Hybrid Zoom Systems And Methods For Improved Electronic Image Stabilization Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Video Streams

A system for operating an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the system comprising:

• one or more camera sensors for capturing a raw video stream input;
• and
• at least one computing device disposed onboard the UAV and operably coupled to the one or more camera sensors, the at least one computing device configured to:
• determine a zoom level for the raw video stream input;
• and
• (a) for the zoom level being determined to be less than or equal to 3×,
• zoom the raw video stream input to a field of view at a first zoom level of less than or equal to 3× to generate a zoomed video stream;
• and
• apply electronic image stabilization to the zoomed video stream to generate a zoomed and stabilized video stream;
• or
• (b) for the zoom level being determined to be greater than 3×,
• first zoom the raw video stream input to a first field of view at 3× to generate a 3× zoomed video stream;
• second zoom the 3× zoomed video stream to a second field of view at a second zoom level to generate a fully zoomed video stream at greater than 3×;
• and
• apply electronic image stabilization to the fully zoomed video stream to generate a zoomed and stabilized video stream.

One or more non-transitory computer readable media having stored thereon program instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to:

• determine a zoom level for a raw video stream input captured by one or more camera sensors of the UAV;
• and
• (a) for the zoom level being determined to be less than or equal to 3×,
• zoom the raw video stream input to a field of view at a first zoom level of less than or equal to 3× to generate a zoomed video stream;
• and
• apply electronic image stabilization to the zoomed video stream to generate a zoomed and stabilized video stream;
• or
• (b) for the zoom level being determined to be greater than 3×,
• first zoom the raw video stream input to a first field of view at 3× to generate a 3× zoomed video stream;
• second zoom the 3× zoomed video stream to a second field of view at a second zoom level to generate a fully zoomed video stream at greater than 3×;
• and
• apply electronic image stabilization to the fully zoomed video stream to generate a zoomed and stabilized video stream.