Patents by Inventor Kazuhiko Nishiwaki

Kazuhiko Nishiwaki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8350920
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus to capture an image of a subject includes an extracting unit configured to extract a character area image of an area including a character from a captured subject image; a converting unit configured to convert the character area image in accordance with a first predetermined method; a first generating unit configured to generate a hiding image to make the character area image unrecognizable to a user; an encoding unit configured to encode the subject image in which the character area image is overwritten with the generated hiding image in accordance with a second predetermined method; and a second generating unit configured to generate a file including area information specifying the area, converted character area image information obtained through the conversion, and subject image information obtained through the encoding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Nishiwaki
  • Patent number: 7884873
    Abstract: An image pickup device includes a display that displays one of image data including an operation menu or operation key image data representing operation keys; an external output section that outputs the image data including the operation menu to the outside; an output state detector that detects that the external output section is in a state capable of outputting the image data to the outside; a display data instruction section that instructs to display the operation key image data on the display and to display the image data including the operation menu on an external display device, which is an output destination of the image data in the external output section, when the external output section is detected to be in the capable state, and instructs to display the image data including the operation menu on the display when the external output section is not detected to be in the capable state; a display data supply that supplies one of the display or the external output section with one of the image data incl
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Shiota, Kazuhiko Nishiwaki, Tetsuya Oda, Makoto Omata, Kazunori Takagi, Kanako Tamamatsu, Motoki Kobayashi, Ryoko Amano, Kumiko Tsukuda, Tsutomu Kume, Hidefumi Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 7876365
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus that images a photographic subject using an imaging device includes: a signal processing means for performing signal processing on an image signal of the photographic subject imaged by the imaging device and generating an exposure control signal; a photoelectric conversion device that detects an amount of light indicating the brightness under an environment where the brightness changes periodically; and a timing generating means for receiving the exposure control signal from the signal processing means when the amount of light detected by the photoelectric conversion device reaches a predetermined value set beforehand and generating a timing signal for start of exposure and then supplying the timing signal to the imaging device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoko Kuno, Kazuhiko Nishiwaki, Katsuya Kosuga
  • Patent number: 7720372
    Abstract: A photographing device configured to photograph a plurality of images consecutively by changing an exposure value is provided. The photographing device may include a control-range-determination unit configured to determine a control range which is a range where the exposure value is varied, and an interval-calculation unit configured to calculate a control interval which is an interval between photographing-exposure values that are exposure values existing in the control range and that are exposure values of the photographed images so that the photographing-exposure values are uniformly distributed over the control range according to a number of the photographed images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Nishiwaki
  • Publication number: 20090003819
    Abstract: A photographing device configured to photograph a plurality of images consecutively by changing an exposure value is provided. The photographing device may; include a control-range-determination unit configured to determine a control range which is a range where the exposure value is varied, and an interval-calculation unit configured to calculate a control interval which is an interval between photographing-exposure values that are exposure values existing in the control range and that are exposure values of the photographed images so that the photographing-exposure values are uniformly distributed over the control range according to a number of the photographed images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2007
    Publication date: January 1, 2009
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Nishiwaki
  • Publication number: 20080012873
    Abstract: An image capturing apparatus to capture an image of a subject includes an extracting unit configured to extract a character area image of an area including a character from a captured subject image; a converting unit configured to convert the character area image in accordance with a first predetermined method; a first generating unit configured to generate a hiding image to make the character area image unrecognizable to a user; an encoding unit configured to encode the subject image in which the character area image is overwritten with the generated hiding image in accordance with a second predetermined method; and a second generating unit configured to generate a file including area information specifying the area, converted character area image information obtained through the conversion, and subject image information obtained through the encoding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2007
    Publication date: January 17, 2008
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko NISHIWAKI
  • Publication number: 20070291158
    Abstract: An imaging apparatus that images a photographic subject using an imaging device includes: a signal processing means for performing signal processing on an image signal of the photographic subject imaged by the imaging device and generating an exposure control signal; a photoelectric conversion device that detects an amount of light indicating the brightness under an environment where the brightness changes periodically; and a timing generating means for receiving the exposure control signal from the signal processing means when the amount of light detected by the photoelectric conversion device reaches a predetermined value set beforehand and generating a timing signal for start of exposure and then supplying the timing signal to the imaging device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Publication date: December 20, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tomoko KUNO, Kazuhiko Nishiwaki, Katsuya Kosuga
  • Publication number: 20070132853
    Abstract: An image pickup device includes a display that displays one of image data including an operation menu or operation key image data representing operation keys; an external output section that outputs the image data including the operation menu to the outside; an output state detector that detects that the external output section is in a state capable of outputting the image data to the outside; a display data instruction section that instructs to display the operation key image data on the display and to display the image data including the operation menu on an external display device, which is an output destination of the image data in the external output section, when the external output section is detected to be in the capable state, and instructs to display the image data including the operation menu on the display when the external output section is not detected to be in the capable state; a display data supply that supplies one of the display or the external output section with one of the image data incl
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Publication date: June 14, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Shiota, Kazuhiko Nishiwaki, Tetsuya Oda, Makoto Omata, Kazunori Takagi, Kanako Tamamatsu, Motoki Kobayashi, Ryoko Amano, Kumiko Tsukuda, Tsutomu Kume, Hidefumi Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 5945977
    Abstract: A luminance signal producing circuit comprises a signal input portion to which an image pickup signal is supplied from a solid-state image sensor provided with a color filter array comprising a plurality of color filter units arrayed in the manner of a checkered green-line sequential red and blue arrangement, a wide band luminance signal generator, a low frequency compensation luminance signal generator and a signal synthesizer for synthesizing a wide band luminance signal and a low frequency compensation luminance signal obtained based on the image pickup signal respectively from the wide band luminance signal generator and the low frequency compensation luminance signal generator with each other to produce a luminance signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 31, 1999
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kazuhiko Nishiwaki
  • Patent number: 5671023
    Abstract: A gamma correction circuit capable of faithfully monitoring and outputting the color and luminance of an object without deteriorating the resolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1997
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Nishiwaki, Ken Nakajima