Low power smart image capture

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016295113-A1
Application number	US-201514673497-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 30, 2015
Priority date	Mar 30, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of capturing an image includes reducing a resolution of the image to be captured by an image sensor of an electronic device to a low power reduced resolution if a checked battery level of the electronic device is less than a battery threshold level. A live preview of the image to be captured by the image sensor on a display of the electronic device is disabled if the battery level of the electronic device is less than a battery threshold level. The image is captured at the low power reduced resolution of the image sensor if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level. A low power feedback notification is provided from the electronic device without displaying the captured image after the image is captured if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

First claim

1 . A method of capturing an image with an electronic device, comprising:
checking a battery status of the electronic device; reducing a resolution of the image to be captured by an image sensor of the electronic device to a low power reduced resolution if a battery level of the electronic device is less than a battery threshold level; disabling a live preview of the image to be captured by the image sensor on a display of the electronic device and displaying a virtual screen on the display of the electronic device if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level; capturing the image at the low power reduced resolution of the image sensor if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level; and providing a low power feedback notification from the electronic device without displaying the captured image after the image is captured if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

2 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 further comprising:
maintaining the resolution of the image to be captured by the image sensor at a normal resolution if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level;
optionally enabling the live preview of the image to be captured by the image sensor on the display of the electronic device if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level or if the electronic device is operating in a low power mode;
capturing the image at the normal resolution if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level or if the electronic device is operating in the low power mode; and
optionally displaying the captured image on the display of the electronic device after the image is captured to provide a normal power feedback notification if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level.

3 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 wherein said providing the low power feedback notification from the electronic device comprises providing haptic feedback to a user with a low power tactile feedback element included in the electronic device.

4 . The method of capturing the image of claim 3 wherein the low power tactile feedback element included in the electronic device comprises a vibrating element.

5 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 wherein said providing the low power feedback notification from the electronic device comprises providing low power visual feedback from electronic device.

6 . The method of capturing the image of claim 5 wherein said providing the low power visual feedback from the electronic device comprises illuminating a light.

7 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 wherein said providing the low power feedback notification from the electronic device comprises providing audio feedback from electronic device.

8 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 further comprising displaying a static low power screen on the display of the electronic device instead of displaying the live preview of the image to be captured by the image sensor on the display of the electronic device if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

9 . The method of capturing the image of claim 1 wherein the battery threshold level is a first battery threshold level, the method further comprising:
reducing the resolution of the image to be captured by the image sensor of the electronic device to a second low power reduced resolution if the battery level of the electronic device is less than a second battery threshold level, wherein the second battery threshold is less than the first battery threshold, and wherein the second reduced lower power resolution is less than the first reduced lower power resolution;
capturing the image at the second low power reduced resolution of the image sensor if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the second battery threshold level; and
providing the low power feedback notification from the electronic device without displaying the captured image after the image is captured if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the second battery threshold level.

10 . An image sensing electronic device, comprising:
a plurality of pixel cells arranged in a pixel array of an image sensor, wherein the plurality of pixel cells are arranged to provide a normal resolution image to be captured by the image sensor, wherein a subset of the plurality of pixel cells are arranged to provide a low power reduced resolution of the image to be captured by the image sensor; readout circuitry coupled to the pixel array to readout the normal resolution image from the plurality of pixel cells if a battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to a battery threshold level, wherein the readout circuitry is further coupled to readout the low power reduced resolution image from the subset of the plurality of pixel cells if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level; a controller coupled to the pixel array and the readout circuitry to control operation of the pixel array and the readout circuitry, wherein the controller includes a low power image capture control circuitry to control operation of the pixel array and the readout circuitry if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level; user input/output (I/O) circuitry coupled to the controller, wherein the user I/O circuitry is coupled to provide a low power feedback notification from the electronic device to confirm a capture of the low power reduced resolution of the image if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level; and a display coupled to the controller to display a virtual screen on the display if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

11 . The image sensing electronic device of claim 10 further comprising function logic circuitry coupled to the readout circuitry to store image data received from the pixel array.

12 . The image sensing electronic device of claim 10 wherein the display is coupled to display a live preview of the normal resolution image from the plurality of pixel cells if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level, wherein the display is further coupled to display the normal resolution image from the plurality of pixel cells to provide a normal power feedback notification if the battery level of the electronic device is greater than or equal to the battery threshold level.

13 . The image sensing electronic device of claim 10 wherein the user I/O circuitry includes a low power tactile feedback element coupled to provide haptic feedback to a user without displaying a captured image after the image is captured if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

14 . The image sensing electronic device of claim 10 wherein the user I/O circuitry includes a low power visual feedback element coupled to provide visual feedback to a user without displaying a captured image after the image is captured if the battery level of the electronic device is less than the battery threshold level.

15 . The image sensing electronic device of claim 14 wherein the low power visual feedback element includes a light.

16 . The image sensing electron

Assignees

• Omnivision Tech Inc

Inventors

• Iqbal Jameerrul

Classifications

• H04N1/40068 Primary

  Modification of image resolution, i.e. determining the values of picture elements at new relative positions (H04N1/3935 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04N25/70

  SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith · CPC title

• H04N23/651

  for reducing power consumption by affecting camera operations, e.g. sleep mode, hibernation mode or power off of selective parts of the camera · CPC title

• H04N23/00 Primary

  Cameras or camera modules comprising electronic image sensors; Control thereof · CPC title

• H04N23/634

  Warning indications · CPC title