Looking for breakthrough ideas for innovation challenges? Try Patsnap Eureka!

Image pick-up device and record medium having recorded thereon computer readable program for controlling the image pick-up device

a pickup device and computer-readable technology, applied in the field of image pickup devices, can solve problems such as strangeness in synthesized images, and achieve the effect of widening the dynamic rang

Inactive Publication Date: 2007-06-21
OLYMPUS CORP
View PDF13 Cites 25 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] A first object of the present invention is to provide a novel and useful image pick-up device, in which a synthesized image having a wider dynamic range than that of a solid state image sensing element can be obtained by partially combining or exchanging a plurality of images picked-up with different exposure amounts in a mosaic fashion, while said synthesized image be seen without causing a feeling of strangeness.
[0010] A second object of the invention is to provide a record medium having recorded thereon a computer readable program which is to make a computer to execute procedures for controlling the image pick-up device in such a manner that a synthesized image with a wider dynamic range than that of a solid state image sensing element can be seen without causing a feeling of strangeness.

Problems solved by technology

However, in this case, since the image shift portion in the synthesized image signal is removed by the subtractive correction, when a subject moves, a configuration of the subject within a synthesized image might be deformed, and therefore the synthesized image has a feeling of strangeness as compared with an image formed on a conventional photographic film.
The above problem also occurs in the later solution, in which the two image signals are synthesized by combining or exchanging them in a mosaic fashion.

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Image pick-up device and record medium having recorded thereon computer readable program for controlling the image pick-up device
  • Image pick-up device and record medium having recorded thereon computer readable program for controlling the image pick-up device
  • Image pick-up device and record medium having recorded thereon computer readable program for controlling the image pick-up device

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

first embodiment

[0055] In the image pick-up device according to the invention, in the image synthesis processing circuit 32, upon synthesizing the image signals dd, ee picked-up with different exposure amounts with each other, a ratio of level between these image signals is calculated pixel by pixel, and when the calculated level ratio is equal to or larger than the exposure amount ratio data signal mm from the CPU 8 by a predetermined value, a relevant pixel is judged to be a synthetic unsuitable pixel, and this pixel is corrected by performing interpolation with the synthesized image signal of a pixel which is in a vicinity of the relevant synthetic unsuitable pixel, but is not detected as a synthetic unsuitable pixel.

[0056]FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting an embodiment of the image synthesis processing circuit 32 of the first embodiment. In this image synthesis processing circuit 32, the image signal ee picked-up with a larger exposure amount is supplied to one input of an image synthesizing ...

second embodiment

[0066] In the image pick-up device according to the invention, in the image synthesis processing circuit 32 shown in FIG. 2, upon synthesizing the image signals dd and ee picked-up with different exposure amounts, a vector representing a movement of a subject (here this vector is called motional vector) is calculated by comparing these image signals. When the motional vector of pixels exceeds a predetermined value, the relevant pixels are detected as the synthetic unsuitable pixel. Then, a pixel signal at a start point of the motional vector is corrected by performing the interpolation in accordance with a synthesized image signal of a synthetic suitable part within a small block including an end point of the motional vector, and a pixel signal of˜the remaining synthetic unsuitable region within the small block including the end point of the motional vector is corrected by conducting the interpolation in accordance with a pixel signal of a corresponding region of the image signal dd...

third embodiment

[0077] In the image pick-up device according to the invention, in the image synthesis processing circuit 32 shown in FIG. 2, upon synthesizing the image signals dd and ee picked-up with different exposure amounts, a difference between these image signals is calculated, and for a pixel region in which an absolute value of said difference exceeds a predetermined threshold value, a motional vector is calculated. When the motional vector exceeds a predetermined value, a relevant pixel is judged to be a synthetic unsuitable pixel. Then a pixel block having a center corresponding to a start point of the motional vector and including an end point of the motional vector is set, relevant synthetic unsuitable pixel, and a pixel signal of a synthetic unsuitable region within the pixel block is replaced by a synthesized image signal of a synthetic suitable region within a pixel block having a center corresponding to the end point of the motional vector and a size identical with said pixel block...

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

An image pick-up device for producing a synthesized image signal having a wide dynamic range by partially exchanging a plurality of image signals from a solid state image sensing element in an image synthesizing unit (41), said image signals being obtained by picking-up a subject moving on a bright background with different exposure amounts, including a synthetic unsuitable portion detecting unit (42, 44) for detecting a synthetic unsuitable portion by comparing said plurality of image signals picked-up with different exposure amounts, a synthetic unsuitable portion correcting unit (46, 48) for correcting a pixel signal of said synthesizing unsuitable portion to derived a corrected synthesized image signal, and a low pass filter (47) for combining said corrected synthesized image signal from said synthetic unsuitable portion correcting unit with said synthesized image signal from said image synthesizing unit to derive a corrected synthesized image signal. An image obtained from the corrected synthesized image signal is not influenced by the movement of the subject and does not cause any feeling of strangeness as compared with a conventional photographic image.

Description

[0001] This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10 / 835,316, filed Apr. 30, 2004, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 358,538, filed Jul. 22, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,248, the priority of which is claimed under 35 USC § 120.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to an image pick-up device such as electronic still camera and digital camera including a solid state image sensing element, and more particularly to an image pick-up device which can produce an image signal having a wider dynamic range than that of a solid state image sensing element. The present invention also relates to a record medium having recorded thereon a computer readable program for controlling an imaging operation of the above mentioned image pick-up device. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] In the image pick-up device of the kind mentioned above, since the solid state image sensing element has a relatively narrow dyna...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
IPC IPC(8): H04N5/235H04N5/335H04N5/243H04N5/351H04N5/353H04N5/355H04N5/357H04N5/363H04N5/372H04N5/378
CPCH04N5/23232H04N5/235H04N5/2355H04N5/243H04N23/951H04N23/70H04N23/741H04N23/76
Inventor HORIUCHI, KAZUHITO
Owner OLYMPUS CORP
Who we serve
  • R&D Engineer
  • R&D Manager
  • IP Professional
Why Patsnap Eureka
  • Industry Leading Data Capabilities
  • Powerful AI technology
  • Patent DNA Extraction
Social media
Patsnap Eureka Blog
Learn More
PatSnap group products

Browse by: Latest US Patents, China's latest patents, Technical Efficacy Thesaurus, Application Domain, Technology Topic, Popular Technical Reports.

© 2024 PatSnap. All rights reserved.Legal|Privacy policy|Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement|Sitemap|About US| Contact US: help@patsnap.com