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US 8,675,114 B2Granted
Image pickup apparatus
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsToshio Watanabe, Kenji Yamamoto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image pickup apparatus capable of switching between image pickup modes is provided. An image pickup apparatus includes; an image pickup lens; an image pickup device receiving light from the image pickup lens to obtain image pickup data; an image processing section for performing image processing on the image pickup data obtained from the image pickup device; a microlens array section including a plurality of microlenses, and arranged between the image pickup lens and the image pickup device; and a driving section changing a relative distance between the microlens array section and the image pickup device.
Claims13
An image pickup apparatus comprising:
- an image pickup lens;
- an image pickup device configured to receive light from the image pickup lens and generate image pickup data based on the received light;
- an image processing section configured to selectively perform light field photography image processing on the image pickup data;
- a microlens array section including a plurality of microlenses and arranged on an optical axis between the image pickup lens and the image pickup device;
- a driving section configured to change a relative distance between the microlens array section and the image pickup device based on a control signal,
- a control section configured to control the image processing section and the driving section,
- wherein the image pickup apparatus is configured to selectively operate in at least a first image pickup mode and a second image pickup mode,
- wherein, when the image pickup apparatus is operating in the second image pickup mode, the control section causes the driving section to make the relative distance substantially the same as the focal length of the microlens array section and causes the image processing section to perform the light field photography image processing on the image pickup data,
- wherein, when the image pickup apparatus is operating in the first image pickup mode, the control section causes the driving section to make the relative distance smaller than the focal length of the microlens array section and causes the image processing section to not perform the light field photography image processing on the image pickup data,
- wherein each of the plurality of microlenses have a first side with a first curvature and a second side with a second curvature that is smaller than the first curvature, and
- wherein each of the plurality of microlenses are arranged such that their first side is disposed closer to the image pickup device than their second side.
8 more elements
An image pickup apparatus comprising:
- an image pickup lens;
- an image pickup device configured to receive light from the image pickup lens and generate image pickup data based on the received light;
- an image processing section configured to selectively perform light field photography image processing on the image pickup data;
- a microlens array section including a plurality of microlenses and arranged on an optical axis between the image pickup lens and the image pickup device;
- a driving section configured to change a relative distance between the microlens array section and the image pickup device based on a control signal,
- a control section configured to control the image processing section and the driving section,
- wherein the image pickup apparatus is configured to selectively operate in at least a first image pickup mode and a second image pickup mode,
- wherein, when the image pickup apparatus is operating in the second image pickup mode, the control section causes the driving section to make the relative distance substantially the same as the focal length of the microlens array section and causes the image processing section to perform the light field photography image processing on the image pickup data,
- wherein, when the image pickup apparatus is operating in the first image pickup mode, the control section causes the driving section to make the relative distance smaller than the focal length of the microlens array section and causes the image processing section to not perform the light field photography image processing on the image pickup data,
- wherein each of the plurality of microlenses is a compound lens, and
- wherein each of the plurality of microlenses is oriented such that an operation distance thereof is made equal to a focal length thereof, the operation distance corresponding to a distance from a side of the microlens that is closest to the image processing section to a point corresponding to the focal length of the microlens.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.