Photographing apparatus and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017054911-A1
Application number	US-201615063751-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 8, 2016
Priority date	Aug 17, 2015
Publication date	Feb 23, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A photographing apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a first buffer configured to store a plurality of images generated by a first camera module among a plurality of camera modules, a second buffer configured to store a plurality of images generated by a second camera module among the plurality of camera modules, a display configured to display an image generated by the first camera module as a live image, and a controller configured to analyze the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer using at least one of image information of each image stored in the first buffer and the second buffer and photographing information of the plurality of camera modules, and in response to an event occurring in at least one of the plurality of images stored in the second buffer, to control the display to provide a state notification service on the second camera module. When a foreign substance appears on at least one of the plurality of camera modules, the photographing apparatus may notify a user of the state more intuitionally.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A photographing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of camera modules; a first buffer configured to store a plurality of images generated by a first camera module among the plurality of camera modules; a second buffer configured to store a plurality of images generated by a second camera module among the plurality of camera modules; a display configured to display an image generated by the first camera module as a live image; and a controller configured to analyze the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer using at least one of image information of each image stored in the first buffer and the second buffer and photographing information of the plurality of camera modules, and in response to an event occurring in at least one of the plurality of images stored in the second buffer, to control the display to provide a state notification service on the second camera module.

2 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in response to an image in which the event occurred being detected, the controller is configured to control the display to convert and display the image in which the event occurred as the live image.

3 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the display comprises:
a main display; and a curved-surface auxiliary display configured to be extended from the main display, wherein in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the controller is configured to control the display to display the live image in the main display and to display an event User Interface (UI) with respect to the image in which the event occurred in the curved-surface auxiliary display.

4 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
communication circuitry configured to perform data communication with an adjacent terminal apparatus, wherein in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the controller is configured to control the communication circuitry to transmit event occurrence-related information to the adjacent terminal apparatus.

5 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the image information comprises at least one of: brightness information, histogram information, and pixel information of an image,
wherein the photographing information comprises at least one of: lens position information for autofocus, phase difference information, and contrast level information of at least one of the plurality of camera modules, and wherein the first buffer and the second buffer match and store the image information of each image and the photographing information.

6 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the image in which the event occurred is at least one of: an image generated while at least a part of the second camera module is overlapped with a foreign substance, and an auto-focused image different from other images stored in the first buffer or in the second buffer.

7 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate a composite image from the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer and to control the display to display the generated composite image, and
in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the controller is configured to generate a composite image from an image adjacent to the image in which the event occurred from among the images stored in the first buffer and the images stored in the second buffer.

8 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to detect an occlusion region based on a parallax of each of the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer and to determine whether to generate the composite image based on whether a detected amount of the occlusion region is greater than a predetermined critical value.

9 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the first camera module comprises a wide-angle lens, and the second camera module comprises a telephoto lens, and
wherein the controller is configured to determine whether to generate the composite image based on focusing information of each of the first camera module and the second camera module and close-up photographing information corresponding to a command.

10 . A method for controlling a photographing apparatus having a plurality of camera modules, comprising:
displaying an image generated by a first camera module among the plurality of camera modules as a live image; storing images generated by the first camera module in a first buffer and storing images generated by a second camera module among the plurality of camera modules in a second buffer; analyzing the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer using at least one of: image information of each image stored in the first buffer and the second buffer and photographing information of the plurality of camera modules; and providing, in response to an event occurring in at least one of the plurality of images stored in the second buffer, a state notification service on the second camera module.

11 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein in response to an image in which the event occurred being detected, the providing comprises converting and displaying the image in which the event occurred as the live image.

12 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the providing comprises displaying the live image in a main display and displaying an event User Interface (UI) with respect to the image in which the event occurred in a curved-surface auxiliary display extending from the main display.

13 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the providing comprises transmitting event occurrence-related information to an adjacent terminal apparatus.

14 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the image information comprises at least one of: brightness information, histogram information, and pixel information of an image,
wherein the photographing information comprises at least one of: lens position information for autofocus, phase difference information, and contrast level information of at least one of the plurality of camera modules, and wherein the first buffer and the second buffer match and store the image information of each image and the photographing information.

15 . The method as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the image in which the event occurred is at least one of: an image generated while at least a part of the second camera module is overlapped with a foreign substance, and an auto-focused image different from other images stored in the first buffer or in the second buffer.

16 . The method as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising:
determining whether to generate a composite image from the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer based on a received command; and generating a composite image from the images stored in the first buffer and the second buffer based on a determination result and displaying the generated composite image, wherein in response to the image in which the event occurred being detected, the displaying comprises generating and displaying a composite image from an image adjacent to the image in which the event occurred from among the images stored in the first buffer and the images stored in the second buffer.

17 . The method as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the determining comprises detecting an occlusion region based on a parallax of each of the images stored in the first

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Tae-Hee
• Moon Kyoung-Hwan
• Kang Kwon-Jeong
• Han Hee-Chul
• Kim Jae-Gon

Classifications

• H04N23/45 Primary

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• H04N23/633 Primary

  for displaying additional information relating to control or operation of the camera · CPC title

• H04N23/57

  Mechanical or electrical details of cameras or camera modules specially adapted for being embedded in other devices · CPC title

• H04N23/672

  based on the phase difference signals · CPC title

• H04N23/673

  based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method · CPC title