Electronic camera for producing an image having a wide dynamic range
First Claim
1. An electronic camera producing an image having a wide dynamic range by composing two image signals obtained by picking-up an object two times successively with different exposure amounts, comprising:
- an image picking-up means including a solid state image sensing element for picking-up an object to derive an image signal;
a flash light emitting means for irradiating said object with flash light;
an image signal composing means for composing two image signals obtained by picking-up the object two times with a desired exposure amount ratio; and
a flash light emission controlling means for controlling an excited emission of said flash light emitting means in accordance with said desired exposure amount ratio such that upon the first exposure, said flash light emitting means is excited and the flash light is emitted, an excited condition of the flash light emitting means is kept over said second exposure, and after once stopping the light emission at an end of the first exposure, the flash light is emitted again to perform the second exposure.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic camera for producing a composite image having a wide dynamic range and a high quality by composing first and second image signals obtained by picking-up an object successively two times with first and second stroboscopic flash exposures having a predetermined exposure amount ratio, including a CCD image sensing element, a stroboscopic flash device, and a flash light control circuit for controlling an excited emission of said stroboscopic flash device. At an end of the first exposure, the excited light emission from the stroboscopic flash device is temporarily stopped, but an excited condition of the stroboscopic flash device is kept. During this very short light emission interruption period, electrostatic charges stored in a light receiving section of the CCD image sensing element during the first exposure are transferred into a vertical transfer section. After that, the excited flash light is emitted again to perform the second exposure without recharging a trigger capacitance.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. An electronic camera producing an image having a wide dynamic range by composing two image signals obtained by picking-up an object two times successively with different exposure amounts, comprising:
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an image picking-up means including a solid state image sensing element for picking-up an object to derive an image signal;
a flash light emitting means for irradiating said object with flash light;
an image signal composing means for composing two image signals obtained by picking-up the object two times with a desired exposure amount ratio; and
a flash light emission controlling means for controlling an excited emission of said flash light emitting means in accordance with said desired exposure amount ratio such that upon the first exposure, said flash light emitting means is excited and the flash light is emitted, an excited condition of the flash light emitting means is kept over said second exposure, and after once stopping the light emission at an end of the first exposure, the flash light is emitted again to perform the second exposure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An electronic camera producing an image having a wide dynamic range by composing two image signals obtained by picking-up an object two times successively with different exposure amounts, comprising:
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an image picking-up unit including a solid state image sensing element for picking-up an object to derive an image signal;
a flash light emitting unit for irradiating said object with flash light;
an image signal composing unit for composing two image signals obtained by picking-up the object two times with a desired exposure amount ratio; and
a flash light emission controlling unit for controlling an excited emission of said flash light emitting unit in accordance with said desired exposure amount ratio and storing an exposure control table which includes a plurality of exposure control data values for the first exposure and a plurality of exposure control data values for the second exposure, and the excitation light emission is controlled by selecting, from said exposure control table, exposure control data values corresponding to an image picking-up condition, wherein;
said flash light emitting unit comprises a flash light source, a trigger capacitance for triggering said flash light source into the excited condition, and a light emission capacitance for supplying a light emitting energy to said flash light source in the excited condition to emit an exited light, and said exposure control data values for the first exposure in said exposure control table of said flash light emission controlling unit are determined on the basis of a reference voltage of said light emission capacitance, and said exposure control data values for the second exposure are determined on the basis of a voltage across said light emission capacitance which is determined by considering a voltage drop due to the excited light emission for the first exposure. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification