Image sensing apparatus with correction control

• US 8,300,110 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2009
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xacti Corporation (Office Support KK)
• Original Assignee: Sanyo Electric Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Hatanaka, Haruo, Fukumoto, Shimpei, Iijima, Yasuhiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Ye, Lin
• Assistant Examiner(s): DAGNEW, MEKONNEN D
• Application Number:
  US12/641,616
• Publication Number:
  US 20100157110A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• Field of Search: 348/241, 348/208.99, 348/208.13, 348/221.1, 396 52- 55
• US Class Current: 348/221.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/81 for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/951 by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio

Abstract

An image sensing apparatus that includes an image sensing portion outputting the image data of an image by shooting and that generates an output image based on the output data of the image sensing portion obtained in response to a predetermined shooting command has: a first correction portion which, based on the image data of a first image shot by the image sensing portion and the image data of a second image shot by the image sensing portion with an exposure time longer than the exposure time of the first image, performs position adjustment between the first and second images and then synthesizes the first and second images to generate the output image; a second correction portion which generates the output image by reducing noise in the first image without using the second image; and a correction control portion which executes selection processing to alternatively select one of the first and second correction portions based on a shooting condition set for shooting of the second image or based on the output data of the image sensing portion, and which makes the so selected correction portion generate the output image.

Claims

1. An image sensing apparatus including an image sensing portion outputting image data of an image by shooting, the image sensing apparatus generating an output image based on output data of the image sensing portion obtained in response to a predetermined shooting command, the image sensing apparatus comprising:

a first correction portion which, based on image data of a first image shot by the image sensing portion and image data of a second image shot by the image sensing portion with an exposure time longer than an exposure time of the first image, performs position adjustment between the first and second images and then synthesizes the first and second images to generate the output image;

a second correction portion which generates the output image by reducing noise in the first image without using the second image; and

a correction control portion which executes selection processing to alternatively select one of the first and second correction portions based on a shooting condition set for shooting of the second image or based on the output data of the image sensing portion, and which makes the so selected correction portion generate the output image;

wherein taken as the shooting condition of the second image is the exposure time of the second image and a focal length at a time of shooting of the second image, and wherein the correction control portion executes the selection processing based on at least one of the exposure time of the second image and the focal length; and

wherein the correction control portion checks whether the position adjustment succeeds or fails based on at least one of the exposure time of the second image and the focal length at the time of shooting of the second image, the correction control portion selecting the first correction portion on judging that the position adjustment succeeds and selecting the second correction portion on judging that the position adjustment fails.

2. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the second correction portion is selected in the selection processing, the second image is not shot.

4. The image sensing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first correction portion generates the output image by synthesizing the first and second images and an image obtained by reducing noise in the first image.

3. An image sensing apparatus including an image sensing portion outputting image data of an image by shooting, the image sensing apparatus generating an output image based on output data of the image sensing portion obtained in response to a predetermined shooting command, the image sensing apparatus comprising:

a first correction portion which, based on image data of a first image shot by the image sensing portion and image data of a second image shot by the image sensing portion with an exposure time longer than an exposure time of the first image, performs position adjustment between the first and second images and then synthesizes the first and second images to generate the output image;

a second correction portion which generates the output image by reducing noise in the first image without using the second image; and

a correction control portion which executes selection processing to alternatively select one of the first and second correction portions based on a shooting condition set for shooting of the second image or based on the output data of the image sensing portion, and which makes the so selected correction portion generate the output image;

wherein, by using an image degradation portion which generates an image by giving degradation-by-blurring to the first image and a noise reduction portion which generates an image by reducing noise in the first image, the second correction portion synthesizes the image generated by the image degradation portion and the image generated by the noise reduction portion to generate the output image.

5. An image sensing apparatus including an image sensing portion outputting image data of an image by shooting, the image sensing apparatus generating an output image based on output data of the image sensing portion obtained in response to a predetermined shooting command, the image sensing apparatus comprising:

a first correction portion which, based on image data of a first image shot by the image sensing portion and image data of a second image shot by the image sensing portion with an exposure time longer than an exposure time of the first image, performs position adjustment between the first and second images and then synthesizes the first and second images to generate the output image;

a second correction portion which generates the output image by reducing noise in the first image without using the second image; and

a correction control portion which executes selection processing to alternatively select one of the first and second correction portions based on a shooting condition set for shooting of the second image or based on the output data of the image sensing portion, and which makes the so selected correction portion generate the output image;

wherein the correction control portion checks whether the position adjustment succeeds or fails based on the output data of the image sensing portion obtained before or after the shooting command is given, the correction control portion selecting the first correction portion on judging that the position adjustment succeeds and selecting the second correction portion on judging that the position adjustment fails.