Digital camera having variable duration burst mode
First Claim
1. A digital camera comprising:
- an image sensor for capturing a digital image;
an optical system for forming an image of a scene onto the image sensor;
a data processing system;
a frame buffer memory for temporarily storing captured digital images; and
a program memory communicatively connected to the data processing system and storing instructions configured to cause the data processing system to implement a method for capturing a sequence of digital images in a variable time duration burst capture mode, wherein the method includes;
specifying a first frame rate;
initiating an image capture sequence;
storing a first plurality of digital images captured at the first frame rate in the frame buffer memory;
determining whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity, and if so;
specifying a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate;
identifying one or more of the first plurality of digital images as a first set of digital images that can be overwritten;
storing a second plurality of digital images captured at the second frame rate in the frame buffer memory, overwriting one or more of the identified first set of digital images; and
numbering the first plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer and/or the second plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer in response to the overwriting.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A digital camera for having a variable time duration burst capture mode, comprising: an image sensor; an optical system; a data processing system; a frame buffer memory; and a program memory. The program memory stores instructions including: specifying a first frame rate; initiating an image capture sequence; storing a sequence of digital images captured at the first frame rate in the frame buffer memory; determining whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity. If the frame buffer memory has been filled to the predetermined capacity, the program memory further includes instructions for specifying a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate; designating a set of stored digital images that can be overwritten; and storing a sequence of digital images captured at the second frame rate in the frame buffer memory, overwriting the designated set of stored digital images.
91 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A digital camera comprising:
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an image sensor for capturing a digital image; an optical system for forming an image of a scene onto the image sensor; a data processing system; a frame buffer memory for temporarily storing captured digital images; and a program memory communicatively connected to the data processing system and storing instructions configured to cause the data processing system to implement a method for capturing a sequence of digital images in a variable time duration burst capture mode, wherein the method includes; specifying a first frame rate; initiating an image capture sequence; storing a first plurality of digital images captured at the first frame rate in the frame buffer memory; determining whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity, and if so; specifying a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate; identifying one or more of the first plurality of digital images as a first set of digital images that can be overwritten; storing a second plurality of digital images captured at the second frame rate in the frame buffer memory, overwriting one or more of the identified first set of digital images; and numbering the first plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer and/or the second plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer in response to the overwriting. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for capturing an image sequence having a variable time duration for storage in a frame buffer memory having a predetermined capacity, comprising:
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specifying a first frame rate; initiating an image capture sequence; capturing a first plurality of digital images at the first frame rate; storing the first plurality of digital images in the frame buffer memory; determining whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity, and if so; specifying a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate; identifying one or more of the first plurality of digital images as a first set of digital images that can be overwritten; capturing a second plurality of digital images at the second frame rate; storing the second plurality of digital images in the frame buffer memory, overwriting one or more of the identified first set of digital images; and numbering the first plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer and/or the second plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer in response to the overwriting.
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15. A non-transitory program storage device comprising instructions stored thereon to cause one or more processors to:
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set a first image capture frame rate; initiate an image capture sequence; capture a first plurality of digital images at the first frame rate; store the first plurality of digital images in a frame buffer memory; determine whether the frame buffer memory has been filled to a predetermined capacity, and if so; specify a second frame rate, wherein the second frame rate is lower than the first frame rate; identify one or more of the first plurality of digital images as a first set of digital images that can be overwritten; capture a second plurality of digital images at the second frame rate; store the second plurality of digital images in the frame buffer memory, overwriting one or more digital images of the identified first set of digital images; and number the first plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer memory and/or the second plurality of digital images stored in the frame buffer memory in response to the overwriting. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification