Abstract: An image pickup apparatus comprising: right and left optical systems; shutters disposed in correspondence with each of the right and left optical systems, for time-divisionally switching between incident light; a micro computer for controlling an open/close timing of the shutters; and an image pickup element for picking up an image input via the right and left optical systems, wherein the microcomputer variably controls the open/close timing of the shutters in accordance with exposure timing information of the image pickup element.

Abstract: A photographing lens unit, a photographing apparatus, and a photographing system are capable of always reproducing good stereoscopic images. The information regarding the focal length of a photographing optical system, the information regarding a base line length, which is the interval between the incident optical axes of a first photographing optical axis and a second photographing optical axis for left eye and right eye, respectively, and the information regarding the angle of convergence, which is the angle formed by the incident optical axes of the first photographing optical axis and the second photographing optical axis, are transmitted from a controller of the photographing lens unit to a camera main unit in the form of digital values.

Abstract: When some failure has been detected as a result of self diagnosis in first and second sound playback units (20, 30), a nonvolatile memory (48) in a control unit (40) stores device, product, and error codes, and a predetermined pattern for informing that failure is displayed on a panel display device (12). The stored codes can be displayed on the panel display device (12) in response to predetermined first operation, and when input operation for operating the disabled unit is made at a control panel (10), the CPU 46 re-displays the predetermined pattern for informing the failure on the display device with reference to the stored codes.

Abstract: An image-shake correcting device includes a vibration sensor for detecting a vibration of an apparatus, a correcting member for correcting a movement of an image due to a vibration, a first controlling circuit for controlling the correcting member on the basis of an output of the vibration sensor and driving the correcting member in a direction in which the movement of the image is corrected, a detecting circuit for detecting a frequency and an amplitude of the vibration from the output of the vibration sensor, and a second controlling circuit for controlling a characteristic of the first controlling circuit on the basis of an output of the detecting circuit.

Abstract: An image-shake correcting device includes a vibration sensor for detecting a vibration of an apparatus, a correcting member for correcting a movement of an image due to a vibration, a first controlling circuit for controlling the correcting member on the basis of an output of the vibration sensor and driving the correcting member in a direction in which the movement of the image is corrected, a detecting circuit for detecting a frequency and an amplitude of the vibration from the output of the vibration sensor, and a second controlling circuit for controlling a characteristic of the first controlling circuit on the basis of an output of the detecting circuit.

Abstract: An image pickup device provided with an electronic image vibration compensating circuit, comprising an electronic zooming device for electronically varying the magnification of a designated portion of a taken image, a zoom lens constituting a phototaking lens, a zoom position detector for detecting the zoom position of the zoom lens, a driving circuit for zooming the zoom lens, and a control circuit for controlling the zoom lens and the electronic zooming device in mutually correlated manner, so as to maintain the image angle, determined by the zoom lens and the electronic zooming device at a predetermined value.

Abstract: A projection (41) protrudes downward from the lower side edge portion of a third electronic control unit (40). The projection forms a recess which houses a first electronic control unit (20) under the third electronic control unit (40) and has a lower opening. The third electronic control unit (40) and a control panel (10) are electrically connected to each other via connectors (13, 43). A second electronic control unit (30) is placed on the upper surface of the third electronic control unit (40), and the first and third electronic control units (20, 40) and the second and third electronic control units (30, 40) are respectively detachably connected to each other via connectors.

Abstract: An exposure control device for performing exposure control on the basis of a video signal obtained from a light measuring area set within an image sensing plane is provided with a determining circuit which determines the position of a photographed object within the image sensing plane from the values of a specific component of the video signal obtained from the inside and outside of a detection area the position of which is variably set within the image sensing plane. The light measuring area is set in the object's position within the image sensing plane detected by the determining circuit. The exposure control device is provided further with a changing circuit which detects the size of the object on the image sensing plane and changes the size of the light measuring area accordingly, and a weighting circuit which performs for light measurement a weighting operation on video signals obtained from the inside and outside of the light measuring area.

Abstract: An automatic focusing device for automatically controlling the focused state of an optical system on the basis of a video signal obtained within a focus detecting area which is set on an image sensing plane comprises: a tracing area setting circuit arranged to movably set, within said image sensing plane, an inner tracing area and an outer tracing area which surrounds the inner tracing area; a computing circuit arranged to compute information on a difference in a given frequency component of the video signal obtained from the inner and outer tracing areas in each of their different positions to which they are moved within the image sensing plane; determining means for determining the position or size of an object's image formed within the image sensing plane from the difference information computed by the computing circuit; and a circuit which is arranged to shift the focus detecting area to the position of the object's image determined by the determining circuit and to change the size of the focus detecting

Abstract: A vibration correcting device comprising a movement sensor for detecting vibration, a vibration correcting system for correcting the vibration, a control circuit for controlling the vibration correcting system according to the output of the movement sensor, and a characteristics control circuit for varying the frequency characteristics of the control circuit according to the function state of the vibration correcting system, wherein the control is conducted in such a manner that, when the vibration correcting system reaches a predetermined state, the gain of the control circuit within a predetermined frequency range is lowered to a predetermined level but the gain in a range lower than the above-mentioned frequency range is substantially not lowered.

Abstract: The invention is directed to reducing noises of a low density without causing the listener to feel a sense of incongruity. A received signal is subjected to frequency discrimination. The sound signals of the right-channel and the left-channel are separated on the basis of a channel separation, and then are output as sounds. When noises are not generated, the channel separation is controlled in accordance with a control voltage corresponding to the electric field strength of the received signal which is output from an S-meter circuit via a channel separation controlling circuits. When noise signal in the received signal are extracted by a multipath detector, the first and the second integration circuits integrate the noise signal. When the noise density is so low that only the first integration circuit reaches the on-voltage, the channel separation is lowered to about 10 dB in accordance with the control voltage corresponding to the noise density of the channel separation controlling circuit.

Abstract: An exposure control device having a light measuring area setting circuit which sets a light measuring area on an image sensing plane, a discriminating circuit which discriminates from each other varied states of the image sensing plane through video signal parts corresponding to the inside and the outside of the light measuring area and an exposure compensating circuit which compensates the state of exposure to light is arranged to shift the set position of the light measuring area to trace an object's image at least when the exposure compensating circuit is in operation.

Abstract: An optical apparatus or a control device to be used for a light flux deflecting apparatus is arranged to include at least two light flux deflecting portions and a control portion which control the driving actions of the at least two light flux deflecting portions in such a manner that, with the light flux deflecting portions applied as image shake preventing mechanisms to an optical apparatus using a plurality of light fluxes, such as a binocular, the arrangement effectively prevents such inconveniences as the necessity of using a plurality of control portions in controlling each of the light flux deflecting portions and giving a disagreeable feeling to the user due to a discrepancy arising in the amount of deflection between two light fluxes.

Abstract: An automatic focusing device which is capable of movably setting within an image sensing plane a focus detecting area for detecting the focused degree of an object image formed on the image sensing plane by a photo-taking optical system comprises a position detecting circuit for detecting the position of an object within the focus detecting area, a computing circuit for computing on the basis of information from the position detecting circuit a setting position for setting the focus detecting area, and a control circuit which is arranged to move the focus detecting area according to the output of the computing circuit and to vary and control at least one of the size, the moving range and the moving response speed of the focus detecting area according to information on the depth of field of the photo-taking optical system.

Abstract: In the automatic focusing device having an object image variation detecting circuit for quantitatively detecting a variation of an object image on the image pickup plane of an image pickup element so that the focusing operation is controlled in accordance with the amount of variation of the object image detected by the object image variation detecting circuit, there are provided a stop control circuit for controlling the period for stopping the focusing operation when panning depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image is large or small, a characteristic varying circuit for varying the frequency band of the picked-up image signal to be used in the focus detection depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image at the time of the focusing operation is large or small, and a pass characteristic varying circuit for varying the focus detection area on the image pickup plane depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image is large or small.

Abstract: In the automatic focusing device having an object image variation detecting circuit for quantitatively detecting a variation of an object image on the image pickup plane of an image pickup element so that the focusing operation is controlled in accordance with the amount of variation of the object image detected by the object image variation detecting circuit, there are provided a stop control circuit for controlling the period for stopping the focusing operation when panning depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image is large or small, a characteristic varying circuit for varying the frequency band of the picked-up image signal to be used in the focus detection depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image at the time of the focusing operation is large or small, and a pass characteristic varying circuit for varying the focus detection area on the image pickup plane depending on whether the amount of variation of the object image is large or small.

Abstract: A focus adjusting device having an added capability of discriminating effective focal length information by using an image signal produced from an image pickup element is provided with an automatic focus adjusting circuit for moving a lens to the in-focus position on the basis of a high-frequency component in the image signal, and a circuit for discriminating effective focal length information of the lens from the degree of change of a low-frequency component in the image signal, wherein the gain of the automatic focus adjusting circuit is controlled in accordance with the discriminated focal length information.

Abstract: An image-blur preventing apparatus includes an image-blur correcting device that is driven in accordance with a subject distance to compensate for the location of an image-blur correcting optical device being located at a position different from a rotational center of the apparatus corresponding to rotational displacement due to a hand shake. The rotational center can be specified at a constant point, and a simple relationship between the needed correction and the subject distance can be established, thereby enabling image-blur prevention.

Abstract: An optical apparatus including an optical assembly having an image formation optical system and a device for receiving an image, said optical assembly including optical components disposed along an optical axis for projecting the image to a display surface, a detecting device for detecting each distance to a plurality of predetermined locations which are set apart from each other and for producing detection signals representing a non-orthogonal relationship between the display surface and the optical axis, and a controlling device for biasing at least one of the components included in the optical assembly in response to the detection signals thus obtained. Then, a part of such an optical assembly is driven in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, thus making it possible to implement an optical apparatus capable of obtaining a projected image which is in focus all over the screen without distortion.

Abstract: An image sensing apparatus operating with adaptive selection of a first tracing algorithm in which an object image is traced by moving a detecting area capable of being movably set on an image sensing plane in such a manner that the luminance level difference between the inside and the outside of that area becomes maximum and a second tracing algorithm in which the object image is traced by moving the position of the detecting area in such a manner that a point at which a contrast becomes maximum comes to coincide with a central portion of the detecting are depending on the state of the image sensing plane. The threshold values for changing over between the first tracing algorithm and the second tracing algorithm are made to have a hysteresis characteristic.