Abstract: A method of misregistration correction in a line scanning imaging system includes: generating a model of scan motion over a focal plane of the imaging system, using a coupled system of non-linear scan equations with constant coefficients; estimating programmed motion positions across a plurality of detector junction overlap regions via a state transition matrix solution to the scan equations; at each detector junction overlap region, measuring actual motion positions via image correlation of overlapping detectors; generating differences between the actual motion positions and the estimated programmed motion positions; estimating updates to the constant coefficients based on the generated differences; generating corrections from the estimated updates to remove unwanted motion; and applying the updates to the constant coefficients.

Abstract: An auto calibration method and an optical image stabilizer (OIS) camera using the same are provided. The auto calibration method includes removing a DC offset of a gyroscope. A vibrator signal applied by operating a vibrator, and an actual measurement value of the gyroscope is obtained using the applied vibrator signal. A first gain value for compensating for sensitivity of the gyroscope is calculated using the vibrator signal and the actual measurement value of the gyroscope, and an actuator is operated. A displacement of a pixel actually moving on an image is moved under an operation of the actuator. A second gain value for controlling a sensitivity variation of the actuator is calculated based on the displacement of the actually moving pixel. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce processing time and to ensure high performance.

Abstract: A camera apparatus capable of providing optical image stabilization comprises: a support structure; a camera unit comprising an image sensor and a lens system; a suspension system comprising a plurality of flexure elements supporting the camera unit on the support structure in a manner allowing the camera unit to tilt; and a plurality of SMA actuators. A sensor arrangement, whose output is used as the basis for generating drive signals, is mounted on the camera unit. A control circuit generates drive signals for the SMA actuators, by deriving closed-loop control signals representative of a desired degree of variation in the power of the drive signals from the output signals of the sensor arrangement without dependence on any measurement of the resistance of the SMA actuators, and generating the drive signals with powers that varies from a set-point power in correspondence with the closed-loop control signal.

Abstract: Embodiments disclose methods and apparatuses for camera motion analysis in a video, wherein one of the methods includes: analyzing, video segments with significant movement characteristics and video segments without any significant movement characteristic; for each segment without any significant movement characteristic, if a first motion type corresponding to a preceding neighboring video segment is different from a second motion type corresponding to a succeeding neighboring video segment, lowering detection criterions of the first type and the second type; judging whether the segment without any significant movement characteristic meets the lowered detection criterions; and merging the segment without any significant movement characteristic with a neighboring video segment according to the result of judgment.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure compensate for global movement and in-scene movement during image capture by a computing device. A sequence of images is accessed by the computing device. Accelerometer readings and/or gyroscope readings corresponding to each of the accessed images are used by the computing device for calculating global movement among each of the accessed images. Each of the accessed images is re-aligned based on the calculated global movement. The re-aligned images are combined into a single output image. The intensity values of each of the pixels in the re-aligned images are compared with the intensity values of each of the corresponding pixels in a reference image. Based on the comparison, the intensity values associated with the pixels in the re-aligned images are selectively accumulated to generate an output image that is blur-free, low-light enhanced, and high dynamic range.

Abstract: Methods and systems for rolling shutter removal are described. A computing device may be configured to determine, in a frame of a video, distinguishable features. The frame may include sets of pixels captured asynchronously. The computing device may be configured to determine for a pixel representing a feature in the frame, a corresponding pixel representing the feature in a consecutive frame; and determine, for a set of pixels including the pixel in the frame, a projective transform that may represent motion of the camera. The computing device may be configured to determine, for the set of pixels in the frame, a mixture transform based on a combination of the projective transform and respective projective transforms determined for other sets of pixels. Accordingly, the computing device may be configured to estimate a motion path of the camera to account for distortion associated with the asynchronous capturing of the sets of pixels.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media for rendering focused plenoptic camera data. A rendering with blending technique is described that blends values from positions in multiple microimages and assigns the blended value to a given point in the output image. A rendering technique that combines depth-based rendering and rendering with blending is also described. Depth-based rendering estimates depth at each microimage and then applies that depth to determine a position in the input flat from which to read a value to be assigned to a given point in the output image. The techniques may be implemented according to parallel processing technology that renders multiple points of the output image in parallel. In at least some embodiments, the parallel processing technology is graphical processing unit (GPU) technology.

Abstract: Provided is an image pickup apparatus that includes: an image pickup unit configured to generate picked-up image data by an image pickup process; a camera shake detection unit configured to detect an angular velocity generated by camera shake when shooting; an electronic image stabilization unit configured to perform an image stabilization process by moving a position of a cropping area in the picked-up image data, based on the angular velocity detected by the camera shake detection unit; and an area changing unit configured to change a size of the cropping area with respect to the picked-up image data, based on the angular velocity detected by the camera shake detection unit.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus comprises: an input unit configured to input an image signal obtained by photoelectrically converting, by an image sensor, an optical image incident via an optical system including optical image stabilization unit; an acquisition unit configured to acquire optical image stabilization control information obtained by the optical image stabilization unit; and a motion of camera prediction unit configured to predict a motion of camera based on information obtained by eliminating influence of optical image stabilization by the optical image stabilization unit from the image signal input from the input unit based on the optical image stabilization control information.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining image data is disclosed, the apparatus including an image data identifier to evaluate a state change resulting from blocking or opening of a sensor, and identify a stabilized state of image data of the sensor in an opened state, and an image data determiner to receive image data identified to be the stabilized state, and determine the received image data to be image data absent an occurrence of interference between the sensor and another sensor through an integrity assessment of the image data.

Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for selectively capturing, retaining, and combining multiple sub-exposure images or brackets to yield a final image having diminished motion-induced blur and good noise characteristics. More specifically, after or during the capture of N brackets, the M best may be identified for combining into a single output image, (N>M). As used here, the term “best” means those brackets that exhibit the least amount of relative motion with respect to one another—with one caveat: integer pixel shifts may be preferred over sub-pixel shifts.

Abstract: An easy-to-use online video stabilization system and methods for its use are described. Videos are stabilized after capture, and therefore the stabilization works on all forms of video footage including both legacy video and freshly captured video. In one implementation, the video stabilization system is fully automatic, requiring no input or parameter settings by the user other than the video itself. The video stabilization system uses a cascaded motion model to choose the correction that is applied to different frames of a video. In various implementations, the video stabilization system is capable of detecting and correcting high frequency jitter artifacts, low frequency shake artifacts, rolling shutter artifacts, significant foreground motion, poor lighting, scene cuts, and both long and short videos.

Abstract: A digital image stabilization method includes taking N frames of a target image with an exposure of T, dividing each of the N frames into predetermined blocks, and selecting a reference frame from among the N frames by setting one of the blocks in each of the N frames as a reference region and comparing reference regions of the respective N frames with one another. The method further includes estimating a motion vector of each of the remaining frames based on a reference region of the reference frame, and generating a result frame by combining a weighted frame, which is obtained by mapping a weight calculated based on the estimated motion vector to each block, and a color component frame.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an image processing method includes storing, in a frame memory, first and second images of continuously taken N (however, N is not less than 2) images, cutting an image as an image for correction from a plurality of reference areas of the first and second images stored in the frame memory, calculating such a hand shake correction amount that the first image and the second image overlap with high accuracy with the use of a plurality of images for correction of the first and second images and correcting the first image with the calculated hand shake correction amount, overwriting the corrected first image in the first image stored in the frame memory, composing the corrected first image and the second image to obtain a composite image, and overwriting the composited the composite image in the second image stored in the frame memory.

Abstract: An imaging device is provided that includes an image blur evaluator, an imaging processor, a distance map generator and a filter. The image blur evaluator evaluates the amount of blurring due to a camera shake. The imaging processor captures a plurality of secondary images of the same object at different lens positions by driving a photographing lens. The distance map generator prepares a distance map including distance information of the objects captured in each area of an image based on the contrast in each of the areas. The filter reduces noise in the distance map. A relatively large filter size is selected for the filter when blurring is evaluated to be relatively large and a relatively small filter size is selected for the filter when the evaluated blurring is relatively small.

Abstract: A measurement method capable of measuring a motion blur amount of an image with a high accuracy is provided. The measurement method fixes a camera on a vibratory table of a vibratory apparatus; selects one of a plurality of pieces of vibration data in accordance with the mass of the camera; shakes the vibratory table of the vibratory apparatus in accordance with the selected vibration data; acquires an evaluation image by imaging a subject by the camera while the vibratory table is being shaken; and measures a motion blur amount of an image based on the acquired evaluation image. In this case, the vibration data may be obtained by performing statistic processing for measured data.

Abstract: An imaging device includes an optical imaging system, a solid-state image sensor which converts an optical image of a subject formed by the optical imaging system into an electric image signal, an exposure controller which starts an exposure in response to an instruction to start shooting, an image reader which sequentially read image signals from the solid-state image sensor while the exposure controller continues the exposure, an image processor which sequentially processes the image signals read by the image reader, a display unit which displays image data output from the image processor; and an image display processor which allows the display unit to sequentially display image data processed by the image processor with a predetermined time interval.

Abstract: A mobile terminal and a method of controlling the same are provided. The mobile terminal detects an object in which a ghost may appear through a preview image of an image acquired using a dual camera. The mobile terminal may display an indicator for identifying the detected object. Accordingly, a higher quality high dynamic range (HDR) image can be more efficiently acquired.

Abstract: A motion estimation method includes grouping row blocks of a first frame into a first plurality of banks and grouping row blocks of a second frame into a corresponding second plurality of banks, respectively; calculating the normalized cross correlation (NCC) or the sum of absolute difference (SAD) between the banks of the first frame and the banks of the second frame; detecting the local maxima from the NCC or the local minima from the SAD; estimating a first relative displacement between corresponding reference row blocks of the first frame and of the second frame; calculating motion coefficients using first relative displacements; and estimating second relative displacements using the motion coefficients.

Abstract: Methods, devices, and systems for continuous image capturing are described herein. In one embodiment, a method includes continuously capturing a sequence of images with an image capturing device. The method may further include storing a predetermined number of the sequence of images in a buffer. The method may further include receiving a user request to capture an image. In response to the user request, the method may further include automatically selecting one of the buffered images based on an exposure time of one of the buffered images. The sequence of images is captured prior to or concurrently with receiving the user request.

Abstract: An image pickup apparatus capable of reducing camera-shake blur and rolling-caused distortion of image data obtained by shooting without including invalid data. An object obtained by shooting is stored in a memory area as first image data, and data having a smaller data size than the first image data is acquired as second image data by clipping from the memory area. A clipping position which enables correction of camera-shake blur is calculated according to an amount of movement due to a camera shake. Range information indicative of a range in the memory area and shift amounts used for correcting rolling-caused distortion are calculated. Rolling-caused distortion of the second image data is corrected based on the calculated shift amounts.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, an image processing device includes a motion vector generator, a correction amount generator, and a correcting module. The motion vector generator is configured to generate a horizontal direction motion vector and a vertical direction motion vector of an input video signal photographed in an order of scanning lines. The correction amount generator is configured to generate a horizontal direction correction amount based on the horizontal direction motion vector and the vertical direction motion vector by each scanning line, and generate a vertical direction correction amount based on the vertical direction motion vector by a scanning line. The correcting module is configured to correct the input video signal to generate an output video signal based on the horizontal direction correction amount and the vertical direction correction amount.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus includes an acceleration sensor having a first measurement axis and a second measurement axis that intersect each other, and arranged on a plane that intersects the imaging optical axis of the image capturing apparatus while inclining the first and second measurement axes by about 45° in the vertical direction, and a calculation unit that calculates the arc tangent of the ratio of the detection result of an acceleration due to gravity by the first measurement axis and the detection result of an acceleration due to gravity by the second measurement axis, thereby obtaining the inclination degree of the image capturing apparatus in the rolling direction.

Abstract: An exemplary image capture device 100 includes: an image capturing section 270 configured to generate an image based on a subject image formed; a first sensor 260 configured to detect acceleration of gravity on the device 100 itself to output a first detection signal; a second sensor 250 configured to detect a variation in the device's own attitude to output a second detection signal; and a processor 290 configured to calculate a first magnitude of correction based on a frequency component in the first detection signal, which is equal to or lower than a first frequency, configured to calculate a second magnitude of correction based on a frequency component in the second detection signal, which is equal to or higher than a second frequency, and configured to correct, based on the calculated first and second magnitudes of correction, tilt of at least one of the subject image and the image.

Abstract: According to an embodiment, a sequence of video frames as produced in a video-capture apparatus such as a video camera is stabilized against hand shaking or vibration by:—subjecting a pair of frames in the sequence to feature extraction and matching to produce a set of matched features;—subjecting the set of matched features to an outlier removal step; and—generating stabilized frames via motion-model estimation based on features resulting from outlier removal. Motion-model estimation is performed based on matched features having passed a zone-of-interest test confirmative that the matched features passing the test are distributed over a plurality of zones across the frames.

Abstract: This disclosure pertains to devices, methods, and computer readable media for reducing rolling shutter distortion effects in captured video frames based on timestamped positional information obtained from positional sensors in communication with an image capture device. In general, rolling shutter reduction techniques are described for generating and applying image segment-specific perspective transforms to already-captured segments (i.e., portions) of images in a video sequence, so as to counter or compensate for unwanted distortions that occurred during the read out of the image sensor. Such distortions may be due to, for example, the use of CMOS sensors combined with the rapid movement of the image capture device.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for processing an image by a wide dynamic range (WDR) process, and for obtaining an image having a wide dynamic area by using a WDR process. The method includes: receiving a long exposure image and a short exposure image having different exposure times; detecting a motion artifact area that may be occur when the long exposure image and the short exposure image are fused; generating a non-linear gain control short exposure image by non-linearly adjusting a gain of the short exposure image such that a luminance component of the short exposure image corresponds to a luminance component of the long exposure image; compensating for motion in the non-linear gain control exposure image based on the detected motion artifact area; and fusing the non-linear gain control short exposure image and the long exposure image to output an image to which a WDR process is performed.

Abstract: A networked surveillance audio-video recorder for security applications with local storage and continuous record loop using high-definition video and encrypted data is described. Evidentiary audio-video is locally stored on a non-volatile storage media, and later transmitted in accordance with channel bandwidth with optional temporal, spatial or peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) scalability and in accordance to display capabilities of target viewing device upon request of time regions of interest or window around alarm trigger events, or for periodic archival reasons.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus comprises a shake detection unit configured to detect a shake, a motion vector detection unit configured to detect a motion vector indicating movement of an image from a captured image signal, a motion vector output control unit configured to selectively output an output of the motion vector detection unit and an output of the shake detection unit, a correction amount calculation unit configured to calculate a shake correction amount based on at least one of the output of the motion vector output control unit and the output of the shake detection unit; and a correction unit configured to correct the image blurring of the captured image based on the shake correction amount.

Abstract: An electronic device for reflecting a spatial motion to focus a subject and a method thereof. A method of operating an electronic device includes sensing a spatial motion of the electronic device, at the same time as sensing the spatial motion, determining the movement or non-movement of a subject being displayed, and reflecting the spatial motion of the electronic device and the movement or non-movement of the subject to focus the subject.

Abstract: An image processing method and an apparatus using the same are provided. The method includes the following steps: deriving a global motion vector between a first image and a second image and providing the first image, the second image and the global motion vector to a first application process, wherein the first image is the previous image of the second image; deriving a first compensated image and a second compensated image by performing a lens distortion compensation process on the first image and the second image respectively; deriving a compensated global motion vector corresponding to the first compensated image and the second compensated image by transforming and correcting the global motion vector; and providing the first compensated image, the second compensated image, and the compensated global motion vector to a second application process.

Abstract: Disclosed are example methods and apparatuses for image processing for improving an out-of-focus effect. A disclosed example methods includes capturing a first image, a second image, and a third image, which are captured with a different focus for a same subject and background; setting a subject portion and a background portion using the first and second images; combining the subject portion of first image and the background portion of the third image with each other to obtain an narrow depth-of-field (DOF) image; and performing image processing on the obtained narrow DOF image.

Abstract: An imaging device includes an imaging processing unit that includes a solid-state imaging device outputting a pixel signal according to incident subject light and outputs a captured image according to the pixel signal output by the solid-state imaging device, image processing circuits that generate a photography image by performing image processing on a corresponding region within a processed region cut out from the captured image output from the imaging processing unit, and a division position determination unit that detects movement of a photography position at which the solid-state imaging device photographs a subject within a captured region of the solid-state imaging device.

Abstract: A plurality of image capturing data time-divisionally exposed by a capturing unit are input, and are divided into synthesis images or motion detection images. A motion amount of the capturing unit at the time of time-division exposure is detected from the image capturing data of the motion detection images, and synthesized image capturing data is generated by synthesizing the synthesis images. Then, a vibration of the synthesized image capturing data is corrected based on a divide pattern indicating divisions, and the motion amount.

Abstract: An image capturing device and an image capturing method thereof are disclosed. The image capturing device includes an image capturing module and a processing module. The image capturing module captures a plurality of temporary images corresponding to a scene. The processing module sequentially analyzes the temporary images and generates a plurality of analysis results. The processing module dynamically adjusts the sampling time of the image capturing module capturing each temporary image according to the analysis results. Moreover, the processing module selects some of the plurality of temporary images according to the analysis results to integrate images. The image capturing module stops capturing the temporary images based upon a stop signal, and finally a storage image is generated.

Abstract: Provided is a method of correcting handshake in a digital image processing apparatus. The digital image processing apparatus includes a lens location detector for detecting a location of the focusing lens when a lens driving unit drives a photographing lens group; a handshake detector for detecting an amount of handshake from a signal representing a movement of the digital image processing apparatus; and a handshake correction unit for adjusting the lens driving unit according to a difference between the amount of handshake detected by the handshake detector and the location of the focusing lens detected by the lens location detector.

Abstract: A shake measurement system (1) is an apparatus for measuring the amount of shake of a camera (2), and comprises a first shake amount acquisition section, a second shake amount acquisition section, and a third shake amount acquisition section. The first shake amount acquisition section uses image processing to acquire the amount of shake of the camera (2) as a first shake amount. The second shake amount acquisition section acquires the amount of shake of the camera (2) as a second shake amount by a different method from that of the first shake amount acquisition section. The third shake amount acquisition section acquires the amount of translational shake of the camera (2) on the basis of the first shake amount and the second shake amount.

Abstract: A method of capturing a still frame is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating a plurality of initial frames with a sensor in response to an optical signal and (B) generating the still frame by combining the initial frames using a noise reduction technique.

Abstract: A video processing method includes: dividing a currently processed frame into a top field and a bottom field, and performing field exposure on the top field and the bottom field respectively to acquire an exposed top field and an exposed bottom field, where a field exposure time length of the top field and that of the bottom field are different; processing the exposed top field and the exposed bottom field by using a de-interlacing technique to acquire two reconstructed exposed frames; and performing image enhancement processing on the two reconstructed exposed frames to acquire an image of the currently processed frame.

Abstract: An image capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing unit, a motion vector detection unit which detects a motion vector quantity representing a shift amount between images from image signals successively obtained by the image capturing unit, an angle conversion unit which converts the motion vector quantity into an angular displacement amount between the images on the basis of a zoom position of the zoom lens, a shift angle calculation unit which calculates a shift angle from an optical axis of the imaging optical system by calculating the angular displacement amount, a shift amount conversion unit which converts the shift angle into a shift amount on an image plane of the image capturing unit on the basis of the zoom position of the zoom lens, and a correction unit which corrects a shift on the basis of the shift amount on the image plane.

Abstract: An image capture apparatus comprises an image capture unit, a shake detection unit, a reference value calculation unit, an image blur correction unit, a motion vector detection unit, a determination unit which determines whether the motion vector indicates a movement of an object, and a control unit which controls one of the calculation methods of the reference value and the reference value, wherein the reference value calculation unit calculates the reference value using both an output from the shake detection unit and an output from the motion vector detection unit as one of the plurality of calculation methods, and when the determination unit determines that the motion vector indicates the movement of the object, the control unit controls not to calculate the reference value using the output from the shake detection unit and the output from the motion vector detection unit.

Abstract: According to one embodiment of the present invention, a check's image is automatically captured. A stabilization parameter of the mobile device is determined using a movement sensor. It is determined whether the stabilization parameter is greater than or equal to a stabilization threshold. An image of the check is captured using the mobile device if the stabilization parameter is greater than or equal to the stabilization threshold.

Abstract: An image sensing system for an electronic device. The image sensing system includes a lens and an image sensor. The image sensor includes a indirectly lit area of pixels and a directly lit area of pixels. The lens is in optical communication with the directly lit area of pixels.

Abstract: The present invention is applied to an image pickup apparatus for which, for example, a CMOS solid-state image pickup element is used. One screen image is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a motion is detected for each of the blocks to control the exposure time of the block.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for estimating a blurriness value based on a series of at least two frames acquired within a period of time greater than or equal to a given exposure time, the frames being grouped in at least one couple of frames, characterized in that it comprises determining, for each couple of frames of the series, first and second values corresponding to a displacement according to a first direction and a second direction, between the first frame and the second frame of a couple of frames, determining a first blur measure for one direction among the first and second directions by calculating a metric based on the displacement values for each couple of frames of at least a subset of the series, determining a second blur measure for the other direction among the first and second directions by calculating a metric applied to the displacement values for each couple of frames of the series of frames and determining a blurriness value based on the first and second blur measures.

Abstract: An imaging system includes an array of lenses, a plurality of sensor pixels for each lens, the sensor pixels being on an image plane of the imaging system, and a corresponding plurality of focal plane coding elements. A focal plane coding element for each sensor pixel has multiple sub-pixel resolution elements. The focal plane coding element being between the lens and each sensor pixel, wherein sub-pixel resolution elements over the plurality of focal plane coding elements represent a selected transform matrix having a non-zero determinant. The output of the plurality of sensor pixels being an image multiplied by this matrix.

Abstract: An image processor in an image capture device compensates for the effects of undesirable camera shakes occurring during video capture The image processor receives a pair of source frames representing images of a scene, generates a pair of subsampled frames from the source frames, and computes a coarse displacement of the captured image due to camera shakes by comparing the two subsampled frames. The image processor may then refine the determined coarse displacement by comparing the two source frames and a bound determined by an extent of subsampling, and compensate for the displacement accordingly. Display aberrations such as blank spaces caused due to shifting are also avoided by displaying only a portion of the captured image and shifting the displayed portion to compensate for camera shake. The image processor also recognizes displacements due to intentional camera movement, and does not correct for such displacements.

Abstract: An image stabilized digital image capture device, comprising an image sensor for capturing a digital image; an optical system for imaging a scene onto the image sensor; an image stabilization system; an exposure control system; a memory system; and a processor. The processor is used to perform the steps of determining exposure settings using the exposure control system; selectively engaging the image stabilization system responsive to whether the determined exposure settings satisfy a predefined condition; capturing a digital image of a scene using the image sensor and the selectively engaged image stabilization system; and storing the captured digital image in the memory system.

Abstract: Techniques and tools for high dynamic range (“HDR”) image generation and rendering are described herein. In several described embodiments, images having distinct exposure levels are aligned. In particular embodiments, the alignment of a reference image to a non-reference image is based at least in part on motion vectors that are determined using covariance computations. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, saturated areas, underexposed areas, and/or moving objects are ignored or substantially ignored during the image alignment process. Moreover, in certain embodiments, a hierarchical pyramid block-based scheme is used to perform local motion estimation between the reference image and the non-reference image.

Abstract: Provided are a digital camera supporting an intelligent self-timer, which pauses an image capturing operation when an unwanted subject enters a subject composition and starts the image capturing operation later, and a method of controlling the digital camera. The digital camera includes a motion calculating unit which calculates degree of motions observed in image frames that are obtained in a chronologically successive manner, and an image capture start determining unit which determines whether to start an image capturing operation or not based on whether entry of an unwanted subject is detected or not from the calculated degree of motions and whether a set self-timer time is over or not.