Digital camera for capturing image data with rapid response between activating a capture trigger and capturing image data

1. A digital camera for capturing an image comprising:

an image sensor;

a capture trigger;

a capture buffer configured as a first memory location comprising a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames;

a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame;

a processing system configured to continuously receive and process the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before the capture trigger is activated, to store the auxiliary frames in the first memory location, to detect activation of the capture trigger and receive a corresponding image frame from the image sensor, to store the corresponding image frame in the second memory location, to perform blur correction on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame, to designate as unavailable for image storage the buffer locations in which the corresponding image frame and the at least one auxiliary image frame are stored until the blur correction is complete and to copy one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location for performing image processing on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location.

2. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the processing system further is configured to perform blur correction on the corresponding image frame using a plurality of auxiliary image frames and to designate the buffer locations in which the plurality of auxiliary image frames are stored as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete, wherein the second memory location is a fixed section of memory configured to be used for image processing and automatic functions and wherein the image frames are video image frames.

3. The digital camera of claim 2 wherein the plurality of auxiliary image frames comprise at least one auxiliary image frame before the corresponding image frame and one auxiliary image frame after the corresponding image frame.

4. The digital camera of claim 2 wherein the plurality of auxiliary image frames comprise a plurality of auxiliary image frames before the corresponding image frame.

5. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the processing system further is configured to perform the blur correction by:

determining a blur component from the at least one auxiliary image frame; and

removing the blur component from the corresponding image frame to determine a blur corrected image frame.

6. The digital camera of claim 5 wherein the processing system further is configured to determine the blur component by integrating a blur correction function for the at least one auxiliary image frame.

7. The digital camera of claim 5 wherein the processing system further is configured to correct for blur according to a blur correction function ∫e −j2π (ux o (z)+vy o (z))dz, the blur correction function being integrated from 0 to z, with z being a selected number of buffer locations, wherein, x o represents motion in a first direction (x), Y o represents motion is a second direction (y), and (u) and (v) represent sampling integrals as a subject image moves across a field of view of the camera and the subject image is the image the user anticipates capturing.

8. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the processing system further is configured to detect a second activation of the capture trigger and to receive a second corresponding image frame from the image sensor, to store the second corresponding image frame in a second available buffer location, to perform second blur correction on the second corresponding image frame using at least one second auxiliary image frame, and to designate the buffer locations in which the second corresponding image frame and the at least one second auxiliary image frame are stored as unavailable for image storage until the second blur correction is complete.

9. The digital camera of claim 1 wherein the processing system further is configured to compress the corresponding image frame prior to storing the corresponding image frame in the another available buffer location with at least one compression algorithm selected from a group consisting of A-law compression, μ-law compression, and discard mode compression.

10. A method for capturing an image in a digital camera, the method comprising:

using a capture buffer configured as a first memory location having a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames;

using a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame;

continuously receiving and processing the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before a capture trigger is activated;

storing the auxiliary frames in the first memory location;

detecting activation of the capture trigger at the processing system and storing a corresponding image frame from the image sensor in another available buffer location;

performing blur correction with the processing system on the corresponding image frame using at least one auxiliary image frame, wherein the buffer locations are designated as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete; and

copying one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location, wherein image processing is performed on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising designating the buffer locations in which the corresponding image frame and the at least one auxiliary image frame are stored as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete, wherein the second memory location is a fixed section of memory configured to be used for image processing and automatic functions and wherein the image frames are video image frames.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising performing blur correction on the corresponding image frame using a plurality of auxiliary image frames and designating the buffer locations in which the corresponding image frame and the plurality of auxiliary image frames are stored as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein using a plurality of auxiliary image frames comprises using at least one auxiliary image frame before the corresponding image frame and at least one auxiliary image frame after the corresponding image frame.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein using a plurality of auxiliary image frames comprises using a plurality of auxiliary image frames before the corresponding image frame.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein performing the blur processing step comprises:

determining a blur component from the at least one auxiliary image frame; and

removing the blur component from the corresponding image frame to determine a blur corrected image frame.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the determining the blur component step comprises integrating a blur correction function for the at least one auxiliary image frame.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein removing the blur includes a blur correction function ∫e −j2π (ux o (z)+vy o (z))dz, the blur correction function being integrated from 0 to z, with z being a selected number of buffer locations, wherein, x o represents motion in a first direction (x), Y o represents motion is a second direction (y), and (u) and (v) represent sampling integrals as a subject image moves across a field of view of the camera and the subject image is the image the user anticipates capturing.

18. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

detecting a second activation of the capture trigger at the processing system and storing a second corresponding image frame from the image sensor in a second another available buffer location; and

performing blur correction with the processing system on the second corresponding image frame using at least one second auxiliary image frame.

19. The method of claim 10 further comprising compressing the corresponding image frame prior to storing the corresponding image frame in the another available buffer location with at least one compression algorithm selected from a group consisting of A-law compression, μ-law compression, and discard mode compression.

20. A method for capturing an image in a digital camera, the method comprising:

using a capture buffer configured as a first memory location having a plurality of buffer locations, each of which is available for storing auxiliary image frames;

using a second memory location separate from the capture buffer, the second memory location configured to store image frames, wherein each image frame corresponds to an associated auxiliary image frame;

continuously receiving and processing the auxiliary image frames during auxiliary mode of the digital camera and before a capture trigger is activated;

storing the auxiliary frames in the first memory location;

detecting activation of the capture trigger at the processing system and storing a corresponding image frame from the image sensor in the second memory location;

copying one or more auxiliary image frames to the second memory location, wherein image processing is performed on the image frames and the copied corresponding auxiliary image frames in the second memory location; and

performing blur correction with the processing system on the corresponding image frame using at least one of the plurality of auxiliary image frames in the first section of memory, wherein the buffer locations are designated as unavailable for image storage until the blur correction is complete.