Granted Patent B2

US 9,041,844 · App. 13/458,448 · Granted May 26, 2015

Abstract

Claims (39)

1. A camera device, comprising:

a sensor for providing an electronic signal corresponding to an image;

a memory for storing the image;

a touch screen having a region for displaying the image and receiving touch input, the region comprising a focus control area that is of a size less than the region, the focus control area specifying a location in the image on which the sensor is to focus when acquiring the image for storage, the focus control area being monochrome; and

a processor configured to:

display, at the touchscreen, both the image and the focus control area in the region;

when single touch input is received in the region anywhere the image is displayed other than the focus control area, execute a shutter command to store the image in the memory;

when the single touch input is received in the focus control area, and not outside the focus control area, not execute the shutter command and execute a control command corresponding to the focus control area; and

dynamically move a position of the focus control area within the region in response to receiving input data configured to cause a change in the position of the focus control area.

2. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

execute the shutter command when the single touch input is received in a previous position of the at least one subregion but not in a current position of the at least one subregion.

3. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to change displaying of the focus control area when one or more of:

the input data is received; and

a condition for changing displaying of the focus control area is sensed at the camera device.

4. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the region comprises an entire display area of the touch screen.

5. The camera device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more of a tablet device, a computing device, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a portable electronic device, a mobile computing device, a portable computing device, a tablet computing device, a laptop computing device, a desktop phone, a telephone, a PDA (personal digital assistants), a cellphone, a smartphone, and a digital camera.

6. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the focus control area comprises controls to adjust one or more of: shutter settings, red eye reduction settings; focus settings; depth of focus settings; a memory size of the at least one image; and a resolution of the least one image.

7. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor comprises at least one of: a digital camera sensor; a CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) image sensor; and a CCD (charge-coupled device) image sensor.

8. The camera device of claim 1 , wherein the touch screen comprises:

one or more of a cathode ray tube, a flat panel display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display , and a plasma display; and,

one or more of a capacitive touch screen panel and a resistive touch screen panel.

9. The camera device of claim 1 , further comprising a housing, the housing comprising the sensor, the memory, the touch screen device and the processor.

10. The camera device of claim 1 , further comprising a lens system for focusing light on the sensor.

11. A method in a camera device comprising:

displaying an image in a region of a touch screen of the camera device, the region comprising a focus control area that is of a size less than the region, the focus control area specifying a location in the image on which the sensor is to focus when acquiring the image for storage, the focus control area being monochrome, the displaying including displaying both the image and the focus control area in the region, the image acquired via a sensor for providing an electronic signal corresponding to the image;

when single touch input is received in the region anywhere the image is displayed other than the focus control area, executing, via a processor of the camera device, a shutter command to store the image in a memory;

when the single touch input is received in the focus control area, and not outside the focus control area, not executing, at the processor, the shutter command and executing, at the processor, a control command corresponding to the focus control area; and

dynamically moving, using the processor, and at the touchscreen, a position of the focus control area within the region in response to receiving input data configured to cause a change in the position of the focus control area.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

executing the shutter command when the single touch input is received in a previous position of the at least one subregion but not in a current position of the at least one subregion.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising changing displaying of the focus control area when one or more of:

the input data is received; and

a condition for changing displaying of the focus control area is sensed at the camera device.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the region comprises an entire display area of the touch screen.

15. A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer readable program code adapted to be executed to implement a method comprising:

displaying an image in a region of a touch screen of the camera device, the region comprising a focus control area that is of a size less than the region, the focus control area specifying a location in the image on which the sensor is to focus when acquiring the image for storage, the focus control area being monochrome, the displaying including displaying both the image and the focus control area in the region, the image acquired via a sensor for providing an electronic signal corresponding to the image;

when single touch input is received in the region anywhere the image is displayed other than the focus control area, executing, via a processor of the camera device, a shutter command to store the image in a memory;

when the single touch input is received in the focus control area, and not outside the focus control area, not executing, at the processor, the shutter command and executing, at the processor, a control command corresponding to the focus control area; and

dynamically moving, using the processor, and at the touchscreen, a position of the focus control area within the region in response to receiving input data configured to cause a change in the position of the focus control area.

Assignments (6)