Abstract: A video conferencing system and method which automatically determines the appropriate preset camera parameters corresponding to participants participating in the video conference. A camera zooms out or pans the video conference space and looks for participants based on their faces. When a participant is detected, the preset camera parameters for that participant are calculated for when the center of the participant is in the center of the camera's view. This is continued for all the participants in the room. The optimal position for each participant and corresponding camera parameters are determined based on cultural preferences. Updates in the presets can be made periodically by the camera zooming out or panning the room. Multiple cameras can be used to continually update the presets.

Abstract: Any complicates pulse waveform required depending on the type of CCD, can be generated with a simple circuit configuration. Specifically, any complicated pulse is obtainable by inputting an unlimited number of toggle timings, with no limitation imposed on the number of toggle timings inputted. This is achieved only by inputting different toggle timings sequentially from the exterior, because the toggle timing of toggle circuits (14 to 16) is regulated by shift registers (12a, 12b) of a loop structure and comparators (11a, 11b) connected to the rearmost stage of their respective shift registers (12a, 12b).

Abstract: A sensor chip assembly time delay integration circuit useful with image sensing arrays uses a duplex bucket brigade circuit (120) with two or more charge transfer paths, a number of capacitors (130, 133, 136) common to the charge transfer paths, and a number of capacitors (131, 132, 134, 135) specific to each of the charge transfer paths. Each of the charge transfer paths has a number of MOSFET transfer gates (122, 124, 126, 128; 123, 125, 127, 129) connected in series, and the common capacitors and the path-specific capacitors are alternately connected to the paths. Each of the common capacitors is controllably connected (112, 115, 118) either to a unit cell input circuit (113, 116, 119). a reset node (111, 114, 117), or an open circuit. The circuit operates by storing accumulated image sensor charges from alternate sensor lines on the path-specific capacitors. The common capacitors are reset and then connected to the unit cell input circuits to acquire a first set of image sensor charges.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus capable of performing a suitable illuminance nonuniformity correction by setting a suitable &ggr;-characteristic every block even in the case that the size of a character image projected on a sensing surface changes according to an image capturing magnification, and capable of extracting a boundary area between a white board portion and a background portion and applying a suitable image processing to this boundary area during the illuminance nonuniformity correction for a picked image, and capable of image capturing a representation such as characters drawn on a white board in such a manner that an obtained image is clear and easy to see by suitably performing an illuminance nonuniformity correction even in the case of color image capturing, and capable of detecting a regularly reflected light with high accuracy and can thereby securely prevent an error of obtaining an image of low quality by image capturing, and capable of preventing an error in flash-image capturing a representa

Abstract: In a case that a zooming magnification is less than 2 times, the switch (SW) is connected to the terminal “a” and a zooming process in the horizontal direction is performed when reading out from the line memory (13) in conjunction with performing the zooming process in the vertical direction in the CCD (10). Further, in a case that the zooming magnification is more than 2 times, the switch (SW) is connected to the terminal “b” and the zooming process in the horizontal direction is performed with combining occasions when reading out from the memory (12) and reading out from the line memory (13) in conjunction with performing the zooming process in the horizontal direction when reading out from the memory (12).

Abstract: An exposure period control device comprises a thermo sensor that senses the temperature of an imaging device, such as a CCD. The thermo sensor faces the rear surface of the CCD. A maximum exposure period is controlled to be decreased as the temperature of the CCD increases. When it is supposed that the temperature is T° C., a maximum exposure period is t0 at 0° C., and 7≦Th≦11, the maximum exposure period tmax is tmax=t0×(½)T/Th When the value of the dark current occurring in a photo-diode of the CCD becomes excessive, the maximum exposure period of the CCD controlled to be decreased. Therefore, the amount of the noise component occurring in a photographed image is reduced, so that the image quality is not affected.

Abstract: When a composite synchronization signal is used as a synchronization signal provided from an external source, since the period of the composite synchronization signal is irregular, it is impossible to perform phase adjustment on the composite synchronization signal before it is input to a timing controller IC.

Abstract: Image enhancement is automatically achieved by calibrating the reference voltage and gain of a differential amplifier and the integration interval so as to provide an input to a differential analog to digital converter (ADC) that utilizes the full dynamic range of the ADC. When used with a CMOS array, the imaging logic can be fabricated on a single chip with the array using combinational logic for fast, inexpensive calibration. Another advantageous feature is the ability to expand a desired portion of the luminance spectrum of the image in order to increase the digital resolution of the resulting image for that portion of the spectrum of interest.

Abstract: An image pickup apparatus is capable of accurately performing white balance control by accurately detecting color temperature without depending on a luminance signal level. In the image pickup apparatus, a color evaluation value is obtained by computation from color signals coming from a plurality of pixels of an image sensor having complementary color filters. It is determined whether the color evaluation value is included within a white determining range. The white determining range is made to vary according to the shooting condition and/or the object condition. The white balance is adjusted on the basis of color signals having color evaluation values included within the white determining range.

Abstract: A system and method of processing data associated with an array of pixels arranged in two dimensions are disclosed. The data includes a value representative of an intensity of photoexposure in one of a plurality of distinct spectral regions for each pixel location in the array. For at least one pixel location being associated with a first one of the plurality of spectral regions, a direction for interpolation is selected based upon an intensity gradient at the pixel location and an intensity continuity bias representative of a trend in changes in intensity in a neighborhood in the array of pixels about the pixel location.

Abstract: A technique for producing electronic video signals representative of color images of a scene, includes the following steps: providing a luminance sensor and a color sensor having a color filter thereover; providing a beamsplitter, and providing a motion picture film camera type of lens system that focuses light from the image, via the beamsplitter, onto the luminance sensor and the color sensor; and producing electronic video signals from outputs of the luminance sensor and the color sensor.

Abstract: There is provided a solid-state image sensor including (a) a plurality of first charge transfer sections each for vertically transferring electric charges, formed on a surface of a semiconductor layer, (b) a second charge transfer section for horizontally transferring electric charges, formed adjacent to one ends of the first charge transfer sections, the second charge transfer section including a charge barrier region and a charge accumulating region, (c) a first potential barrier section located adjacent to the second charge transfer section, (d) an excessive charge exhausting section located adjacent to the first potential barrier section, and (e) a plurality of second potential barrier sections located in the first potential barrier section, the second potential barrier section being spaced away from adjacent ones. The solid-state image sensor makes it possible to prevent signal charges from leaking into the excessive charge exhausting section, which ensures enhancement in a charge transfer efficiency.

Abstract: To provide an image pickup apparatus that generates an image signal having a high resolution both horizontally and vertically, the filter arrangement for a color filter array used in the apparatus is so designed that the colors of the filters in a cyclic patterned unit of N rows×N columns (4 lines×4 columns) differ from each other not only on the same line but also in the same column. Thus, from all the pixel blocks, pixel signals for each predetermined pixel block unit can be obtained that are required for the generation of a luminance signal and of color signals.

Abstract: A photoelectric conversion apparatus has a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements (photodiodes 4), a plurality of switching elements (TFTs 3) connected to the respective photoelectric conversion elements 4, a plurality of signal lines 5 for outputting electric signals resulting from photoelectric conversion in each of the photoelectric conversion elements 4, and a plurality of driving wires (bias lines 6) for driving the photoelectric conversion elements 4. In the photoelectric conversion apparatus, each of the driving wires 6 is arranged in parallel to the signal lines 5 and between the signal lines 5 and each of the driving wires 6 is located so that a center line thereof lies between a first position at a center between the signal lines 5 and a second position at a center of gravity of an area of the photoelectric conversion element 4, thereby enhancing photosensitivity.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus for charge coupled device (CCD) and video inputs in a digital camera or for a digital camcorder is disclosed which provides optical black and offset correction for CCD inputs. A sampling circuit, including correlated double sampler (CDS) (402) and programmable gain amplifier (450), samples the image input signal and the video input signal. CDS (402) includes a single-ended amplifier (404) and a differential amplifier (406). The single-ended amplifier (404) functions such that it is only operable during an CCD signal input; otherwise, the single-ended amplifier (404) is bypassed such that a video signal is only sampled by the differential amplifier (406). For CCD signals, the single-ended amplifier (404) samples the reference level of the pixel and holds it during the video interval. The differential amplifier (404) samples both the output of the single ended amplifier (404) and the video level of the same pixel.

Abstract: According to one aspect of the invention, an apparatus for forming distortion free images comprises: (i) a rotationally symmetric lens system capable of forming a distorted image and of introducing lateral color aberration; (ii) a photosensitive image capture medium capable of capturing the distorted image created by the lens system; (iii) an image storage medium storing the distorted image captured by the image capture medium; (iv) an image buffer medium (area) for holding at least one distorted image stored by the image storage medium; and (v) an image processing unit correcting the distorted image and creating an undistorted image. The image processing unit has information describing distortion and lateral color aberration characteristics of the lens system. The image processing unit calculates, for at most one quadrant of the image, given any ideal radial position of a pixel, the actual radial position of the distorted data pixel from which to retrieve the data.

Abstract: The gray balance of an input signal produced when a gray chart is read by a digital camera is adjusted by a color processor. Thereafter, a color chart is read by the digital camera, and color correction functions in the color processor are corrected so that chromaticities of an output signal with the adjusted gray balance will be in conformity with the chromaticities of the color chart.

Abstract: Color-correcting data from a segmented imaging sensor having plural sensor segments. The data is stored in plural segment memories each of which corresponds to one of the sensor segments, and each segment memory stores overlap data and non-overlap data from the corresponding sensor segment. The overlap data in each segment memory includes boundary data from a boundary region of the sensor segment for which color correction is performed based at least in part on data from a segment memory for an adjacent sensor segment. The overlap data further includes other data from the segment memory used to color-correct the boundary data. According to the invention, overlap data from at least a first half of the segment memories is loaded into a memory buffer. Alternatively, boundary data from all of the segment memories and non-boundary overlap data from a first half of the segment memories are loaded into the memory buffer, or boundary data from all of the segment memories is loaded into the memory buffer.

Abstract: A photographic image-capturing element that receives a subject light flux and outputs a photographic image signal and a white balance adjustment image-capturing element that receives the subject light flux and outputs a white balance adjustment image signal are provided. Based upon the white balance adjustment image signal, color data are extracted from at least partial area in the photographic image plane to calculate the distance between the color data and a full radiator locus, i.e., the offset quantity by which the color data are offset from light source reference color data. The color of the light source is estimated by evaluating the offset quantity thus calculated, an R gain and a B gain are calculated in correspondence to the estimated value and a white balance adjustment is performed on the photographic image signal using these gains.

Abstract: When a field is determined by using a counter, a number of gates are needed in fabricating the counter and accordingly, the circuit scale is magnified and high cost formation is resulted. According to the invention, in a timing control circuit for separating a horizontal synchronizing signal and a vertical synchronizing signal included in a compound synchronizing signal CSYNC by a synchronizing separator circuit and forming an internal horizontal synchronizing signal and an internal vertical synchronizing signal based on a horizontal synchronizing signal Sep-HD and a vertical synchronizing signal Sep-VD after the separation, pulses P2 and P3 formed in a procedure of synchronizing separation at the synchronizing separator circuit, are utilized for determining a field in a field determining circuit and when the compound synchronizing signal CSYNC is inputted as an external synchronizing signal, whether the field is an odd number field or an even number field is determined.