Digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same

• US 8,988,545 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2011
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Park, Sung-ha, Hong, Sung-bin
• Primary Examiner(s): Berhan, Ahmed A
• Application Number:
  US13/238,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20120081560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,280 Days
• Field of Search: 348/207.99, 348/208.99, 348/345, 348/346, 348/349, 348/208.4, 348/208.12, 348/222.1, 348/241, 348/221.1, 348/220.1, 348/218.1, 382116-118
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/611 where the recognised objects include parts of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6845 by combination of a plurality of images sequentially taken
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

A digital photographing apparatus and a method of controlling the same are provided. The digital photographing apparatus obtains a first image from an input image according to a first shutter input signal, obtains a second image from the input image according to a second shutter input signal, and corrects the second image based on the first image.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus, comprising:

selecting a first image from a plurality of pre-captured images of an input image according to a first shutter input signal;

capturing a second image of the input image according to a second shutter input signal; and

correcting the second image based on the first image by synthesizing a portion of the first image onto the second image or replacing the second image with the first image,

wherein the plurality of pre-captured images are generated between a first time corresponding to a completion of auto focusing on the input image according to the first shutter input signal and a second time corresponding to when the second shutter input signal is received.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first shutter input signal is a half-shutter signal and the second shutter input signal is a full-shutter signal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a face from the second image;

detecting an eye blink from the detected face; and

if the eye blink is detected, synthesizing an eye portion in the first image onto the second image.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether there is a shake in the second image, wherein the correcting of the second image comprises, if there is a shake in the second image, replacing the second image by the first image.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising storing the N first images.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein when a (N+1)^th first image is to be stored, one of the stored first images is removed in an order they are stored.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the plurality of pre-captured images comprises:

performing auto focusing on the input image according to the first shutter input signal; and

capturing N images at predetermined time intervals between the first time corresponding to the completion of the AF and the second time corresponding to when the second shutter input signal is received, and

wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein capturing the N images comprises:

detecting a face from each of the N images;

excluding one of the N images comprising a face having eyes blinking; and

selecting one of the remaining N images having no eyes blinking.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the correcting of the second image comprises:

cropping an eye portion of the selected first image and an eye portion of the second image; and

synthesizing the cropped eye portion of the first image onto the eye portion of the second image.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises selecting a first image captured at a time closest to when the second shutter input signal is received.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises selecting a first image having largest eyes from among the first images having no eyes blinking.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises:

comparing a size of the eyes of each of the first images comprising faces having no eyes blinking with a size of the eyes of the second image; and

selecting a first image which has eyes most similar in size to those of the second image.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises:

comparing a position of the eyes a face of each of the first images comprising faces having no eyes blinking with a position of the eyes of a face of the second image; and

selecting a first image which has eyes in a most similar position to that of the second image.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein capturing the N images comprises:

determining whether there is a shake in the N images;

excluding a first image with a shake from the N images; and

selecting one of the remaining images having no shake.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises selecting the first image based on:

an image with the smallest degree of a shake,

an image in which a coordinate in a particular region of the second image coincides with a coordinate of the first image, and

an image captured at a time close to when the second shutter input signal is received.

16. A method of controlling a digital photographing apparatus, the method comprising:

performing auto focusing on an input image according to a half-shutter input signal;

capturing a plurality of images by capturing the input image at predetermined time intervals after completion of the auto focusing, and storing the captured plurality of images;

selecting a first image from the plurality of images;

obtaining a second image by capturing the input image according to a full-shutter input signal;

detecting an eye blink from the second image and if the eye blink is detected,

wherein selecting the first image comprises selecting an image having no eye blink from among the plurality of images; and

cropping an eye portion of the selected first image and an eye portion of the second image and synthesizing the cropped eye portion of the first image onto the second image.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising removing the stored plurality of first images if the eye blink is not detected from the second image.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the selecting of the first image comprises selecting the first image based on at least one of whether the first image is captured at a time close to when the full-shutter input signal is received, whether the first image has the largest eyes from among the plurality of first images, whether the first image has eyes similar in size to those of the second image, and whether the first image has eyes in a similar position to that of the second image.

19. A digital photographing apparatus comprising:

a digital signal processor (DSP) that performs the following operations;

selecting a first image from pre-captured images of an input image according to a first shutter input signal,

capturing a second image of the input image according to a second shutter input signal, and

correcting the second image based on the first image by synthesizing a portion of the first image onto the second image or replacing the second image with the first image,

wherein the plurality of pre-captured images are generated between a first time corresponding to a completion of auto focusing on the input image according to the first shutter input signal and a second time corresponding to when the second shutter input signal is received.

20. The digital photographing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the first shutter input signal is a half-shutter signal and the second shutter input signal is a full-shutter signal.

21. The digital photographing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the DSP comprises:

a face detecting unit that detects a face from the second image;

a blink detecting unit that detects an eye blink from the detected face; and

a blink correcting unit that synthesizes an eye portion in the first image onto an eye portion of the second image if the eye blink is detected.

22. The digital photographing apparatus of claim 21, wherein the DSP selects one of the N first images based on at least one of whether:

a) the first image is captured at a time close to when the second shutter input signal is received, b) whether the first image has the largest eyes from among the plurality of first images, c) whether the first image has eyes similar in size to those of the second image, and d) whether the first image has eyes in a similar position to that of the second image.

23. The digital photographing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the DSP comprises:

a shake determining unit that determines whether there is a shake in the second image

and when there is a shake in the second image, determines whether there is a shake in

at least one first image; and

a shake correcting unit that, when there is a shake in the second image, selects a first image having no shake and replaces the second image by the selected first image.

24. The digital photographing apparatus of claim 19, wherein the DSP performs auto focusing on the input image according to the first shutter input signal and captures N images between a timing of completion of the AF and when the second shutter input signal is received, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1.