Olympus Optical Company, Ltd.

Olympus Corporation

Olympus Imaging Corporation

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Masafumi Yamasaki

Katsuhiko Tsunefuji

Toshiyuki Toyofuku

Yoshihisa Maitani

Toshinobu Haruki

Nobuhide Dotsubo

Hideto Hayashi

Junichi Itoh

Shinichi Kodama

Kimihiko Nishioka

Tetsuya Toyoda

Kazuo Nakamura

Shinji Kaneko

Yoshinori Matsuzawa

Takashi Tsukaya

Kenichi Oinoue

Kouichi Karaki

Atsushi Yusa

Muneaki Yoshida

Masao Tamashima

Katsumi Terada

The present invention provides an electronic blurring compensation device applied to a digital camera that includes an angular rate sensor for detecting blurring of an image, an solid-state image pickup element for shooting continuously over time a plurality of images, compensating mutual blurring of the plurality of shot images in accordance with the amount of blurring detected by the angular rate sensor, and generating one image by synthesizing the plurality of compensated images, and a CPU for controlling the number of continuous shootings by the solid-state image pickup element such that the total amount of blurring over the plurality of continuously shot images falls within a previously set predetermined value.

Electronic blurring compensation device and electronic blurring compensation method

A blur correction device is disclosed, which acquires a plurality of time-division images, each captured for a time-division exposure time having a period that is an integral multiple of an image reading cycle of an image pickup device, to generate a blur-corrected image from the plurality of time-division images. According to this blur correction device, since the exposure times for the plurality of time-division images are substantially continuous, an image in which the trajectory of a moving body is continuous can be obtained.

Electronic blur correction device and electronic blur correction method

In an electronic blur correction device, imaging for a time-division exposure time is repeated m times (m is an integer of 2 or more), captured images are amplified by a factor of m to obtain a plurality of time-divided images, and an image for which blur is corrected is generated from the plurality of time-divided images. Here, the time-division exposure time is an exposure time that is obtained by dividing a proper exposure time by m and is shorter than a blur tolerable limit exposure time.

An electronic blurring correction apparatus in the present invention includes a solid-state image-capturing device, which has an image-capturing section with photodiodes and vertical transfer CCD and an accumulation section with a vertical transfer CCD and a horizontal transfer CCD, wherein a first image transferred from the image-capturing section is accumulated in the vertical transfer CCD, relative blurring between the first image and a second image which is already accumulated in the horizontal transfer CCD is corrected by shifting the first image within the vertical transfer CCD and shifting the second image within the horizontal transfer CCD, and thereafter a composite image, which is obtained by combining the first image and the second image, is accumulated as a new second image in the horizontal transfer CCD.

Electronic blurring correction apparatus

The present invention provides an electronic blurring correction apparatus, comprising: a solid-state image-capturing device having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form; an angular speed sensor which detects blurring of an optical image formed on the solid-state image-capturing device; and a CPU which computes an optimum exposure time, time-divides this exposure time so that the time-divided exposure time becomes equal to or shorter than limit exposure time which is determined according to the focal distance for a shooting lens and in which blurring does not occur, and causes the solid-state image-capturing device to perform exposure a plurality of times, wherein the solid-state image-capturing device uses a horizontal transfer register and a vertical transfer register provided therein to shift and correct relative blurring among a plurality of images obtained in time-shared shooting, adds up the plurality of images after the blurring is corrected, and thereafter outputs the corrected images.

A mobile information apparatus having first and second operation modes includes upper, middle, and lower bodies of equipment arranged in layers, a hinge for pivotally connecting the upper body of equipment to the middle body of equipment so that the upper and middle bodies of equipment have folded and unfolded positions, a hinge for pivotally connecting the middle body of equipment to the lower body of equipment so that the middle and lower bodies of equipment have folded and unfolded positions, a first operation switch mounted on at least one of the upper body of equipment and the middle body of equipment and allowing the mobile information apparatus to operate in the first operation mode when the upper and middle bodies of equipment are in the unfolded positions, and a second operation switch mounted on at least one of the middle body of equipment and the lower body of equipment and allowing the mobile information apparatus to operate in the second operation mode when the middle and lower bodies of equipment are in the unfolded positions.

Mobile information apparatus

A head-mounted camera of the present invention includes the following elements. A first image pickup device includes a first photographing optical system that can change the focal distance and a CCD for converting a subject image formed by the first photographing optical system into an image signal. A see-through image display portion displays a photographic frame indicating the photographic range as a virtual image so that it is superimposed on a subject substantially directly observed by a photographer. A remote controller includes a second operation switch for setting the visual angle of the photographic frame when viewed from the photographer. A controller/recorder includes a first CPU for setting the focal distance of the first photographing optical system so that the visual angle of the photographic frame set by the second operation switch coincides with the field angle of the first image pickup device.

Camera and photographing method for setting focal distance of photographing optical system so as to correspond to information that indicates photographic range inputted via an operation section

A shake compensating device for optical devices includes an optical system for forming an image of an object; a reflecting surface placed in the optical path of the optical system, a first substrate having a first electrode, placed adjacent to the reflecting surface; a second substrate fixed to an optical device, placed opposite to the first substrate and having a second electrode at a position opposite to the first electrode; a voltage control circuit for applying voltages across the first electrode and the second electrode, one of which is divided into a plurality of electrodes; and a detecting unit for detecting the shake angle of the optical device. In this case, the voltage control circuit controls the voltages applied across the divided electrodes and the other electrode opposite thereto in accordance with the output of the detecting unit.

Shake compensation device for optical devices using a mirror to compensate for the shake

An image capturing apparatus includes a biological information recording section for recording biological information concerning movement of a photographer in association with time information representing a relative elapsed time since commencement of recording of the biological information. An image data recording section records image data in association with the time information. The apparatus also includes an image editing processing section for reading the image data recorded by the image data recording section and performing a predetermined an editing processing on the read image data, on the basis of the biological information recorded at the same time as the read image data.

Image editing device and image editing method

The present invention provides an image capturing apparatus which captures moving images using a head mounted camera, records the obtained moving image data in a disk drive unit by dividing the moving image data into multiple blocks, records program chain information indicating the playback sequence of this moving image data, elapsed time relative from the time when the moving image data of each block is shot, biological information such as line-of-sight direction information detected simultaneously with the moving image data, the angular velocity information of the head, and the like, and information for detecting elapsed time relative from the time when this biological information is detected, in the disk drive unit, and automatically subjects the moving image data to editing such as cutting, blurring correction, zooming, electronic zooming, or the like based on the recorded biological information.

Image capturing apparatus

An image capturing apparatus includes an image capturing device for generating image data, a line-of-sight-direction/angular velocity detecting portion for detecting biological information, such as the direction of a line of sight of a photographer or the angular velocity of the head of the photographer, when the photographer observes a subject, and a controller/recorder. Among those elements, the image capturing device and the line-of-sight-direction/angular-velocity detecting portion are worn on the head of the photographer. The controller/recorder records, in a recording memory, the image data and the biological information in association with each other together with time information concerning a time at which the image data is obtained and a time at which the biological information is obtained. Then, based on the recorded biological information, the recorded image data is edited.

A head-mounted display apparatus comprises a see-through image display portion for setting a display frame in a display-capable range, and displaying an image in such a manner that the image is superimposed on an image of the external environment in the display frame, an angular velocity sensor for detecting the tilting angle of the head of an observer; an LCD driver, a second CPU and the like which control the display frame to move in an amount corresponding to the angle detected by the angle detection means in the direction opposite to the tilting direction of the observer's head, whereby the position of a virtual image, observed by the observer, is kept substantially constant, irrespective of the tilting of the observer's head, and first CPU which controls the apparatus so that the mode of the apparatus is automatically changed to a low consumption power mode.

Head-mounted display apparatus

An information display system according to the present invention includes a head-mounted unit having a see-through information display portion displaying images so that the images can be observed as virtual images, a first transmitter-receiver for receiving a power supply instruction signal for supplying electric power from a main unit by radio, and a first power supply circuit including a battery for supplying electric power to the head-mounted unit on receiving the power supply instruction signal; and the main unit having a second power supply circuit including a battery for supplying electric power to the main unit on receiving the operation of a power supply switch and a second transmitter-receiver for transmitting the power supply instruction signal to the head-mounted unit by radio simultaneously with the power supplying to the main unit.

Information display system

An electronic camera comprises imaging means for imaging an image of an object, first image creating means for creating a first image based on the image imaged by the imaging means, operating means for setting information indicating a predetermined process, first transmission means for transmitting the first image and the information indicating the predetermined process to a center via a communication line, reception means for receiving an image transmitted from the center according to a processing result of the first image, display means for displaying the image received by the reception means, and second transmission means for transmitting to the center a second image having a larger number of pixels than an image corresponding to the first image.

Electronic camera, imaging system and imaging method

According to this invention, an electronic photographing device includes: a recording medium for recording image information corresponding to each frame photographed by panorama photographing; a predicted number of panorama-photographed frames setting device for setting information corresponding to the predicted number of photographed frames to be photographed by panoramic photographing; a number of available frames setting device for setting the number of frames which can be photographed on the basis of a capacity of the recording medium; a comparison device for comparing the number of available frames set by the number of available frames setting device with the predicted number of photographed set by the predicted number of panorama-photographed frames setting device; and a warning device for warning the user that a spare recording medium is required as a result of comparison by the comparison device if the number of available frames set by the number of available frames setting device is smaller than the predicted number of photographed frames set by the predicted number of panorama-photographed frames setting device.

Growing community of inventors

Hachioji, Japan

Masafumi Yamasaki