Image capturing apparatus and method of controlling an image capturing apparatus

• US 10,129,475 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Ashida, Yuuichirou
• Primary Examiner(s): Cutler, Albert
• Application Number:
  US15/457,533
• Publication Number:
  US 20170280057A1
• Time in Patent Office: 610 Days
• Field of Search: 3482081-2083, 348345-357, 348241, 348242
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/12 with one sensor only
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/673 based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/75 by influencing optical camera components
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/50 Control of the SSIS exposure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/611 Correction of chromatic aberration

Abstract

An image capturing apparatus includes an image sensor and a processor. The image sensor includes an imaging plane that receives an image of a shooting target field through color filters according to two or more wavelength regions and outputs a signal of the image of the shooting target field. The processor is configured to set a larger weight for a wavelength region having a higher image forming performance than for a wavelength region having a lower image forming performance in accordance with a high-resolution direction determined in the image of the shooting target field, generate image data based on the signal output by the image sensor, and detect an object in the generated image data.

Claims

1. An image capturing apparatus comprising:

an image sensor including an imaging plane that receives an image of a shooting target field through color filters according to two or more wavelength regions and outputs a signal of the image of the shooting target field;

an attitude detection circuit configured to detect an attitude of the image capturing apparatus; and

a processor configured to set a larger weight for a wavelength region having a higher image forming performance than for a wavelength region having a lower image forming performance in accordance with a direction based on the attitude of the image capturing apparatus detected by the attitude detection circuit, generate image data based on the signal output by the image sensor, and detect an object in the generated image data.

2. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, in a case where a first image forming distance is shorter than a second image forming distance, the processor sets a larger weight for a first wavelength region than for a second wavelength region, and, in a case where the second image forming distance is shorter than the first image forming distance, the processor sets a larger weight for the second wavelength region than for the first wavelength region,

wherein the first wavelength region is one of the wavelength regions and the second wavelength region is one of the wavelength regions that is different from the first wavelength region, and

wherein the first image forming distance is a distance between an image forming position of the first wavelength region and the imaging plane in the high resolution direction, and the second image forming distance is a distance between an image forming position of the second wavelength region and the imaging plane in the direction.

3. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the processor sets weights for the wavelength regions for each of plural regions constituting the image of the shooting target field.

4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a data memory configured to store, for each of plural directions and for each of plural regions constituting the image of the shooting target field, a table including information about weighting for the wavelength regions,

wherein the processor sets the weights for the wavelength regions based on the direction and by using the information about weighting included in the table.

5. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the image sensor is a photometric image sensor for measuring a luminance of the shooting target field.

6. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein the processor controls at least one of an aperture value or a shutter speed based on the luminance of the shooting target field measured by the photometric image sensor.

7. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an optical element configured to change an optical path of light incident from an outside; and

a lens configured to form an image of the light whose optical path has been changed by the optical element on the image sensor.

8. A method of controlling an image capturing apparatus having an image sensor including an imaging plane that receives an image of a shooting target field through color filters according to two or more wavelength regions and outputs a signal of the image of the shooting target field, and an attitude detection circuit configured to detect an attitude of the image capturing apparatus, the method comprising:

generating, by setting a larger weight for a wavelength region having a higher image forming performance than for a wavelength region having a lower image forming performance in accordance with a direction based on the attitude of the image capturing apparatus detected by the attitude detection circuit, image data based on the signal output by the image sensor; and

detecting an object in the image data generated in the generating.