US20120236181A1 - Generating a zoomed image - Google Patents

Generating a zoomed image Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20120236181A1
US20120236181A1 US13/049,088 US201113049088A US2012236181A1 US 20120236181 A1 US20120236181 A1 US 20120236181A1 US 201113049088 A US201113049088 A US 201113049088A US 2012236181 A1 US2012236181 A1 US 2012236181A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
image data
image
image sensor
zoomed
cropped
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US13/049,088
Inventor
Ying X. Noyes
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Qualcomm Inc
Original Assignee
Qualcomm Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Qualcomm Inc filed Critical Qualcomm Inc
Priority to US13/049,088 priority Critical patent/US20120236181A1/en
Assigned to QUALCOMM INCORPORATED reassignment QUALCOMM INCORPORATED ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: NOYES, YING X.
Priority to KR1020137027292A priority patent/KR101532861B1/en
Priority to EP12713454.2A priority patent/EP2687007A1/en
Priority to CN201280013156.2A priority patent/CN103430532B/en
Priority to PCT/US2012/029287 priority patent/WO2012125862A1/en
Priority to JP2013558185A priority patent/JP2014511071A/en
Publication of US20120236181A1 publication Critical patent/US20120236181A1/en
Priority to US14/215,792 priority patent/US9325905B2/en
Priority to JP2015204876A priority patent/JP2016042712A/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N5/00Details of television systems
    • H04N5/222Studio circuitry; Studio devices; Studio equipment
    • H04N5/262Studio circuits, e.g. for mixing, switching-over, change of character of image, other special effects ; Cameras specially adapted for the electronic generation of special effects
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H04N23/69Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H04N23/62Control of parameters via user interfaces
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N23/00Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof
    • H04N23/60Control of cameras or camera modules
    • H04N23/66Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N25/00Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
    • H04N25/40Extracting pixel data from image sensors by controlling scanning circuits, e.g. by modifying the number of pixels sampled or to be sampled
    • H04N25/44Extracting pixel data from image sensors by controlling scanning circuits, e.g. by modifying the number of pixels sampled or to be sampled by partially reading an SSIS array
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04NPICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N25/00Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
    • H04N25/40Extracting pixel data from image sensors by controlling scanning circuits, e.g. by modifying the number of pixels sampled or to be sampled
    • H04N25/44Extracting pixel data from image sensors by controlling scanning circuits, e.g. by modifying the number of pixels sampled or to be sampled by partially reading an SSIS array
    • H04N25/443Extracting pixel data from image sensors by controlling scanning circuits, e.g. by modifying the number of pixels sampled or to be sampled by partially reading an SSIS array by reading pixels from selected 2D regions of the array, e.g. for windowing or digital zooming

Definitions

  • the present disclosure is generally related to generating a zoomed image.
  • wireless computing devices such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices that are small, lightweight, and easily carried by users.
  • portable wireless telephones such as cellular telephones and internet protocol (IP) telephones
  • IP internet protocol
  • wireless telephones can communicate voice and data packets over wireless networks.
  • many such wireless telephones include other types of devices that are incorporated therein.
  • a wireless telephone can also include a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a digital recorder, and an audio file player.
  • such wireless telephones can process executable instructions, including software applications, such as a web browser application, that can be used to access the Internet. As such, these wireless telephones can include significant computing capabilities.
  • Certain portable electronic devices include image sensors to capture images.
  • digital cameras, mobile telephones, digital video cameras, portable computing devices, and so forth may include image sensors. These portable electronic devices may be able to perform zoom operations to provide a larger (or zoomed) view of a portion of an image.
  • optics associated with an image sensor may be changed in order to generate an image at the image sensor that includes more detail of a particular area.
  • a portion of the image data captured by the image sensor may be upscaled in order to extrapolate or interpolate additional pixel data between pixels that are actually captured by the image sensor.
  • Such upscaling processes may increase latency of image processing, may use additional bandwidth, may increase a pixel clock rate to an unacceptable level, may cause other issues with image quality or processing, or any combination thereof.
  • a zoomed image can be generated by sending window information to an image sensor.
  • the window information indicates a portion of the image sensor from which image data is to be output as cropped image data.
  • a pixel clock rate of the image sensor may also be reduced.
  • the cropped image data may be upscaled and processed to generate the zoomed image.
  • a method of generating a zoomed image includes receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation and sending window information and a pixel rate reduction request to an image sensor based on the instruction.
  • the pixel clock rate reduction request causes a rate at which frames of image data are captured by the image sensor to remain substantially constant or unchanged.
  • the window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the method also includes receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor and upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • an apparatus in another particular embodiment, includes means to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation.
  • the window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the apparatus also includes means to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion and means to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • a tangible computer readable medium stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation.
  • the window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the instructions are further executable by the processor to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor and to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • a method in another particular embodiment, includes receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. The method also includes receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation and sending window information to the image sensor in response to the instruction. The method further includes receiving cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation. The cropped image data is received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate. The method also includes upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • a system in another particular embodiment, includes a processor and a memory accessible to the processor.
  • the memory includes instructions that are executable by the processor to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to implement a zoom operation.
  • the instructions are also executable by the processor to cause a pixel clock rate of the image sensor to be reduced from a first pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate that is less than the first pixel clock rate.
  • the instructions are also executable by the processor to receive cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation. The cropped image data is received from the image sensor at the second pixel clock rate.
  • the instructions are also executable by the processor to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • One particular advantage provided by at least one of the disclosed embodiments is that a zoomed image may be generated without increasing a pixel clock rate of an image processing system. Another particular advantage that is provided by at least one of the disclosed embodiments is that improved image quality for zoomed images may be achieved.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system to generate a zoomed image
  • FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a first particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a second particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a third particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a fourth particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating distinctions in methods of generating a zoomed image
  • FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating distinctions in methods of generating a preview display.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a particular embodiment of a portable device including an apparatus to generate a zoomed image.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system to generate a zoomed image, the system designated 100 .
  • the system 100 may be a portable electronic device, such as a digital camera, a mobile telephone, a portable computing device, or another portable electronic device or apparatus that includes a camera.
  • the system 100 includes an image sensor 104 coupled to an image processing system 102 .
  • the system 100 may also include other components that are not illustrated, such as autofocus components, lenses, aperture control components, and so forth.
  • image is used herein to refer to a moving image (e.g., a movie or video image) or to a still image (e.g., a photograph or picture).
  • the system 100 includes a camera interface 108 to connect the image sensor 104 to the image processing system 102 .
  • the system 100 may also include an input device 142 (such as a switch, a soft switch, touch screen, or a button) that is adapted to receive user input to implement a zoom operation.
  • the system 100 may also include a display 128 that is adapted to display images captured by the image sensor 104 , images stored in a memory 120 , or both.
  • the display 128 may include a viewfinder, and a viewfinder module 126 of the image processing system 102 may generate a preview image for display at the display 128 .
  • the image processing system 102 may include an image processing pipeline 110 that is configured to perform various image processing functions (illustrated as processing modules 111 - 114 ) to generate an image from image data captured by the image sensor 104 .
  • the image processing pipeline 110 may include an upscaler 111 to upscale the image data to generate upscaled image data.
  • the upscaler 111 may interpolate or extrapolate additional pixels between pixels in the image data captured by the image sensor 104 .
  • the image processing pipeline 110 may also include an image sharpening module 112 to perform one or more image sharpening functions on the image data or the upscaled image data, an adaptive spatial filtering module 113 to perform spatial filtering on the image data or the upscaled image data, other pipeline functions 114 (e.g., demosaicing, gamma correction, white balance, compression, color space conversion, etc.), or any combination thereof.
  • image sharpening module 112 to perform one or more image sharpening functions on the image data or the upscaled image data
  • an adaptive spatial filtering module 113 to perform spatial filtering on the image data or the upscaled image data
  • other pipeline functions 114 e.g., demosaicing, gamma correction, white balance, compression, color space conversion, etc.
  • the image processing system 102 may also include a line buffer 116 that is used to store lines of image data during processing by modules of the image processing pipeline 110 , a processor 118 , or both.
  • the processor 118 may be adapted to execute instructions 122 stored in the memory 120 to process, store or display the image.
  • the processor 118 , the image processing pipeline 110 , or any combination thereof, may store processed image data 124 at the memory 120 .
  • the processed image data 124 may be compressed data (e.g., joint picture expert group (JPEG) image data) or uncompressed data.
  • JPEG joint picture expert group
  • the image processing system 102 includes a zoom controller 140 .
  • the zoom controller 140 is adapted to implement a zoom operation in response to user input received via the input device 142 .
  • the zoom controller 140 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a separate module; however, in certain embodiments, functionality of the zoom controller 140 may be performed by several modules of the image processing system 102 , by instructions 122 executed by the processor 118 , or by any combination thereof.
  • the zoom controller 140 may send instructions to the image sensor 104 , the image processing pipeline 110 , the processor 118 , the view finder module 126 or any combination thereof, to implement the zoom operation.
  • the instructions sent by the zoom controller 140 may include, for example, window information 144 that may be sent to the image sensor 104 to indicate a portion of the image sensor 104 that is to provide image data for the zoom operation.
  • the instructions sent by the zoom controller 140 may cause a pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 to be changed to implement the zoom operation.
  • the zoom controller 140 may cause a master clock rate 130 that is provided to the image sensor 104 to be modified, which may result in the pixel clock rate 132 being modified.
  • the image sensor 104 may be adapted to change from a first pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate without causing an interruption in a frame rate at which image data is captured or output by the image sensor 104 .
  • the image sensor 104 may continue to output the image data at 30 frames per second after the pixel clock rate 132 is changed.
  • the image sensor 104 may further be adapted to change from the first pixel clock rate to the second pixel clock rate without entering a non-active mode (e.g., a standby mode) and without missing any frames (e.g., while maintaining a frame rate of the image sensor).
  • a non-active mode e.g., a standby mode
  • the system 100 may be used to capture images and to store the processed image data 124 at the memory 120 .
  • a user may indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed by providing an input via the input device 142 .
  • the zoom controller 140 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104 .
  • the image sensor 104 may generate cropped image data that corresponds to the portion of the image sensor 104 that is identified by the window information 144 .
  • the window information 144 may specify a set of pixels of the image sensor 104 that are to generate the cropped image data, and the image sensor 104 may send the image data associated with pixels of the set of pixels.
  • the zoom controller 140 may also cause the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 to be reduced. For example, the zoom controller 140 may reduce the master clock rate 130 resulting in the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 being reduced.
  • the cropped image data may be sent to the upscaler 111 via the camera interface 108 .
  • the upscaler 111 may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data. Upscaling the cropped image data causes the image data to include more pixels.
  • the zoomed image data may be provided to other functions of the image processing pipeline 110 , such as the image sharpening module 112 , the adaptive spatial filtering module 113 , the other pipeline functions 114 , or any combination thereof.
  • the cropped image data may be upscaled before other image processing pipeline functions are performed, which may provide improved image quality relative to upscaling image data after the image processing pipeline functions have been performed. Additionally, since the pixel clock rate 132 is reduced in order to output the cropped image data, the pixel clock rate of the image processing pipeline 110 does not become excessive when the number of pixels of the image data is increased by the upscaler 111 .
  • the cropped image data may be provided to the upscaler 111 without first being stored in the line buffer 116 , which may reduce latency in generating the zoomed image. Further, since the cropped image data is received from the image sensor 104 rather than being generated in the image processing system 102 by cropping image data from the entire image sensor 104 , no additional bus bandwidth is used to process or upscale the image data. Thus, power and bus bandwidth that would be used to write image data to the line buffer and to read the image date from the line buffer may be conserved.
  • the view finder module 126 may generate a preview display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor 104 .
  • Sub-sampling refers to removing or omitting certain pixels or combining certain pixels in order to reduce a number of pixels represented in the sub-sampled image data. The number of pixels may be reduced in a relatively uniform manner (e.g., in a manner that retains the entire image but at a lower resolution), in contrast to cropping the image data, which refers to removing entire sections of the image.
  • the view finder module 126 may generate a zoomed preview display using the cropped image data.
  • the cropped image data may not be sub-sampled.
  • the zoomed preview display may be generated based on data that is not sub-sampled.
  • FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a first particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image.
  • the method illustrated in FIG. 2 includes, at 202 , receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation.
  • a user may provide a user input via an input device of an apparatus, such as the system 100 of FIG. 1 , to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed.
  • the apparatus may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • the method may also include, at 204 , sending window information to an image sensor based on the instruction.
  • the window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104 .
  • the window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104 .
  • the method may also include, at 206 , receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor.
  • the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output the cropped image data in response to the window information 144 .
  • the method may also include, at 208 , upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generated zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • the method of FIG. 2 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • FPGA field-programmable gate array
  • ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
  • CPU central processing unit
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • controller another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • the method of FIG. 2 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a second particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image.
  • the method illustrated in FIG. 3 includes, at 302 , generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from an image sensor.
  • the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data.
  • the image sensor 104 may output sub-sampled image data or the image processing pipeline 110 may include a functional module that sub-samples the image data provided by the image sensor 104 to generate the sub-sampled image data.
  • the sub-sampled image data may be processed for display at the display 128 .
  • the method may also include, at 304 , receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation.
  • a user may provide a user input via an input device of an apparatus, such as the system 100 of FIG. 1 , to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed.
  • the system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • the method may also include, at 306 , sending window information to the image sensor based on the instruction.
  • the window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104 .
  • the window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104 .
  • the method may also include, at 308 , reducing a pixel clock rate of the image sensor in response to the instruction to perform the zoom operation.
  • the image processing system 102 of FIG. 1 may provide the master clock signal to the image sensor 104 .
  • the master clock signal may be specify the master clock rate 130 , which may be used to determine the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 .
  • the pixel clock rate 132 may be reduced.
  • the method may also include, at 310 , receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor.
  • the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144 .
  • the method may also include, at 312 , upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • the cropped image data is not stored in a line buffer before the cropped image data is upscaled. Thus, power and bus bandwidth that would be used to write image data to the line buffer and to read the image date from the line buffer may be conserved.
  • the method may also include, at 314 , generating a zoomed display at the display device in response to the instruction.
  • the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display of the zoomed image at the display 128 .
  • the view finder module 126 may generate the view finder display using sub-sampled image data.
  • the view finder module 126 may use cropped image data from the image sensor 104 that is not sub-sampled.
  • the method may also include performing additional image processing using zoomed image data corresponding to the zoomed image.
  • the method may include performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image, at 316 , performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image, at 318 , or both.
  • Other image processing operations may be performed as well or in the alternative.
  • the method may also include storing the zoomed image data at a memory device, at 320 , displaying the zoomed image at a display device, at 322 , or any combination thereof.
  • the method of FIG. 3 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • FPGA field-programmable gate array
  • ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
  • CPU central processing unit
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • controller another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • the method of FIG. 3 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a third particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image.
  • the method illustrated in FIG. 4 includes, at 402 , receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. For example, before an instruction to perform a zoom operation is received at the system 100 of FIG. 1 , the image sensor 104 may output the first image data at a first pixel clock rate.
  • the method may also include, at 404 , receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed via the input device 142 of the system 100 of FIG. 1 .
  • the system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • the method may also include, at 406 , sending window information to an image sensor based on the instruction.
  • the window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104 .
  • the window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104 .
  • the method may also include, at 406 , sending a pixel clock rate reduction request. In response to the pixel clock rate reduction request, a pixel clock rate of the image sensor may be reduced such that a frame rate of image data captured by the image sensor is maintained.
  • the method may also include, at 408 , receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor.
  • the cropped image data may be received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate.
  • the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144 .
  • the master clock rate 130 may be reduced, causing the pixel clock rate 132 to be reduced.
  • the method may also include, at 410 , upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generated zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • the method of FIG. 4 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • FPGA field-programmable gate array
  • ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
  • CPU central processing unit
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • controller another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • the method of FIG. 4 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a fourth particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image.
  • the method illustrated in FIG. 5 includes, at 502 , generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor.
  • the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data.
  • the image sensor 104 may output sub-sampled image data or the image processing pipeline 110 may include a functional module that sub-samples the image data provided by the image sensor 104 to generate the sub-sampled image data.
  • the sub-sampled image data may be processed for display at the display 128 .
  • the method may also include, at 504 , receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. For example, before an instruction to perform a zoom operation is received at the system 100 of FIG. 1 , the image sensor 104 may output the first image data at a first pixel clock rate.
  • the method may also include, at 506 , receiving the instruction to perform the zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input to indicate that the zoom operation is to be performed via the input device 142 of the system 100 of FIG. 1 .
  • the system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • the method may also include, at 508 , sending window information to the image sensor based on the instruction and sending a pixel clock rate reduction request.
  • the window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor.
  • the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104 .
  • the window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104 .
  • the method may also include, at 510 , receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor. In response to the pixel clock rate reduction request, the cropped image data may be received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate.
  • the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144 .
  • the master clock rate 130 may be reduced, causing the pixel clock rate 132 to be reduced.
  • the method may include, at 514 , upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • the method may also include performing additional image processing using the zoomed image data.
  • the method may include performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image, at 516 , and performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image, at 518 .
  • Other image processing operations may be performed as well or in the alternative.
  • the method of FIG. 5 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • FPGA field-programmable gate array
  • ASIC application-specific integrated circuit
  • CPU central processing unit
  • DSP digital signal processor
  • controller another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof.
  • the method of FIG. 5 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating distinctions between methods of generating a zoomed image.
  • a first method of generating the zoomed image is designated 600 and a second method of generating the zoomed image is designated 650 .
  • an image sensor 602 generates image data 614 at a first pixel clock rate.
  • the image sensor 602 may include an array of pixels, such as an array including approximately 2608 ⁇ 1950 pixels.
  • the first pixel clock rate of the image sensor 602 may be about 120 Mhz.
  • the image data 614 may be sent to an image processing pipeline 604 to have various image processing operations performed, e.g., demosaicing, color domain conversion, image sharpening, spatial filtering, etc.
  • the image processing pipeline 604 may process the image data 614 and write the image data 614 to one or more line buffers 606 .
  • the processed image data may be cropped by a crop processing module 608 to generate cropped image data 616 .
  • the cropped image data 616 may be upscaled by an upscaler 610 to generate upscaled image data 618 .
  • the upscaled image data 618 may be provided to other processing or storage modules 612 for further processing and storage.
  • the cropped image data 616 may be increased sixteen fold (i.e., 4 ⁇ vertical resolution and 4 ⁇ horizontal resolution).
  • the upscaled image data 618 may include approximately 16 times as many pixels as the cropped image data 616 . Since the cropped image data 616 is processed at the first pixel clock rate (e.g., about 120 Mhz), the upscaling results in the upscaled image data 618 being generated at pixel clock rate (e.g., about 1920 Mhz) that is sixteen times larger than the first pixel clock rate.
  • the first method 600 may result in a significant increase in the pixel clock rate when a zoomed image is generated.
  • first method 600 and the second method 650 certain characteristics of the systems and modules that perform the methods are described as common between the two methods. For example, images may be generated at the same frame rate between the two methods (e.g., 12 frames per second). Additionally, the zoom operation described for the second method 650 may be similar in magnitude to the zoom operation that is described for the first method 600 (e.g., a 4 ⁇ zoom). These similarities are merely for convenience of describing and comparing the two methods 600 , 650 and are not intended as limitations. For example, the first method 600 or the second method 650 may operate at frame rates greater than 12 frames per second or less than 12 frames per second. Additionally, the frame rate in either of the methods 600 , 650 may be changed to implement a zoom operation. Further, either of the methods 600 , 650 may be used to perform zoom operations greater than 4 ⁇ or less than 4 ⁇ . Additionally, the image sensor 602 may include more than 5M pixels or fewer than 5M pixels.
  • a zoom controller 652 provides window information 654 to the image sensor 602 .
  • the window information 654 includes information that identifies a portion of the image sensor 602 from which data is to be output as cropped image data 656 .
  • the window information 654 may identify a portion that corresponds to approximately one sixteenth of the pixels of the image sensor 602 (e.g., an area of the image sensor 602 including approximately 664 ⁇ 492 pixels).
  • the zoom controller 652 may also cause the image sensor 602 to reduce the image sensor's pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate.
  • the zoom controller 652 may send a signal to the image sensor 602 that causes the image sensor 602 to reduce the pixel clock rate.
  • the zoom controller 652 may cause a master clock signal sent to the image sensor 602 to be reduced, resulting in the pixel clock rate of the image sensor 602 being reduced.
  • the image sensor 602 may output the cropped image data 656 at the second pixel clock rate.
  • the second pixel clock rate may be approximately 12 Mhz.
  • the image processing pipeline 604 may receive the cropped image data 656 .
  • the upscaler 610 may be part of the image processing pipeline 604 .
  • the upscaler 610 may precede other pipeline processing modules 658 of the image processing pipeline 604 . That is, the upscaler 610 may process the cropped image data 656 before the other pipeline processing modules 658 .
  • the upscaler 610 may upscale the cropped image data 656 to generate zoomed image data 670 .
  • the number of pixels of the cropped image data 656 may be increased sixteen fold by the upscaler 610 . Accordingly, when the cropped image data 656 includes 664 ⁇ 492 pixels, the zoomed image data 670 may include 2656 ⁇ 1968 pixels.
  • the pixel clock rate may be increased sixteen fold.
  • the increased pixel clock rate in the image processing pipeline 604 after upscaling the cropped image data 656 may be approximately 192 Hz, which may be an acceptable pixel clock rate for certain image processing systems.
  • the image processing pipeline 604 may perform the other pipeline processing functions 658 , such as demosaicing, image sharpening, spatial filtering, color space transformation, etc. Additionally, the other processing or storage functions 612 may be performed using the zoomed image data 670 .
  • a zoomed image can be generated without increasing a pixel clock rate of an image processing system to an unacceptable level.
  • other image processing pipeline functions such as spatial filtering and image sharpening
  • image data is upscaled, which may provide improved image quality relative to performing image upscaling after the image processing functions.
  • the above referenced improvements can be achieved without increasing latency in the image processing system or bandwidth used by the image processing system.
  • FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating methods of generating a preview display.
  • a first method of generating the preview display is designated 700 and a second method of generating the preview display is designated 750 .
  • the first method 700 may be used to generate the preview display before a zoom operation is implemented
  • the second method 750 may be used to generate the preview display when the zoom operation is implemented.
  • an image sensor 702 generates image data 710 .
  • the image data 710 is sub-sampled, either by the image sensor 702 or by a separate sub-sampling module 704 to generate sub-sampled image data 712 .
  • the sub-sampling may include removing certain pixels or combining certain pixels to reduce a number of pixels represented in the sub-sampled image data 712 .
  • the number of pixels may be reduced in a relatively uniform manner (e.g., in a manner that retains the entire image but at a lower resolution), in contrast to cropping the image data 710 which refers to removing entire sections of the image.
  • a view finder module 706 uses the sub-sampled image data 712 to generate a preview image 714 that is sent to a display device 708 .
  • the image sensor 702 generates the image data 710 .
  • the image data 710 is sent to a cropping module 752 without being sub-sampled.
  • the image data 710 may be sent at full resolution to the cropping module 752 .
  • the cropping module 752 may crop the image data 710 to generate cropped image data 754 .
  • the cropped image data 754 may be sent to the view finder module 706 , which uses the cropped image data 754 to generate a preview image 756 that is sent to a display device 708 .
  • the image data 710 is generated by the image sensor 702 in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation.
  • window information may be sent to the image sensor 702 (as described with reference to FIG. 1 ).
  • the image sensor 702 may generate the cropped image data 754 , which may be sent to the view finder module 706 .
  • the second method 750 may generate a higher resolution preview display than the first method 700 , since the preview image 756 is not generated from sub-sampled image data 712 .
  • a system may include means for sending window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation, such as the processor 118 of FIG. 1 executing the instructions 122 , the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 , one or more other devices or circuits configured to send window information to an image sensor, or any combination thereof.
  • the system may also include means to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor, such as the camera interface 108 , or the image processing pipeline 110 of FIG. 1 , one or more other devices or circuits configured to receive cropped image data, or any combination thereof.
  • the system may also include means to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image, such as the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 , one or more other devices or circuits configured to upscale the cropped image data, or any combination thereof.
  • FIG. 8 a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of an electronic device 800 including a camera 824 and a zoom controller 820 that can implement a zoom command to generate a zoomed image is depicted.
  • the device 800 includes a processor 802 , such as a general purpose processor, an image processor, a digital signal processor, or any combination thereof, coupled to a memory 804 storing program instructions 836 that may be executable to implement the zoom controller 820 .
  • the processor 802 is also coupled to a camera controller 818 and a display controller 808 .
  • the display controller 808 is coupled to a display 810 .
  • a speaker 814 and a microphone 816 can be coupled to the processor 802 via a coder/decoder (CODEC) 812 .
  • CDEC coder/decoder
  • the electronic device 800 includes or is included within the system 100 of FIG. 1 , and the electronic device 800 operates in accordance with any of FIGS. 2-7 , or any combination thereof, to implement a zoom operation to generate a zoomed image using image data captured by the camera 824 .
  • FIG. 8 also indicates that a wireless interface 826 can be coupled to the processor 802 and to an antenna 828 .
  • the processor 802 , the display controller 808 , the camera controller 818 , the CODEC 812 , the memory 804 , and the wireless interface 826 are included in a system-in-package or system-on-chip device 830 .
  • a power supply 834 , the camera 824 , the speaker 814 , and the microphone 816 are coupled to the system-on-chip device 830 .
  • FIG. 8 illustrates that a wireless interface 826 can be coupled to the processor 802 and to an antenna 828 .
  • a power supply 834 , the camera 824 , the speaker 814 , and the microphone 816 are coupled to the system-on-chip device 830 .
  • FIG. 8 illustrates
  • the display 810 , the input device 832 , the speaker 814 , the microphone 816 , the antenna 828 , and the power supply 834 are external to the system-on-chip device 830 .
  • each of the display 810 , the input device 832 , the speaker 814 , the microphone 816 , the antenna 828 , the camera 824 , and the power supply 834 can be coupled to a component of the system-on-chip device 830 , such as to an interface or to a controller.
  • a software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of tangible storage medium known in the art.
  • An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium.
  • the storage medium may be integral to the processor.
  • the processor and the storage medium may reside in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
  • the ASIC may reside in a computing device or a user terminal.
  • the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a computing device or user terminal.

Abstract

An apparatus and method of generating a zoomed image is disclosed. A particular method includes receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation. Window information is sent to an image sensor based on the instruction. The window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor. In addition, a request to reduce the pixel clock rate may be sent to the image sensor. The request may cause the image sensor to reduce the pixel clock rate such that a frame rate of image data captured by the image sensor is maintained. Cropped image data corresponding to the portion of the image sensor is received. The cropped image data is upscaled to generate a zoomed image

Description

    I. FIELD
  • The present disclosure is generally related to generating a zoomed image.
  • II. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
  • Advances in technology have resulted in smaller and more powerful computing devices. For example, there currently exist a variety of portable personal computing devices, including wireless computing devices, such as portable wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices that are small, lightweight, and easily carried by users. More specifically, portable wireless telephones, such as cellular telephones and internet protocol (IP) telephones, can communicate voice and data packets over wireless networks. Further, many such wireless telephones include other types of devices that are incorporated therein. For example, a wireless telephone can also include a digital still camera, a digital video camera, a digital recorder, and an audio file player. Also, such wireless telephones can process executable instructions, including software applications, such as a web browser application, that can be used to access the Internet. As such, these wireless telephones can include significant computing capabilities.
  • Certain portable electronic devices include image sensors to capture images. For example, digital cameras, mobile telephones, digital video cameras, portable computing devices, and so forth, may include image sensors. These portable electronic devices may be able to perform zoom operations to provide a larger (or zoomed) view of a portion of an image. When a optical zoom capability is used, optics associated with an image sensor may be changed in order to generate an image at the image sensor that includes more detail of a particular area. When a digital zoom capability is used, a portion of the image data captured by the image sensor may be upscaled in order to extrapolate or interpolate additional pixel data between pixels that are actually captured by the image sensor. Such upscaling processes may increase latency of image processing, may use additional bandwidth, may increase a pixel clock rate to an unacceptable level, may cause other issues with image quality or processing, or any combination thereof.
  • III. SUMMARY
  • A zoomed image can be generated by sending window information to an image sensor. The window information indicates a portion of the image sensor from which image data is to be output as cropped image data. A pixel clock rate of the image sensor may also be reduced. The cropped image data may be upscaled and processed to generate the zoomed image.
  • In a particular embodiment, a method of generating a zoomed image is disclosed. The method includes receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation and sending window information and a pixel rate reduction request to an image sensor based on the instruction. The pixel clock rate reduction request causes a rate at which frames of image data are captured by the image sensor to remain substantially constant or unchanged. The window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor. The method also includes receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor and upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • In another particular embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed that includes means to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation. The window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor. The apparatus also includes means to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion and means to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • In another particular embodiment, a tangible computer readable medium stores processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation. The window information corresponds to a portion of the image sensor. The instructions are further executable by the processor to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor and to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • In another particular embodiment, a method is disclosed that includes receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. The method also includes receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation and sending window information to the image sensor in response to the instruction. The method further includes receiving cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation. The cropped image data is received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate. The method also includes upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • In another particular embodiment, a system is disclosed that includes a processor and a memory accessible to the processor. The memory includes instructions that are executable by the processor to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to implement a zoom operation. The instructions are also executable by the processor to cause a pixel clock rate of the image sensor to be reduced from a first pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate that is less than the first pixel clock rate. The instructions are also executable by the processor to receive cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation. The cropped image data is received from the image sensor at the second pixel clock rate. The instructions are also executable by the processor to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
  • One particular advantage provided by at least one of the disclosed embodiments is that a zoomed image may be generated without increasing a pixel clock rate of an image processing system. Another particular advantage that is provided by at least one of the disclosed embodiments is that improved image quality for zoomed images may be achieved.
  • Other aspects, advantages, and features of the present disclosure will become apparent after review of the entire application, including the following sections: Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, and the Claims.
  • IV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system to generate a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a first particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a second particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a third particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a fourth particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating distinctions in methods of generating a zoomed image;
  • FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating distinctions in methods of generating a preview display; and
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a particular embodiment of a portable device including an apparatus to generate a zoomed image.
  • V. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of a system to generate a zoomed image, the system designated 100. The system 100 may be a portable electronic device, such as a digital camera, a mobile telephone, a portable computing device, or another portable electronic device or apparatus that includes a camera. The system 100 includes an image sensor 104 coupled to an image processing system 102. The system 100 may also include other components that are not illustrated, such as autofocus components, lenses, aperture control components, and so forth. Also, unless otherwise indicated in a particular context, the term “image” is used herein to refer to a moving image (e.g., a movie or video image) or to a still image (e.g., a photograph or picture).
  • The system 100 includes a camera interface 108 to connect the image sensor 104 to the image processing system 102. The system 100 may also include an input device 142 (such as a switch, a soft switch, touch screen, or a button) that is adapted to receive user input to implement a zoom operation. The system 100 may also include a display 128 that is adapted to display images captured by the image sensor 104, images stored in a memory 120, or both. In a particular embodiment, the display 128 may include a viewfinder, and a viewfinder module 126 of the image processing system 102 may generate a preview image for display at the display 128.
  • The image processing system 102 may include an image processing pipeline 110 that is configured to perform various image processing functions (illustrated as processing modules 111-114) to generate an image from image data captured by the image sensor 104. For example, the image processing pipeline 110 may include an upscaler 111 to upscale the image data to generate upscaled image data. To illustrate, the upscaler 111 may interpolate or extrapolate additional pixels between pixels in the image data captured by the image sensor 104. The image processing pipeline 110 may also include an image sharpening module 112 to perform one or more image sharpening functions on the image data or the upscaled image data, an adaptive spatial filtering module 113 to perform spatial filtering on the image data or the upscaled image data, other pipeline functions 114 (e.g., demosaicing, gamma correction, white balance, compression, color space conversion, etc.), or any combination thereof.
  • The image processing system 102 may also include a line buffer 116 that is used to store lines of image data during processing by modules of the image processing pipeline 110, a processor 118, or both. The processor 118 may be adapted to execute instructions 122 stored in the memory 120 to process, store or display the image. For example, the processor 118, the image processing pipeline 110, or any combination thereof, may store processed image data 124 at the memory 120. The processed image data 124 may be compressed data (e.g., joint picture expert group (JPEG) image data) or uncompressed data.
  • In a particular embodiment, the image processing system 102 includes a zoom controller 140. The zoom controller 140 is adapted to implement a zoom operation in response to user input received via the input device 142. The zoom controller 140 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a separate module; however, in certain embodiments, functionality of the zoom controller 140 may be performed by several modules of the image processing system 102, by instructions 122 executed by the processor 118, or by any combination thereof. The zoom controller 140 may send instructions to the image sensor 104, the image processing pipeline 110, the processor 118, the view finder module 126 or any combination thereof, to implement the zoom operation. The instructions sent by the zoom controller 140 may include, for example, window information 144 that may be sent to the image sensor 104 to indicate a portion of the image sensor 104 that is to provide image data for the zoom operation. The instructions sent by the zoom controller 140 may cause a pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 to be changed to implement the zoom operation. For example, the zoom controller 140 may cause a master clock rate 130 that is provided to the image sensor 104 to be modified, which may result in the pixel clock rate 132 being modified. The image sensor 104 may be adapted to change from a first pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate without causing an interruption in a frame rate at which image data is captured or output by the image sensor 104. For example, when the image sensor 104 is outputting image data at a rate of 30 frames per second before the pixel clock rate 132 is changed, the image sensor 104 may continue to output the image data at 30 frames per second after the pixel clock rate 132 is changed. The image sensor 104 may further be adapted to change from the first pixel clock rate to the second pixel clock rate without entering a non-active mode (e.g., a standby mode) and without missing any frames (e.g., while maintaining a frame rate of the image sensor).
  • In operation, the system 100 may be used to capture images and to store the processed image data 124 at the memory 120. A user may indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed by providing an input via the input device 142. In response to the user input received via the input device 142, the zoom controller 140 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104. In response to the window information 144, the image sensor 104 may generate cropped image data that corresponds to the portion of the image sensor 104 that is identified by the window information 144. To illustrate, the window information 144 may specify a set of pixels of the image sensor 104 that are to generate the cropped image data, and the image sensor 104 may send the image data associated with pixels of the set of pixels. The zoom controller 140 may also cause the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 to be reduced. For example, the zoom controller 140 may reduce the master clock rate 130 resulting in the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104 being reduced.
  • The cropped image data may be sent to the upscaler 111 via the camera interface 108. The upscaler 111 may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data. Upscaling the cropped image data causes the image data to include more pixels. The zoomed image data may be provided to other functions of the image processing pipeline 110, such as the image sharpening module 112, the adaptive spatial filtering module 113, the other pipeline functions 114, or any combination thereof. Thus, the cropped image data may be upscaled before other image processing pipeline functions are performed, which may provide improved image quality relative to upscaling image data after the image processing pipeline functions have been performed. Additionally, since the pixel clock rate 132 is reduced in order to output the cropped image data, the pixel clock rate of the image processing pipeline 110 does not become excessive when the number of pixels of the image data is increased by the upscaler 111.
  • In a particular embodiment, the cropped image data may be provided to the upscaler 111 without first being stored in the line buffer 116, which may reduce latency in generating the zoomed image. Further, since the cropped image data is received from the image sensor 104 rather than being generated in the image processing system 102 by cropping image data from the entire image sensor 104, no additional bus bandwidth is used to process or upscale the image data. Thus, power and bus bandwidth that would be used to write image data to the line buffer and to read the image date from the line buffer may be conserved.
  • Before the zoom operation is performed, the view finder module 126 may generate a preview display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor 104. Sub-sampling refers to removing or omitting certain pixels or combining certain pixels in order to reduce a number of pixels represented in the sub-sampled image data. The number of pixels may be reduced in a relatively uniform manner (e.g., in a manner that retains the entire image but at a lower resolution), in contrast to cropping the image data, which refers to removing entire sections of the image. When the zoom operation is performed, the view finder module 126 may generate a zoomed preview display using the cropped image data. The cropped image data may not be sub-sampled. Thus, the zoomed preview display may be generated based on data that is not sub-sampled.
  • FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a first particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image. The method illustrated in FIG. 2 includes, at 202, receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input via an input device of an apparatus, such as the system 100 of FIG. 1, to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed. The apparatus may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • The method may also include, at 204, sending window information to an image sensor based on the instruction. The window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor. For example, the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104. The window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104.
  • The method may also include, at 206, receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor. For example, the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output the cropped image data in response to the window information 144. The method may also include, at 208, upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image. To illustrate, the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generated zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • The method of FIG. 2 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof. As an example, the method of FIG. 2 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a second particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image. The method illustrated in FIG. 3 includes, at 302, generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from an image sensor. For example, the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data. To illustrate, the image sensor 104 may output sub-sampled image data or the image processing pipeline 110 may include a functional module that sub-samples the image data provided by the image sensor 104 to generate the sub-sampled image data. The sub-sampled image data may be processed for display at the display 128.
  • The method may also include, at 304, receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input via an input device of an apparatus, such as the system 100 of FIG. 1, to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed. The system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • The method may also include, at 306, sending window information to the image sensor based on the instruction. The window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor. For example, the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104. The window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104.
  • The method may also include, at 308, reducing a pixel clock rate of the image sensor in response to the instruction to perform the zoom operation. For example, the image processing system 102 of FIG. 1 may provide the master clock signal to the image sensor 104. The master clock signal may be specify the master clock rate 130, which may be used to determine the pixel clock rate 132 of the image sensor 104. Thus, by reducing the master clock rate 130, the pixel clock rate 132 may be reduced.
  • The method may also include, at 310, receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor. For example, the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144. The method may also include, at 312, upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image. To illustrate, the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image. In a particular embodiment, the cropped image data is not stored in a line buffer before the cropped image data is upscaled. Thus, power and bus bandwidth that would be used to write image data to the line buffer and to read the image date from the line buffer may be conserved.
  • The method may also include, at 314, generating a zoomed display at the display device in response to the instruction. For example, the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display of the zoomed image at the display 128. As described above, when an image is not zoomed, the view finder module 126 may generate the view finder display using sub-sampled image data. However, to generate a zoomed view finder display, the view finder module 126 may use cropped image data from the image sensor 104 that is not sub-sampled.
  • The method may also include performing additional image processing using zoomed image data corresponding to the zoomed image. For example, the method may include performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image, at 316, performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image, at 318, or both. Other image processing operations may be performed as well or in the alternative. The method may also include storing the zoomed image data at a memory device, at 320, displaying the zoomed image at a display device, at 322, or any combination thereof.
  • The method of FIG. 3 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof. As an example, the method of FIG. 3 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a third particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image. The method illustrated in FIG. 4 includes, at 402, receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. For example, before an instruction to perform a zoom operation is received at the system 100 of FIG. 1, the image sensor 104 may output the first image data at a first pixel clock rate. The method may also include, at 404, receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input to indicate that a zoom operation is to be performed via the input device 142 of the system 100 of FIG. 1. The system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • The method may also include, at 406, sending window information to an image sensor based on the instruction. The window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor. For example, the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104. The window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104. The method may also include, at 406, sending a pixel clock rate reduction request. In response to the pixel clock rate reduction request, a pixel clock rate of the image sensor may be reduced such that a frame rate of image data captured by the image sensor is maintained.
  • The method may also include, at 408, receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor. The cropped image data may be received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate. For example, the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144. The master clock rate 130 may be reduced, causing the pixel clock rate 132 to be reduced. The method may also include, at 410, upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image. To illustrate, the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generated zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image.
  • The method of FIG. 4 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof. As an example, the method of FIG. 4 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a fourth particular embodiment of a method of generating a zoomed image. The method illustrated in FIG. 5 includes, at 502, generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor. For example, the view finder module 126 of FIG. 1 may generate a view finder display at the display 128 using sub-sampled image data. To illustrate, the image sensor 104 may output sub-sampled image data or the image processing pipeline 110 may include a functional module that sub-samples the image data provided by the image sensor 104 to generate the sub-sampled image data. The sub-sampled image data may be processed for display at the display 128.
  • The method may also include, at 504, receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate. For example, before an instruction to perform a zoom operation is received at the system 100 of FIG. 1, the image sensor 104 may output the first image data at a first pixel clock rate. The method may also include, at 506, receiving the instruction to perform the zoom operation. For example, a user may provide a user input to indicate that the zoom operation is to be performed via the input device 142 of the system 100 of FIG. 1. The system 100 may generate the instruction to perform the zoom operation in response to the user input.
  • The method may also include, at 508, sending window information to the image sensor based on the instruction and sending a pixel clock rate reduction request. The window information may correspond to a portion of the image sensor. For example, the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1 may send the window information 144 to the image sensor 104. The window information 144 may indicate a particular portion of the image sensor 104 from which image data is to be output by the image sensor 104. The method may also include, at 510, receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor. In response to the pixel clock rate reduction request, the cropped image data may be received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate. For example, the image sensor 104 of FIG. 1 may output cropped image data in response to the window information 144. The master clock rate 130 may be reduced, causing the pixel clock rate 132 to be reduced.
  • The method may include, at 514, upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image. To illustrate, the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1 may receive the cropped image data and may upscale the cropped image data to generate zoomed image data corresponding to a zoomed image. The method may also include performing additional image processing using the zoomed image data. For example, the method may include performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image, at 516, and performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image, at 518. Other image processing operations may be performed as well or in the alternative.
  • The method of FIG. 5 may be implemented using a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) device, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a processing unit such as a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, another hardware device, firmware device, or any combination thereof. As an example, the method of FIG. 5 can be performed by a processor that executes instructions.
  • FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating distinctions between methods of generating a zoomed image. In FIG. 6, a first method of generating the zoomed image is designated 600 and a second method of generating the zoomed image is designated 650. In the first method 600, an image sensor 602 generates image data 614 at a first pixel clock rate. For example, when the image sensor 602 is a nominal 5 megapixel (MP) image sensor, the image sensor 602 may include an array of pixels, such as an array including approximately 2608×1950 pixels. When the image sensor 602 generates images at a frame rate of 12 frames per second, the first pixel clock rate of the image sensor 602 may be about 120 Mhz. The image data 614 may be sent to an image processing pipeline 604 to have various image processing operations performed, e.g., demosaicing, color domain conversion, image sharpening, spatial filtering, etc. The image processing pipeline 604 may process the image data 614 and write the image data 614 to one or more line buffers 606. The processed image data may be cropped by a crop processing module 608 to generate cropped image data 616. The cropped image data 616 may be upscaled by an upscaler 610 to generate upscaled image data 618. The upscaled image data 618 may be provided to other processing or storage modules 612 for further processing and storage.
  • In an illustrative example of the method 600, when the zoom operation corresponds to a 4× zoom operation, the cropped image data 616 may be increased sixteen fold (i.e., 4× vertical resolution and 4× horizontal resolution). Thus, the upscaled image data 618 may include approximately 16 times as many pixels as the cropped image data 616. Since the cropped image data 616 is processed at the first pixel clock rate (e.g., about 120 Mhz), the upscaling results in the upscaled image data 618 being generated at pixel clock rate (e.g., about 1920 Mhz) that is sixteen times larger than the first pixel clock rate. Thus, the first method 600 may result in a significant increase in the pixel clock rate when a zoomed image is generated.
  • To illustrate particular distinctions between the first method 600 and the second method 650, certain characteristics of the systems and modules that perform the methods are described as common between the two methods. For example, images may be generated at the same frame rate between the two methods (e.g., 12 frames per second). Additionally, the zoom operation described for the second method 650 may be similar in magnitude to the zoom operation that is described for the first method 600 (e.g., a 4× zoom). These similarities are merely for convenience of describing and comparing the two methods 600, 650 and are not intended as limitations. For example, the first method 600 or the second method 650 may operate at frame rates greater than 12 frames per second or less than 12 frames per second. Additionally, the frame rate in either of the methods 600, 650 may be changed to implement a zoom operation. Further, either of the methods 600, 650 may be used to perform zoom operations greater than 4× or less than 4×. Additionally, the image sensor 602 may include more than 5M pixels or fewer than 5M pixels.
  • In the second method 650, a zoom controller 652 provides window information 654 to the image sensor 602. The window information 654 includes information that identifies a portion of the image sensor 602 from which data is to be output as cropped image data 656. To illustrate, to perform a 4× zoom operation, the window information 654 may identify a portion that corresponds to approximately one sixteenth of the pixels of the image sensor 602 (e.g., an area of the image sensor 602 including approximately 664×492 pixels).
  • The zoom controller 652 may also cause the image sensor 602 to reduce the image sensor's pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate. For example, the zoom controller 652 may send a signal to the image sensor 602 that causes the image sensor 602 to reduce the pixel clock rate. In another example, the zoom controller 652 may cause a master clock signal sent to the image sensor 602 to be reduced, resulting in the pixel clock rate of the image sensor 602 being reduced. The image sensor 602 may output the cropped image data 656 at the second pixel clock rate. To illustrate, the second pixel clock rate may be approximately 12 Mhz.
  • The image processing pipeline 604 may receive the cropped image data 656. The upscaler 610 may be part of the image processing pipeline 604. For example, the upscaler 610 may precede other pipeline processing modules 658 of the image processing pipeline 604. That is, the upscaler 610 may process the cropped image data 656 before the other pipeline processing modules 658. The upscaler 610 may upscale the cropped image data 656 to generate zoomed image data 670. For example, for the 4× zoom operation, the number of pixels of the cropped image data 656 may be increased sixteen fold by the upscaler 610. Accordingly, when the cropped image data 656 includes 664×492 pixels, the zoomed image data 670 may include 2656×1968 pixels. Increasing the number of pixels that are processed results in a corresponding increase in the pixel clock rate in the image processing pipeline 604. Thus, the pixel clock rate may be increased sixteen fold. However, since the second pixel clock rate was 12 Hz, the increased pixel clock rate in the image processing pipeline 604 after upscaling the cropped image data 656 may be approximately 192 Hz, which may be an acceptable pixel clock rate for certain image processing systems. After the zoomed image data 670 is generated, the image processing pipeline 604 may perform the other pipeline processing functions 658, such as demosaicing, image sharpening, spatial filtering, color space transformation, etc. Additionally, the other processing or storage functions 612 may be performed using the zoomed image data 670.
  • Thus, using the second method 650, a zoomed image can be generated without increasing a pixel clock rate of an image processing system to an unacceptable level. Additionally, other image processing pipeline functions (such as spatial filtering and image sharpening) may be performed after image data is upscaled, which may provide improved image quality relative to performing image upscaling after the image processing functions. Additionally, the above referenced improvements can be achieved without increasing latency in the image processing system or bandwidth used by the image processing system.
  • FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating methods of generating a preview display. In FIG. 7, a first method of generating the preview display is designated 700 and a second method of generating the preview display is designated 750. In particular, the first method 700 may be used to generate the preview display before a zoom operation is implemented, and the second method 750 may be used to generate the preview display when the zoom operation is implemented.
  • In the first method 700, an image sensor 702 generates image data 710. The image data 710 is sub-sampled, either by the image sensor 702 or by a separate sub-sampling module 704 to generate sub-sampled image data 712. For example, the sub-sampling may include removing certain pixels or combining certain pixels to reduce a number of pixels represented in the sub-sampled image data 712. The number of pixels may be reduced in a relatively uniform manner (e.g., in a manner that retains the entire image but at a lower resolution), in contrast to cropping the image data 710 which refers to removing entire sections of the image. A view finder module 706 uses the sub-sampled image data 712 to generate a preview image 714 that is sent to a display device 708.
  • In the second method 750, the image sensor 702 generates the image data 710. The image data 710 is sent to a cropping module 752 without being sub-sampled. For example, the image data 710 may be sent at full resolution to the cropping module 752. The cropping module 752 may crop the image data 710 to generate cropped image data 754. The cropped image data 754 may be sent to the view finder module 706, which uses the cropped image data 754 to generate a preview image 756 that is sent to a display device 708. In a particular embodiment, the image data 710 is generated by the image sensor 702 in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation. For example, in response to the instruction to perform the zoom operation, window information may be sent to the image sensor 702 (as described with reference to FIG. 1). In response to the window information, the image sensor 702 may generate the cropped image data 754, which may be sent to the view finder module 706. Thus, the second method 750 may generate a higher resolution preview display than the first method 700, since the preview image 756 is not generated from sub-sampled image data 712.
  • In conjunction with the described embodiments, a system is disclosed that may include means for sending window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation, such as the processor 118 of FIG. 1 executing the instructions 122, the zoom controller 140 of FIG. 1, one or more other devices or circuits configured to send window information to an image sensor, or any combination thereof. The system may also include means to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor, such as the camera interface 108, or the image processing pipeline 110 of FIG. 1, one or more other devices or circuits configured to receive cropped image data, or any combination thereof. The system may also include means to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image, such as the upscaler 111 of FIG. 1, one or more other devices or circuits configured to upscale the cropped image data, or any combination thereof.
  • Referring to FIG. 8, a block diagram of a particular illustrative embodiment of an electronic device 800 including a camera 824 and a zoom controller 820 that can implement a zoom command to generate a zoomed image is depicted. The device 800 includes a processor 802, such as a general purpose processor, an image processor, a digital signal processor, or any combination thereof, coupled to a memory 804 storing program instructions 836 that may be executable to implement the zoom controller 820. The processor 802 is also coupled to a camera controller 818 and a display controller 808. The display controller 808 is coupled to a display 810. A speaker 814 and a microphone 816 can be coupled to the processor 802 via a coder/decoder (CODEC) 812. In an illustrative example, the electronic device 800 includes or is included within the system 100 of FIG. 1, and the electronic device 800 operates in accordance with any of FIGS. 2-7, or any combination thereof, to implement a zoom operation to generate a zoomed image using image data captured by the camera 824.
  • FIG. 8 also indicates that a wireless interface 826 can be coupled to the processor 802 and to an antenna 828. In a particular embodiment, the processor 802, the display controller 808, the camera controller 818, the CODEC 812, the memory 804, and the wireless interface 826 are included in a system-in-package or system-on-chip device 830. In a particular embodiment, a power supply 834, the camera 824, the speaker 814, and the microphone 816 are coupled to the system-on-chip device 830. Moreover, in a particular embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the display 810, the input device 832, the speaker 814, the microphone 816, the antenna 828, and the power supply 834 are external to the system-on-chip device 830. However, each of the display 810, the input device 832, the speaker 814, the microphone 816, the antenna 828, the camera 824, and the power supply 834 can be coupled to a component of the system-on-chip device 830, such as to an interface or to a controller.
  • Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, configurations, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software executed by a processor, or combinations of both. Various illustrative components, blocks, configurations, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.
  • The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or any other form of tangible storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The ASIC may reside in a computing device or a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a computing device or user terminal.
  • The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosed embodiments. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope possible consistent with the principles and novel features as defined by the following claims.

Claims (29)

1. A method comprising:
receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation;
sending window information to an image sensor based on the instruction, the window information corresponding to a portion of the image sensor;
receiving cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor; and
upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising reducing a pixel clock rate of the image sensor in response to the instruction.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor before the instruction is received; and
in response to the instruction, generating a zoomed display at the display device, wherein the zoomed display is generated using the cropped image data, wherein the cropped image data is not sub-sampled.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing zoomed image data at a memory device, the zoomed image data corresponding to the zoomed image.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the zoomed image at a display device.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the cropped image data is not stored in a line buffer before the cropped image data is upscaled.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein, prior to receiving the instruction, the image sensor outputs image data at a particular frame rate, and wherein the particular frame rate is not changed in response to the instruction.
10. An apparatus comprising:
means to send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation, the window information corresponding to a portion of the image sensor;
means to receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion; and
means to upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising memory means to store zoomed image data corresponding to the zoomed image.
12. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising display means to display the zoomed image.
13. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising image processing means to perform an image sharpening operation and a spatial filtering operation on the zoomed image.
14. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising clock means to provide a clock signal at a first pixel clock rate before the instruction is received and at a second pixel clock rate in response to the instruction, wherein the second pixel clock rate is less than the first pixel clock rate.
15. A tangible computer readable medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:
send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to perform a zoom operation, the window information corresponding to a portion of the image sensor;
receive cropped image data corresponding to the portion from the image sensor; and
upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
16. The tangible computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to cause a pixel clock rate of the image sensor to be reduced in response to the instruction.
17. The tangible computer readable medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions that are executable by the processor to:
generate a display at a display device before the instruction is received by sub-sampling the image sensor to generate sub-sampled image data and processing the sub-sampled image data for display at the display device; and
generate a zoomed display at the display device in response to the instruction using the cropped image data, wherein the cropped image data is not sub-sampled.
18. A method comprising:
receiving first image data from an image sensor at a first pixel clock rate;
receiving an instruction to perform a zoom operation;
sending window information to the image sensor in response to the instruction;
receiving cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation, the cropped image data received at a second pixel clock rate that is slower than the first pixel clock rate; and
upscaling the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
19. The method of claim 18, further comprising performing an image sharpening operation on the zoomed image.
20. The method of claim 18, further comprising performing spatial filtering of the zoomed image.
21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:
generating a display at a display device using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor before the instruction is received; and
in response to the instruction, generating a zoomed display at the display device, wherein the zoomed display is generated using the cropped image data, wherein the cropped image data is not sub-sampled.
22. A system comprising:
a processor; and
memory accessible to the processor, wherein the memory includes instructions executable by the processor to:
send window information to an image sensor in response to an instruction to implement a zoom operation;
send a request to reduce a pixel clock rate of the image sensor to the image sensor, wherein the request causes the pixel clock rate to be reduced from a first pixel clock rate to a second pixel clock rate that is less than the first pixel clock rate;
receive cropped image data corresponding to a portion of the image sensor that is associated with the zoom operation, wherein the cropped image data is received from the image sensor at the second pixel clock rate; and
upscale the cropped image data to generate a zoomed image.
23. The system of claim 22, further comprising at least one bus coupling the image sensor and the processor, wherein bandwidth of the at least one bus that is used when the zoom operation is implemented is less than or equal to bandwidth of the at least one bus that is used when the zoom operation is not implemented.
24. The system of claim 22, further comprising a view finder module, wherein the view finder module is adapted to generate an image preview display using sub-sampled image data from the image sensor when the zoom operation is not implemented and to generate the preview display using the cropped image data when the zoom operation is implemented, wherein the cropped image data is not sub-sampled.
25. The system of claim 22, further comprising a line buffer coupled to the processor, wherein a first portion of the line buffer is used to process image data when the zoom operation is not implemented and a second portion of the line buffer is used to process the cropped image data when the zoom operation is implemented, wherein the second portion is smaller than the first portion.
26. The system of claim 22, further comprising an image processing pipeline coupled to the image sensor, wherein the image processing pipeline includes an upscaler that upscales the cropped image data.
27. The system of claim 26, wherein the image processing pipeline further includes an adaptive spatial filtering module coupled to the upscaler, wherein the adaptive spatial filtering module processes the zoomed image received from the upscaler.
28. The system of claim 22, wherein the image sensor is adapted to change from the first pixel clock rate to the second pixel clock rate without causing an interruption in a frame rate.
29. The system of claim 22, wherein the image sensor is adapted to change from the first pixel clock rate to the second pixel clock rate without entering a non-active mode.
US13/049,088 2011-03-16 2011-03-16 Generating a zoomed image Abandoned US20120236181A1 (en)

Priority Applications (8)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US13/049,088 US20120236181A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2011-03-16 Generating a zoomed image
KR1020137027292A KR101532861B1 (en) 2011-03-16 2012-03-15 Generating a zoomed image
EP12713454.2A EP2687007A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2012-03-15 Generating a zoomed image
CN201280013156.2A CN103430532B (en) 2011-03-16 2012-03-15 Produce method, equipment and the system of scaled image
PCT/US2012/029287 WO2012125862A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2012-03-15 Generating a zoomed image
JP2013558185A JP2014511071A (en) 2011-03-16 2012-03-15 Generate a zoomed image
US14/215,792 US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2014-03-17 Generating a zoomed image
JP2015204876A JP2016042712A (en) 2011-03-16 2015-10-16 Generating zoomed image

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US13/049,088 US20120236181A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2011-03-16 Generating a zoomed image

Related Child Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US14/215,792 Division US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2014-03-17 Generating a zoomed image

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20120236181A1 true US20120236181A1 (en) 2012-09-20

Family

ID=45937577

Family Applications (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US13/049,088 Abandoned US20120236181A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2011-03-16 Generating a zoomed image
US14/215,792 Active 2031-03-20 US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2014-03-17 Generating a zoomed image

Family Applications After (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US14/215,792 Active 2031-03-20 US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2014-03-17 Generating a zoomed image

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (2) US20120236181A1 (en)
EP (1) EP2687007A1 (en)
JP (2) JP2014511071A (en)
KR (1) KR101532861B1 (en)
CN (1) CN103430532B (en)
WO (1) WO2012125862A1 (en)

Cited By (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2013110858A1 (en) * 2012-01-27 2013-08-01 Nokia Corporation Method and apparatus for image data transfer in digital photographing
CN104954632A (en) * 2014-03-24 2015-09-30 全视科技有限公司 Method for reducing consumption of image sensor processor bandwidth and imaging system
US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2016-04-26 Qualcomm Incorporated Generating a zoomed image
US20170262957A1 (en) * 2012-07-12 2017-09-14 Gopro, Inc. Image capture accelerator
CN107547790A (en) * 2016-06-27 2018-01-05 中兴通讯股份有限公司 The processing method of IMAQ, apparatus and system
US10467480B2 (en) * 2016-06-21 2019-11-05 Zmodo Technology Shenzhen Corp. Ltd. Video surveillance display system
WO2020130654A1 (en) 2018-12-21 2020-06-25 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Camera module having multi-cell structure and portable communication device including the same
US20200336768A1 (en) * 2019-04-22 2020-10-22 Ario Technologies, Inc. Method Of Communicating Video From A First Electronic Device To A Second Electronic Device Via A Network, And A System Having A Camera And A Mobile Electronic Device For Performing The Method
CN112637664A (en) * 2020-08-27 2021-04-09 西安诺瓦星云科技股份有限公司 Video review method, video output card and card insertion type video processing equipment
US20210400198A1 (en) * 2020-06-23 2021-12-23 Realwear, Inc. Digital zoom based on remote user instructions of live video
US11412191B2 (en) * 2019-08-26 2022-08-09 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. System and method for content enhancement using Quad Color Filter Array sensors

Families Citing this family (18)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
KR102023501B1 (en) * 2013-10-02 2019-09-20 삼성전자주식회사 System on chip including configurable image processing pipeline, and system including the same
US9544636B2 (en) 2014-07-07 2017-01-10 Google Inc. Method and system for editing event categories
US10140827B2 (en) * 2014-07-07 2018-11-27 Google Llc Method and system for processing motion event notifications
USD782495S1 (en) 2014-10-07 2017-03-28 Google Inc. Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
US9361011B1 (en) 2015-06-14 2016-06-07 Google Inc. Methods and systems for presenting multiple live video feeds in a user interface
US10506237B1 (en) 2016-05-27 2019-12-10 Google Llc Methods and devices for dynamic adaptation of encoding bitrate for video streaming
US10957171B2 (en) 2016-07-11 2021-03-23 Google Llc Methods and systems for providing event alerts
US10380429B2 (en) 2016-07-11 2019-08-13 Google Llc Methods and systems for person detection in a video feed
US10410086B2 (en) 2017-05-30 2019-09-10 Google Llc Systems and methods of person recognition in video streams
US11783010B2 (en) 2017-05-30 2023-10-10 Google Llc Systems and methods of person recognition in video streams
KR102282455B1 (en) 2017-07-11 2021-07-28 한화테크윈 주식회사 Image process device and image processing method
US10664688B2 (en) 2017-09-20 2020-05-26 Google Llc Systems and methods of detecting and responding to a visitor to a smart home environment
US11134227B2 (en) 2017-09-20 2021-09-28 Google Llc Systems and methods of presenting appropriate actions for responding to a visitor to a smart home environment
US11042770B2 (en) * 2017-10-09 2021-06-22 EagleSens Systems Corporation Artificial intelligence based image data processing method and image sensor
CN107657587A (en) * 2017-10-23 2018-02-02 北京嗨动视觉科技有限公司 Image processing method, apparatus and system
US11893795B2 (en) 2019-12-09 2024-02-06 Google Llc Interacting with visitors of a connected home environment
KR20210090476A (en) * 2020-01-10 2021-07-20 삼성전자주식회사 The method to improve image quality in zoom scenarios with a single camera and electronics that contains it
CN116456144B (en) * 2023-06-14 2023-09-26 合肥六角形半导体有限公司 Frame-free cache video stream processing output device and method

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4910599A (en) * 1987-03-20 1990-03-20 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Imaging apparatus having electronic zooming with high and low speed readout
US6181375B1 (en) * 1991-07-22 2001-01-30 Kabushiki Kaisha Photron Image recording apparatus capable of selecting partial image areas for video readout
US7106374B1 (en) * 1999-04-05 2006-09-12 Amherst Systems, Inc. Dynamically reconfigurable vision system
US7551203B2 (en) * 2002-11-29 2009-06-23 Fujitsu Limited Picture inputting apparatus using high-resolution image pickup device to acquire low-resolution whole pictures and high-resolution partial pictures

Family Cites Families (28)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3237975B2 (en) * 1993-09-20 2001-12-10 富士通株式会社 Image processing device
JPH07170461A (en) * 1993-12-13 1995-07-04 Canon Inc Image pickup device
JPH07177407A (en) * 1993-12-16 1995-07-14 Canon Inc Image pickup device
US5428390A (en) 1994-01-21 1995-06-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Apparatus and method for focal plane zoom and pan
JP3695119B2 (en) 1998-03-05 2005-09-14 株式会社日立製作所 Image synthesizing apparatus and recording medium storing program for realizing image synthesizing method
KR100314801B1 (en) 1998-12-22 2002-01-15 박종섭 Apparatus for panning and scaling window in image sensor
JP2001057649A (en) * 1999-06-11 2001-02-27 Casio Comput Co Ltd Electronic camera
WO2001013649A1 (en) * 1999-08-19 2001-02-22 Ymedia Corporation Method and apparatus for color interpolation
US7133073B1 (en) * 1999-08-19 2006-11-07 Dialog Imaging Systems Gmbh Method and apparatus for color interpolation
JP4415236B2 (en) * 2000-02-07 2010-02-17 ソニー株式会社 Image processing apparatus and image processing method
EP2290946A3 (en) 2000-02-07 2011-04-27 Sony Corporation Device and method for image processing
KR20020004169A (en) * 2000-07-03 2002-01-16 윤종용 Zoom buffer control circuit having function of up/down scaling
JP4192428B2 (en) * 2001-01-09 2008-12-10 ソニー株式会社 Solid-state imaging device and image input device
JP2004064334A (en) * 2002-07-26 2004-02-26 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Image pick-up apparatus
JP4250437B2 (en) * 2003-03-04 2009-04-08 キヤノン株式会社 Signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, and program
JP2005020061A (en) * 2003-06-23 2005-01-20 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd Video signal processing apparatus and video signal processing method
JP2005159856A (en) 2003-11-27 2005-06-16 Nikon Corp Digital camera
JP2006041867A (en) * 2004-07-27 2006-02-09 Sony Corp Image processing method and image processor, imaging apparatus, and timing controller
JP4490776B2 (en) * 2004-09-27 2010-06-30 パナソニック株式会社 Image processing apparatus, information terminal apparatus, and image processing method
JP4624065B2 (en) * 2004-10-13 2011-02-02 オリンパス株式会社 Imaging device
US7688364B2 (en) * 2004-12-10 2010-03-30 Ambarella, Inc. Decimating and cropping based zoom factor for a digital camera
US8106956B2 (en) 2005-06-27 2012-01-31 Nokia Corporation Digital camera devices and methods for implementing digital zoom in digital camera devices and corresponding program products
JP4018727B2 (en) * 2006-02-14 2007-12-05 キヤノン株式会社 IMAGING DEVICE, ITS CONTROL METHOD, PROGRAM, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
JP4262263B2 (en) * 2006-06-07 2009-05-13 キヤノン株式会社 Imaging apparatus and control method thereof
CN1909591A (en) * 2006-08-10 2007-02-07 深圳安凯微电子技术有限公司 Image processing method for portable digital equipment
JP4548428B2 (en) * 2007-02-05 2010-09-22 ソニー株式会社 Solid-state imaging device and image input device
EP1981262A1 (en) 2007-04-02 2008-10-15 Research In Motion Limited Camera with multiple viewfinders
US20120236181A1 (en) 2011-03-16 2012-09-20 Qualcomm Incorporated Generating a zoomed image

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4910599A (en) * 1987-03-20 1990-03-20 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Imaging apparatus having electronic zooming with high and low speed readout
US6181375B1 (en) * 1991-07-22 2001-01-30 Kabushiki Kaisha Photron Image recording apparatus capable of selecting partial image areas for video readout
US7106374B1 (en) * 1999-04-05 2006-09-12 Amherst Systems, Inc. Dynamically reconfigurable vision system
US7551203B2 (en) * 2002-11-29 2009-06-23 Fujitsu Limited Picture inputting apparatus using high-resolution image pickup device to acquire low-resolution whole pictures and high-resolution partial pictures

Cited By (18)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9325905B2 (en) 2011-03-16 2016-04-26 Qualcomm Incorporated Generating a zoomed image
US8773543B2 (en) 2012-01-27 2014-07-08 Nokia Corporation Method and apparatus for image data transfer in digital photographing
US9774799B2 (en) 2012-01-27 2017-09-26 Nokia Technologies Oy Method and apparatus for image data transfer in digital photographing
WO2013110858A1 (en) * 2012-01-27 2013-08-01 Nokia Corporation Method and apparatus for image data transfer in digital photographing
US10089710B2 (en) * 2012-07-12 2018-10-02 Gopro, Inc. Image capture accelerator
US20170262957A1 (en) * 2012-07-12 2017-09-14 Gopro, Inc. Image capture accelerator
CN104954632A (en) * 2014-03-24 2015-09-30 全视科技有限公司 Method for reducing consumption of image sensor processor bandwidth and imaging system
US10467480B2 (en) * 2016-06-21 2019-11-05 Zmodo Technology Shenzhen Corp. Ltd. Video surveillance display system
CN107547790A (en) * 2016-06-27 2018-01-05 中兴通讯股份有限公司 The processing method of IMAQ, apparatus and system
WO2020130654A1 (en) 2018-12-21 2020-06-25 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Camera module having multi-cell structure and portable communication device including the same
CN113228616A (en) * 2018-12-21 2021-08-06 三星电子株式会社 Camera module having multi-cell structure and portable communication device including the same
EP3864835A4 (en) * 2018-12-21 2022-03-23 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Camera module having multi-cell structure and portable communication device including the same
US20200336768A1 (en) * 2019-04-22 2020-10-22 Ario Technologies, Inc. Method Of Communicating Video From A First Electronic Device To A Second Electronic Device Via A Network, And A System Having A Camera And A Mobile Electronic Device For Performing The Method
US11039173B2 (en) * 2019-04-22 2021-06-15 Arlo Technologies, Inc. Method of communicating video from a first electronic device to a second electronic device via a network, and a system having a camera and a mobile electronic device for performing the method
US11412191B2 (en) * 2019-08-26 2022-08-09 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. System and method for content enhancement using Quad Color Filter Array sensors
US20210400198A1 (en) * 2020-06-23 2021-12-23 Realwear, Inc. Digital zoom based on remote user instructions of live video
US11765460B2 (en) * 2020-06-23 2023-09-19 Realwear, Inc. Digital zoom based on remote user instructions of live video
CN112637664A (en) * 2020-08-27 2021-04-09 西安诺瓦星云科技股份有限公司 Video review method, video output card and card insertion type video processing equipment

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
KR101532861B1 (en) 2015-06-30
CN103430532A (en) 2013-12-04
WO2012125862A1 (en) 2012-09-20
EP2687007A1 (en) 2014-01-22
JP2014511071A (en) 2014-05-01
CN103430532B (en) 2017-05-31
US9325905B2 (en) 2016-04-26
KR20130135355A (en) 2013-12-10
US20140198237A1 (en) 2014-07-17
JP2016042712A (en) 2016-03-31

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US9325905B2 (en) Generating a zoomed image
KR101917650B1 (en) Method and apparatus for processing a image in camera device
US8553109B2 (en) Concurrent image processing for generating an output image
US20140244858A1 (en) Communication system and relaying device
US20130021504A1 (en) Multiple image processing
US20110176014A1 (en) Video Stabilization and Reduction of Rolling Shutter Distortion
US20110261228A1 (en) Image capture module and image capture method for avoiding shutter lag
KR20130090225A (en) Method of changing an operation mode of a camera image sensor
JP2014168270A (en) Image selection and combination method and device
US9628719B2 (en) Read-out mode changeable digital photographing apparatus and method of controlling the same
MX2007010355A (en) Methods, electronic devices, and computer program products for processing images using multiple image buffers.
EP4351125A1 (en) Lossless photographing method and apparatus for mobile terminal, terminal device and storage medium
US9131158B2 (en) Moving-image capturing apparatus and electronic zoom method for moving image
JP2006014221A (en) Imaging apparatus and imaging method
JP2008219317A (en) Imaging apparatus
US7705890B2 (en) Apparatus and method for photographing an image in a wireless terminal
JP5899918B2 (en) Image processing apparatus and image processing method
CN110049254B (en) Image processing method, image processing device, storage medium and electronic equipment
US20130242167A1 (en) Apparatus and method for capturing image in mobile terminal
WO2022143205A1 (en) Encoding/decoding method, electronic device, communication system, and storage medium
JP5932862B2 (en) Imaging method of digital camera and computer-executable program
JP2004088510A (en) Zooming processor and method for zooming processing
JP5326345B2 (en) Imaging device
WO2017086021A1 (en) Image processing device, image processing method, and computer program
KR20080113649A (en) Apparatus and method for image processing in capable of displaying captured image without time delay, and computer readable medium stored thereon computer executable instruction for performing the method

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, CALIFORNIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:NOYES, YING X.;REEL/FRAME:025966/0473

Effective date: 20110314

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION