Abstract: An image display apparatus combines vehicle-surroundings images photographed by cameras and displays a top view image. The image display apparatus includes image memories for storing images of landscapes ahead of the vehicle, at the left side of the vehicle, at the right side of the vehicle, and behind the vehicle which are photographed by the corresponding cameras, a mapping-table determining unit for determining a mapping table to be used by detecting the number of passengers in back seats, and a mapping unit for reading image data from the image memories by using the mapping table corresponding to the number of passengers and mapping the read image data to a frame memory to display a top view image.

Abstract: A lens unit or the like with improved ability to capture proper images by reducing the likelihood that water droplets will adhere to the lens surface and change the refractive index. A surface of a lens portion (1) is imparted with a water-repellent property and a surface of a non-lens portion (2), surrounding the lens portion (1), is imparted with a hydrophilic property. As a result, if droplets on the surface of the lens portion (1) contact the non-lens portion (2), the droplets are guided from the water-repellent surface of the lens portion (1) to the hydrophilic surface of the non-lens portion (2) thereby reducing the number of droplets residing on the lens portion (1).

Abstract: A surrounding image generating apparatus changes a viewpoint of images around a vehicle, taken by multiple image pickup devices mounted at different positions along the vehicle, to generate a surrounding image of the areas around the vehicle viewed from a virtual viewpoint located above the vehicle. The surrounding image generating apparatus includes a metering area determining unit determining at least one overlapping area in which the shooting areas of the image pickup devices are overlapped with each other to be a metering area for at least part of the image pickup devices; an exposure calculating unit focusing metering on the metering area for the at least part of the image pickup devices to calculate an appropriate exposure of each of the image pickup devices; and a surrounding image generating unit generating the surrounding image by using image signals generated in accordance with the calculated exposures.

Abstract: An image display apparatus combines vehicle-surroundings images photographed by cameras and displays a top view image. The image display apparatus includes image memories for storing images of landscapes ahead of the vehicle, at the left side of the vehicle, at the right side of the vehicle, and behind the vehicle which are photographed by the corresponding cameras, a mapping-table determining unit for determining a mapping table to be used by detecting the number of passengers in back seats, and a mapping unit for reading image data from the image memories by using the mapping table corresponding to the number of passengers and mapping the read image data to a frame memory to display a top view image.

Abstract: A lens unit or the like with improved ability to capture proper images by reducing the likelihood that water droplets will adhere to the lens surface and change the refractive index. A surface of a lens portion (1) is imparted with a water-repellent property and a surface of a non-lens portion (2), surrounding the lens portion (1), is imparted with a hydrophilic property. As a result, if droplets on the surface of the lens portion (1) contact the non-lens portion (2), the droplets are guided from the water-repellent surface of the lens portion (1) to the hydrophilic surface of the non-lens portion (2) thereby reducing the number of droplets residing on the lens portion (1).

Abstract: A surrounding image generating apparatus changes a viewpoint of images around a vehicle, taken by multiple image pickup devices mounted at different positions along the vehicle, to generate a surrounding image of the areas around the vehicle viewed from a virtual viewpoint located above the vehicle. The surrounding image generating apparatus includes a metering area determining unit determining at least one overlapping area in which the shooting areas of the image pickup devices are overlapped with each other to be a metering area for at least part of the image pickup devices; an exposure calculating unit focusing metering on the metering area for the at least part of the image pickup devices to calculate an appropriate exposure of each of the image pickup devices; and a surrounding image generating unit generating the surrounding image by using image signals generated in accordance with the calculated exposures.