Preventing motion artifacts by intelligently disabling video stabilization

A personal electronics device comprising:

• a camera configured for producing a series of images;
• a digital video stabilizer configured for calculating a stabilization-compensation value associated with the series of images;
• a motion detector configured for producing motion data;
• and
• a processor operatively connected to the camera, to the digital video stabilizer, and to the motion detector, the processor configured for:
• analyzing the motion data;
• and
• only if the analyzing reveals that motion detected by the motion detector is above a noise threshold, then applying the stabilization-compensation value to the series of images, wherein calculating the noise threshold includes measuring motion data produced by the motion detector while the personal electronics device is in a static position.

A method comprising:

• calculating a noise threshold based on motion data generated while a motion detector is held in a static position;
• capturing, by a camera, a plurality of images;
• calculating, by a digital video stabilizer of the camera, an offset value for each of the plurality of images based on a pixel difference between sequential images of the plurality of images;
• producing, by a motion detector of the camera, motion data;
• comparing the motion data to the noise threshold;
• and
• upon determining the motion data exceeds the noise threshold, generating a video based on the plurality of images and the offset value for each of the plurality of images.