Qualcomm Incorporated

Leung Chun Chan

Hengzhou Ding

Lei Ma

Ying Chen Lou

Loic Francois Segapelli

Sanket Krishnamurthy Sagar

Fan Deng

Ruben Manuel Velarde

Ying Noyes

Jisoo Lee

Venkata Ravi Kiran Dayana

Ho Sang Lee

Liang Liang

Kyuseo Han

A method and apparatus for determining an auto white balance (AWB) gain based on determined depth information. The method may include receiving an image captured by an image sensor, determining depth information associated with the captured image, assigning weights to a plurality of illuminants based on the determined depth information, determining an auto white balance gain based on the assigned weights and statistics of the captured image, and applying the auto white balance gain to the captured image.

Depth assisted auto white balance

An apparatus includes an initializer configured to adjust one or more settings of a camera prior to initialization of the camera. The one or more settings are adjusted based on an indication of motion detected using at least one measurement performed by a sensor device. The apparatus further includes a processing device configured to execute a camera application to initialize the camera after adjustment of the one or more settings.

Sensor-based camera initialization

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to systems and methods for calibrating a flash for image capture. An example method may include receiving, from a camera, a first image of a scene captured with a first flash light source emitting light with a first color temperature and with a second flash light source emitting light with a second color temperature different from the first color temperature. The first flash light source and the second flash light source may be derived based on a first flash calibration setting of a number of stored flash calibration settings. The example method may also include determining a difference between a desired color characteristic for the first flash calibration setting and a color characteristic of the first image. The example method may further include adjusting the first flash calibration setting based on the determined difference.

Flash color calibration

Devices and methods for capturing images are described herein. A processor may be configured to capture a first image. The processor may further be configured to determine a distance between a lens and an image sensor of the image capture device for capturing the first image. The processor may further be configured to determine a portion of the image sensor to use for the first image based on the determined distance in order to maintain a constant field of view for one or more images captured by the image capture device. The processor may further be configured to adjust the portion of the image sensor used for the first image based on the determined portion of the image sensor to generate an adjusted first image.

Constant field of view for image capture

Methods and apparatuses for focus hunting prevention for phase detection auto focus (AF) are disclosed. In one aspect, the method is operable by an imaging device, for preventing focus hunting during a phase detection AF process. The method may include capturing an image of a scene and generating a phase difference value and a confidence level for the phase difference value based on the image. The method may also include calculating a focus hunting metric based at least in part on the phase difference value and the confidence level. The method may further include preventing focus hunting via at least one of preventing the start of the focus search and terminating the focus search, in response to the focus hunting metric meeting or exceeding a defined threshold value.

Focus hunting prevention for phase detection auto focus (AF)

Methods and imaging devices are disclosed for determining a first direction to move a lens in an autofocus operation. For example, one method includes capturing a plurality of frames depicting a scene, selecting a portion of at least one frame that corresponds to an object in a displayed frame, and tracking the object in the plurality of frames, where tracking the object provides a reference parameter of the object for each of the plurality of frames. The method may further includes detecting a change in the reference parameter of at least a first frame and a second frame of the plurality of frames, determining a focus direction based on the change in the reference parameter, and initiating a focus operation by moving a lens of the imaging device based on the determined focus direction.

Direction aware autofocus

Systems and methods for continuous automatic focus are disclosed. In some aspects, an object to focus on is selected from a field of view of a camera. At least one region of the field of view that includes the object is monitored for change. Regions of the field of view that do not include the object may not be monitored, thus improving efficiency and speed. If a change in the image content of the monitored region(s) occurs, the method may trigger a focus event. If the object moves to different region(s) of the field of view, the method detects the movement and adjusts the regions of the image being monitored to maintain focus on the object. In some aspects, the size of the object is also monitored. If the size of the object changes, a focus event may be triggered, depending on whether the amount of change exceeds predetermined parameters.

Systems and methods for continuous auto focus (CAF)

A method includes determining, at an image processor, a first time period associated with processing a first frame of an image captured via an image sensor. The method also includes extending a frame time for processing the first frame by a second time period. The second time period is based at least in part on an amount of permitted focus value contamination for processing the first frame, and the frame time includes the first time period and the second time period.

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San Diego, CA, United States of America

Leung Chun Chan