Funai Electric Company Ltd.

Osaka University

Yoshizumi Nakao

Takashi Toyoda

Yasuo Masaki

Yoshimasa Imahori

Ryoichi Horisaki

Jun Tanida

Seiji Takemoto

Kouichi Kugo

This image display apparatus includes laser beam source portions, a synthesized beam generation portion, a control portion, a branching unit, and a detection portion, while the branching unit has a reflectance or transmittance with increase/decrease characteristics opposite to increase/decrease characteristics of the outputs of laser beams in increasing or decreasing the outputs of the laser beams of color components according to changes of the wavelengths of the laser beams of the color components in order to maintain the prescribed color state of a synthesized beam.

Image display apparatus and optical component

A compound-eye imaging device comprises an imaging device body having 9 optical lenses and a solid-state imaging element for imaging unit images formed by the optical lenses. Assuming that the combination of each of the optical lenses with a corresponding divided area of the solid-state imaging element to image each of the corresponding unit images is an imaging unit, thereby forming multiple imaging units, the respective imaging units have randomly different optical imaging conditions. For example, the focal lengths of the 9 optical lenses are set to have random values in which the optical lenses are arranged to have random distances between adjacent ones thereof in a direction parallel to the major surface of the solid-state imaging element. This compound-eye imaging device substantially prevents unit images formed by respective imaging units from being the same, making it possible to easily increase the definition of a reconstructed image.

Compound-eye imaging device

An imaginary object plane is set in front of an imaging device body (plane setting step). A part of optical conditions of optical lenses are changed as variables, and positions of points (pixel observation points) on the imaginary object plane where lights coming from pixels of a solid-state imaging element and back-projected through the optical lenses are calculated (pixel observation point calculating step). The dispersion in position of the calculated pixel observation points is evaluated (evaluating step). Finally, a set of values of the variables giving maximum evaluated dispersion of the calculated pixel observation points is determined as optimum optical condition of the optical lenses (condition determining step). This reduces the number of pixels which image the same portions of the target object, making it possible to reduce portions of the same image information in multiple unit images, and to stably obtain a reconstructed image having a high definition.

Optical condition design method for a compound-eye imaging device

A panoramic imaging device comprises: a photodetector array; a lens array having, on one plane, a center lens for receiving light in a front range of 36&#xb0; to form a central unit image on the photodetector array, and left and right side lenses for receiving lights in left and right ranges each of 72&#xb0; in capture angle of 180&#xb0;; and four prisms in two pairs placed facing the side lenses. The two pairs of left and right prisms (more inclined and less inclined pairs) collect lights in divided two pairs of left and right ranges each of 36&#xb0; in the 72&#xb0; range (pairs closer to, and farther from, the front range), respectively, to form four side unit images on the photodetector array which are combined with the central unit image to reproduce a panoramic image without using wide-angle lenses or complex image correction process.

Panoramic imaging device

A compound-eye imaging device comprises a flash control means for controlling a flash unit to alternatively emit two kinds of near-infrared lights having different wavelengths while multiple single-eye images are read using a rolling shutter; a single-eye image reading means for reading, from the single-eye images, a single-eye image (hereafter 'pre-change single-eye image') imaged under a first illumination condition before an illumination condition change by the flash control means, and a single-eye image (hereafter 'post-change single-eye image') imaged under a second illumination condition after the illumination condition change; and an eye position detecting means for detecting eye positions in the single-eye images based on a comparison between the read pre-change and post-change single-eye images. This imaging device can further comprise: a face extracting means for extracting a face area based on the detected eye positions; and a personal identification means for performing personal identification based on the extracted face area.

An image capturing device includes an image capturing unit, a fitting member, and a cover member. The image capturing unit captures a plurality of unit images having parallax by using a lens array having a plurality of unit lenses, and a prism. The fitting member is provided with a mounting portion upon which said prism is mounted. The cover member is put onto the fitting member from its side which faces the mounting portion. The mounting portion has a shape which, in the state in which the prism is mounted, grips two contiguous faces of the prism. And the cover member has a pair of claws which, when the cover member is put onto the fitting member, squeeze two contiguous faces of the prism which is mounted to the mounting portion.

Image capturing device

A center lens for collecting light in a center range and left/right lenses for collecting light in left/right ranges are supported in one plane to form center and left/right unit images. A microprocessor combines the unit images into a wide-angle image. The left/right optical lenses are placed on left-right direction line parallel to the wide-angle direction, while the center lens is placed distant from the left/right lenses above the direction line. Prisms are placed in front of the left/right lenses, and a toroidal lens to vertically modify the light path for light convergence onto each lens is placed in front of the prisms. The toroidal lens has a vertically curved surface having an axis coinciding with the direction line, and a horizontally cured surface having an axis coinciding with a vertical line passing through the center lens. This device can obtain a wide-angle image with a vertically large picture angle.

Wide-angle compound-eye imaging device

This image capturing device includes a fitting member, a lens attached by adhesive to the fitting member, and a light reception element. The light reception element is disposed so as to face the lens attached to the fitting member, and an image of a photographic subject is projected upon this light reception element by the lens. An image output unit is also provided which outputs this image of the photographic subject projected upon the light reception element by the lens. And an application aperture for adhesive is provided in the fitting member at a position facing a region of the lens which does not contribute to the image of the photographic subject outputted by the image output unit. Desirably, a plurality of such admission apertures are provided.

An image pickup apparatus includes a first lens for converging light incident thereto through a first field area, a first prism to which light is incident through a second field area at a right of the first field area, a second lens for converging the light emitted from the first prism, a second prism to which light is incident through a third field area at a left of the first field area, and a third lens for converging the light emitted from the second prism. The respective lenses are placed at areas corresponding to the vertices of a triangle in a front view.

Image pickup apparatus

A photographic device includes an image sensor in which a plurality of pixels are arrayed. A vertical scan circuit selects horizontal drive lines of the image sensor in order. And a horizontal scan circuit reads out in order voltages due to electric charges from the pixels in the horizontal row which is selected by the vertical scan circuit. A plurality of optical lenses are arranged in a direction parallel to the vertical drive lines, and these optical lenses form images of the same photographic regions upon respective pixel regions which face them. The voltages due to electric charges are read out in order from the pixels, and a plurality of images are acquired with some time difference between them. The emission of light by a light source is controlled, so that photography in each of the pixel regions is performed in different photographic conditions.

Photographic device for obtaining a plurality of images at a time by rolling shutter method

A compound-eye imaging device comprises nine optical lenses arranged in a matrix array of three rows and three columns, and a solid-state imaging element for capturing unit images formed by the optical lenses. A stray light blocking member having a rectangular-shaped window is provided on the capture zone side of the optical lenses, eliminating the need to provide, between the solid-state imaging element and the optical lenses, walls by which light propagation paths of lights emitted from the optical lenses are partitioned from each other. The stray light blocking member blocks incident lights in a range outside each effective incident view angle range of each optical lens. This prevents the light entering each optical lens to form a unit image from interfering with other unit images formed by adjacent optical lenses, thereby obtaining a good quality image, without complicating the manufacturing process and increasing the cost thereof.

A motion detection imaging device comprises an imaging element and an optical lens system for collecting light entering in a capture range to form images on the imaging element. The optical lens system comprises: an optical lens array having center lenses for collecting light in a front capture range and left/right side lenses for collecting lights in side capture ranges; and prisms for guiding lights in the side capture ranges to the side lenses. The imaging device further comprises: a timing generator for allowing images formed by the lenses to be imaged with a time difference between in-row images; and a microprocessor for reproducing wide angle images from the in-row images by one operation of a shutter to detect movement of a target based on difference between the wide angle images. The imaging device with simple structure can monitor, with high probability, a target moving fast in a wide range.

Motion detection imaging device

A panoramic imaging device comprises: a lens array having a center lens for receiving light entering in a front range of at most 60&#xb0; in a capture angle and left and right side lenses formed on the same plane as that with the center lens formed thereon and having optical axes parallel to that of the center lens for receiving lights entering in left and right ranges each of at most 60&#xb0; in the capture angle; and prisms or mirrors placed on light entrance side of the lens array for guiding and reflecting lights entering in the left and right ranges, such that each light entering each side lens is directed along the optical axis of each side lens. Images formed by the center lens and the left and right side lenses are combined into a panoramic image with a picture angle of at least 120&#xb0;.

A compound-eye imaging device comprises: an optical lens array with integrated multiple optical lenses; a photodetector array for imaging images formed by the optical lenses; and a light shielding block placed between the two arrays for partitioning a space between the two arrays into a matrix of spaces as seen on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of each optical lens so as to prevent lights emitted from the optical lenses from interfering each other. The light shielding block is formed of flat unit plates of two kinds having different thicknesses and stacked between the optical lens array and the photodetector array. Since the light shielding block is formed of stacked flat unit plates, it is easy to manufacture a light shielding block having apertures with dense structure having a small distance between adjacent apertures, and also easy to adapt to variations in focal length of the optical lenses.

Growing community of inventors

Daito, Japan

Yoshizumi Nakao