ELECTRONIC CAMERA

• US 20100045798A1
• Filed: 08/13/2009
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Takanori, Sugimoto, Hiroshi
• Application Number:
  US12/540,838
• Publication Number:
  US 20100045798A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/157
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• 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 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/144 Movement detection for video coding H04N19/503; analysis of motion in general G06T7/20

Abstract

An electronic camera includes an imaging device. The imaging device has an imaging surface on which an object scene is captured and repeatedly outputs an object scene image. To the object scene, a plurality of evaluation groups are allocated. Moreover, each of the plurality of evaluation groups is formed by a plurality of evaluation areas. A CPU calculates an evaluation coefficient representing a motion of an object in each of the plurality of evaluation areas, based on the object scene image outputted from the imaging device. The CPU also specifies one of more evaluation groups to which an evaluation area corresponding to an evaluation coefficient exceeding a reference value belongs, and compares a pattern of the specified evaluation groups with a plurality of predetermined patterns. An imaging parameter is adjusted based on a comparison result.

Claims

1. An electronic camera, comprising:

an imager, having an imaging surface on which an object scene is captured, for repeatedly outputting an object scene image;

a detector for detecting one or more motion areas indicating motion exceeding a reference from among a plurality of areas on the object scene, based on the object scene image outputted from said imager; and

an adjuster for adjusting an imaging parameter by comparing a pattern of the one or more motion areas detected by said detector with a predetermined area pattern.

2. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of areas has a plurality of small areas, and said detector includes a motion coefficient calculator for calculating a plurality of motion coefficients respectively corresponding to he plurality of small areas, an extractor for extracting a motion coefficient exceeding a reference value from among the plurality of motion coefficients calculated by said motion coefficient calculator, and a specifier for specifying, as the motion area, an area to which the small area corresponding to the motion coefficient extracted by the extractor belongs.

3. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said detector repeatedly executes a detecting process, and said adjuster includes a creator for repeatedly creating a pattern of the one of more motion areas and a setter for setting the imaging parameter to a predetermined parameter in reference to a number of times that satisfies a predetermined condition between the pattern created by said creator and the predetermined area pattern.

4. An electronic camera according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined condition includes a condition under which the predetermined area pattern involves the pattern created by the creator

5. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the imaging parameter adjusted by said adjuster is equivalent to an imaging parameter that matches a sport scene.

6. An imaging controlling program product executed by a processor of an electronic camera provided with an imager, having an imaging surface on which an object scene is captured, for repeatedly outputting an object scene image, said imaging controlling program product, comprising:

a detecting step of detecting a motion area indicating motion exceeding a reference from among a plurality of areas on the object scene, based on the object scene image outputted from said imager; and

an adjusting step of adjusting an imaging parameter by comparing a pattern for the motion area detected by said detecting step with a predetermined area pattern.

7. An imaging controlling method executed by an electronic camera provided with an imager, having an imaging surface on which an object scene is captured, for repeatedly outputting an object scene image, said imaging controlling method, comprising:

a detecting step of detecting one or more motion areas indicating motion exceeding a reference from among a plurality of areas on the object scene, based on the object scene image outputted from said imager; and

an adjusting step of adjusting an imaging parameter by comparing a pattern of the one or more motion areas detected by said detecting step with a predetermined area pattern.