Olympus Corporation

Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Hitoshi Hashimoto

Masami Kidono

Dai Kawase

Hideaki Yoshida

Keiichi Mori

Takayuki Kijima

Makoto Ikeda

Masaya Honda

Takeshi Kindaichi

An imaging apparatus comprises an imaging element, an imaging optical system configured to input an image of an object to the imaging element, a non-volatile memory part for storing defect data concerning the imaging element, and includes a first memory area storing initial defect data concerning the imaging element, and a second memory area different from the first memory area, a defect detection part for detecting defect data concerning the imaging element, and a control part for controlling reading and writing of the defect data on the imaging element from and to the non-volatile memory part, the control part writing, to the second memory area, defect data detected by the defect detection part.

Imaging apparatus that detects pixel defect of an imaging element and imaging method

An imaging device according to one aspect of the present invention has a CCD, a mechanical shutter which prevents transmission of incident light beams to the CCD, a main CPU which sequentially reads stored electric charges obtained by the CCD in a plurality of field cycles and calculates a signal amplification rate based on an image signal which relies on the stored electric charge read to the last field of the plurality of field cycles, and a non-volatile memory which stores the signal amplification rate. The above-described calculation may be executed by an external PC.

Imaging device and imaging device adjusting method

In an electronic camera according to the present invention, an electric charge is stored in a CCD as a light receiving signal having at least color information with respect to received light beams. Standard color information is acquired by an imaging circuit and a main CPU from the light receiving signal obtained by driving the CCD in such a manner that a stored electric charge quantity to be stored in the CCD becomes a predetermined quantity. On the other hand, reference color information is acquired from light receiving information obtained by driving the CCD. An application range of an amplification ratio of the light receiving signal determined based on the reference color information with respect to the standard color information is stored in a detachable memory.

Electric camera and signal amplification ratio adjusting method for therefor

There is provided an electronic camera comprising an imaging element which photo-electrically converts an object field light, a timing generator including an internal register in which timing of a drive signal used to operate the imaging element can be programmed, a power supply control portion which supplies a second voltage to the imaging element when a predetermined time has elapsed after supply of a first voltage to the timing generator, and a control portion which starts at least program setting in the internal register of the timing generator after elapse of a time that the timing generator requires to operate stably at the first voltage and before elapse of a time that the imaging element requires to operate stably at the second voltage.

Electronic camera

Image pickup apparatus which stores initial defect data concerning image pickup device and data on later developed defects

An automatic exposure ('AE'), control apparatus to prevent exposure errors resulting from 'smear.' Image-capturing is performed at a single exposure time TI (I=1, 2, . . . n); a CCD output is applied with a CCD drive signal to perform an integrating operation for a signal in an AE area using an integration circuit, and then outputs integration value EI+SI at each exposure time. A shutter trigger operation presents readout of an exposure value. An integrator value En+Sn obtained just before the shutter trigger operation, and a smear value Sn' obtained just after the shutter trigger operation are provided to an exposure operation/control circuit. The exposure operation/control circuit then performs an AE operation to receive En+Sn&#x2212;Sn&#x2248;En and compares the value to a target value for determining exposure conditions, and provides an AE operation value containing almost no smear component to determine an appropriate exposure condition.

Automatic exposure control apparatus and method

A subject image is formed on a CCD through an imaging optical system including a focusing lens. The output from the CCD is input, through an A/D converter and the like, to an AE processor circuit for performing an auto-exposure control processing and an AF processor circuit for obtaining an evaluation value for auto-focusing through a gate circuit. When a release operation is performed, a CPU drives the focusing lens and operates the AF processor circuit and the like at a high speed frame rate if the CPU determines, on the basis of brightness evaluation values from the AE processor circuit, that the brightness of the subject is equal to or higher than predetermined brightness, and drives the focusing lens and operates the AF processor circuit and the like with high precision at an ordinary frame rate if the CPU determines that the brightness of the subject is lower than the predetermined brightness, thereby performing auto-focusing.

Auto focusing apparatus selectively operable in an ordinary mode and a high speed mode

A signal processing apparatus includes a lens, an image sensing device placed on an imaging plane of the lens, and a limb darkening correction section which corrects limb darkening only in the horizontal direction of the image sensing device with respect to a video signal of an object sensed by the image sensing device.

Signal processing apparatus having a specific limb darkening correction

In an electronic still camera where the signal charges accumulated corresponding to the image of a subject formed by an imaging optical systemare read from a CCD and displayed on an LCD via an imaging circuit, an A/D converter, a buffer memory, and a D/A converter, or recorded on a recording memory via a compression/expansion circuit, the photoelectric conversion elements of the CCD are divided into groups composed of combinations of lines spaced at specific intervals, charge accumulation start timing is controlled in such a manner that the elements belonging to the same group start to accumulate charges with the same timing and the elements belonging to another group start to accumulate charges with different timing, an AF processing section finds an in-focus position from the image signal read from each of the photoelectric conversion element groups in the CCD, and on the basis of the in-focus position, a focus lens group is driven.

Imaging device and control method thereof

An electronic camera of the present invention includes a CCD, a diaphragm, an EEPROM, and a CPU. The CCD has a condenser micro-lens opposed to a light receptor. The diameter of the diaphragm is variable in relation to a plurality of f-numbers. In the EEPROM, data items of outputs of the CCD associated with the plurality of f-numbers or ratios of the outputs are stored in advance. The CPU calculates an exposure time according to an output of the CCD associated with a given f-number, controls exposure, and corrects an exposure time according to data stored in the EEPROM during recording.

An autofocusing system is comprised of an image pickup device which performs a photoelectric conversion of an image of a subject, formed through an imaging optical system, to produce an electric image signal. An image pickup unit, including the imaging optical system, produces the subject image. A driving device drives the image pickup unit through one of a first range and a second range the second range being smaller than the first range. A high-frequency component detecting device detects a high-frequency component in an image signal obtained while at least a portion of the image pickup device is shifted by a predetermined quantity through the use of the driving device. A focusing drive device adjusts a focal condition of an image by an image signal on the basis of an output of the high-frequency component detecting device. An infrared light detecting device includes a light-emitting device for radiating infrared light toward the subject and a light-receiving device for receiving reflected light produced by a reflection of the infrared light from the subject. The infrared light detecting device includes an output signal corresponding to a subject distance on the basis of an output of the light-receiving device. A calculating device calculates a subject distance on the basis of an output of the infrared light detecting device. A control unit drives the image pickup unit in the first range when the subject distance calculated by said calculating device is shorter than a predetermined distance and drives the image pickup unit in the second range when the subject distance is longer than the predetermined distance.

Autofocusing system

In an electronic imaging system, the focal point control is performed on the basis of the output of the high frequency component detecting means when the brightness of the scene is higher than a predetermined brightness, and the focal point control is performed on the basis of the output of the light detecting means when the brightness of the scene is lower than the predetermined brightness. The output of the light detecting means is obtained by controlling a power supply to cut off current or supply a relatively low current flowing in the imaging means and then driving the light detecting means for emission of light toward the scene and reception of light reflected light from the scene.

Electronic imaging system

In an automatic exposure control apparatus, image-capturing is performed at a double exposure time TI (I&equals;1, 2, . . . ) and a single exposure time; a CCD output therein produced is applied with a CCD drive signal to perform an integrating operation for a signal in an AE area by using an integration circuit, and then outputs integration values 2EI&plus;SI and EI&prime;&plus;SI&prime; to an exposure operation/control circuit; and the exposure operation/control circuit then performs an AE operation to receive 2EI&plus;SI&minus;(EI&prime;&plus;SI&prime;)&ap;EI and compares the value to a target value for determining exposure conditions, and upon receipt of a shutter trigger, it uses an AE operation value containing almost no smear component to determine an appropriate exposure condition even in actual image-recording. According to the apparatus herein stated, exposure errors resulting from smears can be prevented.

Automatic exposure control apparatus

An electronic camera is disclosed, which comprises a CCD image pick-up device , a CCD driver for setting the photoelectric charge accumulation time of the CCD image pick-up device, an image pick-up circuit including gain control means, for processing a signal from the CCD image pick-up device to obtain an image signal, and CPU for sequentially executing an AE, an AF and an AWB process according to an AE, an AF and an AWB evaluation values obtained by using the image signal. The gain of the image signal is updated by adding &frac13; of the change in a gain setting value obtained in the AE process executed by the CPU for each frame. The image brightness is thus varied smoothly to provide movie images not giving any sense of uncomfortability.

Growing community of inventors

Sagamihara, Japan

Hitoshi Hashimoto