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus that can output images with a plurality of resolutions is provided. The imaging apparatus comprises an imaging section (101) for imaging a subject using an imaging device (103) to generate an image signal and a resolution conversion section (110) for converting a resolution of the image signal captured by the imaging section (101) and outputting it. The resolution conversion section (110) reduces the image inputted from the imaging section (101) to a plurality of images of different sizes and outputs an embedded image in which the size-reduced images of different sizes are embedded in the input image size from the imaging section (101). Thereby, images of a plurality of image sizes can be outputted at the same time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Manabu Higuchi
  • Patent number: 8259192
    Abstract: A digital image processing apparatus including an image storage medium arranged to store an image; a display unit arranged to display the image; a mood determination unit arranged to determine the mood of the image. The apparatus is arranged to select music that matches the determined mood of the image and arranged to play the selected music while displaying the image. A method of controlling a digital image processing apparatus, the method including (a) determining a mood of an image; and (b) playing music with a mood that matches the determined mood of the image while displaying the image on a display unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Prajit Nair
  • Patent number: 8248467
    Abstract: In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method of detecting information transmitted by a light source in a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor by detecting a frequency of light pulses produced by the light source. In some embodiments, the method includes capturing on the CMOS image sensor with a rolling shutter an image in which different portions of the CMOS image sensor are exposed at different points in time; detecting visible distortions that include alternating stripes in the image; measuring a width of the alternating stripes present in the image; and selecting a symbol based on the width of the alternating stripes present in the image to recover information encoded in the frequency of light pulses produced by the light source captured in the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: ByteLight, Inc.
    Inventors: Aaron Ganick, Daniel Ryan
  • Patent number: 8248505
    Abstract: An imaging device comprises a pixel array, a reading unit, a pixel signal addition unit, and a display unit. A plurality of pixels including a first pixel and a second pixel are arranged in two dimensions in the pixel array. The first and second pixels have a photoelectric conversion elements and output pixel signals according to the quantities of incident light to the photoelectric conversion elements. The reading unit reads a first pixel signal from the first pixel and reads a second pixel signal from the second pixel. The pixel signal addition unit adds the first pixel signal read from the first pixel with a plurality of different timings and adds the second pixel signal read from the second pixel with a plurality of different timings. The display unit displays the first pixel signal added by the pixel signal addition unit and the second pixel signal added by the pixel signal addition unit sequentially with different timings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Olympus Corporation
    Inventor: Seisuke Matsuda
  • Patent number: 8248485
    Abstract: Acquiring enough brightness with flash and obtaining an image having a color close to a color which a human senses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yasunori Ishii, Yusuke Monobe, Yasunobu Ogura
  • Patent number: 8243191
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes: an imaging optical system including a focus lens; an imaging element generates an image indicating an object image; a lens drive device which moves the focus lens along an optical axis direction of the imaging optical system; an evaluation value calculation device which calculates an evaluation value of a contrast for each of a plurality of evaluation value calculation areas while moving the focus lens; a point light source presence/absence determination device which determines a presence or absence of a point light source in a specific region of the image; an area selection device which selects a focusing determination area based on the presence or absence of the point light source; and a focusing control device which determines the focusing position of the focus lens based on the evaluation value in the focusing determination area and moves the focus lens to the focusing position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Fujifilm Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Uchida
  • Patent number: 8243165
    Abstract: A video camera includes an image sensor. The image sensor repeatedly outputs an object scene image produced on an imaging surface having a plurality of pixels lined up in a vertical direction. A driver repeatedly executes an exposing operation for exposing the imaging surface for each pixel lined up in a vertical direction. A CPU repeatedly detects a plurality of luminance values respectively corresponding to a plurality of flicker evaluation areas allocated to the imaging surface in a manner to be located at positions different from one another in a vertical direction, based on the object scene image outputted from the image sensor. Moreover, the CPU determines the presence or absence of a flicker based on the plurality of luminance values thus detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takeshi Fujiwara, Kazuhiro Tsujino, Kohei Fukugawa
  • Patent number: 8243168
    Abstract: An image manager includes a communicator that communicates with a server computer storing image data, a detector that detects a storage capacity of image data stored into the server computer by the communicator and a controller that controls download of image data stored into the server computer in response to a detection result of the detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Nikon Corporation
    Inventor: Akira Ohmura
  • Patent number: 8243190
    Abstract: A solid-state image pickup device wherein, in order to obtain an output of large amplitude from a low-contrast object without using a bottom detecting circuit to thereby increase a capturing rate, an accumulation end is determined when a maximum value signal in a photosensor array reaches a predetermined accumulation end level, and an amplifier circuit unit is provided for amplifying a signal, which is outputted from each of the pixels of the photosensor array, with reference to the maximum value signal of the photosensor array and for outputting the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomohisa Kinugasa, Hidekazu Takahashi
  • Patent number: 8237856
    Abstract: A video recording camera system configured to record video to a non-volatile memory configured as a circular video recording buffer. In an embodiment, the video recording camera system includes a non-volatile storage medium and a processor is configured to manage at least a portion of the non-volatile storage medium as a circular buffer, replacing recorded video data stored in a subset of memory addresses corresponding to an older recorded video frame with the data corresponding to a newer video frame. In further embodiments, clip files may be partitioned from the circular buffer to prevent logical portion of the recorded video from being overwritten upon reaching a capacity of the circular recorded video buffer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignee: Looxcie, Inc.
    Inventors: Justin Boland, Romulus Pereira, Narayan Mohanran
  • Patent number: 8237823
    Abstract: Provided are a method and apparatus for canceling chromatic aberration. In the method, only chrominance signals are filtered using an asymmetrical mask according to the characteristics of chromatic aberration occurring from among a luminance/chrominance coordinates system. Accordingly, it is possible to cancel chromatic aberration regardless of the characteristics of a lens and prevent the resolution of the original image from degrading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2012
    Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University
    Inventors: Moon-gi Kang, Joon-young Chang, Jong-hyun Park, Hee Kang
  • Patent number: 8228396
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus for correcting image distortion includes a storage which stores before-correction coordinates in a coordinate system of a before-correction image, corresponding to each pixel in a coordinate system of a corrected image; a coordinate output section which reads from the storage and outputs the before-correction coordinates corresponding to coordinates input to select each pixel of the corrected image; a pixel data output section which outputs the data of the before-correction image, corresponding to the before-correction coordinates, as the data of the pixel of the corrected image, corresponding to the before-correction coordinates; and a pixel data calculator which calculates, when the before-correction coordinates include a value after the decimal point, a weighted average based on the data of a plurality of pixels close to the before-correction coordinates in the before-correction image to output the weighted average as the data of the pixel of the corrected image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited
    Inventor: Soichi Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 8212917
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes an image pickup device that includes a first pixel group configured to photoelectrically convert an object image formed by a luminous flux from an imaging optical system, and a second pixel group which includes a plurality of pixels configured to photoelectrically convert a split pair of the luminous flux from the imaging optical system and a detecting unit configured to implement a first detection control that changes an imaging state of the image pickup device while detecting a contrast of the object image based on an output of the second pixel group, and then a second detection control that changes the imaging state of the image pickup device while detecting the contrast of the object image based on an output of the first pixel group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Ken-ichiro Amano
  • Patent number: 8212888
    Abstract: An image pickup apparatus which can improve convenience of white sheet data used for correcting the color of a picked-up image. Each image pickup data is converted into a file by an image filing unit and recorded by a medium-recording unit. Average value data of each color component data for part of the picked-up data is stored in an area different from the image pickup data recording area in each file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshitaka Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 8212910
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a processing unit configured to execute a predetermined process, an acquisition unit configured to acquire a progress situation of the predetermined process executed by the processing unit, and a display control unit configured to display a progress situation display area for indicating the progress situation of the predetermined process on an area which lies along a plurality of adjacent sides of the display area on a display apparatus, and control a display state of the progress situation display area based on the progress situation acquired by the acquisition unit so that the display state changes from a state indicating that processing is yet to be performed to a state indicating that processing has been performed, progressively from one end to another end of the progress situation display area at a different rate based on a length of the sides along which the progress situation display area lies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 3, 2012
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomohiro Ota, Soushi Takita
  • Patent number: 8208033
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a network enabled digital video camera arranged to be connected to a digital network. The network enabled digital video camera includes a digital network module arranged to transmit and receive digital signals, an input/output port being an electrical connector and being connected to the digital network module, and an analog video generator arranged to output an analog video signal. The input/output port connected to the digital network module is also connected to the analog video generator. The present invention also relates to an adaptor used to connect the network enabled digital video camera to an off-the-shelf video preview device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2012
    Assignee: Axis AB
    Inventors: Stefan Lundberg, Jon Hansson
  • Patent number: 8199222
    Abstract: A method of combining image data from multiple frames to enhance one or more parameters of video image quality includes acquiring a first image at a first exposure duration, as well as acquiring a second image at a second exposure duration shorter than the first exposure duration and at a time just before, just after or overlapping in time with acquiring the first image, such that the first and second images include approximately a same first scene. In this way, the second image is relatively sharp and under-exposed, while the first image is relatively well-exposed and less sharp than the second image. Brightness and/or color information are extracted from the first image and applied to the second image to generate an enhanced version of the second image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2012
    Assignee: DigitalOptics Corporation Europe Limited
    Inventors: Alexandru Drimbarean, Adrian Zamfir, Felix Albu, Vlad Poenaru, Corneliu Florea, Petronel Bigioi, Eran Steinberg, Peter Corcoran
  • Patent number: 8174613
    Abstract: The present invention provides a camera device including: an image pickup element; a substrate mounted with the image pickup element thereon; and a housing accommodating the image pickup element therein. The housing is provided with a plurality of support members which extend upright and to which an external edge portion of the substrate is stuck with an adhesive. The substrate is provided with an application area to which the adhesive is applied, at the external edge portion stuck with the support members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 8, 2012
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8169512
    Abstract: A digital still camera includes an amplification circuit, a timing generator, sample hold circuits, a differential amplifier, an analog/digital conversion circuit and a control unit. The generator generates a first-pulse signal and a second-pulse signal at different timings. The circuits sample analog video signals outputted from the amplification circuit at timings when the first-pulse signal and second-pulse signal, respectively, are provided and hold levels of the analog video signals. The amplifier acquires a difference between the levels of the analog video signals. The circuit obtains a digital video signal corresponding to the analog video signal on the basis of the difference. The unit changes the timings to provide the first- and second-pulse signals to the first- and second-sample hold circuits, respectively, and a bias current depending on the driving period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Nakata, Takashi Itoh, Motoyuki Kashiwagi