Method for controlling mobile terminal and mobile terminal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017280040-A1
Application number	US-201515505779-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 2, 2015
Priority date	Sep 25, 2014
Publication date	Sep 28, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of controlling a mobile terminal includes the steps of injecting a laser signal to a direction at which a camera is facing, receiving a reflected laser signal corresponding to the injected laser signal returned in a manner of being reflected to a subject, calculating a distance from the subject using a difference between time of injecting the laser signal and time of receiving the reflected laser signal, calculating standard illuminance of a flash based on the distance from the subject, injecting light by controlling the flash according to the standard illuminance and storing a first image including the subject using a camera module. According to the method, since it is able to obtain an image of which a whole screen is maintained by a reasonable brightness, a subject and a background can be included in an image.

First claim

1 . A method of controlling a mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:
injecting a laser signal to a direction at which a camera is facing; receiving a reflected laser signal corresponding to the injected laser signal returned in a manner of being reflected to a subject; calculating a distance from the subject using a difference between time of injecting the laser signal and time of receiving the reflected laser signal; calculating standard illuminance of a flash based on the distance from the subject; injecting light by controlling the flash according to the standard illuminance; and storing a first image containing the subject using a camera module.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of injecting the light further comprising the steps of:
injecting the light with over illuminance brighter than the standard illuminance; injecting the light with the standard illuminance; and injecting the light with under illuminance darker than the standard illuminance, and wherein the step of storing the first image further comprising the step of respectively storing the first image when the light is injected with the over illuminance, the standard illuminance and the under illuminance.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of storing the first image stores a plurality of first images by differentiating exposure.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of generating a synthesized image by extracting a part captured by appropriate brightness from a plurality of the obtained first images.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
storing a second image containing a subject prior to the step of injecting the light; and synthesizing a background of the second image with the subject of the first image.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of calculating reflectivity of the subject using a difference between an amount of light of the injected laser signal and an amount of light of the reflected laser signal, wherein the step of calculating the standard illuminance calculates the standard illuminance in consideration of the distance from the subject and the reflectivity of the subject.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the injected laser signal comprises a unique waveform.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of outputting information on a progress of at least one or more steps among the steps on a display unit.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of measuring surrounding illuminance, wherein if the surrounding illuminance is bright, the step of injecting the light is omitted and wherein the light is injected only when the surrounding illuminance is dark.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
calculating brightness of a sidelight within an angle of the camera module; and controlling exposure of the camera module on the basis of the distance from the subject and the brightness of the sidelight, wherein if the brightness of the sidelight is dark and the distance from the subject is less than a standard distance, the step of controlling the exposure reduces the exposure.

11 . A mobile terminal, comprising:
a lens to which light is inputted; a camera module configured to generate a first image by storing the light inputted via the lens; a flash configured to inject light to a direction at which the lens is facing; a laser output unit configured to inject a laser signal to the direction at which the lens is facing; a laser reception unit configured to detect a reflected laser signal corresponding to the injected laser signal returned in a manner of being reflected to a subject; and a controller configured to control the flash in a manner of calculating a distance from the subject using a difference between time of injecting the laser signal and time of receiving the reflected laser signal and calculating standard illuminance of a flash based on the calculated distance.

12 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to control illuminance of the flash to inject the light with over illuminance brighter than the standard illuminance, inject the light with the standard illuminance and inject the light with under illuminance darker than the standard illuminance and wherein the camera module is configured to respectively store the first image when the light is injected with the over illuminance, the standard illuminance and the under illuminance.

13 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , further comprising an aperture configured to control an amount of light inputted to the camera module, wherein the controller is configured to adjust exposure by controlling degree of opening of the aperture and wherein the camera module is configured to store a plurality of first images according to the control of the aperture.

14 . The mobile terminal of claim 12 , wherein the controller is configured to generate a synthesized image by extracting a part captured by appropriate brightness from a plurality of the obtained first images.

15 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , wherein the camera module is configured to obtain a second image before the flash injects light and wherein the controller is configured to generate a synthesized image by extracting a subject and a background from the first image and the second image, respectively.

16 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate reflectivity of the subject using a difference between an amount of light of the injected laser signal and an amount of light of the reflected laser signal and calculate the standard illuminance in consideration of the reflectivity of the subject.

17 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , further comprising an illumination sensor configured to measure surrounding illuminance, wherein if the surrounding illuminance is bright, the controller is configured to control the flash not to inject light.

18 . The mobile terminal of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to calculate brightness of a sidelight within an angle of the camera module and wherein if the brightness of the sidelight is dark and the distance from the subject is less than a standard distance, the controller is configured to reduce exposure time.

19 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising the step of generating a synthesized image by extracting a part captured by appropriate brightness from a plurality of the obtained first images.

20 . The mobile terminal of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to generate a synthesized image by extracting a part captured by appropriate brightness from a plurality of the obtained first images.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Jung Byungwook
• Lee Jinsool
• Kang Kyunghee
• Woo Sungmin

Classifications

• H04N23/72

  Combination of two or more compensation controls · CPC title

• H04N23/741

  by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors · CPC title

• H04N23/56

  provided with illuminating means · CPC title

• H04N23/75

  by influencing optical camera components · CPC title

• H04N23/63 Primary

  by using electronic viewfinders · CPC title