Pioneer Corporation

Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Pioneer Electronic Corporation

Panasonic Corporation

Pioneer Display Products Corporation

Hirofumi Honda

Tetsuro Nagakubo

Tetsuya Shigeta

Masahiro Suzuki

Jun Kamiyamaguchi

Keiji Sato

Shuichiro Matsushima

Koji Ogaki

Toshinori Koba

Naru Hamada

Yasushi Kasai

Keiichi Inoue

Kenji Okumichi

Takashi Okushima

Yoshiyuki Watanabe

Daisuke Ishikawa

Kazunori Ishii

Hideyasu Hongu

Nobuhiko Saegusa

Atsushi Kato

Mitsuhiro Ishizuka

Makoto Yokozeki

Toshihiko Tomosada

Hirofumi Kawaguchi

Shunsuke Itakura

Kazuo Yahagi

Tomohiro Sugaya

Satoshi Yazaki

Hiroyuki Urakami

Takeharu Iwata

Kazunori Ochiai

Tetsuya Shigega

A control apparatus includes an optical zoom control unit configured to perform optical zoom, an electronic zoom control unit configured to perform electronic zoom, and a main control unit configured to control the optical zoom control unit and the electronic zoom control unit. The main control unit sets at least one of a start position and an end position of a first range in which the optical zoom and the electronic zoom are simultaneously performed based on a target zoom position and a specified zooming time specified by a user.

Control apparatus, image pickup apparatus, control method, and storage medium

A control apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire information on an optical image stabilization performance, and a correction unit configure to provide an electronic image stabilization. The correction unit changes a gain of the correction unit based on information on a shutter speed and information on the image stabilization performance.

In a motor control device, a rotational phase detection unit detects a rotational phase of a rotor of a stepping motor, and a driving waveform generation unit generates a driving waveform for driving the stepping motor. An advance angle control unit detects a phase difference (advance angle) between a rotational phase of the rotor and a phase of the driving waveform and controls an amplitude or a period of the driving waveform generated by the driving waveform generation unit to perform advance angle control. The advance angle control unit controls an amplitude of the driving waveform by determining a target advance angle based on a variation (advance angle change rate) of an advance angle with respect to a variation of an amplitude in accordance with a change in the advance angle when the amplitude of the driving waveform is changed.

Motor control device, motor control method, and optical apparatus

A control device for controlling a stepping motor includes at least one processor which function as a control unit configured to control the stepping motor through a first control method or a second control method by using a control signal, wherein the memory configured to store a plurality of locus data indicating a relationship between an advance angle and a rotation speed of the stepping motor at each waveform of the control signal, the advance angle being a phase difference between a phase corresponding to a rotation position of the stepping motor and a phase of the control signal, and wherein the control unit select one piece of locus data from the plurality of locus data stored in the memory before switching a control method between the first control method and the second control method.

Control device, optical device, control method, and storage medium

The position detection apparatus includes the first optical position detector used with an optical scale having periodic patterns. The first position detector receives lights from the periodic patterns when moving relatively to the optical scale with a movement of a movable member to generate first detection signals respectively changing at periods corresponding to periods of the periodic patterns. The second non-optical position detector generates a second detection signal changing with the movement of the movable member. The calculator produces a first position signal by using the first detection signals, produces a second position signal whose resolution is different from that of the first position signal, by using the second detection signal, and performs a calculation for combining the first and second position signals together to produce an absolute position signal.

Position detection apparatus, apparatus including the same and position detection method

A focus control apparatus having a first mode in which a position of a focus lens is automatically changed, and a second mode in which the position of the focus lens is manually changed, the focus control apparatus comprises: a setting unit configured to set a first area in the first mode and a second area in the second mode; a focus detection unit configured to detect a focus state based on signals output from areas of an image capturing unit; and a focus control unit configured to control the position of the focus lens in the first mode, wherein upon switching from the second mode to the first mode again, the setting unit sets the first area based on a second area that has been determined to be in an in-focus state.

Focus control apparatus, control method therefor, storage medium therefor, and image capturing apparatus

At least either of a location and a size of a subject area that is detected from an image by a first detection unit is corrected based on information about an area corresponding to the subject area detected by the first detection unit, the area being included in an area that is detected from the image by a second detection unit and in which the subject area can be estimated. A particular subject area can be detected in an image with higher accuracy.

Image processing apparatus and method for controlling the same, and image pickup apparatus

According to an embodiment, there is provided an information recording apparatus, such as a digital camera, arranged to record information on a detachably mountable storage medium, such as for example to record video data on the storage medium. In one version of the apparatus, when a connection of an AC adapter is cancelled, the storage medium is detected by a storage medium detection unit, and in a case where the storage medium is not mounted to the mounting unit, a warning is issued, for example in an audio output unit or a display unit. Accordingly, the user can find out that the storage medium is not mounted before the digital camera has been brought outside for use. Thus, it may be possible to prevent a failure in which the user first realizes that they forgot to mount the storage medium only when they are already away from home.

Information recording apparatus, and control method therefor

A data recording apparatus records data onto a recording medium having a flash memory in which data can be written in block units using a part of a recording region as an alternative block for a defect block in which normal data writing cannot be performed. The data recording apparatus causes a user to select one of plural recording modes including a first recording mode and a second recording mode in which an amount of data to be processed is larger than that of the first recording mode, then obtains data in the selected recording mode and stores the data onto the recording medium. If an alternative block remaining amount obtained from the recording medium is equal to or less than a threshold value, the data recording apparatus allows recording in the first recording mode and inhibits recording in the second recording mode.

Data recording apparatus with recording control based on defect block and control method thereof

A storing apparatus, equipped with a control unit configured to control the writing of data into a memory and to communicate a notice to an external device with a communication unit if the remaining amount of substitute blocks becomes equal to or less than a threshold value specified by stored threshold value information, includes the control unit configured to change the threshold value information, used for the notice communicated by the control unit, by the use of threshold value information received from the external device with the communication unit.

Storing apparatus

A drive control apparatusincludes a stepping motor-capable of performing a micro step drive having a predetermined division number by using a sinusoidal excitation current, a transmission mechanism--configured to transmit an energy generated by a drive of the stepping motor to a focus lensto move the focus lens, and a controller-configured to control the stepping motor-so that the number of micro steps in a micro step drive having the predetermined division number in a drive crossing a first phase is smaller than the number of micro steps in a drive crossing a second phase where a rotation angle of the stepping motor-is smaller than a rotation angle in the first phase.

Drive control apparatus, image pickup apparatus, and drive control method which perform micro step drive of stepping motor

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information recording apparatus, such as a digital camera, arranged to record information on a detachably mountable storage medium, such as for example to record video data on the storage medium. In one version of the apparatus, when a connection of an AC adapter is cancelled, the storage medium is detected by a storage medium detection unit, and in a case where the storage medium is not mounted to the mounting unit, a warning is issued, for example in an audio output unit or a display unit. Accordingly, the user can find out that the storage medium is not mounted before the digital camera has been brought outside for use. Thus, it may be possible to prevent a failure in which the user first realizes that they forgot to mount the storage medium only when they are already away from home.

A drive method of a plasma display panel that can increase the dark contrast, without causing a discharge failure. When a discharge cell that assumes a black display state in a first field from among first and a second fields that are adjacent in time and switches to a display state representing a brightness other than black in the second field is detected as a lighting transition cell, at least one drive of the below-described first and second forced lighting drives is executed. In the first forced lighting drive, the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of a predetermined subfield within the field in the first field. In the second forced lighting drive, an adjacent discharge cell that is adjacent to the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of the predetermined subfield in the second field.

Drive method of plasma display panel

A block noise removal device classifies interpixel differential values by using a block size N of the decoded video signal. The block noise removal device accumulates the interpixel differential values in the pixels disposed in the nth position. The results of the accumulation provide first to Nth block noise values. A block boundary position signal is produced that represents the pixel position in the pixel group that corresponds with the largest block noise value. The larger of two block noise values of the adjacent pixels on both sides of the pixel having the largest block noise value is taken as the phase error block noise value. A phase error signal is generated on the basis of the ratio between the phase error block noise value and the largest block noise value, block noise removal processing is effected, and the phase correction pixel sample value is obtained.

Block noise removal device

A block noise removal device calculates a block boundary correction value which indicates a correction amount for a pixel sample value immediately before a block boundary position and a correction amount for a pixel sample value immediately after the block boundary position for each block boundary position in a pixel sample value sequence. The block noise removal device obtains the block boundary correction value based on at least two consecutive pixel sample values immediately before the block boundary position and at least two consecutive pixel sample values immediately after the block boundary position. The block noise removal device generates a block noise correction signal representing a correction amount for the pixel sample values corresponding to respective pixels in the pixel block by performing interpolation computations based on the block boundary correction value found for each two adjacent block boundary positions.

Growing community of inventors

Machida, Japan

Hirofumi Honda