Dual aperture zoom digital camera
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A dual-aperture digital camera for imaging an object or scene, comprising:
- a) a Wide camera comprising a Wide lens and a Wide image sensor, the Wide camera having a respective field of view FOVW and being operative to provide a Wide image of the object or scene;
b) a Tele camera comprising a Tele lens and a Tele image sensor, the Tele camera having a respective field of view FOVT narrower than FOVW and being operative to provide a Tele image of the object or scene, wherein the Tele lens has a respective effective focal length EFLT and total track length TTLT fulfilling the condition EFLT/TTLT>
1;
c) a first autofocus (AF) mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Wide lens;
d) a second AF mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Tele lens; and
e) a camera controller operatively coupled to the first and second AF mechanisms and to the Wide and Tele image sensors and configured to control the AF mechanisms and to process the Wide and Tele images to create a fused image, wherein areas in the Tele image that are not focused are not combined with the Wide image to create the fused image and wherein the camera controller is further operative to output the fused image with a point of view (POV) of the Wide camera by mapping Tele image pixels to matching pixels within the Wide image.
1 Assignment
Litigations
2 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dual-aperture zoom digital camera operable in both still and video modes. The camera includes Wide and Tele imaging sections with respective lens/sensor combinations and image signal processors and a camera controller operatively coupled to the Wide and Tele imaging sections. The Wide and Tele imaging sections provide respective image data. The controller is configured to combine in still mode at least some of the Wide and Tele image data to provide a fused output image from a particular point of view, and to provide without fusion continuous zoom video mode output images, each output image having a given output resolution, wherein the video mode output images are provided with a smooth transition when switching between a lower zoom factor (ZF) value and a higher ZF value or vice versa, and wherein at the lower ZF the output resolution is determined by the Wide sensor while at the higher ZF value the output resolution is determined by the Tele sensor.
323 Citations
40 Claims
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1. A dual-aperture digital camera for imaging an object or scene, comprising:
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a) a Wide camera comprising a Wide lens and a Wide image sensor, the Wide camera having a respective field of view FOVW and being operative to provide a Wide image of the object or scene; b) a Tele camera comprising a Tele lens and a Tele image sensor, the Tele camera having a respective field of view FOVT narrower than FOVW and being operative to provide a Tele image of the object or scene, wherein the Tele lens has a respective effective focal length EFLT and total track length TTLT fulfilling the condition EFLT/TTLT>
1;c) a first autofocus (AF) mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Wide lens; d) a second AF mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Tele lens; and e) a camera controller operatively coupled to the first and second AF mechanisms and to the Wide and Tele image sensors and configured to control the AF mechanisms and to process the Wide and Tele images to create a fused image, wherein areas in the Tele image that are not focused are not combined with the Wide image to create the fused image and wherein the camera controller is further operative to output the fused image with a point of view (POV) of the Wide camera by mapping Tele image pixels to matching pixels within the Wide image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A dual-aperture digital camera for imaging an object or scene, comprising:
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a) a Wide camera comprising a Wide lens and a Wide image sensor, the Wide camera having a respective field of view FOVW and being operative to provide a Wide image of the object or scene; b) a Tele camera comprising a Tele lens and a Tele image sensor, the Tele camera having a respective field of view FOVT narrower than FOVW and being operative to provide a Tele image of the object or scene, wherein the Tele lens has a respective effective focal length EFLT and total track length TTLT fulfilling the condition EFLT/TTLT>
1;c) a first autofocus (AF) mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Wide lens; d) a second AF mechanism coupled mechanically to, and used to perform an AF action on the Tele lens, wherein the Wide and Tele lenses have different F numbers F#Wide and F#Tele, wherein the Wide and Tele image sensors have pixels with respective pixel sizes Pixel sizeWide and Pixel sizeTele wherein Pixel sizeWide is not equal to Pixel sizeTele, and wherein the Tele camera has a Tele camera depth of field (DOFT) shallower than a DOF of the Wide camera (DOFW); and e) a camera controller operatively coupled to the first and second AF mechanisms and to the Wide and Tele image sensors and configured to control the AF mechanisms, to process the Wide and Tele images to find translations between matching points in the images to calculate depth information and to create a fused image suited for portrait photos, the fused image having a DOF shallower than DOFT and having a blurred background. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method comprising:
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a) providing a dual-camera comprising a Wide camera and a Tele camera, the Wide and Tele cameras having respective Wide and Tele lenses, Wide and Tele image sensors and Wide and Tele fields of view FOVW and FOVT, wherein FOVT is narrower than FOVW, wherein the Tele lens has a respective effective focal length EFLT and total track length TTLT fulfilling the condition EFLT/TTLT>
1;b) acquiring a Wide image with the Wide sensor and a Tele image with the Tele sensor; c) processing the Wide and Tele images to create a fused image, wherein areas in the Tele image that are not focused are not combined with the Wide image to create the fused image; and d) outputting the fused image with a point of view (POV) of the Wide camera by mapping Tele image pixels to matching pixels within the Wide image. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification