Image capturing apparatus

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-332281, filed on Dec. 25, 2007, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field

The present application relates to an image capturing apparatus which obtains an image by capturing an image of a subject.

2. Description of the Related Art

An electronic camera having an image sensor which separates a captured image of a subject into fields and reads the fields has been popularized. The applicant of the present invention has already proposed an electronic camera as an invention described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-135225. The proposed electronic camera can shorten the capturing interval by generating an image suited to be displayed on a display device for checking a captured result (hereinafter referred to as “quick view image”) or an image suited for list display (hereinafter referred to as “thumbnail image”) before completion of reading of all the fields.

The number of fields to be read however has increased with the recent advance of increase in the number of pixels used in the image sensor. For this reason, the time up to completion of reading of all the fields has become longer. As a result, the user\'s waiting time has become longer problematically.

A proposition of the present embodiments is to use the reading time from an image sensor efficiently.

To achieve the proposition, the image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing unit which separates a color image of a subject being captured by an image sensor having pixels of colors into three or more fields and outputs said three or more fields successively, and an image processing unit which generates a low-resolution image which is lower in resolution than the color image obtained by the image capturing unit, based on output of one or more fields among said three or more fields, said one or more fields being able to extract color information of all the colors, wherein the image processing unit starts generation of the low-resolution image in a period in which fields other than said one or more fields for generating the low-resolution image are read.

Incidentally, the low-resolution image is an image for checking a result of capturing, and the image capturing apparatus may further include a display unit which displays the low-resolution image when the low-resolution image is generated by the image processing unit.

The image capturing apparatus may further include a field selecting unit which selects one field from the fields, wherein the image processing unit includes a pre-processing part which performs pre-processing on the color image output from the image capturing unit and a post-processing part which directly receives an output of the pre-processing part and performs post-processing on the pre-processed color image, and when the low-resolution image is to be generated, the color image of one field selected by the field selecting unit is directly transferred from the pre-processing part to the post-processing part to thereby perform the pre-processing and the post-processing integrally and sequentially.

The image processing unit may generate a first image lower in resolution and a second image lower in resolution, and the field selecting unit may select one field for generating the first image and one field for generating the second image, respectively.

The image processing unit may include a pre-processing part which performs pre-processing on the color image output from the image capturing unit, a post-processing part which performs post-processing on the pre-processed color image, and a pixel averaging part which directly receives an output of the post-processing part and averages any pixels of the post-processed color image, and when the low-resolution image is to be generated, a first low-resolution image is generated by the post-processing part and the generated first low-resolution image is directly transferred from the post-processing part to the pixel averaging part to thereby generate a second low-resolution image which is lower in resolution than the first low-resolution image simultaneously.

The image processing unit may include a white balance adjusting part, and when the low-resolution image is to be generated, the white balance adjusting part performs white balance adjustment in accordance with a white balance adjustment value decided in advance.

The image processing unit may include a pre-processing part which performs pre-processing on the color image output from the image capturing unit and a post-processing part which performs post-processing on the pre-processed color image, the image capturing apparatus may further include a plurality of buffer memory areas which store the color image pre-processed by the pre-processing part and a high-speed continuous capturing mode which performs, as parallel processing, a process of performing the pre-processing on the color image of one frame output from the image capturing unit and storing the pre-processed color image in one of the buffer memory areas and a process of performing the post-processing on the color image of a previous frame stored in another of the buffer memory areas, and the image processing unit does not start generation of the low-resolution image in a period of reading of fields other than said one or more fields for generating the low-resolution image while image capturing is executed in the high-speed continuous capturing mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic camera 1 according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a Bayer arrangement.

Continue reading about Image capturing apparatus...
Full patent description for Image capturing apparatus

Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims

Click on the above for other options relating to this Image capturing apparatus patent application.
###


How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents
1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored.
3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords.  
Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Image capturing apparatus or other areas of interest.
###


Previous Patent Application:
Camera using preview image to select exposure
Next Patent Application:
Image sensor with adjusted gains in active and black pixels
Industry Class:
Television

###

Design/code © 2009 FreshContext LLC/Freshpatents.com. Website Terms and Conditions - Also read: About this Page
Patent data source: patents published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Information published here is for research/educational purposes only (and in conjunction with our Keyword Monitor) and is not meant to be used in place of the full USPTO patent document/images or a comprehensive patent archive search. Complete official applications are on file at the USPTO and often contain additional data/images (Freshpatents is currently text-only). FreshPatents.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO or firms/individuals or products/designs/ideas related to listed patents.

FreshPatents.com Support
Thank you for viewing the Image capturing apparatus patent info.
IP-related news and info


Results in 4.49943 seconds


Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories:
Accenture , Agouron Pharmaceuticals , Amgen , AT&T , Bausch & Lomb , Callaway Golf paws