U.S. patent application number 11/961497 was filed with the patent office on 2009-06-25 for remote determination of image-acquisition settings and opportunities.
Invention is credited to Andrew C. Blose, John N. Border, John R. Fredlund, Andrew C. Gallagher, Kevin M. Gobeyn, Bruce H. Pillman, Michael J. Telek, Richard B. Wheeler.
Application Number | 20090160970 11/961497 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40460007 |
Filed Date | 2009-06-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090160970 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Fredlund; John R. ; et
al. |
June 25, 2009 |
REMOTE DETERMINATION OF IMAGE-ACQUISITION SETTINGS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
Abstract
Pre-image-acquisition information is obtained by a digital
camera and transmitted to a system external to the digital camera.
The system is configured to provide image-acquisition settings to
the digital camera. In this regard, the digital camera receives the
image-acquisition settings from the external system and performs an
image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received
image-acquisition settings. Accordingly, the determination of
image-acquisition settings can be performed remotely from the
digital camera, where data-processing resources can greatly exceed
those within the digital camera.
Inventors: |
Fredlund; John R.;
(Rochester, NY) ; Pillman; Bruce H.; (Rochester,
NY) ; Gallagher; Andrew C.; (Fairport, NY) ;
Blose; Andrew C.; (Penfield, NY) ; Border; John
N.; (Walworth, NY) ; Gobeyn; Kevin M.;
(Rochester, NY) ; Wheeler; Richard B.; (Webster,
NY) ; Telek; Michael J.; (Pittsford, NY) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Patent Legal Staff;Eastman Kodak Company
343 State Street
Rochester
NY
14650-2201
US
|
Family ID: |
40460007 |
Appl. No.: |
11/961497 |
Filed: |
December 20, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
348/229.1 ;
348/E5.034 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 5/232 20130101;
H04N 5/235 20130101; H04N 5/232939 20180801 |
Class at
Publication: |
348/229.1 ;
348/E05.034 |
International
Class: |
H04N 5/235 20060101
H04N005/235 |
Claims
1. A method implemented by a digital camera for identifying
image-acquisition settings, the method comprising the steps of:
obtaining pre-image-acquisition information; transmitting the
pre-image-acquisition information to a system external to the
digital camera, the system configured to provide image-acquisition
settings; receiving the image-acquisition settings from the system
in response to the transmitting step; and performing an
image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received
image-acquisition settings or a derivative thereof.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the
pre-image-acquisition information is received from a system
external to the digital camera.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the system is a portable digital
assistant, another camera, or a server.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-image-acquisition
information includes only an announcement of the digital camera's
presence.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-image-acquisition
information includes an announcement of the digital camera's
presence.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of
determining that it is appropriate to perform the image-acquisition
sequence based at least upon an analysis of the received
image-acquisition settings.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of
determining that performing the image-acquisition sequence is not
appropriate based at least upon an analysis of the received
image-acquisition settings.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of presenting
an indication configured to warn a user of the digital camera that
performing the image-acquisition sequence is not appropriate.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of modifying
the image acquisition settings to improve the appropriateness of
performing the image-acquisition sequence.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the image-acquisition sequence
involves multiple image acquisitions, and wherein the multiple
images are configured to be synthesized into a single image, a
collage, or a video.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the received image-acquisition
settings include an indication that performing the
image-acquisition sequence is permitted, and wherein the method
further comprises the step of determining that the
image-acquisition sequence is permitted based at least upon the
indication.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
generating image data from the image-acquisition sequence; and
transmitting at least the image data and the pre-image-acquisition
information to an image processing system external to the digital
camera for processing.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the image-processing system and
the system configured to provide image-acquisition settings are a
same system.
14. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of
receiving a processed image from the image processing system in
response to the step of transmitting the image data and the
pre-image-acquisition information.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of
obtaining image-acquisition information contemporaneously with the
step of performing the image-acquisition sequence, wherein the step
of transmitting at least the image data and the
pre-image-acquisition information includes transmitting at least
the image data, the pre-image acquisition information, and the
acquisition information.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the image-acquisition
information includes audio information, illumination information,
camera position information, camera orientation information, motion
information, temperature information, humidity information, ceiling
detection information, distance-to-subject information, or spectral
information.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein information in the
pre-image-acquisition information and the image-acquisition
information is of a same category.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of
verifying consistency between the information of the same
category.
19. The method of claim 1, wherein the image-acquisition sequence
involves multiple image acquisitions, and wherein the received
image acquisition settings include different image acquisition
settings for different ones of the multiple image acquisitions.
20. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of
determining what metadata or an amount of detail in metadata that
is recorded by a digital camera along with the image-acquisition
sequence based at least upon an analysis of the received
image-acquisition settings.
21. The method of claim 11, wherein the pre-image-acquisition
information includes (a) digital camera location information, (b)
digital camera orientation information, (c) image content
information from an image acquired by the digital camera just prior
to performing the image acquisition sequence, or (d) combinations
thereof, from which the indication that performing the
image-acquisition sequence is permitted is based.
22. The method of claim 1, wherein (1) the pre-image-acquisition
information includes (a) digital camera location information, (b)
digital camera orientation information, (c) image content
information from an image acquired by the digital camera just prior
to performing the image acquisition sequence, or (d) combinations
thereof, (2) the image-acquisition settings limit the digital
camera to using at least (a) a particular image-acquisition mode or
parameter or (b) one of a particular set of image-acquisition modes
or parameters, and (3) the image-acquisition settings are
configured to prevent (a) a particular use of the digital camera or
(b) a particular object from being represented in an image acquired
by the digital camera.
23. The method of claim 22, wherein an the image-acquisition
mode(s) or parameter(s) include(s) a focus distance, a camera
operating mode, a flash mode, a still or video mode, or a panorama
or non-panorama mode.
24. A method implemented by a digital camera for identifying an
image-acquisition opportunity, the method comprising the steps of:
obtaining pre-image-acquisition information indicating at least a
present time; transmitting the pre-image acquisition information to
a system external to the digital camera; receiving
image-opportunity information from the system in response to the
transmitting step, the image-opportunity information configured to
guide a user of the digital camera towards the image acquisition
opportunity, wherein the image-opportunity information indicates at
least a time period in which the image-acquisition opportunity
exists; and presenting the image-opportunity information in a
manner configured to present the image-opportunity information, or
a derivative thereof, to a user of the digital camera.
25. A system comprising: an image-acquisition-setting ("IAS")
providing system configured to provide image-acquisition settings;
and a digital camera external to the IAS providing system, the
digital camera configured at least to: obtain pre-image-acquisition
information; transmit the pre-image-acquisition information to the
IAS providing system; receive image-acquisition settings from the
IAS providing system in response to transmitting the pre-image
acquisition information to the IAS providing system; and performing
an image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received
image-acquisition settings.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to remote determination of
image-acquisition settings and opportunities for a digital camera
based at least upon pre-image-acquisition information obtained by
the digital camera.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Many parameters affect the quality and usefulness of an
image of a scene acquired by a camera. For example, parameters
configured to control exposure time affect motion blur, parameters
configured to control f/number affect depth-of-field, and so forth.
In many cameras, all or some of these parameters can be controlled
and are conveniently referred to herein as image-acquisition
settings.
[0003] Methods for controlling exposure and focus parameters are
well known in both film-based and electronic cameras. However, the
level of intelligence in these systems is limited by resource and
time constraints in the camera. In many cases, knowing the type of
scene being acquired can lead easily to improved selection of
image-acquisition parameters. For example, knowing a scene is a
portrait allows the camera to select a wider aperture to minimize
depth-of-field. Knowing a scene is a sports/action scene allows the
camera to automatically limit exposure time to control motion blur
and adjust gain (exposure index) and aperture accordingly. Knowing
the scene is a sunset suggests that the color balance will be
shifted from the norm and that high saturation is likely to be
desired. Knowing a scene is a snow scene indicates that a special
mapping of input brightness to output values is desired. Because
this knowledge is useful in guiding simple exposure control
systems, many film, video, and digital still cameras include a
number of scene modes that can be selected by the user. These scene
modes are essentially collections of image-acquisition settings,
which direct the camera to optimize parameters given the user's
selection of scene type.
[0004] The use of scene modes is limited in several ways. One
limitation is that the user must select a scene mode for it to be
effective, which is often inconvenient, and shifts the burden of
scene determination from the image-acquisition device to the user.
The average user generally understands little of the utility and
usage of the scene modes.
[0005] A second limitation is that scene modes tend to oversimplify
the possible kinds of scenes being acquired. For example, a common
scene mode is "portrait", which is optimized for capturing images
of people. Another common scene mode is "snow", which is optimized
to acquire a subject against a background of snow with different
parameters. If a user wishes to acquire a portrait against a snowy
background, the user must choose either portrait or snow, but the
user cannot combine aspects of each. Many other combinations exist,
and creating scene modes for the varying combinations is cumbersome
at best. In another example, a backlit scene can be very much like
a scene with a snowy background, in that subject matter is
surrounded by background with a higher brightness. Few users are
likely to understand the concept of a backlit scene and realize it
has crucial similarity to a "snow" scene. A camera developer
wishing to help users with backlit scenes will probably have to add
a scene mode for backlit scenes, even though it may be identical to
the snow scene mode.
[0006] Both of these scenarios illustrate the problems of
describing photographic scenes in way accessible to a casual user.
The number of scene modes required expands greatly and becomes
difficult to navigate. The proliferation of scene modes ends up
exacerbating the problem that many users find scene modes
excessively complex.
[0007] Attempts to automate the selection of a scene mode have been
made, for example, in United States Patent Application Publication
No. 2003/0007076 by Noriyuki Okisu et al. and U.S. Pat. No.
6,301,440, to Rudolf M. Bolle et al. A limitation on such automated
methods is that they tend to be computationally intensive relative
to the simpler methods. In this regard, cameras tend to be
relatively limited in computing resources, in order to reduce cost,
cut energy drain, and the like. Consequently, a noticeable lag
between shutter trip and image acquisition occurs in some cameras.
Such lag is highly undesirable when a subject to be photographed is
in motion. One solution to the problem of lag is avoidance of
highly time consuming computations, which leads us back again to
the also-undesirable use of fewer, manually selected modes with
associated image-acquisition settings.
[0008] Accordingly, a need in the art exists for improved solutions
for determining image-acquisition settings in a
computationally-sensitive environment.
SUMMARY
[0009] The above-described problems are addressed and a technical
solution is achieved in the art by systems and methods for
identifying image-acquisition settings, according to various
embodiments of the present invention. In an embodiment of the
present invention, pre-image-acquisition information is obtained by
a digital camera and transmitted to a system external to the
digital camera. Such an external system is referred to herein as an
"image-acquisition-setting providing system", or an "IAS Providing
System," and is configured to provide image-acquisition settings to
the digital camera. In this regard, the digital camera receives the
image-acquisition settings from the IAS Providing System in
response to the step of transmitting the pre-image-acquisition
information. Subsequently, the digital camera performs an
image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received
image-acquisition settings.
[0010] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention allow the
determination of image-acquisition settings to be performed
remotely from the digital camera, where data-processing resources
and available data sources can greatly exceed those within the
digital camera. In this regard, the remote system need not be
limited to a select group of "scene modes" and can identify
image-acquisition settings customized for the particular
pre-image-acquisition information provided by the digital
camera.
[0011] Examples of pre-image-acquisition information may include
audio information, illumination information, camera position
information, camera orientation information, motion information, an
announcement of the digital camera's presence, temperature
information, humidity information, ceiling detection information,
distance-to-subject information, spectral information, etc. In this
regard, some or all of the pre-image acquisition information may be
generated, at least in part, by the digital camera itself or by a
system external to the digital camera, such as a global positioning
system ("GPS"), known in the art.
[0012] In some embodiments, the digital camera may determine
whether or not it is appropriate to acquire an image based at least
upon an analysis of the received image-acquisition settings. For
example, the received image-acquisition settings may require the
digital camera to operate in a manner that it deems will produce an
unacceptable image. Consequently, the digital camera may present an
indication configured to warn a user of the digital camera that
performing the image-acquisition sequence is not appropriate or to
advise the user to take an action to improve the appropriateness of
performing the image-acquisition sequence.
[0013] In some embodiments, the IAS Providing System can include in
its image-acquisition settings an indication of whether the digital
camera is even permitted to acquire images. These embodiments
allow, for example, an event operator to prevent images of the
event from being acquired.
[0014] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the
digital camera generates image data from the image-acquisition
sequence and transmits at least the image data and the
pre-image-acquisition information to an image processing system
external to the digital camera for processing. The image processing
system may or may not be the same system as the IAS Providing
System. In some embodiments, the digital camera may obtain
image-acquisition information (as opposed to pre-image-acquisition
information) contemporaneously with the image-acquisition sequence.
In this regard, the digital camera may transmit the
pre-image-acquisition information, the image-acquisition
information, and the image data to the image processing system for
processing.
[0015] Examples of image-acquisition information includes audio
information, illumination information, camera position information,
camera orientation information, motion information, temperature
information, humidity information, ceiling detection information,
distance to subject information, spectral information such as
histograms, etc. In this regard, in some embodiments, information
in the image-acquisition information and the pre-image-acquisition
information is of a same category. For example, both the pre-image
acquisition information and the image-acquisition information may
include illumination information. In some of these embodiments, the
digital camera may be configured to verify the consistency between
the information of the same category. For example, the digital
camera may be configured to verify that illumination conditions
have not substantially changed from the time the
pre-image-acquisition information was obtained and the time the
image-acquisition information was obtained. If a meaningful
difference did occur, the user may be notified, corrective image
processing may occur, or both. In the embodiments where the image
data is transmitted to an external image processing system, the
external image processing system may not only perform the
corrective image processing, but also may perform the verification
of consistency between pre-image-acquisition and image-acquisition
information.
[0016] According to some embodiments of the present invention,
pre-image acquisition information includes a present time. The
pre-image acquisition information may be transmitted to a system
external to the digital camera. In response, the digital camera may
receive image-opportunity information from the system, where such
information is configured to guide a user of the digital camera
towards an image-acquisition opportunity. The image-opportunity
information indicates at least a time period in which the
image-acquisition opportunity exists. The digital camera may
present the image-opportunity information in a manner configured to
present the image-opportunity information, or a derivative thereof,
to a user of the digital camera. Accordingly, users can become
informed of image-acquisition opportunities currently available
nearby.
[0017] In addition to the embodiments described above, further
embodiments will become apparent by reference to the drawings and
by study of the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The present invention will be more readily understood from
the detailed description of exemplary embodiments presented below
considered in conjunction with the attached drawings, of which:
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for identifying
image-acquisition settings, according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0020] FIG. 2 illustrates a method for identifying
image-acquisition settings, according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative method for identifying
image-acquisition settings, according to an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates a method for identifying
image-acquisition settings and processing image data acquired based
at least upon the identified image-acquisition settings, according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0023] FIG. 5 illustrates a method for identifying an
image-acquisition opportunity, according to embodiments of the
present invention; and
[0024] FIG. 6 illustrates the presentation of an indication of an
image-acquisition opportunity, according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0025] It is to be understood that the attached drawings are for
purposes of illustrating the concepts of the invention and may not
be to scale.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] Embodiments of the present invention allow the determination
of image-acquisition settings to be performed remotely from the
digital camera, where data-processing resources can greatly exceed
those within the digital camera. In this regard, the remote system
need not be limited to a select group of "scene modes" and can
identify image-acquisition settings customized for the particular
pre-image-acquisition information provided by the digital camera.
Consequently, better-tailored image-acquisition settings can be
generated, and generated more quickly, than conventional
techniques.
[0027] It should be noted that the phrase "image-acquisition" is
intended to refer to the process of acquiring an image performed by
a camera. In this regard, "image-acquisition" is to be
differentiated from processes that occur down-stream from
image-acquisition, such as processes that pertain to determining
what to do with already-acquired images. It should also be noted
that, unless otherwise explicitly noted or required by context, the
word "or" is used in this disclosure in a non-exclusive sense.
[0028] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for identifying
image-acquisition settings, according to an embodiment of the
present invention. The system 100 includes a digital camera 101, an
image-acquisition-setting ("IAS") providing system 102, an optional
pre-image-acquisition information ("PIAI") providing system 104,
and an optional image processing system 105. The term "system" is
intended to include one or more devices configured to collectively
perform a set of one or more functions. In this regard, the broken
line 106 indicates that the IAS providing system 102 and the image
processing system 105 may be part of a same system or a common
device. Further in this regard, although not shown in FIG. 1, the
PIAI providing system 104 also may be part of a common system or a
common device with the image processing system 105 or IAS providing
system 102.
[0029] The IAS providing system 102, the PIAI providing system 104,
and the image processing system 105 are communicatively connected
to the digital camera 101. The phrase "communicatively connected"
is intended to include any type of connection between devices,
whether wired or wireless, in which data may be communicated.
[0030] The digital camera 101 is configured to implement the
processes of the various embodiments of the present invention,
including the example processes of FIGS. 2-5 described herein.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, the digital camera includes a data
processing system including one or more data processing devices and
a processor-accessible memory system that facilitate implementation
of the processes of the various embodiments of the present
invention, including the example processes of FIGS. 2-5 described
herein. The processor-accessible memory system includes one or more
processor-accessible memories configured to store information,
including the information needed to execute the processes of the
various embodiments of the present invention, including the example
processes of FIGS. 2-5 described herein. The phrase
"processor-accessible memory" is intended to include any
processor-accessible data storage device, whether volatile or
nonvolatile, electronic, magnetic, optical, or otherwise, including
but not limited to, RAM, ROM, hard disks, and flash memories.
[0031] The digital camera 101 also includes an optional sensor
system 103 configured to obtain pre-image-acquisition information
or image-acquisition information. In this regard, the sensor system
103 may include sensors, known in the art, for obtaining audio
information, illumination information, camera position information,
camera orientation information, motion information, an announcement
of the digital camera's presence, temperature information, humidity
information, ceiling detection information, distance to subject
information, spectral information such as histograms, etc.
Alternatively or in addition, pre-image-acquisition information may
be obtained by devices within the PIAI providing system 104 and
transmitted to the digital camera 101. Although FIG. 1 shows the
system 104 as providing pre-image-acquisition information, one
skilled in the art will appreciate that the system 104 may provide
image-acquisition information in addition to or in lieu of the
pre-image-acquisition information.
[0032] FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 implemented by the digital
camera 101 for identifying image-acquisition settings, according to
an embodiment of the present invention. At step 201, the digital
camera obtains pre-image-acquisition information ("PIAI"). The PIAI
may include, for example, audio information, illumination
information, camera position information, camera orientation
information, motion information, an announcement of the digital
camera's presence, temperature information, humidity information,
ceiling detection information, distance to subject information, or
spectral information such as histograms. The PIAI may be obtained
via the sensor system 103 or from one or more external devices
within the PIAI providing system 104.
[0033] At step 202 the digital camera 101 transmits the PIAI to the
image-acquisition-setting ("IAS") providing system 102. The IAS
providing system 102 may include one or more data processing
devices, another camera, a server, etc. In this regard, the IAS
providing system 102 may include superior computing power than that
included within the digital camera 101. Consequently, with the
PIAI, the IAS providing system 102 determines appropriate
image-acquisition settings for the digital camera 101 in order to
improve the quality of an image about to be acquired by the digital
camera 101. The IAS providing system 102 transmits these
image-acquisition settings to the digital camera and, consequently,
at step 203, the digital camera 101 receives the image-acquisition
settings from the IAS providing system 102.
[0034] For example, the PIAI may include a measure of the dynamic
range of a scene. A daylight scene containing brightly lit portions
and dark shadows, such as a scene of a field of Holsteins viewed
from under a copse of Ginko trees with dense foliage, may have a
dynamic range that is greater than the camera's image acquisition
system is capable of acquiring. A measurement of dynamic range,
whether acquired by multiple pre-image-acquisitions by the image
acquisition system, or by a sensor designed to measure dynamic
range, may be provided as PIAI to the IAS providing system 102. The
IAS providing system 102 uses this measurement information to
determine that multiple image-acquisitions are required to render
the scene as best as possible, and also to determine the optimum
exposures for each of the image-acquisitions. These
image-acquisition settings are sent to the digital camera 101.
[0035] At step 204, the digital camera 101 performs an
image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received
image-acquisition settings. In view of the high-bandwidth and quick
data transmission times currently available, and the improvements
to bandwidth and data transmission times that will become
available, the IAS providing system 102 can quickly provide
accurate image-acquisition settings for the digital camera 101
without the need for excessive data processing capabilities on the
digital camera 101 itself.
[0036] It should be noted that, in some embodiments of the present
invention, the image-acquisition settings include a triggering
signal that, when received by the digital camera 101, instructs the
digital camera 101 to initiate the image-acquisition sequence at
step 204. Such a feature may be useful, for instance, when precise
timing for image acquisition is needed. For example, at a racing
event, the IAS providing system 102 can be configured to provide a
triggering signal in the image-acquisition settings when a leading
racecar approaches the finish line, thereby allowing respective
digital cameras to acquire an image of the racecar crossing the
finish line at precisely the right moment. Or, at an amusement
park, for example, the IAS providing system can be configured to
provide a triggering signal when a particular amusement ride car
enters a digital camera's field of view.
[0037] FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 for identifying
image-acquisition settings, according to an embodiment of the
present invention. The method 300 begins with the same steps
201-203 initially discussed with respect to FIG. 2. The method 300
differs, however, in that it includes optional steps 304 and 305.
In particular, after receipt of the image-acquisition settings 203,
the digital camera 101 can determine at step 304 whether
image-acquisition is permitted. To elaborate, the image-acquisition
settings may include an indication of whether or not the digital
camera 101 is even allowed to acquire an image. For example, the
pre-image-acquisition information obtained by the digital camera
101 may include an announcement of the camera's presence or an
indication of the camera's location. The IAS providing system 102
may use this information to determine that the digital camera 101,
based upon its identification or its location, for example, is not
allowed to acquire images. Alternately, the IAS providing system
102 may use this information to determine that the digital camera
101, based upon its location and orientation direction, for
example, is not allowed to acquire images in some directions, and
is only allowed to acquire images in other directions. In some
embodiments, the pre-image-acquisition information obtained by the
digital camera 101 may include image content from a preliminary
image acquisition. The IAS providing system 102 may use the image
content to determine whether or not the digital camera 101 is
allowed to acquire images. For example, the IAS providing system
102 may consider in its determination the color content, textures,
line direction, the number of faces detected, whether particular
faces are detected, face location, the number of objects detected,
whether particular objects are detected, or object location in the
image content. The above-features may be useful, for example, by
event organizers. The event organizers may, consequently, have the
ability to prevent images of the event from being acquired by
particular cameras or any camera. In this regard, at step 304, if
image acquisition is not permitted, the method 300 may abort at
step 306. Otherwise, processing may proceed onto step 305, if this
step is implemented, or directly to step 310 where an
image-acquisition sequence is performed.
[0038] If step 305 is performed, the digital camera 101 may
determine, based at least upon the received image acquisition
settings, that image acquisition is or is not appropriate. In this
regard, the IAS providing system 102 may provide image acquisition
settings that the digital camera 101 deems will produce an
unacceptable image. In this case, the digital camera 101 may
determine that image acquisition is not appropriate at step 305,
and may present a warning indication to a user. In this regard, the
digital camera 101 may also present advice to the user regarding
how the user can improve the image acquisition prospects at step
307. Note that the advice presented to the user may be received
with the Image-Acquisition Settings in step 203. For example, when
the user is attempting to acquire a photograph of the moon rising
over the trees on the far side of an Adirondack lake, advice to the
user, whether determined by the digital camera 101 or by IAS
providing system 102, may be to instruct the user to immobilize
digital camera 101 so that a long exposure or multiple exposures
could be taken to acquire the silhouettes of the trees and the
reflection of the moon off the water. In the case of multiple
exposures, the images can be combined in digital camera 101 or in
Image Processing System 105. In an embodiment, the
Image-Acquisition-Setting Providing system 102 uses the PIAI,
including location, direction, distance-to-subject, and average
illumination, and other non-PIAI information, such as weather
information and moonrise information, to determine that the likely
subject is a moonrise and incorporates the immobilization warning
along with the Image-Acquisition Settings in step 203.
[0039] After presenting the indication and optional advice at step
307, the digital camera 101 may either 308 abort the performance of
an image-acquisition sequence at step 309 or perform an
image-acquisition sequence based at least upon the received image
acquisition settings at step 310. The decision whether to abort at
step 309 or perform the image acquisition sequence at step 310 may
be determined at least by user input.
[0040] FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 for identifying
image-acquisition settings and processing image data acquired based
at least upon the identified image-acquisition settings, according
to an embodiment of the present invention. The method 400 is a
continuation of the processes of FIG. 2 or 3. Consequently, the
method 400 begins with step 204 in FIG. 2 or step 310 in FIG. 3
where an image-acquisition sequence is performed. At step 411, the
digital camera 101 generates image data from the performed
image-acquisition sequence. In this regard, the image-acquisition
sequence may include the acquisition of multiple images, where the
multiple images are configured to be synthesized into a single
image, a collage, or a video. Regardless, the resulting image data
from the image-acquisition sequence, as well as the
pre-image-acquisition information may be transmitted to the image
processing system 105. This transmission occurs at step 412 and
also may optionally include image-acquisition information ("IAI").
The IAI may include the same information as the PIAI, but be
obtained at different points in time. For example, the PIAI is
obtained before image acquisition and the IAI is obtained
contemporaneously or substantially contemporaneously with image
acquisition.
[0041] The information transmitted at step 412 is used by the image
processing system 105 to process the image data. The aforementioned
moon picture is one example that can benefit from processing in
image-processing system 105. Using PIAI, including, e.g., location,
direction, distance-to-subject, and average illumination, and IAI,
such as detected camera movement, processing system 105 can
integrate the knowledge of these parameters into processing the
acquired images to provide an improved composite image that does
not unduly compress the range of either the moon or the silhouettes
of the trees and the reflections from the water. Another example is
an image-acquisition looking over Spectacle Lake from the top of
Good Luck Mountain on a hazy summer midday. Using PIAI, including,
e.g., location, direction, distance to subject and average
illumination and IAI such as humidity, processing system 105 can
integrate the knowledge of these parameters along with weather
information into processing the acquired image to provide an
improved processed image by expanding the dynamic range of the
acquired image.
[0042] Although not shown in FIG. 4, either the digital camera 101
or the image processing system 105 may check for consistency
between the PIAI and the IAI. If there are inconsistencies between
the PIAI and the IAI, the image processing system 105 may process
the image data differently than if the PIAI and the IAI were
consistent. An image-acquisition taken through the window of a
moving automobile is an example. PIAI location information, in this
case, will be significantly different than IAI location
information. Assuming accurate location information in both PIAI
and IAI information, processing system 105 can determine that there
is motion associated with the image-acquisition. This motion is
detected apart from or in addition to IAI information on camera
shake that is determined from small accelerations that are the
result of user movements. Additionally, direction and velocity can
be determined from the differing locations. These factors can be
figured into processing the acquired image and motion blur can be
minimized. After processing of the image by the image processing
system 105, the digital camera 101 receives the processed image at
step 413.
[0043] FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 for identifying an
image-acquisition opportunity, according to an embodiment of the
present invention. The embodiment of FIG. 5 begins at step 501
where the digital camera 101 obtains PIAI indicating at least a
present time. The PIAI is transmitted to an external system at step
502, such external system being configured at least to determine
whether or not an improved image-acquisition opportunity exists for
the digital camera 101. For example, if the PIAI includes camera
orientation information and camera location information, as well as
a present time, the external system may determine that a popular
imaging opportunity is available to the digital camera 101 nearby
and within a current or upcoming span of time. The external system
may be the IAS providing system 102, and the image-opportunity
information may be provided with or within the image-acquisition
settings provided to the digital camera 101.
[0044] FIG. 6 illustrates an example 600 of image-opportunity
information presented by the digital camera 101 to a user. The
image-opportunity information, in this example, indicates a period
of time in which an imaging opportunity exists or a moment in time
in which the imaging opportunity exists, as shown at reference
numeral 601. In this regard, FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of
step 504 where the image-opportunity information is presented to
the user.
[0045] It is to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are
merely illustrative of the present invention and that many
variations of the above-described embodiments can be devised by one
skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the
invention.
[0046] For example, although often described with the view that an
IAS providing system provides all image acquisition settings to a
digital camera, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the
invention is not so limited. For instance, the IAS providing system
may provide only some image acquisition settings, while the digital
camera provides others. Or, the IAS providing system may provide
image acquisition settings redundant to those provided by the
digital camera itself, for purposes of verification or improvement
of the image acquisition settings provided by the digital camera.
Or, still, the digital camera may receive image acquisition
settings from the IAS providing system and process them or modify
them before arriving at a final set of image acquisition settings
ultimately used in an image-acquisition sequence. By processing or
otherwise modifying the received image acquisition settings, it can
be said that the image-acquisition sequence is performed based at
least upon a derivative of the received image acquisition settings,
because the received image-acquisition settings have been processed
or modified in some manner.
[0047] For another example, although step 304 in FIG. 3 is
described in the context of a digital camera using
image-acquisition settings to determine whether image-acquisition
is permitted, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the
invention is not so limited. For instance, image-acquisition
settings received by a digital camera may include additional
information that pertains to image-acquisition permissions, such as
what metadata or the amount of detail in metadata that is recorded
by a digital camera along with an image-acquisition sequence. In
one instance, and IAS providing system may be configured to provide
image acquisition settings that prevent digital cameras within a
particular location from recording their location in metadata when
performing an image-acquisition sequence.
[0048] For yet another example, although this disclosure describes
that received image acquisition settings may be used to perform an
image acquisition sequence involving multiple image acquisitions,
one skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention is not so
limited. For instance, an IAS providing system may provide multiple
sets of image acquisition settings to a digital camera, each of the
multiple sets of image acquisition settings being configured to
control a subset of the multiple image acquisitions in the image
acquisition sequence. In one case, each set of image acquisition
settings may be configured to control one of the multiple image
acquisitions in the image acquisition sequence.
[0049] For still yet another example, step 304 in FIG. 3 is
described in the context of determining whether the digital camera
101 is permitted to acquire an image. Such determination may be
made based at least upon digital camera location, digital camera
orientation, or image content included in pre-image acquisition
information. However, one skilled in the art will appreciate that
the digital camera location, digital camera orientation, or image
content in the pre-image acquisition information need not only be
used to determine whether or not a digital camera is permitted to
acquire an image, but also may be used to allow a digital camera to
acquire an image while limiting how that image is acquired. To
elaborate, the image-acquisition settings provided by the IAS
providing system 102 at step 203 may be used to limit how an image
is acquired. For instance, the IAS providing system 102 may limit
the digital camera 101 to using at least (a) a particular
image-acquisition mode or parameter or (b) one of a particular set
of image-acquisition modes or parameters, such as a focus distance,
camera operating mode, flash mode, still or video mode, panorama or
non-panorama mode, etc. These features may be useful, for example,
for allowing an image to be acquired while preventing (a) a
particular use of the digital camera or (b) a particular object
from being represented in the image. For example, the IAS providing
system 102 can allow image-acquisitions at an event, but prevent
flashes from being used. For another example, assume that an owner
of a building wants to prevent images of the building from being
acquired. The IAS providing system 102 can allow images to be
acquired in the vicinity of the building, but require a short focus
distance. The short focus distance would allow close-up portrait
images of people standing in front of the building to be acquired,
but would cause the building in the background of such images to be
blurry.
[0050] It is therefore intended that all such variations be
included within the scope of the following claims and their
equivalents.
PARTS LIST
[0051] 100 System [0052] 101 Digital camera [0053] 102 IAS
providing system [0054] 103 Sensor system [0055] 104 PIAI providing
system [0056] 105 Image processing system [0057] 106 Broken line
[0058] 200 Method [0059] 201 Step [0060] 202 Step [0061] 203 Step
[0062] 204 Step [0063] 300 Method [0064] 304 Step [0065] 305 Step
[0066] 306 Step [0067] 307 Step [0068] 308 Or symbol [0069] 309
Step [0070] 310 Step [0071] 400 Method [0072] 411 Step [0073] 412
Step [0074] 413 Step [0075] 500 Method [0076] 501 Step [0077] 502
Step [0078] 503 Step [0079] 504 Step [0080] 600 Example [0081] 601
Moment in time
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