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:
Nov. 04, 2014
Filed:
May. 29, 2008
Makoto Oota, Kawasaki, JP;
Makoto Oota, Kawasaki, JP;
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image pickup apparatus includes a first image generatorthat generates a first unit image based on a signal read from the image pickup device with each read cycle of the signal, a detectorthat detects a luminance of the first unit image and detects a luminance variation in a plurality of the first unit images, a second image generatorthat amplifies the first unit image in accordance with the luminance to generate a second unit image if the luminance variation exists, and a controllerorthat generates a focus evaluation signal based on the second unit image to perform a focus control using the focus evaluation signal. The controller does not use the focus evaluation signal based on the second unit image generated from the first unit image in which the luminance is lower than that of a predetermined level for the focus control, and the controller uses the focus evaluation signal based on the second unit image generated from the first unit image in which the luminance is higher than that of the predetermined level for the focus control.