US20120251090A1 - Camera - Google Patents
Camera Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20120251090A1 US20120251090A1 US13/165,758 US201113165758A US2012251090A1 US 20120251090 A1 US20120251090 A1 US 20120251090A1 US 201113165758 A US201113165758 A US 201113165758A US 2012251090 A1 US2012251090 A1 US 2012251090A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- light source
- light sources
- light
- shooting object
- camera
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 8
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000013589 supplement Substances 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- H04N23/00—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
- H04N23/56—Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof provided with illuminating means
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B2215/00—Special procedures for taking photographs; Apparatus therefor
- G03B2215/05—Combinations of cameras with electronic flash units
- G03B2215/0503—Built-in units
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
- G03B—APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR
- G03B2215/00—Special procedures for taking photographs; Apparatus therefor
- G03B2215/05—Combinations of cameras with electronic flash units
- G03B2215/0564—Combinations of cameras with electronic flash units characterised by the type of light source
- G03B2215/0571—With second light source
Definitions
- the flashlight is an artificial light source used for shooting, and when a shutter of a camera is pressed, the flashlight lights a scene within about 1/1000 to 1/200 second to supplement light to a shooting object, so as to increase luminance of the shooting object in case of insufficient natural light conditions.
- the invention is directed to a camera, in which a flashlight module is capable of providing suitable lights to a shooting object and surrounding of the shooting object.
- FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the flashlight module of FIG. 1 .
- FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashlight module according to another embodiment of the invention.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Multimedia (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Stroboscope Apparatuses (AREA)
- Studio Devices (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 100111556, filed on Apr. 1, 2011. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The invention relates to an image capturing device. Particularly, the invention relates to a camera.
- 2. Description of Related Art
- Most of cameras are equipped with flashlights. The flashlight is an artificial light source used for shooting, and when a shutter of a camera is pressed, the flashlight lights a scene within about 1/1000 to 1/200 second to supplement light to a shooting object, so as to increase luminance of the shooting object in case of insufficient natural light conditions.
- In detail, after the shutter is pressed, the flashlight performs a pre-flash to estimate a required light intensity. Generally, the light intensity of the flashlight is determined based on a principle that the shooting object is not over exposed, so that the flashlight generally cannot provide sufficient light to surrounding of the shooting object, which lead to a result that secondary shooting objects around the shooting object and the background are excessively dark. However, it is easy to cause over exposure of the shooting object to increase the light intensity of the flashlight to ameliorate the excessive dark phenomenon around the shooting object. Moreover, if a certain distance is maintained between a foreground and the background of the shooting object, shadow is appeared around the shooting object under the function of the flashlight. Therefore, while the flashlight is used to provide suitable light to the shooting object, luminance of the surrounding of the shooting object cannot be simultaneously considered, which may cause a poor quality of the captured image.
- The invention is directed to a camera, in which a flashlight module is capable of providing suitable lights to a shooting object and surrounding of the shooting object.
- The invention provides a camera including a main body, a lens and a flashlight module. The main body has an image capturing unit. The lens is disposed on the main body at a position corresponding to the image capturing unit for guiding lights to the image capturing unit. The flashlight module includes a first light source and second light sources. The first light source is disposed on the main body and has a first emitting area. The second light sources are disposed on the main body and surround the first light source. Each second light source has a second emitting area. The second emitting areas surround the first emitting area.
- In an embodiment of the invention, the second light sources are light emitting diode (LED) light sources.
- In an embodiment of the invention, the main body has a surface, the first light source is located on the surface, and the second light sources are located on the surface and symmetrically surround the first light source.
- In an embodiment of the invention, the surface has a rectangular area, the first light source is located in the rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is four, and the second light sources are respectively located at four corners of the rectangular area.
- In an embodiment of the invention, the surface has a rectangular area, the first light source is located in the rectangular area, a number of the second light sources is six, and the second light sources are respectively located at four corners and two long sides of the rectangular area or located at the four corners and two short sides of the rectangular area.
- In an embodiment of the invention, the camera further includes a controller coupled to the first light source and the second light sources. When the image capturing unit captures an image of a shooting object through the lens, the controller simultaneously triggers the first light source and the second light sources.
- In an embodiment of the invention, before the image capturing unit captures the image of the shooting object, the controller triggers the first light source to perform a pre-flash, and determines a light emitting intensity of the first light source and light emitting intensities of the second light sources according to the pre-flash.
- According to the above descriptions, the flashlight module of the invention includes the first light source and the second light sources surrounding the first light source. When the first light source flashes the shooting object and the surrounding of the shooting object cannot obtain enough light from the first light source, the second light sources provide light to the surrounding of the shooting object, so that the shooting object and secondary shooting objects around the shooting object and the background may have enough luminance during shooting, so as to avoid generating shadow around the shooting object due to that a certain distance is maintained between a foreground and the background of the shooting object.
- In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention comprehensible, several exemplary embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.
- The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
-
FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera according to an embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the camera ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of scene captured by the camera ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the flashlight module ofFIG. 1 . -
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashlight module according to another embodiment of the invention. -
FIG. 1 is a front view of a camera according to an embodiment of the invention.FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the camera ofFIG. 1 . Referring toFIG. 1 andFIG. 2 , thecamera 100 of the present embodiment includes amain body 110, alens 120, aflashlight module 130 and acontroller 140. Themain body 110 has animage capturing unit 110 a. Thelens 120 is disposed on themain body 110 at a position corresponding to theimage capturing unit 110 a for guiding lights to theimage capturing unit 110 a. Theflashlight module 130 includes a firstlight source 132 and secondlight sources 134. The firstlight source 132 is disposed on themain body 110, and the secondlight sources 134 are disposed on themain body 110 and surround the firstlight source 132. Thecontroller 140 is coupled to the firstlight source 132 and the secondlight sources 134. When theimage capturing unit 110 a captures an image of a shooting object through thelens 120, thecontroller 140 simultaneously triggers the firstlight source 132 and the secondlight sources 134. In the present embodiment, the firstlight source 132 is, for example, the same to a general flashlight of a conventional camera, and the secondlight sources 134 are, for example, light emitting diode (LED) light sources. -
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of scene captured by the camera ofFIG. 1 . A user can use thecamera 100 ofFIG. 1 to shoot the scene shown inFIG. 3 . The firstlight source 132 has a first emitting area R1, and the secondlight sources 134 respectively have a second emitting area R2, where the second emitting areas R2 surround the first emitting area R1. During a shooting process, when theimage capturing unit 110 a captures an image of ashooting object 50 located at the center ofFIG. 3 through thelens 120, the firstlight source 132 flashes the first emitting area R1 to illuminate theshooting object 50, and the secondlight sources 134 flash the second emitting areas R2 to illuminate the surrounding of theshooting object 50. In this way, when the firstlight source 132 flashes theshooting object 50 and the surrounding (for example, asecondary shooting object 60 and a background 70) of theshooting object 50 cannot obtain enough light from the firstlight source 132, the secondlight sources 134 provide lights to the surrounding of theshooting object 50, so that theshooting object 50 andsecondary shooting object 60 around theshooting object 50 and the background 70 may have enough luminance during shooting, so as to avoid excessive dark of the scene outside theshooting object 50. - Further, after the user presses a shutter of the
camera 100 and before theimage capturing unit 110 a captures the image of theshooting object 50, thecontroller 140 first triggers the firstlight source 132 to perform a pre-flash to the scene shown inFIG. 3 to determine an intensity of the flash to be sent by the firstlight source 132, so as to ensure that theshooting object 50 has enough luminance without being over exposed due to the flash of the firstlight source 132. The pre-flash of the firstlight source 132 may further determine intensities of the flashes to be sent by the secondlight sources 134, so that the surrounding objects of theshooting object 50 may obtain suitable light to have enough luminance. -
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the flashlight module ofFIG. 1 . Referring toFIG. 4 , in detail, themain body 110 has asurface 112, and the firstlight source 132 is located in arectangular area 112 a on thesurface 112. A number of the secondlight sources 134 is four, and the secondlight sources 134 are respectively located at four corners of therectangular area 112 a and symmetrically surround the firstlight source 132, so that the lights emitted by the secondlight sources 134 can symmetrically and evenly irradiate the surrounding of theshooting object 50 ofFIG. 3 . The number and configuring positions of the second light sources are not limited by the invention, and anther embodiment is provided below with reference of a figure for description. -
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a flashlight module according to another embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 5 , in theflashlight module 230 of the present embodiment, a firstlight source 232 is located in arectangular area 212 a on asurface 212 of amain body 210. A number of secondlight sources 234 is six, and the secondlight sources 234 are respectively located at four corners and two long sides of therectangular area 212 a, and symmetrically surround the firstlight source 232, so that the lights emitted by the secondlight sources 234 can symmetrically and evenly irradiate the surrounding of the shooting object. In the present embodiment, lengths of the long side and a short side of therectangular area 212 a can be the same or different. In other embodiments, the number of the secondlight sources 234 can be varied, and the secondlight sources 234 can be arranged at other potions on thesurface 212 in an array. For example, the second light sources located at the two long sides of the rectangular area can be designed to respectively locate at two short sides of the rectangular area, which is not limited by the invention. - In summary, the flashlight module of the invention includes the first light source and the second light sources surrounding the first light source. When the first light source flashes the shooting object and the surrounding of the shooting object cannot obtain enough light from the first light source, the second light sources provide light to the surrounding of the shooting object, so that the shooting object and the secondary shooting objects around the shooting object and the background may have enough luminance during shooting, so as to avoid generating shadow around the shooting object due to that a certain distance is maintained between the foreground and the background of the shooting object. Moreover, the first light source is adapted to perform the pre-flash before the image capturing unit captures the image of the shooting object, so as to determine the intensity of the flash sent by the first light source and ensure that the shooting object has enough luminance without being over exposed due to the flash of the first light source. The pre-flash may further determine intensities of the flashes sent by the second light sources, so that the surrounding objects of the shooting object may obtain suitable light to have enough luminance.
- It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims (7)
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
TW100111556 | 2011-04-01 | ||
TW100111556A TWI424248B (en) | 2011-04-01 | 2011-04-01 | Camera |
TW100111556A | 2011-04-01 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US8275252B1 US8275252B1 (en) | 2012-09-25 |
US20120251090A1 true US20120251090A1 (en) | 2012-10-04 |
Family
ID=46846364
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/165,758 Active US8275252B1 (en) | 2011-04-01 | 2011-06-21 | Camera |
Country Status (2)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US8275252B1 (en) |
TW (1) | TWI424248B (en) |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9413939B2 (en) * | 2011-12-15 | 2016-08-09 | Blackberry Limited | Apparatus and method for controlling a camera and infrared illuminator in an electronic device |
CN112751999A (en) * | 2019-10-31 | 2021-05-04 | 北京小米移动软件有限公司 | Electronic device, shooting method and shooting device |
Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20050212684A1 (en) * | 2004-03-23 | 2005-09-29 | Flora Huang | Indicating apparatus combined with flash |
Family Cites Families (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
TWI240139B (en) * | 2004-01-05 | 2005-09-21 | Aiptek Int Inc | Indicate apparatus combined with flash |
TWI237148B (en) * | 2004-04-29 | 2005-08-01 | Aiptek Int Inc | Flashlight equipment and generating flashlight method |
TWM360380U (en) * | 2008-10-15 | 2009-07-01 | Altek Corp | Fixing structure for flash module and its electronic device |
TWM354091U (en) * | 2008-10-22 | 2009-04-01 | Onbest Co Ltd Z | Xenon gas flash light module and reflective structure thereof |
-
2011
- 2011-04-01 TW TW100111556A patent/TWI424248B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2011-06-21 US US13/165,758 patent/US8275252B1/en active Active
Patent Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20050212684A1 (en) * | 2004-03-23 | 2005-09-29 | Flora Huang | Indicating apparatus combined with flash |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
TW201241539A (en) | 2012-10-16 |
TWI424248B (en) | 2014-01-21 |
US8275252B1 (en) | 2012-09-25 |
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