Using distance/proximity information when applying a point spread function in a portable media device

• US 8,289,438 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2008
• Issued: 10/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Yeh, Michael Victor
• Primary Examiner(s): Hannett, James
• Assistant Examiner(s): Garces-Rivera, Angel L
• Application Number:
  US12/237,287
• Publication Number:
  US 20100073518A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,483 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 348/345
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/73 Deblurring; Sharpening
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/81 for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention is directed to a relatively low cost technique for improving the sharpness or quality of digital images captured by a handheld portable media device. A housing of the device has integrated therein a digital camera image sensor, a camera lens, and a sensor that detects a distance measure, which is a measure of distance between the housing and an object or target in a scene that is before the lens. The device is programmed to select a point spread function, PSF, based on the detected distance measure. The selected PSF is then applied to de-blur the captured image, for becoming the final picture of the scene that is taken by the user. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.

Claims

1. A portable media device comprising:

a handheld media device housing having integrated therein

a digital camera image sensor,

a camera lens to form on the image sensor an optical image of a scene that is before the lens, the image sensor to capture an image of the scene,

a distance/proximity sensor to detect a distance measure, being a measure of distance between the housing and an object in the scene,

a processor coupled to the image sensor and the proximity sensor, and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor a) enable application of a point spread function, PSF, when the distance/proximity sensor indicates the object is near, b) disable the PSF when the distance/proximity sensor indicates the object is far, and c) apply the PSF to de-blur the captured image if the PSF is enabled.

2. The portable media device of claim 1 wherein the memory stores a table of distance measures and their respective PSF values, and wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor select the PSF by referring to the table using the detected distance measure.

3. The portable media device of claim 2 wherein the detected distance measure isquantitative.

4. The portable media device of claim 2 wherein the detected distance measure is qualitative.

5. The portable media device of claim 2 wherein the table comprises quantitative distance ranges and their respective PSF values.

6. The portable media device of claim 2 wherein the table comprises qualitative distance ranges and their respective PSF values.

7. The portable media device of claim 1 wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor display captured images of the scene via an electronic viewfinder to a user and, while the scene is being displayed, respond to the user'"'"'s actuation of a shutter button part-of-the-way by obtaining the detected distance measure, and then respond to the user'"'"'s actuation of the shutter button all-of-the-way by selecting the PSF based on the detected distance measure and applying the selected PSF to deblur the captured image.

8. The portable media device of claim 1 wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor, select the PSF from a plurality previously stored PSFs, based on the detected distance measure.

9. A machine-implemented method for operating a digital camera, comprising:

detecting a distance measure being a measure of distance between the camera and an object in a scene that is before the camera;

capturing an image of the scene including the object;

enabling a point spread function, PSF, if the detected distance measure indicates the object is near;

disabling the PSF if the detected distance measure indicates the object is far; and

applying the PSF to the captured image if the PSF is enabled.

10. The machine-implemented method of claim 9 further comprising selecting the PSF, wherein said selecting the PSF comprises:

performing a table lookup using the detected distance measure to obtain a previously stored value, that in part defines the selected PSF, which is associated with a previously stored distance measure.

11. The machine-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the detected distance measure is qualitative.

12. The machine-implemented method of claim 10 wherein the detected distance measure is quantitative.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

displaying captured images of the scene via an electronic viewfinder to a user, wherein said detecting a distance measure is in response to the user actuating a shutter button part-of-the-way while the scene is being displayed, and wherein said selecting a PSF applying the selected PSF is in response to the user actuating the shutter button all-of-the-way.

14. The machine-implemented method of claim 9 further comprising selecting the PSF from a plurality previously stored PSFs, based on the detected distance measure.

15. A portable media device comprising:

a handheld media device housing having integrated therein

RF circuitry coupled to an antenna,

a digital camera image sensor,

a lens system to form on the image sensor an optical image of a scene, the image sensor to capture an image of the scene,

a distance/proximity sensor to detect a distance measure being a measure of distance between the sensor and an object in the scene,

a processor coupled to the image sensor, the distance/proximity sensor, and the RF circuitry, and

memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor

a) activate digital camera functionality of the portable media device,

b) in response to actuation of a shutter button part-of-the-way, read the detected distance measure, enable a point spread function, PSF, if the detected distance measure indicates the object is near, and disable the PSF if the detected distance measure indicates the object is far,

c) in response to actuation of the shutter button all-of-the-way, apply the PSF to de-blur the captured image if the PSF is enabled, and

d) manage a wireless telephone call made or received using the RF circuitry.

16. The portable media device of claim 15 wherein the memory stores a table of a plurality of different distance measures and respective PSF values for the lens system, and wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor select the PSF by referring to the table using the detected distance measure.

17. The portable media device of claim 16 wherein the detected distance measure is quantitative.

18. The portable media device of claim 16 wherein the detected distance measure is qualitative.

19. The portable media device of claim 16 wherein the table comprises quantitative distance ranges and their respective PSF values.

20. The portable media device of claim 16 wherein the table comprises qualitative distance ranges and their respective PSF values.

21. The portable media device of claim 15 wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor, in further response to actuation of a shutter button part-of-the-way, select the PSF from a plurality previously stored PSFs, based on the detected distance measure.

22. A portable media device comprising:

a handheld media device housing having integrated therein

a digital camera image sensor,

a camera lens to form on the image sensor an optical image of a scene that is before the lens, the image sensor to capture an image of the scene,

a distance/proximity sensor to detect a distance measure, being a measure of distance between the housing and an object in the scene,

a processor coupled to the image sensor and the proximity sensor, and

a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor a) enable application of a point spread function, PSF, when a camera macro mode is enabled, b) disable the PSF when when the camera macro mode is not enabled, and c) apply the PSF to de-blur the captured image if the PSF is enabled.

23. The portable media device of claim 22 wherein the memory stores a table of distance measures and their respective PSF values, and wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor select the PSF by referring to the table using the detected distance measure.

24. The portable media device of claim 22 wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor, select the PSF from a plurality previously stored PSFs, based on the detected distance measure.

25. A portable media device comprising:

a handheld media device housing having integrated therein

RF circuitry coupled to an antenna,

a digital camera image sensor,

a lens system to form on the image sensor an optical image of a scene, the image sensor to capture an image of the scene,

a distance/proximity sensor to detect a distance measure being a measure of distance between the sensor and an object in the scene,

a processor coupled to the image sensor, the distance/proximity sensor, and the RF circuitry, and

memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor

a) activate digital camera functionality of the portable media device,

b) in response to actuation of a shutter button part-of-the-way, read the detected distance measure, enable a point spread function, PSF, when a camera macro mode is enabled, and disable the PSF when the camera macro mode is not enabled,

c) in response to actuation of the shutter button all-of-the-way, apply the PSF to de-blur the captured image if the PSF is enabled, and

d) manage a wireless telephone call made or received using the RF circuitry.

26. The portable media device of claim 25 wherein the memory stores a table of a plurality of different distance measures and respective PSF values for the lens system, and wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor select the PSF by referring to the table using the detected distance measure.

27. The portable media device of claim 25 wherein the memory stores further instructions that when executed by the processor, in further response to actuation of a shutter button part-of-the-way, select the PSF from a plurality previously stored PSFs, based on the detected distance measure.