Smart Camera Focus Assistance via Image Sharpness Feedback
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Smart cameras with manual focusing apparatuses face challenges in achieving precise focus, especially when installed at large distances or difficult-to-access locations, as they require continuous monitoring of a camera image on an external display, which is impractical in such situations.
Innovation Solution
A microprocessor in the smart camera analyzes image sharpness and provides user feedback through light-emitting diodes, acoustic signaling, or on-screen visualization, allowing for simplified and accelerated manual focusing without the need for additional hardware or an external display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual focusing is performed by continuously monitoring the camera image on an external display, then precise focus can be achieved, but it becomes impractical when the camera is installed at large distances or difficult-to-access locations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary focusing assistance device that receives the camera image signal and displays it with enhanced sharpness indicators. This mediator device allows the operator to assess focus quality without needing to be physically close to the camera, resolving the contradiction between achieving precise focus and operating at a distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copied version of the camera image displayed on an external device, which includes additional sharpness evaluation information. This copy enables remote focus assessment by providing visual feedback about image sharpness that is not available in the original camera display, allowing precise focusing from a distance.
2Extent of automation
If a smart camera with image processing capabilities is used, then automatic focus analysis can be performed, but additional hardware complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the smart camera's image processing unit perform multiple functions: it processes images for their intended purpose and simultaneously performs focus sharpness analysis. By reusing existing processing capabilities for dual purposes, the system achieves automatic focus analysis without adding dedicated hardware, thus increasing automation while minimizing complexity increase.
Solution Approach 2:
The smart camera uses its own internal processing resources to analyze focus sharpness and generate feedback information. The system serves itself by utilizing its existing computational capabilities to perform focus evaluation, eliminating the need for separate external processing hardware and reducing overall system complexity.
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 solution simplifies the focusing process by providing intuitive feedback, enabling precise lens adjustment even at distances, reducing the need for continuous external display monitoring and enhancing usability in challenging installation scenarios.
Implementation Method 1
one or more light-emitting diodes on the camera signal the status of the focusing process
Data Source
AI summary
A device assists focusing of a camera that is equipped with a manual focus-adjusting unit and that provides digital image contents, such as a smart camera. The device is configured to determine a focus value of the camera depending on an operation of the manual focus-adjusting unit and to display focusing information on the basis of the determined focus value to a user.