Software-implemented graduated neutral density filter for balancing exposure of a photograph

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9313375-B1
Application number	US-201414295046-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 3, 2014
Priority date	Jun 3, 2014
Publication date	Apr 12, 2016
Grant date	Apr 12, 2016

Abstract

Techniques are described for balancing an exposure of a photograph using a software-implemented Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filter. Portions of a visual representation of a scene may be defined. Camera settings, such as aperture and/or shutter speed, may be set based on characteristics of the software-implemented GND filter and the portions of the visual representation of the scene.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
displaying in real time on a display of a mobile device, a visual representation of a scene within a field of view of a camera of the mobile device;
providing a graduated neutral density (GND) filter option on the display of the mobile device in conjunction with the visual representation of the scene;
receiving a selection of the GND filter option;
receiving GND filter portion input representing two portions of the visual representation of the scene;
receiving a GND filter characteristic representing an amount of light reduction corresponding to one of the two portions of the visual representation of the scene;
adjusting in real time brightness of the visual representation of the scene in response to the GND filter portion input and the GND filter characteristic;
determining one or both of an f-stop setting and a shutter speed for the camera based on the GND filter portion input and the GND filter characteristic, wherein one or both of the f-stop setting and the shutter speed are determined based on a weighted average corresponding to a first amount of light associated with a first portion of the scene corresponding to a first portion of the two portions of the visual representation and a second amount of light associated with a second portion of the scene corresponding to a second portion of the two portions of the visual representation; and
capturing an image of the scene with the camera using the f-stop setting and the shutter speed.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the received GND filter portion input representing two portions of the visual representation of the scene is based on a light measurement of the scene, wherein a first portion of the two portions corresponds to a brighter portion of the visual representation of the scene and a second portion of the two portions corresponds to a darker portion of the visual representation of the scene, the light measurement indicating the brighter portion being brighter than the darker portion.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the brightness of the two portions includes modifying values of pixels of the display corresponding to at least one of the two portions of the visual representation using the GND filter characteristic.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the first amount of light contributing to the weighted average based on a percentage of the visual representation associated with the first portion of the two portions of the visual representation, the second amount of light contributing to the weighted average based on a percentage of the visual representation associated with the second portion of the two portion of the visual representation of the scene.

5. An electronic device, comprising:
an image capture system;
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions, wherein the processor is configured to execute the instructions such that the processor and memory are configured to:
receive a filter portion input representing two portions of a visual representation of a scene captured by the image capture system;
receive one or more filter settings for at least one of the two portions; and
determine camera settings for the image capture system based on light measurements corresponding to the two portions of the visual representation of the scene and the one or more filter settings.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the two portions of the visual representation of the scene are determined based on a light measurement of the scene.

7. The electronic device of claim 5 , further comprising a display, the one or more processors and memory being further configured to:
display, on the display of the electronic device, the visual representation of the scene captured by the image capture system; and
adjust brightness of the visual representation of the scene based on the two portions of the visual representation of the scene and the one or more filter settings.

8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein adjusting the brightness of the visual representation includes modifying values of pixels of the visual representation proportional to a filter strength specified in the filter settings.

9. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the camera settings include one or both of aperture and shutter speed, and wherein one or both of the aperture and the shutter speed are determined based on a first light amount associated with a first portion of the scene corresponding to a first portion of the two portions of the visual representation and a second light amount associated with a second portion of the scene corresponding to a second portion of the two portions of the visual representation.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein one or both of the aperture and the shutter speed are determined based on a weighted average of the first light amount and the second light amount, wherein the first light amount contributes to the weighted average based on a percentage of the visual representation associated with the first portion of the two portions of the visual representation, and the second light amount contributes to the weighted average based on a percentage of the visual representation associated with the second portion of the two portions of the visual representation of the scene.

11. The electronic device of claim 5 , the one or more processors and memory further configured to:
capture an image of the scene with the image capture system using the camera settings.

12. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the characteristics of the filter include a type of filter and a power of the filter.

13. A computer program product, comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer program instructions stored therein, the computer program instructions being configured such that, when executed by one or more computing devices, the computer program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
receive a filter portion input representing two portions of a visual representation of a scene captured by an image capture system;
receive one or more filter settings for at least one of the two portions; and
determine camera settings for the image capture system based on two or more light measurements corresponding to the two portions of the visual representation of the scene and the one or more filter settings.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the two portions of the visual representation of the scene are determined based on a light measurement of the scene.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the one or more computing devices includes a display, and wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to cause the one or more computing devices to:
display, on the display of the one or more computing devices, the visual representation of the scene captured by the image capture system; and
adjust brightness of the visual representation of the scene based on the two portions of the visual representation of the scene and the one or more filter settings.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein adjusting the brightness of the visual representation includes modifying values of pixels of the visual representation proportional to a filter strength specified in the filter settings.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the camera settings include one or both of aperture and shutter speed, and wherein one or both of the aperture and the shutter speed are det

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Chakravarty Bodhisatwa

Classifications

• H04N23/633 Primary

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

• H04N23/62

  Control of parameters via user interfaces · CPC title

• H04N23/631

  Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters · CPC title

• H04N23/75 Primary

  by influencing optical camera components · CPC title

• H04N23/73

  by influencing the exposure time · CPC title