Camera, camera control method, terminal, electronic device and storage medium

Abstract

The present invention discloses a camera, a camera control method, a terminal, an electronic device and a storage medium, comprising a lens module, an optical fiber module, an optical path selector and an imaging element. The optical fiber module comprises at least two optical fibers of different lengths. The optical path selector is arranged between the lens module and the optical fiber module, and is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module to one of the optical fibers of the optical fiber module. The imaging element receives the optical signal output by the optical fiber, so that the camera obtains a captured image. The present invention can obtain different focal lengths by arranging multiple optical fibers of different lengths behind the lens module. The optical path selector is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module to different optical fibers to realize the selection of the focal length and achieve the purpose of optical zoom. Since the optical fiber is used to replace the traditional zoom module, the camera of the present invention has a greatly reduced volume compared with the traditional camera, which is beneficial to improving the integration of the camera equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of camera equipment, and in particular to a camera, a camera control method, a terminal, an electronic device and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] Currently, mobile terminals such as mobile phones are developing in the direction of miniaturization. The cameras in mobile terminals need to reduce their size while increasing their zoom ratio. However, due to the limitation of the internal light path, it is difficult to reduce the size of cameras using optical zoom. As a result, mobile terminals often need to make concessions on the cameras. For example, the rear camera of a mobile phone protrudes from the back shell of the phone, affecting the user experience of the mobile terminal. Summary of the invention

[0003] The main purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a camera, a camera control method, a terminal, an electronic device and a storage medium, aiming to reduce the size of a camera with optical zoom.

[0004] To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a camera, including:

[0005] Lens module;

[0006] An optical fiber module, comprising at least two optical fibers of different lengths;

[0007] An optical path selector is disposed between the lens module and the optical fiber module, and is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module to one of the optical fibers of the optical fiber module;

[0008] An imaging element is connected to the optical fiber to receive the optical signal output by the optical fiber.

[0009] To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, comprising the above camera;

[0010] To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a camera control method, the camera comprising:

[0011] Lens module;

[0012] An optical fiber module, comprising at least two optical fibers of different lengths;

[0013] An optical path selector is arranged between the lens module and the optical fiber module;

[0014] An imaging element, connected to the optical fiber to receive an optical signal output by the optical fiber;

[0015] The control method comprises:

[0016] Receiving a shooting instruction from a user, and determining a zoom factor according to the shooting instruction;

[0017] A control signal is sent to the optical path selector according to the zoom factor, so that the light collected by the lens module is transmitted to the optical fiber corresponding to the zoom factor through the optical path selector.

[0018] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, an embodiment of the present invention also provides an electronic device, comprising at least one processor and a memory for communicating with the at least one processor; the memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the above-mentioned camera control method.

[0019] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention provides a storage medium for computer-readable storage, wherein the storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the steps of the aforementioned camera control method.

[0020] The embodiments of the present invention propose a camera, a camera control method, a terminal, an electronic device and a storage medium. The camera structure obtains different optical zoom factors by setting multiple optical fibers of different lengths, and switches the internal optical path by controlling the optical path selector so that the light collected by the lens module enters different optical fibers, thereby realizing the selection of the focal length. When in use, the optical path selector is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module to one of the optical fibers in the optical fiber module, so that the light collected by the lens module forms a zoom image at the end of the imaging element after being converted by a zoom factor corresponding to the length of the optical fiber. The embodiments of the present invention use optical fibers to replace the traditional zoom module on the basis of realizing optical zoom. Compared with the traditional camera, the camera of the embodiments of the present invention is greatly reduced in size, which is conducive to improving the integration of the camera equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 is a front view of a camera according to an implementation method provided in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 is a front view of a camera according to another implementation method provided in Example 1 of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 3 is a side view of a camera provided in Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a camera control method provided in Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5It is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic equipment device provided in Embodiment 4 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0027] In the subsequent description, the suffixes such as "module", "component" or "unit" used to represent elements are only used to facilitate the description of the present invention, and have no special meanings. Therefore, "module", "component" or "unit" can be used in a mixed manner.

[0028] Embodiment 1

[0029] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, this embodiment provides a camera, including:

[0030] Lens module 100;

[0031] The optical fiber module comprises at least two optical fibers 200 of different lengths;

[0032] The optical path selector 300 is disposed between the lens module 100 and the optical fiber module, and is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module 100 to one of the optical fibers 200 of the optical fiber module;

[0033] The imaging element 400 is connected to the optical fiber 200 to receive the optical signal output by the optical fiber 200 .

[0034] Among them, the lens module 100 is used to focus the light reflected by the photographed object onto the imaging element 400. The lens module 100 usually uses one or more optical elements to focus the light reflected by the photographed object, such as multiple lenses arranged side by side, to eliminate aberrations and chromatic aberrations in the imaging process. In order to simplify the subsequent description, this embodiment takes the lens module 100 as a single convex lens as an example to focus the light reflected by the photographed object.

[0035] The optical fiber module cooperates with the optical path selector 300 to realize the optical zoom function; the traditional optical zoom changes the focal length by adjusting the relative position of each lens in the lens module 100, but the lenses are usually arranged side by side along the thickness direction of the mobile terminal, and the photosensitive element is arranged toward the lens, so the size of the camera is often difficult to reduce. Therefore, when the thickness of the mobile terminal is getting smaller and smaller, the size of the camera obviously affects the thickness of the mobile terminal; based on this, the embodiment of the present invention adopts an optical fiber module to replace the traditional lens group to realize optical zoom; specifically, at least two optical fibers 200 of different lengths are arranged in the optical fiber module, representing different focal lengths respectively, and the optical path selector 300 can adjust the internal optical path to make the light collected by the lens module 100 reach different optical fibers 200, thereby realizing the selection of focal length, that is, optical zoom. It can be understood that due to the bendable characteristics of the optical fiber 200, the optical fiber 200 can be bent into a curve in the camera, which can reduce the volume of the camera on the one hand, and increase the focal length through the bent optical fiber 200 on the other hand, thereby improving the multiple of optical zoom.

[0036] The optical path selector 300 has the function of adjusting the optical path of the incident light. In this embodiment, the incident light is light collected by the lens module 100. The optical path selector 300 changes the exit direction of the incident light by adjusting the internal structure, so that the incident light enters the corresponding optical fiber 200 after passing through the optical path selector 300. The optical path selector 300 can realize the optical path adjustment based on different structures. For example, the optical path selector 300 includes a plurality of prisms and a driving device. The driving device is connected to the prisms and is used to adjust the position of the prisms to form The incident light is transmitted to the optical path of the corresponding optical fiber 200, wherein the driving device can be a micro motor to drive the prism to translate or rotate. Obviously, when the position of the prism changes, the outgoing direction of the incident light will change after being refracted by the prism, thereby realizing the adjustment of the optical path; a plurality of optical fibers 200 are respectively arranged at the output position of the optical path selector 300, so that the optical path and focal length of the optical path selector 300 can be matched one by one, that is, by adjusting the optical path of the optical path selector 300, the camera can obtain different optical zoom multiples.

[0037] In order to reduce the loss of light propagating in the optical fiber 200 , the optical fiber 200 in the optical path selector 300 may be made of ultra-low-loss superconducting optical fiber 200 material, thereby obtaining image information with high fidelity at the imaging element 400 end.

[0038] In one implementation of this embodiment, the number of imaging elements 400 is the same as the number of optical fibers 200, and each imaging element 400 is connected to a corresponding optical fiber 200. Figure 1There are four optical fibers 200, corresponding to magnifications of 1x, 2x, 3x and 4x respectively. There are four imaging elements 400, namely a first imaging element, a second imaging element, a third imaging element and a fourth imaging element. The first imaging element is connected to the optical fiber 200 with a magnification of 1x, the second imaging element is connected to the optical fiber 200 with a magnification of 2x, the third imaging element is connected to the optical fiber 200 with a magnification of 3x, and the fourth imaging element is connected to the optical fiber 200 with a magnification of 4x. The controller of the mobile terminal is connected to the four imaging elements 400 to receive image information. In order to further reduce the size of the camera, the positional relationship between the imaging element 400 and the lens module 100 can be adjusted. For example, when the imaging element 400 is a sheet element, the plane where the imaging element 400 is located is parallel to the optical axis of the lens module 100. Taking the lens module 100 as a single convex lens as an example, refer to Figure 1 Looking down at the incident surface of the convex lens, four imaging elements 400 are distributed on the peripheral side of the convex lens. The lens module 100 and the imaging element 400 are connected by utilizing the bending characteristics of the optical fiber 200. Compared with the structure in which the lens and the photosensitive element are in the same straight line in the traditional camera, the volume of the camera in the embodiment of the present invention is further reduced, which is beneficial to improving the integration of the mobile terminal.

[0039] In another real-time mode of this embodiment, the number of imaging elements 400 is one, and all optical fibers 200 in the optical fiber module are connected to the imaging element 400. For example, referring to Figure 2 , there are six optical fibers 200, corresponding to magnifications of 1x, 2x, 3x and 4x respectively. The four optical fibers 200 converge on the imaging element 400. Under this structure, the controller of the mobile terminal connects to the imaging element 400 to receive image information. It can be understood that in order to make the image received on the imaging element 400 correct, the optical path selector 300 can only switch the optical path to one of the optical fibers 200 at a time, so that the imaging element 400 only receives the signal output by one optical fiber 200 at the same time. Similarly, in order to further reduce the size of the camera, the positional relationship between the imaging element 400 and the lens module 100 can be adjusted. The adjustment method can refer to the aforementioned embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0040] Embodiment 2:

[0041] like Figure 4 As shown, this embodiment provides a camera control method, wherein the camera includes:

[0042] Lens module 100;

[0043] The optical fiber module comprises at least two optical fibers 200 of different lengths;

[0044] The optical path selector 300 is disposed between the lens module 100 and the optical fiber module, and is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module 100 to one of the optical fibers 200 of the optical fiber module;

[0045] An imaging element 400 connected to the optical fiber 200 to receive an optical signal output by the optical fiber 200;

[0046] The camera of this embodiment and the camera of the first embodiment are both structurally composed of a lens module 100, an optical fiber module, an optical path selector 300 and an imaging element 400. Different focal lengths are obtained by arranging optical fibers 200 of different lengths in the optical fiber module, and by adjusting the optical path in the optical path selector 300, the light collected by the lens module 100 is transmitted to one of the optical fibers 200 through the optical path selector 300, so that an amplified image is obtained at the end of the imaging element 400. Based on the structure of the above-mentioned camera, the following control method is proposed:

[0047] Step S100: receiving a shooting instruction from a user, and determining a zoom factor according to the shooting instruction;

[0048] Specifically, when the camera is just started or needs to perform optical zoom, the user's shooting instruction is received to determine which zoom factor the camera should switch to; for example, the user's shooting instruction is a camera start-up instruction, then the camera searches for the zoom factor corresponding to the start-up instruction according to the start-up instruction, and starts the camera according to the zoom factor, so that the camera is immediately suitable for the user to shoot with the zoom factor after it is started; for another example, the user's shooting instruction is a zoom instruction, at this time the camera is already in working state, when the camera receives the zoom instruction, it searches for the zoom factor corresponding to the zoom instruction, and adjusts the camera according to the zoom factor.

[0049] Step S200: sending a control signal to the optical path selector 300 according to the zoom factor, so as to transmit the light collected by the lens module 100 to the optical fiber 200 corresponding to the zoom factor through the optical path selector 300.

[0050] Specifically, after the zoom factor is determined, a control signal is sent to the optical path selector 300 according to the zoom factor, and the optical path selector 300 adjusts the internal optical path according to the control signal, so that the light collected by the lens module 100 is emitted to different directions after passing through the optical path selector 300, and the optical fiber 200 corresponding to the zoom factor is already arranged in the direction, so that the magnified image is finally obtained at the end of the imaging element 400. It can be understood that multiple light emission directions can be obtained by adjusting the optical path selector 300, and the optical fiber 200 is pre-arranged in the light emission direction. Since the lengths of the optical fibers 200 are different, the corresponding focal lengths are also different, so that the optical path and the focal length correspond to each other. At this time, adjusting the optical path of the optical path selector 300 realizes optical zoom.

[0051] If the optical path selector 300 includes a plurality of prisms and a driving device, step S200 further specifically includes the following control:

[0052] Step S210: sending a control signal to a driving device according to the zoom factor to control the driving device to adjust the position of the prism.

[0053] Specifically, the driving device is connected to the prism and can adjust the position of the prism according to the control instruction. For example, the driving device is a micro motor, and the number of prisms is three. The driving device can drive the prism to rotate within a certain angle range. By rotating the prism, the refraction angle of the incident light in the prism can be changed, thereby obtaining a different optical path at the output end of the optical path selector 300.

[0054] Embodiment 3

[0055] Embodiment 3 of the present invention provides a terminal, including the aforementioned camera.

[0056] Embodiment 4

[0057] Embodiment 4 of the present invention provides an electronic device 500, referring to Figure 5 As shown, the electronic device 500 includes a memory 502, a processor 501, a program stored in the memory 502 and executable on the processor 501, and a data bus for realizing connection and communication between the processor 501 and the memory 502. When the program is executed by the processor 501, the following is realized: Figure 4 The camera control method shown includes steps S100 to S200.

[0058] Embodiment 5

[0059] Embodiment 5 of the present invention provides a storage medium for computer-readable storage, characterized in that the storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors 501 to implement the following Figure 4 The camera control method shown includes steps S100 to S200.

[0060] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or some of the steps in the methods disclosed above, and the functional modules / units in the systems and devices may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, or a suitable combination thereof.

[0061] In hardware implementation, the division between the functional modules / units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, a physical component may have multiple functions, or a function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some physical components or all physical components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a central processing unit, a digital signal processor or a microprocessor, or implemented as hardware, or implemented as an integrated circuit, such as an application-specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on a computer-readable medium, which may include a computer storage medium (or non-transitory medium) and a communication medium (or temporary medium). As known to those of ordinary skill in the art, the term computer storage medium includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storing information (such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data). Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired information and can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, it is well known to those skilled in the art that communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media.

[0062] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby. Any modification, equivalent substitution and improvement made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and essence of the present invention shall be within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A camera, characterized in that: include: Lens module; An optical fiber module, comprising at least two optical fibers of different lengths, wherein the lengths of the optical fibers correspond to the zoom ratio of the camera; An optical path selector is disposed between the lens module and the optical fiber module, and is used to transmit the light collected by the lens module to one of the optical fibers of the optical fiber module; An imaging element is connected to the optical fiber and receives the optical signal output by the optical fiber.

2. The camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the imaging elements is the same as the number of the optical fibers, and each of the imaging elements is connected to a corresponding optical fiber.

3. The camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: The number of the imaging element is one, and the optical fibers of the optical fiber module are all connected to the imaging element.

4. The camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical fiber is wound into a curve.

5. The camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: The imaging element is a sheet-like element, and the plane where the imaging element is located is parallel to the optical axis of the lens module.

6. The camera according to claim 1, characterized in that: The optical path selector includes a plurality of prisms and a driving device, wherein the driving device is connected to the prisms and is used to adjust the positions of the prisms to form an optical path corresponding to the optical fiber.

7. A terminal, characterized in that: Comprising a camera as described in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A camera control method, characterized in that: The camera comprises: Lens module; An optical fiber module, comprising at least two optical fibers of different lengths; An optical path selector is arranged between the lens module and the optical fiber module; An imaging element, connected to the optical fiber to receive an optical signal output by the optical fiber; The control method comprises: Receiving a shooting instruction from a user, and determining a zoom factor according to the shooting instruction; A control signal is sent to the optical path selector according to the zoom factor, so that the light collected by the lens module is transmitted to the optical fiber corresponding to the zoom factor through the optical path selector.

9. The camera control method according to claim 8, characterized in that: The optical path selector includes a plurality of prisms and a driving device, and the control signal is sent to the optical path selector according to the zoom factor, so as to transmit the light collected by the lens module to the optical fiber corresponding to the zoom factor through the optical path selector, including: A control signal is sent to the driving device according to the zoom factor to control the driving device to adjust the position of the prism.

10. An electronic device, characterized in that: It includes a memory, a processor, a program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, and a data bus for realizing connection and communication between the processor and the memory. When the program is executed by the processor, the camera control method as described in claim 8 or 9 is realized.

11. A storage medium for computer-readable storage, characterized in that: The storage medium stores one or more programs, and the one or more programs can be executed by one or more processors to implement the camera control method as described in claim 8 or 9.

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