Camera exposure indication interface

• US 7,683,958 B1
• Filed: 01/31/2003
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Foveon, Inc. (Avis Budget Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Foveon, Inc. (Avis Budget Group Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chen, Michael, Turner, Richard M., Lyon, Richard F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Luong T
• Application Number:
  US10/355,750
• Time in Patent Office: 2,608 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 348/333.01
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/632 for displaying or modifying preview images prior to image capturing, e.g. variety of image resolutions or capturing parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/634 Warning indications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time

Abstract

Systems and methods of providing spatially dependent image exposure information to a user of a digital camera. The described approach is applicable to determination of image exposure quality in a digital camera system. In these applications an image is displayed in a first display mode wherein the exposure information is overlaid on the image or in a second display mode wherein the exposure information is eliminated or reduced and thus is less obstructive of the image. In the second display mode, a separate exposure warning optionally conveys a subset of the information displayed in the first display mode. The invention includes a user input operable to temporarily specify a change in the display of the image between the first mode and the second mode while an image is displayed, thus providing the user with direct control of the presence and duration of spatially dependent image exposure information.

Claims

1. A camera comprising:

an image sensor configured for use in generating digital image data;

an image display configured to display the digital image data as an image and to operate in at least a display-exposure-on mode having exposure information overlaid on the image, the exposure information being spatially dependent on the digital image data, and a display-exposure-off mode without the exposure information overlaid on the image;

a first user input operable to initiate a temporary current display mode change between the display-exposure-on mode and the display-exposure-off mode while the image is displayed; and

electronics configured to control the display and to control the image sensor, the electronics operable to initiate the temporary current display mode change in response to engaging the first user input and to automatically reverse the temporary current display mode change responsive to release of the first user input.

2. The camera of claim 1, wherein the electronics is further configured to automatically reverse the temporary current display mode change responsive to a timer.

3. The camera of claim 1, further including a second user input configured to initiate a persistent current display mode change between the display-exposure-on mode and the display-exposure-off mode, the change being persistent until another current display mode is specified.

4. The camera of claim 1, further including a lens configured to form an image on the image sensor.

5. The camera of claim 1, further including a second user input configured to specify the current display mode to be the display-exposure-on mode or to be the display-exposure-off mode, the specification being persistent until another current display mode is specified.

6. The camera of claim 1, further including an exposure warning configured for display in the display-exposure-off mode.

7. The camera of claim 6, wherein the electronics are further configured to activate the exposure warning responsive to a maximum exposure level within the image.

8. The camera of claim 7, wherein the exposure warning includes a subset of pixels in the display.

9. The camera of claim 6, wherein the exposure warning includes an auditory signal.

10. The camera of claim 1, wherein the exposure information includes pixels of a plurality of specific colors indicative of different exposure levels.

11. The camera of claim 1, wherein the exposure information includes pixels of varying intensity, the varying intensity being time dependent.

12. The camera of claim 1, wherein the exposure information includes a set of pixels bounded by a line.

13. The camera of claim 1, wherein the digital image data is real-time data.

14. The camera of claim 1, wherein the digital image data is a real-time stream of captured image data.

15. The camera of claim 1, wherein the first user input includes a first position operable to initiate a temporary current display mode change between the display-exposure-on mode and the display-exposure-off mode, and a second position operable to initiate a persistent current display mode change between the display-exposure-on mode and the display-exposure-off mode, the temporary current display mode change being automatically reversed, the persistent current display mode change being persistent until another current display mode is specified.

57. The camera of claim 1 wherein the first user input is a button.

58. The camera of claim 1 wherein the first user input is a virtual button on a touch screen.

16. A camera comprising:

an image sensor;

an image display configured for displaying an image in at least a display-exposure-off mode and a display-exposure-on mode, using digital image data, the display-exposure-on mode having a first amount of exposure information overlaid on the image and the display-exposure-off mode having a second amount of exposure information overlaid on the image, the second amount of exposure information being spatially dependent on the digital image data, the first amount of exposure information being greater than the second amount of exposure information;

a first user input operable to initiate a temporary current display mode change between operation of the image display in the display-exposure-on mode and operation of the display in the display-exposure-off mode; and

electronics configured to generate the digital image data using an output of the image sensor and to control the display responsive to the first user input.

17. The camera of claim 16, further including a lens configured to form an image on the image sensor.

18. The camera of claim 16, wherein the electronics are further configured to automatically reverse the temporary current display mode change or to make the temporary current display mode change a persistent current display mode change responsive to a second user input.

19. The camera of claim 18, wherein the electronics includes a timer configured to automatically reverse the temporary current display mode change.

20. The camera of claim 16, wherein a duration of the temporary current display mode change is user controllable.

21. The camera of claim 20, wherein the duration is user controllable using the first user input.

22. The camera of claim 20, wherein the duration is user controllable while the image is displayed.

23. The camera of claim 16, wherein the image display includes a viewfinder.

24. The camera of claim 23, wherein the exposure information is semi-transparent.

25. The camera of claim 23, wherein the viewfinder is configured to display the image at a resolution lower than a maximum resolution of the image sensor.

26. The camera of claim 25, wherein the resolution of the image sensor is modified by operation of the image sensor in a binned mode wherein pixels on the image sensor are electronically interconnected.

27. The camera of claim 25, wherein the resolution of the image is responsive to sub-sampling of the image data.

28. The camera of claim 23, wherein the image is displayed in a digital zoom mode.

29. The camera of claim 16, further including a second user input configured to specify a current display mode of the image display to be the display-exposure-on mode or to be the display-exposure-off mode, the specification being persistent until another current display mode is specified.

30. The camera of claim 16, further including an exposure warning indicator responsive to a distribution of exposure levels within the image.

31. The camera of claim 16, further including an exposure warning indicator responsive to a minimum exposure level within the image and configured to be activated in the display-exposure-off mode.

32. The camera of claim 16, further including an audio generator configured to generate an exposure warning.

33. The camera of claim 16, wherein the image is a video image.

34. A method of displaying a captured image, the method comprising the steps of:

capturing an image using an image sensor responsive to electronics;

generating digital image data representing the captured image using an output of the image sensor;

displaying the captured image on a display using the digital image data, in a display-exposure-on mode the display including exposure information overlaid on the captured image, the exposure information being spatially dependent on the digital image data, and in a display-exposure-off mode the display not including the exposure information overlaid on the captured image, the display being responsive to the electronics;

receiving a first user input during the display of the captured image;

executing a temporary current display mode change between the display-exposure-on mode and the display-exposure-off mode, responsive to the first user input; and

receiving a second user input and, responsive to the second user input, specifying the current display mode of the digital camera to be the display-exposure-on mode or to be the display-exposure-off mode, the specification being persistent until a subsequent current display mode is specified.

35. The method of claim 34, further including a step of automatically reversing the temporary current display mode change.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the temporary current display mode change has a duration equal to a period during which the user input is received.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of receiving a first user input occurs when a user input device is partially activated and the step of receiving a second user input occurs when the user input device is further activated.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of receiving a first user input is responsive to operation of a button, responsive to operation of a dial, responsive to operation of a thumbwheel or responsive to operation of a slider.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of executing a current display mode change is initiated when the button, the dial, the thumbwheel or the slider is activated and the step of executing a current display mode change is automatically reversed responsive to release of the button, dial, thumbwheel or slider, respectively.

40. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of receiving a first user input occurs when a shutter button is partially depressed.

41. The method of claim 34, wherein the spatially dependent exposure information includes pixels of a plurality of specific colors indicative of different exposure levels.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein the spatially dependent exposure information includes pixels of varying intensity, the intensity variation being time dependent.

43. The method of claim 34, wherein the spatially dependent exposure information includes a set of pixels bounded by a line.

44. The method of claim 34, further including a step of providing an exposure warning during the step of displaying the image on a display.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of providing an exposure warning includes generation of an audio signal.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of providing an exposure warning includes activation of a light.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein the step of providing an exposure warning includes displaying the exposure warning on a subset of pixels in the display.

48. The method of claim 34, further including a step of evaluating the image, the evaluation including viewing the image in the display-exposure-on mode.

49. The method of claim 48, further including a step of storing the image data responsive to the evaluation.

50. The method of claim 34, wherein the captured image is a video image.

51. The method of claim 34, further including a step of determining whether to store the digital image data as a real-time stream of captured image data or as still image data.

52. The method of claim 34, wherein the step of displaying the captured image includes displaying the captured image at a resolution less than the maximum resolution of the image sensor.

53. The method of claim 52, further including a step of determining a resolution for displaying the captured image on the display.

54. A camera comprising:

an image sensor responsive to electronics;

means for displaying an image captured using the image sensor, the image being displayed in at least a first display mode having exposure information overlaid on the image, the exposure information being spatially dependent on the digital image data, and a second display mode having a different amount of the exposure information overlaid on the image relative to the first display mode, the means being responsive to the electronics;

means for temporarily changing display of the image between the first display mode and the second display mode while the image is displayed; and

means for specifying a persistent change in the display of the image between the first display mode and the second display mode, the specification being persistent until another display mode is specified for display of the image.

55. The camera of claim 54, further comprising means for generating an exposure warning.

56. The camera of claim 54, further comprising means for automatically reversing the temporary change between the first display mode and the second display mode.