CAMERA USING MULTIPLE LENSES AND IMAGE SENSORS IN A RANGEFINDER CONFIGURATION TO PROVIDE A RANGE MAP
First Claim
1. An electronic camera for producing an output image of a scene from a captured image signal, said electronic camera comprising:
- a first imaging stage comprising a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output and a first lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor;
a second imaging stage comprising a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output and a second lens for forming a second image of the scene on the second image sensor, wherein the first and second lenses have different focal lengths; and
a processing stage for using the sensor output from one of the imaging stages as the captured image signal and using the images from both imaging stages to generate a range map identifying the distances to the different portions of the scene.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic camera for producing an output image of a scene from a captured image signal includes a first imaging stage comprising a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output and a first lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor, and a second imaging stage comprising a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output and a second lens for forming a second image of the scene on the second image sensor, where the lenses have different focal lengths. A processing stage uses the sensor output from one of the imaging stages as the captured image signal and uses the images from both imaging stages to generate a range map identifying distances to the different portions of the scene.
348 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An electronic camera for producing an output image of a scene from a captured image signal, said electronic camera comprising:
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a first imaging stage comprising a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output and a first lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor; a second imaging stage comprising a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output and a second lens for forming a second image of the scene on the second image sensor, wherein the first and second lenses have different focal lengths; and a processing stage for using the sensor output from one of the imaging stages as the captured image signal and using the images from both imaging stages to generate a range map identifying the distances to the different portions of the scene. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An electronic camera for producing an output image of a scene from a captured image signal, said electronic camera comprising:
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a first imaging stage comprising a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output;
a first lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor; and
a first lens focus adjuster for adjusting focus of the first lens responsive to a first focus detection signal;a second imaging stage comprising a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output;
a second lens for forming a second image of the scene on the second image sensor; and
a second lens focus adjuster for adjusting focus of the second lens responsive to a second focus detection signal;a processing stage for selecting either (a) the sensor output from the first imaging stage as the captured image signal and using the sensor output from at least the second imaging stage to generate the first focus detection signal for the selected imaging stage or (b) the sensor output from the second imaging stage as the captured image signal and using the sensor output from at least the first imaging stage to generate the second focus detection signal for the selected imaging stage, whereby the focus detection signal is applied to the lens focus adjuster of the selected imaging stage in order to adjust the focus of the image providing the sensor output for the captured image signal; and wherein the processing stage further uses the sensor outputs from both the first and second imaging stages in a rangefinder configuration to produce a range map identifying distances to different portions of the scene. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. An electronic camera for producing an output image of a scene from a captured image signal, said electronic camera comprising:
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a first imaging stage comprising a first image sensor for generating a first sensor output;
a first lens for forming a first image of the scene on the first image sensor; and
a first lens focus adjuster for continually readjusting focus of the first lens responsive to a focus change detection signal;a second imaging stage comprising a second image sensor for generating a second sensor output and a second lens for forming a second image of the scene on the second image sensor; and a processing stage for using the sensor output from the first imaging stage as the captured image signal and using the sensor outputs from the first and second imaging stages in a rangefinder configuration to detect focus of the image of the scene and to generate the focus detection signal for the first imaging stage in order to focus the image, whereby the focus detection signal is applied to the lens focus adjuster of the first imaging stage in order to adjust the focus of the image providing the captured image signal; and wherein the processing stage further uses the sensor outputs from both the first and second imaging stages in the rangefinder configuration to produce a range map identifying distances to different portions of the scene. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for using a digital camera, having two imaging stages, for producing an output image and a range map of a scene from a captured image signal, said method comprising the steps of:
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forming a first image of the scene from a sensor output of a first image sensor located in a first imaging stage; forming a second image of the scene from a sensor output of a second image sensor located in a second imaging stage, wherein the first and second images have different angles of view; selecting the sensor output from one of the imaging stages as the captured image signal; and using the images from both imaging stages to generate a range map identifying the distances to different portions of the scene. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification