IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS WITH FLASH BAND COMPENSATION TECHNIQUE, CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

• US 20170359533A1
• Filed: 06/06/2017
• Published: 12/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Higuchi, Daisuke
• Granted Patent: US 9,967,483 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/0007 Image acquisition
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/531 by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/615 involving a transfer function modelling the optical system, e.g. optical transfer function [OTF], phase transfer function [PhTF] or modulation transfer function [MTF]

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus which is capable of, even when a flash band appears during a zooming operation, properly compensating for the flash band to generate a post-compensation image having no different levels of luminance. A lens unit has a zoom function. Image information generated based on image signals output from an image pickup device, which sequentially starts exposure and sequentially reads out signals for each row of pixels, is held in a memory unit. Based on the image information, the flash band caused by an external flash and extending across a plurality of frames is detected, and frames in which the flash band was detected are corrected to obtain an image having no different levels of luminance. The frames are corrected according to a calculated zoom change ratio of the lens unit when the zoom change ratio does not fall inside a first range determined in advance.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a lens unit configured to have a zoom function;

an image pickup device configured to sequentially start exposure and sequentially read out signals for each row of pixels;

a signal processing unit configured to generate image information based on image signals output from the image pickup device;

a storage unit configured to hold, in a memory unit, the image information generated by the signal processing unit;

a detection unit configured to, based on the image information held in the memory unit, detect a flash band that is caused by an external flash and extending across a plurality of frames;

a correction unit configured to correct the frames in which the flash band was detected by the detection unit to an image having no different levels of luminance; and

a calculation unit configured to calculate a zoom change ratio of the lens unit,

wherein the correction unit corrects the frames according to the zoom change ratio when the calculated zoom change ratio does not fall inside a first range determined in advance.

2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction unit does not correct the frames when the calculated zoom change ratio does not fall inside a second range broader than the first range.

3. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the detection unit detects level differences between two frames, and

the correction unit determines whether to correct the frames according to the zoom change ratio based on variations in level differences between the two frames detected by the detection unit in an area other than a starting line or an ending line of the flash band.

4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the correction unit does not correct the frames when values of the variations in level differences between the two frames are equal to or greater than a value determined in advance.

5. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the correction unit corrects the frames according to the zoom change ratio when values of the variations in level difference between the two frames are equal to or greater than a value determined in advance.

6. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction unit changes a correction method according to a relationship between a starting line or an ending line of the flash band and a center of zoom when correcting the frames according to the zoom change ratio.

7. A control method for an image pickup apparatus having a lens unit that has a zoom function, and an image pickup device that sequentially starts exposure and sequentially reads out signals for each row of pixels, comprising:

a signal processing step of generating image information based on image signals output from the image pickup device;

a storage step of holding, in a memory unit, the image information generated in the signal processing step;

a detection step of, based on the image information held in the memory unit, detecting a flash band that is caused by an external flash and extending across a plurality of frames;

a correcting step of correcting the frames in which the flash band was detected in the detection step to an image having no different levels of luminance; and

a calculation step of calculating a zoom change ratio of the lens unit,

wherein in the correction step, the frames are corrected according to the zoom change ratio when the calculated zoom change ratio does not fall inside a first range determined in advance.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute steps of a control method for an image pickup apparatus having a lens unit that has a zoom function, and an image pickup device that sequentially starts exposure and sequentially reads out signals for each row of pixels, the control method comprising:

a signal processing step of generating image information based on image signals output from the image pickup device;

a storage step of holding, in a memory unit, the image information generated in the signal processing step;

a detection step of, based on the image information held in the memory unit, detecting a flash band that is caused by an external flash and extending across a plurality of frames;

a correcting step of correcting the frames in which the flash band was detected in the detection step to an image having no different levels of luminance; and

a calculation step of calculating a zoom change ratio of the lens unit,

wherein in the correction step, the frames are corrected according to the zoom change ratio when the calculated zoom change ratio does not fall inside a first range determined in advance.