Zoom related methods and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method, the method comprising:
- operating a camera device during at least a first period of time and a second period of time, the camera device including a plurality of optical chains, said plurality of optical chains including at least a first group of optical chains and a second group of optical chains, said first group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in said first group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor, the second group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in the second group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor,operating the camera device during the first period of time including;
i) capturing images using the multiple optical chains in the second group of optical chains; and
operating the camera device during the second period of time including;
i) transitioning the multiple optical chains in the second group of optical chains from a first focal length to a second focal length; and
ii) capturing images using the multiple optical chains in the first group of optical chains, said first group of optical chains having the first focal length during said second period of time, optical chains in said first group of optical chains having a different focal length than optical chains in said second group of optical chains during at least a portion of said second period of time.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for supporting zoom operations using a plurality of optical chain modules, e.g., camera modules, are described. Switching between use of groups of optical chains with different focal lengths is used to support zoom operations. Digital zoom is used in some cases to support zoom levels corresponding to levels between the zoom levels of different optical chain groups or discrete focal lengths to which optical chains may be switched. In some embodiments optical chains have adjustable focal lengths and are switched between different focal lengths. In other embodiments optical chains have fixed focal lengths with different optical chain groups corresponding to different fixed focal lengths. Composite images are generate from images captured by multiple optical chains of the same group and/or different groups. Composite image is in accordance with a user zoom control setting. Individual composite images may be generated and/or a video sequence.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A method, the method comprising:
-
operating a camera device during at least a first period of time and a second period of time, the camera device including a plurality of optical chains, said plurality of optical chains including at least a first group of optical chains and a second group of optical chains, said first group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in said first group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor, the second group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in the second group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor, operating the camera device during the first period of time including; i) capturing images using the multiple optical chains in the second group of optical chains; and operating the camera device during the second period of time including; i) transitioning the multiple optical chains in the second group of optical chains from a first focal length to a second focal length; and ii) capturing images using the multiple optical chains in the first group of optical chains, said first group of optical chains having the first focal length during said second period of time, optical chains in said first group of optical chains having a different focal length than optical chains in said second group of optical chains during at least a portion of said second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
15. A camera device comprising:
-
a plurality of optical chains, said plurality of optical chains including at least a first group of optical chains and a second group of optical chains, each optical chain in the first group of optical chains and the second group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor, said first group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, said second group of optical chains including multiple optical chains; a first image capture module configured to capture images using the second group of optical chains during a first period of time; and a second image capture module configured to capture images using the first group of optical chains during a second period of time, optical chains in said first group of optical chains have a different focal length than optical chains in said second group of optical chains during at least a portion of said second period of time; and a first transition control module configured to transition the second group of optical chains from a first focal length to a second focal length during the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having processor executable instructions stored thereon, which, executed by a processor of a camera device, control said camera device to perform the steps of:
-
capturing images using a second group of optical chains during a first period of time, said second group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in said second group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor; and capturing images using a first group of optical chains during a second period of time, optical chains in said first group of optical chains have a different focal length than optical chains in said second group of optical chains during at least a portion of said second period of time, said first group of optical chains including multiple optical chains, each optical chain in the first group of optical chains including a lens and a sensor; and transitioning the multiple optical chains in the second group of optical chains from a first focal length to a second focal length during said second period of time.
-
Specification