U.S. patent application number 13/165758 was filed with the patent office on 2012-10-04 for camera.
This patent application is currently assigned to ALTEK CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Yi-Yu Chen, Chung-Pin Lu.
Application Number | 20120251090 13/165758 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46846364 |
Filed Date | 2012-10-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120251090 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lu; Chung-Pin ; et
al. |
October 4, 2012 |
CAMERA
Abstract
A camera including a main body, a lens and a flashlight module
is provided. The main body has an image capturing unit. The lens is
disposed on the main body at a position corresponding to the image
capturing unit for guiding lights to the image capturing unit. The
flashlight module includes a first light source and second light
sources. The first light source is disposed on the main body and
has a first emitting area. The second light sources are disposed on
the main body and surround the first light source. Each second
light source has a second emitting area. The second emitting areas
surround the first emitting area.
Inventors: |
Lu; Chung-Pin; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; Chen; Yi-Yu; (Taipei City, TW) |
Assignee: |
ALTEK CORPORATION
Hsinchu City
TW
|
Family ID: |
46846364 |
Appl. No.: |
13/165758 |
Filed: |
June 21, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
396/157 ;
396/176 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 5/2256 20130101;
G03B 2215/0571 20130101; G03B 2215/0503 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
396/157 ;
396/176 |
International
Class: |
G03B 15/05 20060101
G03B015/05; G03B 15/03 20060101 G03B015/03 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 1, 2011 |
TW |
100111556 |
Claims
1. A camera, comprising: a main body, having an image capturing
unit; a lens, disposed on the main body at a position corresponding
to the image capturing unit, for guiding lights to the image
capturing unit; and a flashlight module, comprising: a first light
source, disposed on the main body, and having a first emitting
area; and a plurality of second light sources, disposed on the main
body and surrounding the first light source, and respectively
having a second emitting area, wherein the second emitting areas
surround the first emitting area, wherein when the image capturing
unit captures an image of a shooting object through the lens, the
first light source flashes the first emitting area to illuminate
the shooting object, and the second light sources flash the second
emitting areas to illuminate the surrounding of the shooting
object.
2. The camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second light
sources are light emitting diode (LED) light sources.
3. The camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body has a
surface, the first light source is located on the surface, and the
second light sources are located on the surface and symmetrically
surround the first light source.
4. The camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface has a
rectangular area, the first light source is located in the
rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is four, and
the second light sources are respectively located at four corners
of the rectangular area.
5. The camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein the surface has a
rectangular area, the first light source is located in the
rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is six, and
the second light sources are respectively located at four corners
and two long sides of the rectangular area or located at the four
corners and two short sides of the rectangular area.
6. The camera as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a
controller, coupled to the first light source and the second light
sources, wherein when the image capturing unit captures an image of
a shooting object through the lens, the controller simultaneously
triggers the first light source and the second light sources.
7. The camera as claimed in claim 6, wherein before the image
capturing unit captures the image of the shooting object, the
controller triggers the first light source to perform a pre-flash,
and determines a light emitting intensity of the first light source
and light emitting intensities of the second light sources
according to the pre-flash.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan
application serial no. 100111556, filed on Apr. 1, 2011. The
entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby
incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this
specification.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to an image capturing device.
Particularly, the invention relates to a camera.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Most of cameras are equipped with flashlights. The
flashlight is an artificial light source used for shooting, and
when a shutter of a camera is pressed, the flashlight lights a
scene within about 1/1000 to 1/200 second to supplement light to a
shooting object, so as to increase luminance of the shooting object
in case of insufficient natural light conditions.
[0006] In detail, after the shutter is pressed, the flashlight
performs a pre-flash to estimate a required light intensity.
Generally, the light intensity of the flashlight is determined
based on a principle that the shooting object is not over exposed,
so that the flashlight generally cannot provide sufficient light to
surrounding of the shooting object, which lead to a result that
secondary shooting objects around the shooting object and the
background are excessively dark. However, it is easy to cause over
exposure of the shooting object to increase the light intensity of
the flashlight to ameliorate the excessive dark phenomenon around
the shooting object. Moreover, if a certain distance is maintained
between a foreground and the background of the shooting object,
shadow is appeared around the shooting object under the function of
the flashlight. Therefore, while the flashlight is used to provide
suitable light to the shooting object, luminance of the surrounding
of the shooting object cannot be simultaneously considered, which
may cause a poor quality of the captured image.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The invention is directed to a camera, in which a flashlight
module is capable of providing suitable lights to a shooting object
and surrounding of the shooting object.
[0008] The invention provides a camera including a main body, a
lens and a flashlight module. The main body has an image capturing
unit. The lens is disposed on the main body at a position
corresponding to the image capturing unit for guiding lights to the
image capturing unit. The flashlight module includes a first light
source and second light sources. The first light source is disposed
on the main body and has a first emitting area. The second light
sources are disposed on the main body and surround the first light
source. Each second light source has a second emitting area. The
second emitting areas surround the first emitting area.
[0009] In an embodiment of the invention, the second light sources
are light emitting diode (LED) light sources.
[0010] In an embodiment of the invention, the main body has a
surface, the first light source is located on the surface, and the
second light sources are located on the surface and symmetrically
surround the first light source.
[0011] In an embodiment of the invention, the surface has a
rectangular area, the first light source is located in the
rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is four, and
the second light sources are respectively located at four corners
of the rectangular area.
[0012] In an embodiment of the invention, the surface has a
rectangular area, the first light source is located in the
rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is six, and
the second light sources are respectively located at four corners
and two long sides of the rectangular area or located at the four
corners and two short sides of the rectangular area.
[0013] In an embodiment of the invention, the camera further
includes a controller coupled to the first light source and the
second light sources. When the image capturing unit captures an
image of a shooting object through the lens, the controller
simultaneously triggers the first light source and the second light
sources.
[0014] In an embodiment of the invention, before the image
capturing unit captures the image of the shooting object, the
controller triggers the first light source to perform a pre-flash,
and determines a light emitting intensity of the first light source
and light emitting intensities of the second light sources
according to the pre-flash.
[0015] According to the above descriptions, the flashlight module
of the invention includes the first light source and the second
light sources surrounding the first light source. When the first
light source flashes the shooting object and the surrounding of the
shooting object cannot obtain enough light from the first light
source, the second light sources provide light to the surrounding
of the shooting object, so that the shooting object and secondary
shooting objects around the shooting object and the background may
have enough luminance during shooting, so as to avoid generating
shadow around the shooting object due to that a certain distance is
maintained between a foreground and the background of the shooting
object.
[0016] In order to make the aforementioned and other features and
advantages of the invention comprehensible, several exemplary
embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the invention and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the invention.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera according to an
embodiment of the invention.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the camera of FIG. 1.
[0020] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of scene captured by the
camera of FIG. 1.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the flashlight module of
FIG. 1.
[0022] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashlight module
according to another embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS
[0023] FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera according to an
embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the
camera of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the camera 100 of
the present embodiment includes a main body 110, a lens 120, a
flashlight module 130 and a controller 140. The main body 110 has
an image capturing unit 110a. The lens 120 is disposed on the main
body 110 at a position corresponding to the image capturing unit
110a for guiding lights to the image capturing unit 110a. The
flashlight module 130 includes a first light source 132 and second
light sources 134. The first light source 132 is disposed on the
main body 110, and the second light sources 134 are disposed on the
main body 110 and surround the first light source 132. The
controller 140 is coupled to the first light source 132 and the
second light sources 134. When the image capturing unit 110a
captures an image of a shooting object through the lens 120, the
controller 140 simultaneously triggers the first light source 132
and the second light sources 134. In the present embodiment, the
first light source 132 is, for example, the same to a general
flashlight of a conventional camera, and the second light sources
134 are, for example, light emitting diode (LED) light sources.
[0024] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of scene captured by the
camera of FIG. 1. A user can use the camera 100 of FIG. 1 to shoot
the scene shown in FIG. 3. The first light source 132 has a first
emitting area R1, and the second light sources 134 respectively
have a second emitting area R2, where the second emitting areas R2
surround the first emitting area R1. During a shooting process,
when the image capturing unit 110a captures an image of a shooting
object 50 located at the center of FIG. 3 through the lens 120, the
first light source 132 flashes the first emitting area R1 to
illuminate the shooting object 50, and the second light sources 134
flash the second emitting areas R2 to illuminate the surrounding of
the shooting object 50. In this way, when the first light source
132 flashes the shooting object 50 and the surrounding (for
example, a secondary shooting object 60 and a background 70) of the
shooting object 50 cannot obtain enough light from the first light
source 132, the second light sources 134 provide lights to the
surrounding of the shooting object 50, so that the shooting object
50 and secondary shooting object 60 around the shooting object 50
and the background 70 may have enough luminance during shooting, so
as to avoid excessive dark of the scene outside the shooting object
50.
[0025] Further, after the user presses a shutter of the camera 100
and before the image capturing unit 110a captures the image of the
shooting object 50, the controller 140 first triggers the first
light source 132 to perform a pre-flash to the scene shown in FIG.
3 to determine an intensity of the flash to be sent by the first
light source 132, so as to ensure that the shooting object 50 has
enough luminance without being over exposed due to the flash of the
first light source 132. The pre-flash of the first light source 132
may further determine intensities of the flashes to be sent by the
second light sources 134, so that the surrounding objects of the
shooting object 50 may obtain suitable light to have enough
luminance.
[0026] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the flashlight module of
FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 4, in detail, the main body 110 has a
surface 112, and the first light source 132 is located in a
rectangular area 112a on the surface 112. A number of the second
light sources 134 is four, and the second light sources 134 are
respectively located at four corners of the rectangular area 112a
and symmetrically surround the first light source 132, so that the
lights emitted by the second light sources 134 can symmetrically
and evenly irradiate the surrounding of the shooting object 50 of
FIG. 3. The number and configuring positions of the second light
sources are not limited by the invention, and anther embodiment is
provided below with reference of a figure for description.
[0027] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashlight module
according to another embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG.
5, in the flashlight module 230 of the present embodiment, a first
light source 232 is located in a rectangular area 212a on a surface
212 of a main body 210. A number of second light sources 234 is
six, and the second light sources 234 are respectively located at
four corners and two long sides of the rectangular area 212a, and
symmetrically surround the first light source 232, so that the
lights emitted by the second light sources 234 can symmetrically
and evenly irradiate the surrounding of the shooting object. In the
present embodiment, lengths of the long side and a short side of
the rectangular area 212a can be the same or different. In other
embodiments, the number of the second light sources 234 can be
varied, and the second light sources 234 can be arranged at other
potions on the surface 212 in an array. For example, the second
light sources located at the two long sides of the rectangular area
can be designed to respectively locate at two short sides of the
rectangular area, which is not limited by the invention.
[0028] In summary, the flashlight module of the invention includes
the first light source and the second light sources surrounding the
first light source. When the first light source flashes the
shooting object and the surrounding of the shooting object cannot
obtain enough light from the first light source, the second light
sources provide light to the surrounding of the shooting object, so
that the shooting object and the secondary shooting objects around
the shooting object and the background may have enough luminance
during shooting, so as to avoid generating shadow around the
shooting object due to that a certain distance is maintained
between the foreground and the background of the shooting object.
Moreover, the first light source is adapted to perform the
pre-flash before the image capturing unit captures the image of the
shooting object, so as to determine the intensity of the flash sent
by the first light source and ensure that the shooting object has
enough luminance without being over exposed due to the flash of the
first light source. The pre-flash may further determine intensities
of the flashes sent by the second light sources, so that the
surrounding objects of the shooting object may obtain suitable
light to have enough luminance.
[0029] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
invention cover modifications and variations of this invention
provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and
their equivalents.
* * * * *