IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS HAVING MASKING FUNCTION

• US 20110228119A1
• Filed: 03/02/2011
• Published: 09/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Maruyama, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 8,692,904 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/635 Region indicators; Field of view indicators
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/673 based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus includes adjustment processors 15, 16, and 18 that sets an evaluation area 106 in an image generated by taking the image and that perform a focusing process or a color adjustment process based on evaluation information obtained from an image signal of the evaluation area, and a masking processor 17 that sets a mask area 302 in the image and perform a masking process for the mask area. The adjustment processors change at least one of a position and a size of the evaluation area so that a range in which the evaluation area is not overlapped with the mask area increases when at least a part of the evaluation area is overlapped with the mask area.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus that generates an image by taking the image, comprising:

an adjustment processor configured to set an evaluation area in the image and perform a focusing process or a color adjustment process based on evaluation information obtained from an image signal of the evaluation area; and

a masking processor configured to set a mask area in the image and perform a masking process for the mask area,

wherein the adjustment processor changes at least one of a position and a size of the evaluation area so that a range in which the evaluation area is not overlapped with the mask area increases when at least a part of the evaluation area is overlapped with the mask area.

2. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the adjustment processor changes at least one of the position and the size of the evaluation area so as to reduce a changing amount of the evaluation area as much as possible.