Digital camera for capturing image data with rapid response between activating a capture trigger and capturing image data
First Claim
1. A digital camera for capturing an image comprising:
- an image sensor;
a capture trigger;
a capture buffer configured as a first memory location comprising a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames;
a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame;
a processing system configured to continuously receive and process the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before the capture trigger is activated, to store the auxiliary frames in the first memory location, to detect activation of the capture trigger and receive a corresponding image frame from the image sensor, to store the corresponding image frame in the second memory location, to perform blur correction on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame, to designate as unavailable for image storage the buffer locations in which the corresponding image frame and the at least one auxiliary image frame are stored until the blur correction is complete and to copy one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location for performing image processing on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A digital camera has an image sensor, a capture trigger, a processing system, and a capture buffer having multiple buffer locations. The processing system receives auxiliary image frames from the image sensor and stores each auxiliary image frame in a buffer location. When the capture trigger is activated, a corresponding image frame is received by the processing system from an image sensor and stored in an available buffer location. Blur correction is performed on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame in at least one other buffer location. All buffer locations used for the blur correction are unavailable for storage of other data until the blur correction is complete. In one embodiment, Image frames are continuously stored in the buffer locations not designated as unavailable.
30 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A digital camera for capturing an image comprising:
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an image sensor; a capture trigger; a capture buffer configured as a first memory location comprising a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames; a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame; a processing system configured to continuously receive and process the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before the capture trigger is activated, to store the auxiliary frames in the first memory location, to detect activation of the capture trigger and receive a corresponding image frame from the image sensor, to store the corresponding image frame in the second memory location, to perform blur correction on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame, to designate as unavailable for image storage the buffer locations in which the corresponding image frame and the at least one auxiliary image frame are stored until the blur correction is complete and to copy one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location for performing image processing on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for capturing an image in a digital camera, the method comprising:
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using a capture buffer configured as a first memory location having a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames; using a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame; continuously receiving and processing the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before a capture trigger is activated; storing the auxiliary frames in the first memory location; detecting activation of the capture trigger at the processing system and storing a corresponding image frame from the image sensor in another available buffer location; performing blur correction with the processing system on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame, wherein the buffer locations are designated as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete; and copying one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location, wherein image processing is performed on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method for capturing an image in a digital camera, the method comprising:
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using a capture buffer configured as a first memory location having a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames; using a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame; continuously receiving and processing the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before a capture trigger is activated; storing the auxiliary frames in the first memory location; detecting activation of the capture trigger at the processing system and storing a corresponding image frame from the image sensor in the second memory location; copying one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location, wherein image processing is performed on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location; and performing blur correction with the processing system on the corresponding image frame using at least one of the plurality of auxiliary image frames in the first section of memory, wherein the buffer locations are designated as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete.
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Specification