Electronic device and time-lapse image generation method of electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11930277-B2
Application number	US-202217886224-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 11, 2022
Priority date	Feb 11, 2020
Publication date	Mar 12, 2024
Grant date	Mar 12, 2024

Abstract

An electronic device includes a display; a camera; a memory; and a processor operatively connected to the display, the camera, and the memory where the memory stores instructions which, when executed, enable the processor to determine a number of at least one source frame per unit second based on a specified maximum exposure time, receive light reflected from an external object by using the camera, for an exposure time determined according to a specified exposure value, generate source frames based on the received light, and generate a time-lapse image including at least one target frame indicating movement of the external object based on source frames, and the instructions cause the processor to generate the source frames at a speed different from a speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a display;
a camera;
a memory; and
a processor operatively connected with the display, the camera, and the memory,
wherein the memory stores instructions, when executed, causing the processor to:
set a maximum exposure time based on an input of a user or a specified algorithm;
determine a number of at least one source frame per unit second based on the maximum exposure time and a resetting time taken to read out the at least one source frame;
receive light reflected from an external object during an exposure time determined according to a specified exposure value using the camera, the determined exposure time being less than the maximum exposure time;
generate source frames at a first speed corresponding to the determined number of at least one source frame per unit second based on the received light; and
generate a time-lapse image including at least one target frame indicating motion of the external object over time based on the source frames, and
wherein the first speed is different from a second speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein each of the source frames comprises a first interval corresponding to the exposure time and a second interval corresponding to a predetermined readout time, and
wherein the first interval decreases in magnitude as the specified exposure value increases.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the source frames are generated at a speed less than the speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
include all the source frames in the time-lapse image.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
include some of the source frames in the time-lapse image.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the number of the at least one source frame per unit second is greater than or equal to N, N being a positive integer, and
wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
select source frames every N among the generated source frames; and
generate the time-lapse image including the selected source frames.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
maintain an auto focusing (AF) function of the camera for automatically adjusting focus on the external object in a lock state.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
display a preview image on the display while the time-lapse image is generated.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the second speed has a magnitude different from a magnitude of the first speed.

10. An electronic device, comprising:
a display;
a camera;
a memory; and
a processor operatively connected with the display, the camera, and the memory,
wherein the memory stores instructions, when executed, causing the processor to:
determine a number of at least one source frame per unit second based on a specified maximum exposure time;
receive light reflected from an external object during an exposure time determined according to a specified exposure value using the camera;
generate source frames based on the received light; and
generate a time-lapse image including at least one target frame indicating motion of the external object over time based on the source frames, and

wherein the instructions cause the processor to generate the source frames at a speed different from a speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played, and
wherein the instructions cause the processor to:
make a number in which the at least one source frame is generated per unit second and a number of the at least one target frame played per unit second when the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played on the display, different from each other.

11. A control method of an electronic device, the control method comprising:
setting a maximum exposure time based on an input of a user or a specified algorithm;
determining a number of at least one source frame per unit second based on the maximum exposure time and a resetting time taken to read out the at least one source frame;
receiving light reflected from an external object during an exposure time determined according to a specified exposure value, the determined exposure time being less than the maximum exposure time;
generating source frames at a first speed corresponding to the determined number of at least one source frame per unit second based on the received light; and
generating a time-lapse image including at least one target frame indicating motion of the external object over time based on the generated source frames,
wherein the generating of the source frames comprises:
generating the source frames at the first speed different from a second speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played.

12. The control method of claim 11 , wherein each of the source frames includes a first interval corresponding to the exposure time and a second interval corresponding to a predetermined readout time, and
wherein the first interval decreases in magnitude as the specified exposure value increases.

13. The control method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the source frames comprises:
generating the source frames at a speed less than the speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target frame is played.

14. The control method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the time-lapse image comprises:
generating the time-lapse image to include all the source frames.

15. The control method of claim 11 , wherein the generating of the time-lapse image comprises generating the time-lapse image to include some of the source frames.

16. The control method of claim 11 , wherein the number of the at least one source frame per unit second is greater than or equal to N, N being a positive integer, and
wherein the generating of the time-lapse image comprises:
selecting source frames every N among the generated source frames; and
generate the time-lapse image including the selected source frames.

17. The control method of claim 11 , further comprising maintaining an auto focusing (AF) function of a camera for automatically adjusting focus on the external object in a lock state.

18. The control method of claim 11 , further comprising displaying a preview image on the display while the time-lapse image is generated.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 11 .

20. A control method of an electronic device, the control method comprising:
setting a maximum exposure time;
determining a number of at least one source frame per unit second based on the maximum exposure time;
receiving light reflected from an external object during an exposure time determined according to a specified exposure value and generating source frames based on the received light; and
generating a time-lapse image including at least one target frame indicating motion of the external object over time based on the generated source frames,
wherein the generating of the source frames comprises:
generating the source frames at a speed different from a speed at which the time-lapse image including the at least one target fra

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Seunghun
• Won Jonghun
• Lee Haesun

Classifications

• H04N23/73 Primary

  by influencing the exposure time · CPC title

• H04N5/915 Primary

  for field- or frame-skip recording or reproducing · CPC title

• H04N5/77

  between a recording apparatus and a television camera · CPC title

• H04N23/60

  Control of cameras or camera modules · CPC title

• H04N23/632

  for displaying or modifying preview images prior to image capturing, e.g. variety of image resolutions or capturing parameters · CPC title