IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,581,185
Granted Patent B2
US 12,581,185 · App. 18/621,999 · Granted Mar 17, 2026

Method for camera alignment mitigations for systems with multiple cameras

Inventors: Avijit S. Wasu (Santa Clara, CA); Anandhakumar Chinnaiyan (San Ramon, CA); Benjamin A. Darling (Cupertino, CA); Florian Ciurea (Campbell, CA); Tao Zhang (Campbell, CA); Zejing Wang (Mountain View, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
H04N23/632H04N23/69H04N23/90H04N23/683
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,581,185
App. No.
18/621,999
Granted
Mar 17, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Mitigations for camera alignment during image capture preview involve receiving a zoom level request for a multicamera system comprising a first camera having a first optical zoom metric and a second camera having a second optical zoom metric, and obtaining an image frame from the first camera. A target transformation is determined based on difference between the first optical zoom and a requested zoom level, the second camera's native optical zoom level, the relative orientation of the first and second cameras within the system framework and the relative intrinsics on the two cameras. The transformation is applied before, in conjunction with, or followed by a separate digital zoom transform to the image frame to obtain a transformed and digitally zoomed image frame transformation.

Claims (64)

1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable code executable by a processor to:

receive a zoom level request for a multicamera system comprising a first camera having a first optical zoom metric and a second camera having a second optical zoom metric;

obtain an image frame from the first camera;

determine a target transformation based on: 1) a first difference between the first optical zoom and a requested zoom level, 2) a second difference between the second optical zoom and the requested zoom level, and 3) relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera within the multicamera system;

apply a digital zoom to the image frame in accordance with the zoom level request to obtain a digitally zoomed image frame; and

apply the target transformation to the digitally zoomed image frame to obtain a transformed digitally zoomed image frame.

2 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising computer readable code to:

present the transformed digitally zoomed image frame as a preview frame.

3 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising computer readable code to:

receive an additional zoom level request at an additional zoom level; and

in response to the additional zoom level request matching the second optical zoom metric, switch from image capture using the first camera to the second camera.

4 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , further comprising computer readable code to:

adjust video image stabilization parameter applied to the digitally zoomed image frame in accordance with the target transformation to generate a stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame; and

include the stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame in a stabilized video clip produced by the multicamera system.

5 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera comprises at least one of:

a relative pose between the first camera and the second camera; and

relative intrinsics between the first camera and the second camera.

6 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 5 , wherein the computer readable code to determine a target transformation further comprises computer readable code to:

determine a target rotation based on: 1) a difference between intrinsics of the first camera and the second camera, and 2) the relative pose of the first camera and the second camera; and

apply the target rotation to the digitally zoomed image frame.

7 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first camera comprises a first field of view (FOV), and wherein the second camera comprises a second FOV that is narrower than the first FOV.

8 . A method comprising:

receiving a zoom level request for a multicamera system comprising a first camera having a first optical zoom metric and a second camera having a second optical zoom metric;

obtaining an image frame from the first camera;

determining a target transformation based on: 1) a first difference between the first optical zoom and a requested zoom level, 2) a second difference between the second optical zoom and the requested zoom level, and 3) relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera within the multicamera system;

applying the target transformation to the image frame to obtain a transformed image frame; and

applying a digital zoom to the transformed image frame in accordance with the zoom level request to obtain a transformed digitally zoomed image frame.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

presenting the transformed digitally zoomed image frame as a preview frame.

10 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

receiving an additional zoom level request at an additional zoom level; and

in response to the additional zoom level request matching the second optical zoom metric, switching from image capture using the first camera to the second camera.

11 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

adjusting video image stabilization parameter applied to the digitally zoomed image frame in accordance with the target transformation to generate a stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame; and

including the stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame in a stabilized video clip produced by the multicamera system.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera comprises at least one of:

a relative pose between the first camera and the second camera; and

relative intrinsics between the first camera and the second camera.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein determining a target transformation further comprises:

determining a target rotation based on: 1) a difference between intrinsics of the first camera and the second camera, and 2) the relative pose of the first camera and the second camera; and

applying the target rotation to the digitally zoomed image frame.

14 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the first camera comprises a first field of view (FOV), and wherein the second camera comprises a second FOV that is narrower than the first FOV.

15 . A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer readable media comprising computer readable code executable by the one or more processors to:

receive a zoom level request for a multicamera system comprising a first camera having a first optical zoom metric and a second camera having a second optical zoom metric;

obtain an image frame from the first camera;

determine a target transformation based on: 1) a first difference between the first optical zoom and a requested zoom level, 2) a second difference between the second optical zoom and the requested zoom level, and 3) relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera within the multicamera system;

apply a digital zoom to the image frame in accordance with the zoom level request to obtain a digitally zoomed image frame; and

apply the target transformation to the digitally zoomed image frame to obtain a transformed digitally zoomed image frame.

16 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising computer readable code to:

present the transformed digitally zoomed image frame as a preview frame.

17 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising computer readable code to:

receive an additional zoom level request at an additional zoom level; and

in response to the additional zoom level request matching the second optical zoom metric, switch from image capture using the first camera to the second camera.

18 . The system of claim 15 , further comprising computer readable code to:

adjust video image stabilization parameter applied to the digitally zoomed image frame in accordance with the target transformation to generate a stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame; and

include the stabilized version of the digitally zoomed image frame in a stabilized video clip produced by the multicamera system.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the relative geometric characteristics of the first camera and the second camera comprises at least one of:

a relative pose between the first camera and the second camera; and

relative intrinsics between the first camera and the second camera.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the computer readable code to determine a target transformation further comprises computer readable code to:

determine a target rotation based on: 1) a difference between intrinsics of the first camera and the second camera, and 2) the relative pose of the first camera and the second camera; and

apply the target rotation to the digitally zoomed image frame.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2024
From: WASU, AVIJIT S.; ZHANG, TAO; CIUREA, FLORIAN; DARLING, BENJAMIN A.; CHINNAIYAN, ANANDHAKUMAR; WANG, ZEJING
To: APPLE INC.
Reel/Frame 067312/0734 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63581829 · Sep 11, 2023
Related Publication 20250088731A1 · Mar 13, 2025
References Cited (3)
US 20220272268A1 · Cohen · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220309709A1 · Stec · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230059657A1 · Hu · 2023 [cited by examiner]