Abstract: The first embodiment of the present invention relates to a lens driving device comprising: a cover including an upper plate and a lateral plate extending from the upper plate; a bobbin arranged to move in a first direction within the cover; a coil arranged at the bobbin; a magnet which is arranged at the cover and faces the coil; and a base which is arranged below the bobbin and coupled to the cover, wherein the bobbin includes: a first surface facing the upper plate of the cover; a second surface which faces upwards and is arranged lower than the first surface; a first protrusion which is arranged at the first surface of the bobbin and overlapped with the upper plate of the cover in a first direction; and a groove concavely formed downwards on the second surface of the bobbin.

Abstract: An image sensor integrated with a convolutional neural network computation circuit is provided. The image sensor includes: a pixel array including pixels divided into pixel groups, wherein each pixel converts a light signal into a PWM signal; a convolution computation circuit controlling a turn-on time of a corresponding weighted current according to the first PWM signal of each pixel, and accumulating the weighted currents into an integrated current; a comparison circuit converting the integrated current into a second PWM signal and comparing it with that of an adjacent pixel group to output a larger one; and a classification circuit quantizing the second PWM signal to a quantization value according to a weight of a node in a fully-connected layer corresponding to each pixel group, accumulating the quantization values of all pixel groups into a feature value, and comparing the feature value with a feature threshold to obtain a classification result.

Abstract: Sensor systems and methods that provide an output in the form of a rate at which light is received by unit pixels within a sensor array are provided. Each unit pixel includes a photodetector that generates an electrical charge in response to receiving light, a charge accumulation area, and a comparator. Once the amount of charge in the accumulation area has reached some threshold amount, a counter is incremented. After the counter has been incremented a selected number of times, an output signal is generated, and the time at which the output signal is generated is marked or recorded. Different unit pixels receiving light at different rates therefore generate output signals at different times.

Abstract: An image sensor includes: a readout circuit that reads out a signal to a signal line, the signal being generated by an electric charge resulting from a photoelectric conversion; a holding circuit that holds a voltage based on an electric current from a power supply circuit; and an electric current source including a transistor having a drain part connected to the signal line and a gate part connected to the holding circuit and the drain part, the electric current source supplying the signal line with an electric current generated by the voltage held in the holding circuit.

Abstract: A video camera system includes a video capture device and a camera controller. The video capture device includes a sensor that receives light, a shutter that selectively permits the light to be received at the sensor based on a shutter speed, and a frame processor that generates a plurality of video frames based on the light. The camera controller includes a frame parameter calculator that calculates a luminance parameter of the plurality of frames, a frequency domain analyzer that executes a frequency domain analysis based on the luminance parameter to generate a plurality of luminance amplitude values mapped to a plurality of frequencies, and a control signal generator that generates a target shutter speed based on the plurality of luminance amplitude values mapped to the plurality of frequencies, and transmits a control signal based on the target shutter speed to cause the shutter to operate at the target shutter speed.

Abstract: A folded camera that includes two light folding elements such as prisms and an independent lens system, located between the two prisms, which includes an aperture stop and a lens stack. The lens system may be moved on one or more axes independently of the prisms to provide autofocus and/or optical image stabilization for the camera. The shapes, materials, and arrangements of the refractive lens elements in the lens stack may be selected to capture high resolution, high quality images while providing a sufficiently long back focal length to accommodate the second prism.

Abstract: An image pickup module includes a first base body, a pixel portion, a first conductive pattern, a second base body, a second conductive pattern, and a conductor portion. The pixel portion is provided in the first base body and includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a first direction and a second direction. The first conductive pattern is provided in the first base body. The first base body is provided on the second base body. The second conductive pattern is provided in the second base body and electrically connected to the first conductive pattern via a first connection conductor portion and a second connection conductor portion. A loop structure including the first conductive pattern, the second conductive pattern, the first connection conductor portion, and the second connection conductor portion is formed as viewed in the first direction. The conductor portion is connected in parallel to the first conductive pattern.

Abstract: In a sky monitoring system, comprising an image sensor, a wide-angle lens, a microprocessor, and a memory unit, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to take pictures of a sky scene, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to subdivide each picture of the sky scene into a group of patches and to determine one luminance value for each patch, wherein the sky monitoring system is configured to calculate an output based on the luminance values of the patches, the image sensor, the wide-angle lens, the microprocessor and the memory unit are integrated into one single sky monitoring device thus making the sky monitoring system an embedded system.

Abstract: A photoelectric conversion device includes a plurality of pixels, a data line, and a receiving circuit. Each of plurality of pixels includes a photoelectric conversion unit, a processing circuit, and a pixel output circuit. The photoelectric conversion unit includes an avalanche photodiode that multiplies charge generated by an incident of photon by avalanche multiplication, and outputs a signal in accordance with the incident of photon. The processing circuit processes a signal output from the photoelectric conversion unit. The pixel output circuit controls an output of the signal processed by the processing circuit. The data line is connected to the plurality of pixels. The receiving circuit receives a pixel signal output from the plurality of pixels via the data line. An off-state leakage current of the transistor included in the receiving circuit is smaller than an off-state leakage current of the transistor included in the pixel output circuit.

Abstract: A camera, having: microphones including: a first microphone; and a second microphone. The camera including a sensor controller. The sensor controller being configured to receive audio, select between the microphones, and record the audio. The sensor controller receives the audio inputs from the first microphone and the second microphone. The sensor controller selects the first microphone or the second microphone based on the audio inputs so that one of the first and second microphones is a selected microphone, wherein the selected microphone receives the audio input having the lowest level of background noise within a predetermined frequency range associated with background noise. The sensor controller records audio data from only the selected microphone.

Abstract: Method and system to improve the performance of a video encoder. The method includes processing an initial video signal in a front-end image pre-processor to obtain a processed video signal and processor information respecting the signal, providing the processed video signal and the processor information to a video encoder, and encoding the video signal in the video encoder according to the processor information to provide an encoded video signal for storage. The system includes a video pre-processor connectable to receive an initial video signal. The video encoder in communication with the video pre-processor receives a processed video signal and a processor information. A storage medium in communication with the video encoder stores an encoded video signal.

Abstract: Examples are disclosed that relate to time-of-flight camera systems comprising vertical photogates. One example provides a time-of-flight camera comprising a plurality of addressable pixels configured for backside illumination, each addressable pixel comprising a first vertical photogate and a second vertical photogate. The time-of-flight camera further comprises a processor and a storage device storing instructions executable on the processor to, during an integration period, apply a first relative bias to the first vertical photogate and the second vertical photogate to collect charge at a first pixel tap, apply a second relative bias to the first vertical photogate and the second vertical photogate to collect charge at a second pixel tap, and determine a distance value for the addressable pixel based at least upon the charge collected at the first pixel tap and the charge collected at the second pixel tap.

Abstract: Improved illumination optics for various applications. The illumination optics may include an optical beam spreading structure that provides a large spread angle for an incident collimated beam or provides finer detail or resolution compared to convention diffractive optical elements. The optical beam spreading structure may include first and second spatially varying polarizers that are optically aligned with each other. The first and second spatially varying polarizers may be formed of a liquid crystal material, such as a multi-twist retarder (MTR). The first and second spatially varying polarizers may diffract light of orthogonal polarization states, which allows for different diffraction patterns to be used in a single optical structure. The two patterns may provide a combined field of view that is larger than either of the first and second fields of view or may provide finer detail or resolution than the first or second fields of view can provide alone.

Abstract: Advanced processing is performed in a chip. A stacked light-receiving sensor according to an embodiment includes a first substrate (100, 200, 300) and a second substrate (120, 320) bonded to the first substrate. The first substrate includes a pixel array (101) in which a plurality of unit pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. The second substrate includes a converter (17) configured to convert an analog pixel signal output from the pixel array to digital image data and a processing unit (15) configured to perform a process based on a neural network calculation model for data based on the image data. At least a part of the converter is arranged on a first side in the second substrate. The processing unit is arranged on a second side opposite to the first side in the second substrate.

Abstract: An image sensing device includes a first substrate structured to support a pixel array that includes a plurality of unit pixels arranged in a first direction and a second direction and configured to detect incident light to produce pixel signals carrying image information in the incident light; a second substrate structured to support one or more circuits for operation of the image sensing device including receiving a pixel signal from the plurality of unit pixels; and a shielding layer disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the shielding layer includes shielding driver circuitry and conductive lines coupled to the shielding driver circuitry to receive electrical currents which produce electromagnetic fields to offset electromagnetic fields induced by currents in the one or more circuits supported by the second substrate.

Abstract: Auto exposure metering is adapted for spherical panoramic content. Using input image data, a first metering map is generated for a selected image sensor and a second metering map is generated for an unselected image sensor. Auto exposure level values for the selected image sensor and for the unselected image sensor are respectively metered using the first metering map and the second metering map, such as by adjusting luminance weights in certain locations of the respective image sensor panoramic image capture band. Hemispherical images are processed using the auto exposure metered level values and stitched together in a panoramic format to produce a spherical panoramic image. The metering maps are generated to account for areas of greatest image data importance relative to a primary orientation direction of the spherical panoramic image. This allows for effective auto exposure metering of such areas within the resulting spherical panoramic image.

Abstract: An imaging apparatus includes: a detection unit configured to detect a position of a subject, which is a target of trimming in an image; a setting unit configured to set a determination frame that separates a first region, which includes an edge of the image, and a second region, which is a region of the image excluding the first region, from each other; and a generation unit configured to generate a trimming image to notify a user that the subject is likely to move out of an imaging range of the image, in a case where the position of the subject is included in the first region.

Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a solid-state imaging device, an imaging device, and an electronic apparatus that are capable of suppressing generation of flare and also suppressing coloring caused by the flare with a simple configuration. A high refractive index layer is formed between a solid-state imaging element and a transparent protective substrate (glass substrate). When reflected light caused by diffracted light generated from an on-chip lens is reflected at an interface with the high refractive index layer, the reflected light is entirely reflected at a surface layer that is a transparent protective substrate and then the reflected light is sufficiently attenuated before being incident again. Consequently, flare and coloring caused by the flare are suppressed. The present disclosure is adaptable to an imaging device.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes a memory device that stores a set of instructions, and at least one processor that executes the set of instructions to function as, a first detection unit configured to detect a position of a gazing point in an image based on a line-of-sight of a user, a first setting unit configured to set an object detection range based on the position of the gazing point and an image capturing condition, a second detection unit configured to detect a feature area from the image, and a second setting unit configured to set a focus detection area based on a position of the feature area included in the object detection range.

Abstract: Providing object-oriented-zoom by identifying, in a transmitter, a region-of-interest in a captured video part, communicating to a receiver the video stream, and an identification of the region-of-interest, marking, on a display of the receiver, the region-of-interest over the captured video stream on a screen display, receiving from a selection of the displayed region-of-interest forming a selected object, communicating the selection to the transmitter, dividing the video stream, in the transmitter, into a first part including the selected object, and a second part including at least a part of the captured video stream less the first part, communicating the first and second parts to the receiver, displaying the first and second parts simultaneously, where the first part is displayed in a substantially constant location of a screen display of the receiver, and where the second part is displayed around the first part to fill the screen display of the receiver.