Image pickup apparatus

• US 7,385,633 B2
• Filed: 07/31/2006
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Takeuchi, Yoshitaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Ye; Lin
• Assistant Examiner(s): WHIPKEY, JASON T
• Application Number:
  US11/495,647
• Publication Number:
  US 20060262201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 680 Days
• Field of Search: 348/223.1, 348/231.6, 348/231.3, 348/224.1, 348/225.1, 382/167, 358/523, 358/518, 358/516, 399/39
• US Class Current: 348/223.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/88 for colour balance, e.g. white-balance circuits or colour temperature control

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus which can improve convenience of white sheet data used for correcting the color of a picked-up image. Each image pickup data is converted into a file by an image filing unit and recorded by a medium-recording unit. Average value data of each color component data for part of the picked-up data is stored in an area different from the image pickup data recording area in each file.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a control unit for relating first coded data provided by coding first image data to first extraction data which is extracted from and concerns color components of the first image data, to record the first coded data and the first extraction data in a recording unit, and for relating second coded data provided by coding second image data to second extraction data which is extracted from and concerns color components of the second image data, to record the second coded data and the second extraction data in the recording unit;

a selection unit arranged to be operated by a user to select one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data, recorded in the recording unit by said control unit; and

a correction unit for effecting color correction of third image data on the basis of the one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data, selected in accordance with the operation of said selection unit,

wherein the first image data, the second image data and the third image data are provided by picking up an object with an image pickup element at different timings, respectively.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the color correction is a white balance adjustment.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first extraction data is image data of a portion of the first image data and the second extraction data is image data of a portion of the second image data, and wherein said correction unit calculates a control value of the white balance adjustment from the selected one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data and effects the color correction of the third image data on the basis of the calculated control value.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first extraction data is a first control value of the white balance adjustment, calculated from image data of a portion of the first image data, and the second extraction data is a second control value of the white balance adjustment, calculated from image data of a portion of the second image data.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said selection unit is an operation member disposed on a surface of said image pickup apparatus.

6. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing as white data first image data obtained from an image pickup element, wherein said memory stores a plurality of first image data as white balance data;

a control unit for converting second image data from the image pickup element into a file and storing the first image data stored in said memory into an area different from that of the second image data in the image data file;

a display unit adapted to display the first and second image data;

a switching member for switching the first image data to be displayed on said display unit; and

a determination member for determining the first image data to be displayed on said display unit as image data for adjusting a white balance of the second image data.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein at least one of said switching member and said determination member is an operation member disposed on a surface of said image pickup apparatus.

8. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a control unit for relating first coded data provided by coding first image data to first extraction data extracted from the first image data, to record the first coded data and the first extraction data in a recording unit, and for relating second coded data provided by coding second image data to second extraction data extracted from the second image data, to record the second coded data and the second extraction data in the recording unit;

a selection unit arranged to be operated by a user to select one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data, recorded in the recording unit by said control unit; and

a correction unit for effecting color correction of third image data on the basis of the one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data, selected in accordance with the operation of said selection unit,

wherein the first image data, the second image data and the third image data are provided by picking up an object with an image pickup element at different timings, respectively, and

wherein the first extraction data is image data of a portion of the first image data and the second extraction data is image data of a portion of the second image data, and wherein said correction unit calculates a control value of the white balance adjustment from the selected one of the first extraction data and the second extraction data and effects the color correction of the third image data on the basis of the calculated control value.

9. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a memory for storing as white data first image data obtained from an image pickup element, wherein said memory stores a plurality of first image data as white balance data;

a control unit for converting second image data from the image pickup element into a file and storing the first image data stored said memory into an area different from that of the second image data in the image data file;

a display unit adapted to display the first and second image data;

a selection member for selecting a first image data to be used for adjusting a white balance from the plurality of first image data; and

a determination member for determining the first image data selected by said selecting member as image data for adjusting a white balance of the second image data.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein at least one of said selection member and said determination member is an operation member disposed on a surface of said image pickup apparatus.