Image Processing Apparatus Long Exposure Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users, especially inexperienced ones, face difficulties in obtaining desired images using long-time exposure image capture due to the need for manual setting of exposure time and shutter speed in low-light conditions, and the challenges of capturing moving subjects or achieving effects like first-curtain synchronization, second-curtain synchronization, and multi-flash without expert intuition or additional accessories.
Innovation Solution
An image processing apparatus and method that perform pre-combination processing and combination processing on a sequence of image frames to generate combined-image data, allowing users to adjust brightness, apply weighting coefficients, and remove flash effects, enabling the creation of still images with long-time exposure or special effects like first-curtain synchronization and multi-flash.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If long-time exposure image capture is used to capture night scenes or moving subjects, then sufficient light collection and motion representation are achieved, but it becomes difficult for inexperienced users to determine appropriate exposure settings
Solution Approach 1:
The camera performs automatic metering and exposure determination in normal image capture mode, then uses these automatically captured images as material for long-time exposure combination. The system serves itself by using its own automatic exposure capabilities to generate the base images that will be combined, eliminating the need for users to manually determine long exposure settings.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary image capture with automatic exposure settings before the actual long-time exposure combination process. Multiple images are captured in advance with proper exposure, then these pre-captured images are combined to achieve the long-time exposure effect. This preliminary action ensures that each component image has appropriate exposure while the combination achieves the desired temporal effect.
2Reliability
If traditional long-time exposure technique is used, then night scenes can be captured, but users need additional accessories like tripods and cannot easily capture moving subjects with motion representation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical tripod support system with a digital image processing system. Instead of physically stabilizing the camera for long exposures, the system captures multiple images with normal exposure settings and combines them digitally. This substitution eliminates the need for tripods and other mechanical stabilization accessories while achieving similar or superior results, including the ability to represent motion through the combination process.
3Adaptability or versatility
If flash is used during long-time exposure to achieve synchronization effects, then various photographic effects can be obtained, but power consumption increases and device size may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures multiple images with flash at different time points during what would traditionally be a single long exposure, then combines these copied images to simulate the effects of long-time exposure with flash synchronization. Rather than using one continuous long exposure with flash, the system creates copies of the scene at different moments and combines them, achieving the same visual effect with shorter individual exposures and reduced power consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
An image processing apparatus includes a pre-combination processing unit configured to perform a pre-combination process so that a plurality of frames of image data having continuity in time are used as combination-use image data to be combined, an operation detection unit configured to detect operation input information used for a combination process, and a combination processing unit configured to perform a combination process on the combination-use image data of the plurality of frames obtained in the pre-combination process according to the operation input information detected by the operation detection unit so as to generate combined-image data representing a still image.