Out-of-focus detection method and imaging device control method

An out-of-focus detection method that detects an out-of-focus image, said out-of-focus detection method comprising the steps of:

• (a) computing an edge evaluation value, which represents an edge level at each of multiple evaluation positions included in an object image, from luminance information with regard to each of pixels constituting the object image;
• (b) dividing the object image into multiple blocks, where each block includes at least one of the multiple evaluation positions, and determining whether each block is an out-of-focus block, based on edge evaluation values at respective evaluation positions included in the block;
• and
• (c) evaluating the object image as out-of-focus or in-focus, based on a rate of an out-of-focus area consisting of out-of-focus blocks determined in said step (b) to the whole object image.

An out-of-focus detection method that detects an out-of-focus image, said out-of-focus detection method comprising the steps of:

• (a) computing an edge evaluation value, which represents an edge level at each of multiple evaluation positions included in an object image, from luminance information with regard to each of pixels constituting the object image;
• (b) dividing the object image into multiple blocks, where each block includes at least one of the multiple evaluation positions, and categorizing each block as an in-focus block or an out-of-focus block, based on edge evaluation values at respective evaluation positions included in the block;
• and
• (c) evaluating the object image as out-of-focus or in-focus, based on rates of an in-focus area consisting of in-focus blocks categorized in said step (b) and of an out-of-focus area consisting of out-of-focus blocks categorized in said step (b) to the whole object image.

An imaging device that takes an object image, said imaging device comprising:

• an image storage module that stores the object image;
• an out-of-focus detection module that evaluates a target area out of multiple divisional areas constituting the object image stored in said image storage module, as out-of-focus or in-focus;
• and
• a detection result output module that outputs a result of the evaluation.