Apparatus capable of image capturing

• US 7,057,653 B1
• Filed: 06/19/1998
• Issued: 06/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/19/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Minolta Corporation Limited (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Kubo, Hiroaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Ngoc-Yen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Villecco, John M.
• Application Number:
  US09/100,799
• Time in Patent Office: 2,909 Days
• Field of Search: 348/272, 348/649, 348/700, 348/222, 348/254, 348/255, 348/231, 348/232, 348/233, 348/229, 348/277, 348/333.11, 348/246, 348/711, 348/675, 348/679, 348/273, 375/240.16, 382/236, 382/238, 382/162, 382/166, 382/167, 382/300, 358/525, 358518-523
• US Class Current: 348/273
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/393 Enlarging or reducing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/6011 with simulation on a subsidiary picture reproducer H04N1/622 takes precedence; matching two or more picture reproducers H04N1/6052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/64 Systems for the transmission or the storage of the colour picture signal; Details therefor, e.g. coding or decoding means therefor H04N19/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/88 for colour balance, e.g. white-balance circuits or colour temperature control
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/959 by adjusting depth of field during image capture, e.g. maximising or setting range based on scene characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/775 between a recording apparatus and a television receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/64 Circuits for processing colour signals H04N9/77 takes precedence; camera processing pipelines for processing colour signals H04N23/84
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/69 for modifying the colour signals by gamma correction controlling camera response for colour signals H04N23/83
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8047 using transform coding

Abstract

Apparatus for image capturing has preview function for monitor-outputting an image before capturing image to be recorded, image processing section including band correcting section for controlling frequency characteristic of color data constituting image data, gamma correcting section for controlling gradation characteristic of image data, pixel interpolating section for interpolating pixels with unknown data of each color data constituting image data, and exposure control section for controlling exposure setting value. Capture image size, image data compression rate or subject image recording mode can be met before capturing an image. Controller is selected according to capture image size, image data compression rate or image recording mode set before capturing the image. When an image, captured with setting of small capture image size, is outputted in specified output size, an image provided with a more appropriate characteristic for appreciation can be obtained and reduction in image quality due to data compression can be suppressed.

Claims

1. An apparatus capable of image capturing comprising:

an imaging device which captures image data;

a recorder for recording image data transferred from said imaging device into a specified memory card;

a display unit for displaying the image data transferred from said imaging device;

an interpolating portion for executing interpolation of pixels constituting image data, the interpolating portion executing a first interpolation when displaying by the display unit, while executing a second interpolation different from the first interpolation when recording to the memory card by the recorder, both the first and second interpolation being processes for interpolating unknown pixels from the pixels of the image data; and

a changer for changing an interpolating process by said interpolating portion depending on which one of recording by the recorder and displaying by the display unit is performed.

2. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said changer executes in a displaying stage an interpolating process of a faster processing speed than in a recording stage.

3. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 1, wherein a gamma correcting portion for correcting a gradation characteristic of an image is provided and said changer can change the gradation characteristic between recording and displaying.

4. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 3, wherein said gamma correcting portion sets a gradation characteristic according to the type of an image output destination.

5. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 4, wherein the image output destination is a built-in monitor unit or an external monitor unit.

6. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said interpolating portion executes an interpolating process based on data of each color of the image data.

7. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 1, wherein the image data generated by said imaging device is of a Bayer array.

8. An apparatus capable of image capturing comprising:

an imaging device which captures image data;

an image recording mode setting portion capable of setting an image recording mode;

a band correcting portion for correcting a frequency characteristic of image data transferred from the imaging device;

a gamma correcting portion for correcting a gradation characteristic of the image data transferred from the imaging device; and

a controller for controlling the band correcting portion and the gamma correcting portion according to the set image recording mode.

9. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said band correcting portion has a plurality of frequency characteristics.

10. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said gamma correcting portion has a plurality of gradation characteristics.

11. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said image-recording mode setting portion sets a size of an image to be recorded.

12. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 11, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to emphasize an immediate-frequency component of frequency components included in the image as the image size set by the image recording mode setting portion decreases.

13. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 11, wherein said controller controls the gamma correcting portion so as to emphasize a contrast of the image as the image size set by the image recording mode setting portion decreases.

14. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said image-recording mode setting portion sets a compression rate in a recording stage.

15. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 14, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to suppress a high-frequency component of frequency components included in the image as the compression rate set by the image recording mode setting portion increases.

16. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 14, wherein said controller controls the gamma correcting portion so as to emphasize a contrast of the image as the compression rate set by the image recording mode setting portion increases.

17. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said image recording mode setting portion has a mode in which a halftone image is recorded as a mode to be set.

18. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 17, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to emphasize an immediate-frequency component of frequency components included in the image when the mode in which a halftone image is recorded is set in the image recording mode setting portion.

19. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 18, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to further suppress a high-frequency component of the frequency components included in the image.

20. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 17, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to suppress a high-frequency component of the frequency components included in the image when the mode in which a halftone image is recorded is set in the image recording mode setting portion.

21. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 17, wherein said controller controls the gamma correcting portion so as to emphasize a contrast of the image further than a specified reference gradation characteristic when the mode in which a halftone image is recorded is set in the image recording mode setting portion.

22. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 8, wherein said image recording mode setting portion has a mode in which a binary image is recorded as a mode to be set.

23. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 22, wherein said controller controls the band correcting portion so as to emphasize an intermediate-frequency component of frequency components included in the image when the mode in which a binary image is recorded is set in the image recording mode setting portion.

24. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 22, wherein said controller controls the gamma correcting portion so as to emphasize a contrast of the image further than a specified reference gradation characteristic when the mode in which a binary image is recorded is set in the image recording mode setting portion.

25. An apparatus capable of image capturing comprising:

an imaging device having a filter array of a plurality of colors;

a compression rate setting portion for setting a compression rate of image data;

an interpolating portion for executing pixel interpolation based on data of colors constituting said image data, said interpolating portion having a plurality of interpolators; and

a controller for selecting one of said plurality of interpolators according to a compression rate set by said compression rate setting portion.

26. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 25, wherein an image size setting portion for setting an image size is provided and said controller controls the interpolating portion according to the image size set by the image size setting portion.

27. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 25, wherein an interpolating process that is executed in said interpolating portion is selected out from among an interpolating process employing an average filter, an interpolating process employing a median filter and an interpolating process for executing simple interpolation with adjacent pixel data.

28. An apparatus capable of image capturing as claimed in claim 25, wherein an interpolating process of a higher processing speed is executed as the compression rate set by the compression rate setting portion is higher.

29. An image data processing method for an apparatus capable of image capturing, comprising the steps of:

setting a compression rate of image data obtained from an imaging device; and

executing an interpolating process, which is selected from a plurality of interpolating processes, on image data of colors constituting the image data according to the set compression rate.

30. An image data processing method as claimed in claim 29, wherein an interpolating process of a higher processing speed is executed in the apparatus capable of image capturing as the set compression rate becomes higher in interpolating process control.

31. An image data processing method for an apparatus capable of image capturing which can selectively display a captured image or record a captured image on a memory card, comprising the steps of:

capturing image data by means of an imaging device; and

executing a varied interpolating process depending on whether the captured image is to be displayed or recorded on the memory card, wherein a first interpolating process is executed when displaying, while a second interpolating process different from the first interpolating process is executed when recording, both the first and second interpolation being processes for interpolating unknown pixels from the pixels of the image data.

32. An image data processing method as claimed in claim 31, wherein an interpolating process of a faster processing speed is used in displaying the image than the interpolating process in recording the image during said interpolating process.

33. An image data processing method as claimed in claim 31, further comprising a gamma correcting step for correcting a gradation characteristic of an image.

34. An image data processing method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the image data generated by said imaging device is of a Bayer array.