Patents by Inventor Stuart McLeod

Stuart McLeod 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: 8587673
    Abstract: A method of motion compensation in a camera may include deriving a motion signal representative of a motion of the camera, processing video frames of a video signal from an image sensor of the camera during a viewfinder mode to derive motion vectors between pairs of frames, and processing the motion signal with a number of combinations of gain and offset factors during the viewfinder mode. The method may also include determining combinations for producing threshold motion vectors, and applying the combination producing the threshold motion vectors for processing the motion signal during a still capture mode to produce a control signal for a motion compensating element for optics of the camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Patent number: 8436908
    Abstract: An optical image stabilization (OIS) system may be used in a camera having an optical system which includes a motion compensating optical element driven by an actuator. The system may include a motion sensor providing a motion signal, a frequency detector for detecting a dominant frequency being that frequency within the motion signal which may produce the most significant motion blurring in the image produced by the camera, and a tunable high-pass filter for filtering the motion signal and supplying the filtered motion signal as an actuator control signal. The tunable high pass filter may be tuned based upon the dominant frequency to a filter characteristic which provides a phase lead substantially canceling a phase lag of the actuator at that frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventors: Stuart McLeod, Ewan Findlay
  • Patent number: 8416307
    Abstract: A method of motion compensation in a camera may include deriving a motion signal representative of a motion of the camera, processing video frames of a video signal from an image sensor of the camera during a viewfinder mode to derive motion vectors between pairs of frames, and processing the motion signal with a number of combinations of gain and offset factors during the viewfinder mode. The method may also include determining combinations for producing threshold motion vectors, and applying the combination producing the threshold motion vectors for processing the motion signal during a still capture mode to produce a control signal for a motion compensating element for optics of the camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Patent number: 8159541
    Abstract: An image stabilization apparatus includes accelerometers, a proximity sensor and a processor. Each accelerometer determines acceleration along an axis of a plane parallel to a focal plane of an image capture device. The accelerometers output respective acceleration data to the processor. The proximity sensor obtains a measurement of the distance between the focal plane of the image capture device and an object plane. The proximity sensor outputs distance data to the processor. The processor processes the distance data and the acceleration data to produce correction data to correct image data captured during motion of the image capture device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Stuart McLeod
  • Publication number: 20110115926
    Abstract: An optical image stabilization (OIS) system may be used in a camera having an optical system which includes a motion compensating optical element driven by an actuator. The system may include a motion sensor providing a motion signal, a frequency detector for detecting a dominant frequency being that frequency within the motion signal which may produce the most significant motion blurring in the image produced by the camera, and a tunable high-pass filter for filtering the motion signal and supplying the filtered motion signal as an actuator control signal. The tunable high pass filter may be tuned based upon the dominant frequency to a filter characteristic which provides a phase lead substantially canceling a phase lag of the actuator at that frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2010
    Publication date: May 19, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventors: Stuart MCLEOD, Ewan Findlay
  • Publication number: 20110105181
    Abstract: A method of motion compensation in a camera may include deriving a motion signal representative of a motion of the camera, processing video frames of a video signal from an image sensor of the camera during a viewfinder mode to derive motion vectors between pairs of frames, and processing the motion signal with a number of combinations of gain and offset factors during the viewfinder mode. The method may also include determining combinations for producing threshold motion vectors, and applying the combination producing the threshold motion vectors for processing the motion signal during a still capture mode to produce a control signal for a motion compensating element for optics of the camera.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2010
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limited
    Inventor: Stuart MCLEOD
  • Publication number: 20080266406
    Abstract: A method of compensating for camera shake includes reading a sequential series of images from an image sensing array, establishing a sharpness value for each of the sequential series of images, and performing an image selection based upon each sharpness value. The sharpness value is calculated for each image of the sequential series thereof during the reading.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2008
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics(Research & Development) Limited
    Inventors: Stuart McLeod, Ed Duncan
  • Publication number: 20080252736
    Abstract: An image stabilization apparatus includes accelerometers, a proximity sensor and a processor. Each accelerometer determines acceleration along an axis of a plane parallel to a focal plane of an image capture device. The accelerometers output respective acceleration data to the processor. The proximity sensor obtains a measurement of the distance between the focal plane of the image capture device and an object plane. The proximity sensor outputs distance data to the processor. The processor processes the distance data and the acceleration data to produce correction data to correct image data captured during motion of the image capture device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2008
    Publication date: October 16, 2008
    Applicant: STMicroelectronics (Research & Development) Limite
    Inventor: Stuart MCLEOD