Image Stabilization via Iterative Focal Length Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image stabilization methods for video cameras, whether software-based or optical, face challenges in efficiently addressing angular movements in pan and tilt directions, especially in windy or dynamic conditions, often introducing temporal lag or requiring complex systems.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses a hardware detector, such as a gyroscopic device, to detect camera displacement and adjust the focal length in real-time, iteratively optimizing the focal length setting until the displacement is below a threshold, allowing for swift and accurate image stabilization without significant lag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If software-based image stabilization is used to reduce shakes and vibrations, then image quality is improved, but temporal lag increases and computing power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing the relationship between focal length settings and image displacement characteristics. When stabilization is needed, the system quickly retrieves pre-computed correction values based on the current focal length, avoiding real-time complex calculations and reducing temporal lag while maintaining image quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex real-time software image processing with a simplified system that uses pre-computed correction tables and basic lookup operations. This substitution reduces computing power requirements and temporal lag while achieving similar image stabilization效果.
2Manufacturing precision
If optical image stabilization with lens shifting is used to counteract vibration, then image quality is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex optical stabilization mechanism and replaces it with a software-based focal length adjustment system. By taking out the physical lens shifting mechanism and substituting it with computational methods, the system achieves image stabilization without the mechanical complexity of optical stabilization components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes mechanical lens shifting with software-controlled focal length adjustments. This replacement eliminates complex mechanical components while achieving similar stabilization效果 through computational image processing and parameter adjustment.
3Manufacturing precision
If focal length adjustment is performed to compensate for angular movement, then image stabilization is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing and storing correction relationships between focal length settings and angular displacement effects. During operation, the system quickly retrieves appropriate correction parameters from pre-computed tables based on detected camera movement, avoiding time-consuming real-time calculations while maintaining accurate stabilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by creating adaptive lookup tables that are generated based on specific camera-lens combinations. The system dynamically adjusts the pre-computed correction values according to the actual optical characteristics, allowing fast processing while maintaining accuracy for different focal length settings.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables efficient and accurate image stabilization by minimizing the effect of camera vibrations and angular shifts, providing a straightforward deduction of focal-length settings for unknown camera configurations, and can be used for calibration, thus improving video quality in monitoring and surveillance applications.
Implementation Method 1
A method that uses a hardware detector, such as a gyroscopic device, to detect camera displacement
Data Source
AI summary
In a method for image stabilization a number of operations are performed to stabilize an image and to output a focal length value. The steps include capturing video by means of a video camera with unknown focal length running an image stabilization process operating on an input from a hardware detector detecting the displacement of the camera and on an adjustable focal length value. Inter-image displacement is corrected based on the input from the hardware detector and the adjustable focal length value. By evaluating the displacement and adjusting the focal length value until a satisfactory image stabilization is achieved a value of the focal length may be output.