ELECTRONIC CAMERA

• US 20110221914A1
• Filed: 02/17/2011
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: SHINBO, Toshiyasu, KUROKAWA, Mitsuaki
• Application Number:
  US13/029,620
• Publication Number:
  US 20110221914A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/208.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42202 environmental sensors, e.g. for detecting temperature, luminosity, pressure, earthquakes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4223 Cameras H04N23/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44008 involving operations for analysing video streams, e.g. detecting features or characteristics in the video stream arrangements characterised by components specially adapted for monitoring, identification or recognition of video in broadcast systems H04H60/59
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4402 involving reformatting operations of video signals for household redistribution, storage or real-time display details of conversion of video standards at pixel level H04N7/01; video transcoding H04N19/40; adapting incoming signals to the display format of the display terminal G09G5/005; media handling at the source in data packet switching networks H04L65/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7904 using intermediate digital signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode

Abstract

An electronic camera includes an imaging device. An imaging device outputs a scene image produced on an imaging surface capturing a scene. A rotator performs a rotating process in a direction around an optical axis on the scene image outputted from the imaging device in response to a recording operation. A recorder records the scene image rotated by the rotator on a recording medium. A determiner determines a rotation of the imaging surface in the direction around the optical axis in response to the recording operation. An adjuster adjusts a rotation angle of the rotator to an angle which is different corresponding to a determined result of the determiner.

Claims

1. An electronic camera, comprising:

an imager which outputs a scene image produced on an imaging surface capturing a scene;

a rotator which performs a rotating process in a direction around an optical axis on the scene image outputted from said imager in response to a recording operation;

a recorder which records the scene image rotated by said rotator on a recording medium;

a determiner which determines a rotation of said imaging surface in the direction around the optical axis in response to the recording operation; and

an adjuster which adjusts a rotation angle of said rotator to an angle different corresponding to a determined result of said determiner.

2. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein said imager repeatedly outputs the scene image, said recorder repeatedly records the scene image, and said adjuster maintains a common angle in a period during which said recorder executes a recording process.

3. An electronic camera according to claim 2, wherein said rotator includes a cut-out processor which cuts out a partial scene image belonging to a cut-out area out of the scene image outputted from said imager and a cut-out image rotator which rotates the scene image cut out by said cut-out processor.

4. An electronic camera according to claim 3, further comprising:

a detector which detects a motion of said imaging surface in a direction orthogonal to the optical axis; and

a mover which moves the cut-out area in a direction in which the motion detected by said detector is compensated.

5. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising an acceptor which accepts a selection operation of selecting any one of a plurality of imaging modes respectively corresponding to a plurality of rotation angles in the direction around the optical axis, wherein said determiner executes a determining process with reference to an imaging mode selected by the selection operation.

6. An electronic camera according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of imaging modes include a first photographing mode for a right-handed photographer and a second photographing mode for a left-handed photographer, and said adjuster executes an angle adjustment by each 180 degrees.

7. An electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the angle adjusted by said adjuster is equivalent to the rotation angle of said imaging surface in the direction around the optical axis.

8. An electronic camera according to claim 1, further comprising a reproducer which reproduces the scene image outputted from said imager in a common manner irrespective of the rotation of said imaging surface in the direction around the optical axis.

9. An imaging control method executed by an electronic camera provided with an imager which outputs a scene image produced on an imaging surface capturing a scene, the imaging control method comprising:

a rotating step of performing a rotating process in a direction around an optical axis on the scene image outputted from said imager in response to a recording operation;

a recording step of recording the scene image rotated by said rotating step on a recording medium;

a determining step of determining a rotation of said imaging surface in the direction around the optical axis in response to the recording operation; and

an adjusting step of adjusting a rotation angle of said rotating step to an angle different corresponding to a determined result of said determiner.