US 2022/0187684 A1 · EXTERNAL LIGHT SOURCE FOR MOBILE DEVICES

Abstract

an external light source is designed as an external flashgun for mobile devices consisting of a xenon flash tube with associated electronic circuitry, whereby the external light source is arranged to operate in at least two modes, in the single flash mode and in the apparent uniform flash mode. The mode of the external light source's operation is set automatically based on the exposure time set on the linked mobile device. One or several external light source are arranged to connect to a mobile device via a radio link, whereby the external light source sends timestamps to the linked mobile device in regular intervals via the radio link. Based on the timestamps, an algorithm in the software running on the mobile device calculates the time delay between the moment photo capture starts on the mobile device and the moment of the flash of light being triggered by the external light source, resulting in the entire frame/subject/scene being uniformly lighted.

Claims21

Dependent claims

An external light source for mobile devices, comprising a housing having a window for light emitted by the external light source, wherein installed inside the housing are at least the following components:

a xenon flash with at least one flash tube and associated electronic circuit comprising a capacitor, wherein the circuit is configured to allow for triggering of the xenon flash tube in at least two operation modes:
a single flash, and
an apparent uniform flash;
integrated circuit with a central processing unit and Bluetooth chip, wherein the CPU is configured to perform at least:
communication with a mobile device via a radio link, and
control of the operation of the external light source;
and
switch, and a control unit of the switch via which the CPU communicates to trigger the flash tube in accordance with the selected operation mode,
wherein the integrated circuit and the switch are arranged to provide a flash in the single flash operation mode of less than 1 millisecond duration via said flash tube, and
wherein the integrated circuit and the switch are arranged to provide an apparent uniform flash in the apparent uniform flash operation mode of at least 4 milliseconds duration via said flash tube.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

External light source for mobile devices

Life of this patent

External light source for mobile devices

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21