1916 results about "Flash light" patented technology

A system and method for improving digital flash photographs. The present invention is a technique that significantly improves low-light imaging by giving the end-user all the advantages of flash photography without producing the jarring look. The invention uses an image pair—one taken with flash the other without—to remove noise from the ambient image, sharpen the ambient image using detail from the flash image, correct for color, and remove red-eye.

A digital camera has an integral flash and stores and displays a digital image. Under certain conditions, a flash photograph taken with the camera may result in a red-eye phenomenon due to a reflection within an eye of a subject of the photograph. A digital apparatus has a red-eye filter which analyzes the stored image for the red-eye phenomenon and modifies the stored image to eliminate the red-eye phenomenon by changing the red area to black. The modification of the image is enabled when a photograph is taken under conditions indicative of the red-eye phenomenon. The modification is subject to anti-falsing analysis which further examines the area around the red-eye area for indicia of the eye of the subject. The detection and correction can be optimized for performance and quality by operating on subsample versions of the image when appropriate.

An LED array surface-mounted on a circuit board and applied to a cooling member, such that any generated heat is optimally eliminated. The cooling member can be in any desired shape so that motor vehicle lights, such as blinkers, can be adapted to the outside contour of the vehicle. For a rotating light, the circuit board can be applied around a cooling member fashioned as a hollow cylindrical member which is adapted to rotate.

A combination tool for cleaning and sanitizing a surface is disclosed. The tool includes a cleaning device and at least one UV flash unit. The cleaning device can be adapted for either wet or dry cleaning. The combination tool can also include a dispensing unit that can dispense a treatment agent. The tool can also include a sensor that can detect surface properties. In some arrangements, the tool includes a motive component that can propel the tool robotically.

A system and method for correcting distortions that occur in image capture systems is disclosed. The present invention in some preferred embodiments includes provisions to correct or change magnification differences for all causes including position errors in zoom lens positioning mechanisms as well as those caused by chromatic aberration, CCD alignment errors, lens distortion off center variations, pincushion/barrel lens distortion, magnification distortions, camera and lens misalignment errors, and lighting variations (including flash-to-flash illumination variations). A significant feature of the present invention in contrast with the prior art is that with the use of a movable calibration plate in the present invention it is possible to image capture both the calibration plate and the input object image in a single image capture, thus permitting simultaneous compensation for a variety of lighting and illumination variations not possible with the prior art.

An AC controller provides programmable switching of AC power flow, together with producing a source of DC power for the AC controller. The AC controller is connected in series with only one side of the AC power source and the AC load, and uses a microcontroller or a Programmable Logic Device (PLD) for the programmable capability. The AC controller can be programmed to provide a light flasher function, a time delay off function, an automatic fade function, a dimming function, a burglar deterrent function, and a time delay dim function. With a multiple-position switch replacing a current wall switch, the operator can easily select many pre-programmed functions.

A light module associated with the camera provides flash light having a spectral content that is adjustable according to one or more drive signals. The light module includes one or more emitters of light of at least two different colors that are individually accessible to the one or more drive signals. The flash light is a mixture of the light from the one or more emitters.

An emergency lighting system comprises a control system, guide light devices, having multiple light members, guide light controllers, and signal devices. Each guide light controller is adapted to activate at least one guide light device operatively connected to the guide light controller to emit sequentially flashing light signals. Each signal device is adapted to selectively detect an emergency situation and transmit an emergency signal to the control system in response thereto, with each guide light controller being associated by the control system with one of the signal devices. The control system is adapted to transmit control signals in response to the emergency signals to selected ones of the guide light controllers, whereby the guide light controllers receiving emergency signals activate the guide light devices to emit sequentially flashing light signals in one of either two directions with the direction of flashing being controlled by the control signals.

A digital camera (10) includes a face detecting section (74), a color temperature detecting section (76) and a flash device (86) having an LED array in which RGB LEDs are regularly arranged as a light source. When a shutter button (18) is pressed halfway, the face detecting section (74) reads out image data of a through image from a memory (60) and detects a person's face in the image. A CPU (64) identifies a scene based on brightness values of face and surrounding areas as, for example, a backlit scene, and specifies a face peripheral area according to an exposure pattern corresponding to the backlit scene. When the shutter button (18) is fully pressed, the CPU (64) sends a flash projection command to an LED control circuit (87), thereby illuminating the LEDs corresponding to the face peripheral area. By controlling illumination of the RGB LEDs, the LED control circuit (87) directs to project the flash light having color temperature that corrects the person's face color into an appropriate skin color.

A safety and security device is housed on either an unmanned aerial vehicle or its land-based docking station and is combined with a cellular telephone for self-defense purposes. The phone broadcasts both recorded audio and video warnings on the device. A flashing light may be activated on the aerial platform or the docking station. The device may be integrated into a modular unit that combines numerous defensive mechanisms. These defensive mechanisms operate autonomously and respond to perceived threats.

Output optical energy pulses including relatively high energy magnitudes at the beginning of each pulse are disclosed. As a result of the relatively high energy magnitudes which lead each pulse, the leading edge of each pulse includes a relatively large slope. This slope is preferably greater than or equal to 5. Additionally, the full-width half-max value of the output optical energy distributions are between 0.025 and 250 microseconds and, more preferably, are about 70 microseconds. A flashlamp is used to drive the laser system, and a current is used to drive the flashlamp. A flashlamp current generating circuit includes a solid core inductor which has an inductance of 50 microhenries and a capacitor which has a capacitance of 50 microfarads.

An adaptive fill-flash technique for digital photography that employs flash and no-flash image pairs. A flash image, captured using a flash of known characteristics and ambient light, and an ambient light image, which is taken with only ambient light, of the same image subject matter are acquired. A flash only image, computed by subtracting the known ambient light image from the flash and ambient light image, is computed. The flash only image and the ambient light image are then each white balanced to the flash light and the ambient light, respectively, to form two white-balanced images. These two white-balanced images are then added to form a white balanced image, I, in which the flash and ambient light color agree. It is also possible to reduce the hot spots in image I, and adjust flash strength.

An approach for sterilizing microorganisms at a target object employs a flashlamp system including means for generating pulses of light, and for deactivating microorganisms within the target object by illuminating the target object with the pulses of light having been generated; a photo-sensitive detector positioned so as to receive a portion of each of the pulses of light as a measure of an amount of light illuminating the target object, for generating an output signal in response thereto; and a control system, coupled to the flashlamp system and the photo-sensitive detector, for determining, in response to the output signal, whether the pulses of light are sufficient to effect a prescribed level of deactivation of microorganisms at the target object. In accordance with this approach sterilizing microorganisms involves steps of generating a pulse of light; deactivating microorganisms at the target object by directing the pulse of light having been generated at the target object; receiving a portion of the pulse of light as a measure of an amount of the pulse of light illuminating the target object; generating an output signal in response to the receiving of the portion of the pulse of light; and determining, in response to the generating of the output signal, whether the pulse of light is sufficient to effect a prescribed level of deactivation of microorganisms at the target object.

First image data is obtained by performing an image capturing operation with a flash and, subsequently, second image data is obtained by performing an image capturing operation without a flash. By using data of a differential image between the first and second image data and a relative spectral distribution of flash light, the spectrum reflectivity in a position on a subject corresponding to each pixel is obtained and object-color component data is acquired as data from which an influence of an illumination environment has been removed. On the other hand, illuminant component data indicative of spectral distributions of a plurality of illumination light are prepared. By combining arbitrary illuminant component data to the obtained object-color component data, an image with a different illumination environment can be reproduced.

Motion of an image of a scene being captured by a digital image acquisition device is detected and used to control parameters of illumination of the scene by a flash lamp that is typically built into the device. Parameters that may be controlled include the intensity, duration and timing of light emitted by the flash lamp. Such control of the flash illumination is preferably performed in conjunction with adjusting one or more exposure parameters used to capture an image. Such exposure parameters include duration, aperture and sensor gain. Motion blur caused by movement of the camera or by movement of an object within the scene being photographed is reduced by selecting appropriate exposure parameters and flash light characteristics.

An auto-exposure algorithm for controlling a camera flash uses image processing to identify important areas of the image affected by the flash, while disregarding highly reflective/illuminated areas and uses a ND filter to linearize the flash triggering with highly reflective scenes. The camera flash is controlled by the auto-exposure algorithm in two stages:

a pre-flash stage followed by a main-flash stage. In the pre-flash stage, two images are captured under the same camera settings regarding the exposure time, gain, iris and resolution. One image is captured with flash and one without. From the difference between the two images, a reference pixel is used to determine the flash intensity in the main-flash stage.

The specification and drawings present a new method, apparatus and software product for using a flash light with, e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other light sources of a camera of an electronic device for improving quality of images provided by the camera. The flash related parameters comprising a white balance setting and/or exposure settings can be determined using, e.g., an ambient light level and an estimate of the flash light reflected from said object.

An imaging device capable of capturing depth information or surface profiles of objects is disclosed herein. The imaging device uses an enclosed flashing unit to project a sequence of structured light patterns onto an object and captures the light patterns reflected from the surfaces of the object by using an image sensor that is enclosed in the imaging device. The imaging device is capable of capturing an image of an object such that the captured image is comprised of one or more color components of a two-dimensional image of the object and a depth component that specifies the depth information of the object.

A lighting unit for producing flash light toward subjects in a photographic scene comprises an matrix array of light emitting elements arranged so as to have individual lighting fields different from one another, a selective excitation circuit for exciting selectively the light emitting elements so as to produce flash light, different in intensity as appropriate, in predetermined lighting patterns and an excitation/extinction circuit 250 for exciting or extinguishing the light emitting elements. A photographic equipment equipped with the lighting unit has directive switches or buttons for directing the lighting unit to select lighting pattern according to focal lengths, zoom rations, operation modes including a communication mode, and/or demands of pre-lighting,