IP Library Granted Patent US 7,864,860
Granted Patent B2
US 7,864,860 · App. 11/395,218 · Granted Jan 4, 2011

Image pickup apparatus and motion vector deciding method

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,864,860
App. No.
11/395,218
Granted
Jan 4, 2011
Kind
B2
Abstract

According to the apparatus and method of the present invention, the motion vector Vij is weighted by the weighting coefficient αij of the motion vector Vij decided based on the AF evaluation value Iij indicating the degree of sharpness of the subject image so as to decide the entire motion vector V. For this reason, it is possible to reduce an influence on the decision of the motion vector V of the entire image exerted by the motion vector of the object of a low degree of sharpness, that is, the object not focused on.

Claims (97)

1. An image pickup apparatus, comprising

an imaging portion which photoelectrically converts a subject image and obtains a frame image of a subject;

a first motion vector deciding portion which decides a motion vector Vij of each of segmented regions Dij (i=1 to M, j=1 to N) made by segmenting the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion into multiple matrix domains of M lines×N rows;

an auto focus (AF) evaluation value calculating portion which calculates an AF evaluation value indicating a degree of sharpness of the subject image from the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion;

a coefficient deciding portion which decides a weighting coefficient αij of each motion vector Vij based on the AF evaluation value calculated by the AF evaluation value calculating portion; and

a second motion vector deciding portion which decides an entire motion vector V of the frame image of the subject by weighting the motion vector Vij based on the weighting coefficient αij,

wherein the entire motion vector V is decided by the following

V

=

i

j

α

ij

V

ij

/

i

j

α

ij

.

2. An image pickup apparatus, comprising:

an imaging portion which photoelectrically converts a subject image and obtains a frame image of a subject;

a first motion vector deciding portion which decides a motion vector Vij of each of segmented regions Dij (i=1 to M,j=1 to N) made by segmenting the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion into multiple matrix domains of M lines×N rows:

an auto focus (AF) evaluation value calculating portion which calculates an AF evaluation value indicating a degree of sharpness of the subject image from the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion;

a coefficient deciding portion which decides a weighting coefficient αij of each motion vector Vij based on the AF evaluation value calculated by the AF evaluation value calculating portion; and

a second motion vector deciding portion which decides an entire motion vector V of the frame image of the subject by weighting the motion vector Vij based on the weighting coefficient αij,

wherein the AF evaluation value calculating portion calculates an AF evaluation value Iij indicating the degree of sharpness of the subject image in the segmented region Dij,

and

the coefficient deciding portion decides the weighting coefficient αij of each motion vector Vij based on the AF evaluation value Iij,

wherein the entire motion vector V is decided by the following

V

=

i

j

α

ij

V

ij

/

i

j

α

ij

.

3. An image pickup apparatus, comprising:

an imaging portion which photoelectrically converts a subject image and obtains a frame image of a subject;

a first motion vector deciding portion which decides a motion vector Vij of each of segmented regions Dij (i=1 to M,j=1 to N) made by segmenting the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion into multiple matrix domains of M lines×N rows;

an auto focus (AF) evaluation value calculating portion which calculates an AF evaluation value indicating a degree of sharpness of the subject image from the frame image of the subject obtained by the imaging portion;

a coefficient deciding portion which decides a weighting coefficient αij of each motion vector Vij based on the AF evaluation value calculated by the AF evaluation value calculating portion; and

a second motion vector deciding portion which decides an entire motion vector V of the frame image of the subject by weighting the motion vector Vij based on the weighting coefficient αij,

wherein the AF evaluation value calculating portion calculates an AF evaluation value Iij indicating the degree of sharpness of the subject image in the segmented region Dij,

and

the coefficient deciding portion decides the weighting coefficient αij of each motion vector Vij based on the AF evaluation value Iij,

wherein the coefficient deciding portion decides the weighting coefficient αij so that a size of the coefficient correlates with a size of the AF evaluation value Iij, and

wherein the entire motion vector V is decided by the following

V

=

i

j

α

ij

V

ij

/

i

j

α

ij

.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 12, 2007
From: FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION
To: FUJIFILM CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 018875/0838 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Feb 9, 2007
From: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
To: FUJIFILM HOLDINGS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 018875/0114 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 3, 2006
From: ITO, KENJI
To: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 017755/0615 →