Image Pickup Apparatus Flicker Detection via Interval Charge Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image pickup apparatuses face challenges in detecting flicker and reducing its effect when taking pictures under artificial lighting, particularly fluorescent light, which leads to exposure and color unevenness due to the high-speed shutter operation, increasing processing time and reducing frame speed during continuous photography.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus performs multiple charge storage and readout operations at predetermined intervals to obtain multiple images, calculates light-amount variation characteristics, and applies a combining process to create a combined image for object recognition, allowing for flicker detection and object recognition without increasing processing time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If continuous charge storage is performed to detect flicker cycle, then flicker detection accuracy is improved, but processing time increases and frame speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the flicker detection process into discrete steps: performing charge storage a predetermined number of times (e.g., 12 times) at predetermined intervals, then processing the accumulated photometry values to detect flicker characteristics. This segmentation allows flicker detection without requiring continuous charge storage, thereby maintaining frame speed while achieving accurate flicker detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary charge storage operations a predetermined number of times before actual object recognition. By accumulating photometry values in advance during these preliminary charge storage cycles, the system prepares data for flicker detection without interfering with subsequent object recognition processing, thus avoiding processing time increase.
2Reliability
If multiple charge storage operations are performed to obtain multiple images for flicker detection, then flicker detection reliability is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple charge storage operations and their corresponding photometry values into a unified processing workflow. By combining these operations under a single control flow that handles accumulation, photometry, and flicker detection together, the system achieves reliable flicker detection without proportionally increasing processing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The charge storage and photometry operations serve multiple functions: they accumulate image data for flicker detection while also providing data for object recognition. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated processing paths, thereby limiting the increase in processing complexity despite performing multiple charge storage operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An image pickup apparatus that is capable of photographing after performing a detection process for light-amount variation characteristics and an object recognition process without increasing processing time. An accumulation unit makes an image pickup device perform a plurality of times of charge storage and charge readout at a predetermined interval to obtain a plurality of images. A photometry unit performs photometry to the plurality of images to obtain a plurality of photometry values. A detection unit detects a light-amount variation characteristic of light from an object based on the plurality photometry values. A combining unit applies a combining process to the plurality of images to obtain an combined image. An object recognition unit applies an object recognition process to detect the object in the combined image.