Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Olympus Corporation

Hiroaki Koseki

Osamu Inagaki

Hidetoshi Fukuda

Minoru Kakinuma

Kuniaki Saito

Takumi Momose

Toshihide Yamaoka

An electronic camera for generating an image having a wide dynamic range by synthesizing two image pickup signals of different exposure amount generated by using an electronic shutter function and unit for shutting off light, shading of image pickup signals resulting from difference in charge accumulating time among the pixels of image pickup device due to operation from opened state to closed state of the unit for shutting off light being corrected by a shading correction unit to form a synthesized image without an occurrence of false color due to shading.

Electronic camera that synthesizes two images taken under different exposures

Disclosed herein is an electronic camera for generating an image having a wide dynamic range by synthesizing two image pickup signals of different exposure amount generated by using an electronic shutter function and means for shutting off light, shading of image pickup signals resulting from difference in charge accumulating time among the pixels of image pickup device due to operation from opened state to closed state of the means for shutting off light being corrected by a shading correction means to form a synthesized image without an occurrence of false color due to shading. Also provided is an electronic camera generating two image pickup signals of different exposure amount by two shots of picture taking each using a flash emission in combination, at least one of an electronic shutter of image pickup device and means for shutting off light, as well as an emission of the flash emission means, being controlled to equalize between the two shots of picture taking ratio of exposure by normal light excluding light from the flash emission means and ratio of emission amount by the light from the flash emission means so that the two image pickup signals can be readily generated as having a predetermined exposure amount ratio in every part of a frame of picture even when a flash emission is used in combination.

Electronic camera for synthesizing two images having a white balance correction

An image pickup apparatus having a function for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts. A correcting section for correcting exposure amounts of at least one image signal of the image signals corresponding to the plurality of frames of different exposure amounts.

Image pickup apparatus

An image pickup apparatus having function for synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts to generate wide dynamic range, synthesized image is provided with: at least two control means among a taking control means based on a normal taking mode, a taking control means based on a forced wide dynamic range taking mode, and a taking control means based on an automatic wide dynamic range taking mode for selectively generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image automatically on the basis of object information or information set for the image taking; and means for selectively setting one image taking mode out of the taking modes respectively corresponding to the two control means. It is thereby possible to take image by selecting one image taking mode from at least two taking modes among the normal taking mode, the forced wide dynamic range taking mode, and the automatic wide dynamic range taking mode.

Image pickup apparatus for generating wide dynamic range synthesized image

A short-time exposure image data and a long-time exposure image data of the same object to be photographed are stored to SE memory and LE memory and then transferred to CPU, motion thereof being detected at a motion detecting section on the basis of the two image data; if no motion is detected, a wide dynamic range, synthesized image as synthesized at a synthesizing circuit on the basis of image data read out from the two memories and compressed is outputted through a selector controlled by CPU. If a motion is detected, the long-time exposure image data read out from the LE memory and processed at a signal processing circuit is outputted through the selector. An image pickup apparatus having a function for generating wide dynamic range, synthesized image by synthesizing image signals corresponding to a plurality of frames of different exposure amounts is thereby able to perform ON/OFF switching of the generating function of synthesized image on the basis of previously taken image data, so that a failed synthesized image can be prevented from being outputted.

An image pickup apparatus includes a lens as an image pickup optical system having a zooming function, an X-Y address type image pickup device in which a reading position in a two-dimensionally arranged pixels is designated by a combination of an X address and a Y address, an image pickup device driver which performs electronic zooming by changing an address range which is a combination of a range designated by the X address and a range designated by the Y address, and a digital processor which provides a substantially wider zoom range by controlling the electronic zooming and optical zooming in combination than by controlling one of the electronic zooming and the optical zooming.

An electronic camera for producing a composite image having a wide dynamic range and a high quality by composing first and second image signals obtained by picking-up an object successively two times with first and second stroboscopic flash exposures having a predetermined exposure amount ratio, including a CCD image sensing element, a stroboscopic flash device, and a flash light control circuit for controlling an excited emission of said stroboscopic flash device. At an end of the first exposure, the excited light emission from the stroboscopic flash device is temporarily stopped, but an excited condition of the stroboscopic flash device is kept. During this very short light emission interruption period, electrostatic charges stored in a light receiving section of the CCD image sensing element during the first exposure are transferred into a vertical transfer section. After that, the excited flash light is emitted again to perform the second exposure without recharging a trigger capacitance.

Electronic camera for producing an image having a wide dynamic range

An imaging display system including: an imaging apparatus including an X-Y addressing type solid-state imaging device, a motion detector for specifying a partial area within the whole image area of the solid-state imaging device, a block scan driving signal generator for generating a driving signal used to scan the pixels in a block, that is, an area specified by the motion detector, a thinning-out scan driving signal generator for generating a driving signal used to scan the pixels in the whole image area of the solid-state imaging device while thinning them at a given thinning ratio, and a driving signal switching unit for switching the block scan driving signal and thinning-out scan driving signal; and a display apparatus including a memory for storing picture information transmitted from the imaging apparatus, and a display unit for displaying a picture corresponding to the picture information stored in the memory.

Imaging display system having at least one scan driving signal generator and may include a block thinning-out signal and/or an entire image scanning signal

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Kokubunji, Japan

Hiroaki Koseki