IP Library Granted Patent US 12684248
Granted Patent B2
US 12684248 · App. 18/779,072 · Granted Jul 14, 2026

Exposure control device, imaging apparatus, exposure control method, and program of preventing inappropriate variation in brightness

Inventor: Masato Fujii (Saitama, JP)
Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
H04N23/73H04N23/611H04N23/64H04N23/71
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12684248
App. No.
18/779,072
Granted
Jul 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to the present disclosure, there is provided an exposure control device configured to acquire an image signal output from an imaging element; acquire a specific subject region in an image represented by the image signal; calculate a first exposure value of a set region that is set in the image and a second exposure value of the subject region; decide a first weight for the first exposure value and a second weight for the second exposure value based on first determination of determining importance of the subject region with respect to the set region and second determination of determining a positional relationship between the set region and the subject region; and calculate a third exposure value by performing weight addition on the first exposure value and the second exposure value using the first weight and the second weight.

Claims (56)

1 . An exposure control device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory,

wherein the processor is configured to:

acquire an image signal output from an imaging element;

acquire a specific subject region in an image represented by the image signal;

calculate a first exposure value of a set region that is set in the image and a second exposure value of the subject region;

decide a first weight for the first exposure value and a second weight for the second exposure value based on first determination of determining a ratio of a size of the subject region with respect to a size of the set region and second determination of determining a positional relationship between the set region and the subject region; and

calculate a third exposure value by performing weight addition on the first exposure value and the second exposure value using the first weight and the second weight.

2 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the first weight and the second weight regardless of the positional relationship in a case where it is determined in the second determination that the subject region is present in the set region.

3 . The exposure control device according to claim 2 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the first weight and the second weight based on the positional relationship in a case where it is determined in the second determination that the subject region is present outside the set region.

4 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to:

decide a weight coefficient based on a result of the first determination; and

decide a correction coefficient based on a result of the second determination.

5 . The exposure control device according to claim 4 ,

wherein the processor is configured to:

assuming that the first exposure value is E 1 , the second exposure value is E 2 , the third exposure value is E 3 , the first weight is W 1 , the second weight is W 2 , the weight coefficient is α, and the correction coefficient is β,

decide the first weight and the second weight such that W 1 =1−α×β and W 2 =α×β are satisfied; and

calculate the third exposure value based on E 3 =E 1 ×W 1 +E 2 ×W 2 .

6 . The exposure control device according to claim 5 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the correction coefficient to 1 in a case where it is determined in the second determination that the subject region is present in the set region.

7 . The exposure control device according to claim 6 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the correction coefficient based on the positional relationship in a case where it is determined in the second determination that the subject region is present outside the set region.

8 . The exposure control device according to claim 7 ,

wherein the positional relationship includes a distance between the set region and the subject region.

9 . The exposure control device according to claim 8 ,

wherein the correction coefficient decreases as the distance increases.

10 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the first weight and the second weight regardless of the positional relationship in a case where the ratio of the size of the subject region to the size of the set region is smaller than a first threshold value and an absolute value of a difference between the first exposure value and the second exposure value is smaller than a second threshold value.

11 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to decide the first weight and the second weight regardless of the positional relationship in a case where the ratio of the size of the subject region to the size of the set region is smaller than a first threshold value, an absolute value of a difference between the first exposure value and the second exposure value is smaller than a second threshold value, and a subject included in the subject region is a specific subject.

12 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the subject region is a face region of a person.

13 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to acquire the subject region by using a machine-trained model.

14 . The exposure control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the set region is an image display region for displaying an image in the set region, an image recording region for recording an image in the set region, or an image cutout region for electronic zoom or camera shake correction.

15 . An imaging apparatus comprising:

the exposure control device according to claim 1 ; and

the imaging element.

16 . An exposure control method comprising:

via a processor,

acquiring an image signal output from an imaging element;

acquiring a specific subject region in an image represented by the image signal;

calculating a first exposure value of a set region that is set in the image and a second exposure value of the subject region;

deciding a first weight for the first exposure value and a second weight for the second exposure value based on first determination of determining a ratio of a size of the subject region with respect to a size of the set region and second determination of determining a positional relationship between the set region and the subject region; and

calculating a third exposure value by performing weight addition on the first exposure value and the second exposure value using the first weight and the second weight.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program causing a processor to execute a process comprising:

acquiring an image signal output from an imaging element;

acquiring a specific subject region in an image represented by the image signal;

calculating a first exposure value of a set region that is set in the image and a second exposure value of the subject region;

deciding a first weight for the first exposure value and a second weight for the second exposure value based on first determination of determining a ratio of a size of the subject region with respect to a size of the set region and second determination of determining a positional relationship between the set region and the subject region; and

calculating a third exposure value by performing weight addition on the first exposure value and the second exposure value using the first weight and the second weight.