Image pickup apparatus

• US 20070229698A1
• Filed: 03/22/2007
• Published: 10/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1998
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Company Ltd. (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Fukuda, Hidetoshi, Koseki, Hiroaki, Inagaki, Osamu, Kakinuma, Minoru, Momose, Takumi
• Application Number:
  US11/706,288
• Publication Number:
  US 20070229698A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/362
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/741 by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/144 Movement detection for video coding H04N19/503; analysis of motion in general G06T7/20

Abstract

A short-time exposure image data and a long-time exposure image data of the same object to be photographed are stored to SE memory and LE memory and then transferred to CPU, motion thereof being detected at a motion detecting section on the basis of the two image data; if no motion is detected, a wide dynamic range, synthesized image as synthesized at a synthesizing circuit on the basis of image data read out from the two memories and compressed is outputted through a selector controlled by CPU. If a motion is detected, the long-time exposure image data read out from the LE memory and processed at a signal processing circuit is outputted through the selector. An image pickup apparatus having a function for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts is thereby able to perform ON/OFF switching of the generating function of synthesized image on the basis of previously taken image data, so that a failed synthesized image can be prevented from being outputted.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

an image pickup section for taking images of the same object at a plurality of different exposure amounts to generate image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts;

a synthesizing section for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to the plurality of frames of different exposure amounts generated by the image pickup section;

a determining section for determining whether or not a suitable synthesized image can be obtained on the basis of information of the object obtained before executing said plurality of image taking of different exposure amounts; and

a control section for controlling ON/OFF switching of the generation processing operation at said synthesizing section on the basis of an output of the determining section.

2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a strobe, said determining section including a motion detecting section for detecting motion in the object image, wherein, when a motion in the object image has been detected by the motion detecting section, the image pickup section takes images of the object with causing said strobe to emit by a forced strobe emission mode, and the synthesizing section performs generation processing of wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames generated by the image taking.

3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, said image pickup section including a shutter speed/aperture stop control section for controlling shutter speed and aperture stop and said determining section including a detecting section for detecting motion in the object image, wherein, when a motion in the object image has been detected by the motion detecting section, images are taken using a higher shutter speed by the shutter speed/aperture stop control section, and the synthesizing section performs generation processing of wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames generated by said image pickup section.

4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, said determining section including an AE detection circuit, wherein said synthesizing section performs the generation processing of wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames generated by said image pickup section when a backlighted condition has been detected by the AE detection circuit.

5. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

an image pickup section for taking images of the same object at a plurality of different exposure amounts to generate image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts;

a synthesizing section for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to the plurality of frames of different exposure amounts generated by the image pickup section;

a determining section including an external AF circuit or an external AE circuit or a camera shake detecting circuit, for determining whether or not a suitable synthesized image can be obtained on the basis of information of the object obtained before the image taking from said external AF circuit or said external AE circuit or said camera shake detecting circuit; and

a control section for controlling ON/OFF switching of the generation processing operation at said synthesizing section on the basis of an output of the determining section.