Imaging Device Super-Resolution via Touch Position Trimming
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current imaging devices struggle to generate high-resolution images efficiently, particularly in situations where blurring occurs due to hand shake or object movement, as they require extensive processing of entire image areas rather than focusing on specific regions of interest.
Innovation Solution
An imaging device with a position changing unit that adjusts the relative position of the optical system and imaging element based on user input from a touch panel, allowing for sequential cutting out of areas corresponding to touch positions and subsequent pixel interpolation to generate super-resolution image data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high resolution processing is performed on the entire image area, then image quality is improved, but processing time and computational load increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the image processing task into segments by identifying and processing only the touch-position area (region of interest) rather than the entire image. The trimming unit extracts the touch-position area from the live view image, and the super-resolution processor applies high-resolution processing only to this extracted region, thereby reducing overall processing time while maintaining image quality for the area of interest.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different processing qualities to different regions of the image. The touch-position area receives super-resolution processing for high quality, while the rest of the image maintains standard resolution. This local quality approach ensures that computational resources are concentrated on the most important area (where the user touched) without unnecessarily processing the entire image at high resolution.
2Measurement precision
If super-resolution processing is applied to the entire image, then overall image quality improves, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary portion (touch-position area) from the full image for super-resolution processing. The trimming unit cuts out the specific region where the user touched, and this extracted region is then processed by the super-resolution processor. This extraction approach reduces the data volume requiring complex processing, thereby lowering device complexity requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs super-resolution processing partially rather than completely - only on the touch-position area instead of the entire image. This partial action is sufficient to meet user needs (high resolution where needed) without the excessive computational complexity that would result from processing the whole image.
3Measurement precision
If the relative positional relationship between optical system and imaging element is changed frequently, then focus accuracy is improved, but image stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by detecting the touch position in advance and calculating the appropriate focus adjustment amount before actually changing the positional relationship. The position controller uses the touch position information to predeterminedly determine how much to move the imaging element, ensuring accurate focus adjustment while minimizing unnecessary movements that would destabilize the image.
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging device includes: an optical system; an imaging element that continuously generates image data of an object; a position changing unit that changes a relative positional relationship between the optical system and the imaging element; a touch panel that detects a contact position thereon, and periodically outputs a position signal according to the contact position; a position controller that controls the position changing unit based on duration of maintaining the contact position to change the positional relationship; a trimming unit that generates pieces of trimming image data by sequentially cutting out an area including a touch position corresponding to the position signal from an image corresponding to the image data each time the positional relationship is changed; and a super-resolution processer that performs pixel interpolation using the pieces of trimming image data to generate super-resolution image data having a higher resolution than that of each trimming image data.