The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 31, 2012
Filed:
Apr. 10, 2009
Junko Nagahata, Osaka, JP;
Hisamo Sogawa, Hyogo, JP;
Tsuyoshi Kishimoto, Hyogo, JP;
Toshio Katayama, Osaka, JP;
Junko Nagahata, Osaka, JP;
Hisamo Sogawa, Hyogo, JP;
Tsuyoshi Kishimoto, Hyogo, JP;
Toshio Katayama, Osaka, JP;
Sony Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
In an image pickup apparatus, a light receiving unit produces a first signal at a first timing and a second signal at a second timing later than the first timing. First and second parameters for detecting a scene change are acquired based on the first and second signals, respectively. The presence or the absence of a scene change is determined based on both the parameters. The apparatus further includes a selecting unit configured to select a focusing target AF area from among a plurality of AF areas, and a focusing control unit configured to execute focusing control by using focusing information with respect to the AF area selected by the selecting unit. When the determining unit determines that the scene change is not present, the selecting unit selects the AF area having been selected at the first timing, as the focusing target AF area, at the second timing continuously.