IMAGE CAPTURE DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSOR

• US 20140063279A1
• Filed: 08/19/2013
• Published: 03/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/04/2012
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: OGURA, Motonori, TSUCHIDA, Yukitaka, UEDA, Yuji, MURAKAMI, Masahiro
• Application Number:
  US13/969,933
• Publication Number:
  US 20140063279A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/663 for controlling interchangeable camera parts based on electronic image sensor signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6812 based on additional sensors, e.g. acceleration sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/683 performed by a processor, e.g. controlling the readout of an image memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming

Abstract

An image capture device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: an image capturing section configured to generate an image by shooting; an acceleration detector configured to detect acceleration; an angular velocity detector configured to detect angular velocity; and a controller configured to determine, when the difference between the absolute value of the acceleration that has been detected by the acceleration detector and a preset reference value is greater than a predetermined threshold value, an angle of rotation to correct the tilt of the image based on a result of detection obtained by the angular velocity detector.

Claims

1. An image capture device, comprising:

an image capturing section configured to generate an image by shooting;

an acceleration detector configured to detect acceleration;

an angular velocity detector configured to detect angular velocity; and

a controller configured to determine, when the difference between the absolute value of the acceleration that has been detected by the acceleration detector and a preset reference value is greater than a predetermined threshold value, an angle of rotation of the image based on a result of detection obtained by the angular velocity detector.

2. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine, when the difference is smaller than the threshold value, the angle of rotation of the image based on a result of detection obtained by the acceleration detector.

3. The image capture device of claim 1, further comprising an image processing section configured to correct the tilt of the image by rotating the coordinates of the image by the angle of rotation that has been determined by the controller.

4. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein the acceleration detector detects resultant acceleration by detecting acceleration components in respective directions defined by three orthogonal axes of coordinates, and

wherein the controller processes, as the absolute value of the acceleration, a value that is based on the resultant acceleration that has been detected by the acceleration detector.

5. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein the angular velocity detector is an angular velocity sensor.

6. The image capture device of claim 5, wherein the angular velocity sensor detects angular velocities around three orthogonal axes of coordinates including an axis of coordinates that is parallel to the optical axis of the image capturing section.

7. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein the reference value is set to be the value of the acceleration of gravity.

8. The image capture device of claim 1, wherein if the value of the acceleration of gravity is represented as 1 G, the threshold value is set to be smaller than 0.01 G.

9. An image processing method, for processing a signal supplied from an image capture device including an image capturing section configured to generate an image by shooting, an acceleration detector configured to detect acceleration, and an angular velocity detector configured to detect angular velocity, the method comprising:

obtaining information about the image, information about the acceleration that has been detected by the acceleration detector, and information about the angular velocity that has been detected by the angular velocity detector; and

determining, when the difference between the absolute value of the acceleration that has been detected by the acceleration detector and a preset reference value is greater than a predetermined threshold value, an angle of rotation of the image based on a result of detection obtained by the angular velocity detector.

10. A device, comprising:

a first detector configured to detect a magnitude and a direction of acceleration;

a second detector configured to detect a change in the device'"'"'s own attitude; and

a controller configured to operate either in a first mode in which the device'"'"'s own attitude is determined by the direction of the acceleration indicated by a result of detection obtained by the first detector or in a second mode in which the device'"'"'s own attitude is determined by tracking changes in its own attitude based on a result of detection obtained by the second detector,

wherein when the magnitude of acceleration indicated by a result of detection obtained by the first detector falls within a predetermined range that is defined with respect to the magnitude of the acceleration of gravity, the controller operates in the first mode, and

when the magnitude of acceleration indicated by the result of detection obtained by the first detector falls out of the predetermined range, the controller operates in the second mode.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the controller determines the device'"'"'s own attitude by calculating, in the second mode, the integral of variations in the device'"'"'s own attitude based on a result of detection obtained by the second detector.