Patent Grant
9674416
Field of Invention
The present invention relates in general to the technology of flash lamp, and more particularly to a method for controlling flash timing of an extension flash module of a mobile device.
Description of Related Art
With continuous advance in pixels and quality of digital photography, it has become a trend for mobile devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, to carry the function of taking photos. However, these built-in digital cameras have not been able to perform so well as conventional digital cameras under the circumstances of low lighting or backlighting.
Although some built-in digital cameras also carry a light-emitting diode (LED) supplement lamp, both the battery capacity of mobile devices and the heat dissipation issue of LEDs seriously confine the volume of fill light provided by the LED supplement lamp. When the distance between the object being photographed and the LED supplement lamp exceeds one meter, the LED fill light cannot provide adequate light source to allow pixels of a photo sensor to be properly exposed.
Xenon high-intensity discharge lamps (HIDs) can provide a large amount of supplementary lighting within a short period of time. Therefore, conventional digital cameras usually carry a xenon HID. A charger in a xenon HID converts low-voltage battery power supply into high-voltage power supply and stores it in a high-capacitance high-voltage capacitor. Operating in coordination with a mechanical shutter, the xenon HID is then triggered at a proper timing to convert the electricity stored in the high-voltage capacitor into high-brightness supplementary lighting within a very short period of time so that the pixels of a photo sensor are properly exposed under circumstances of low lighting or backlighting. A xenon HID requires a high-voltage capacitor having a capacitance from dozens to hundreds of μF and able to withstand 300 to 400 volts. In pursuit of lighter, thinner and more compact mobile devices, the very large volume of such a high-voltage capacitor fails to meet the requirements of current mobile devices. Therefore, in order not to increase the volume and weight of existing mobile devices, extension HID flash modules become a feasible and even necessary option.
According to the specifications of the capacitance in high-voltage capacitors and HID lamp tubes, the flash time of HID flash modules lasts from dozens to hundreds of microseconds (μs). How to flash at the right timing so that all pixels in a photo sensor are evenly exposed is an important issue to be solved for extension HID flash modules to become a feasible option. Mobile devices which carry a photo-taking device normally adopt a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) photo sensor and a rolling shutter instead of a mechanical shutter, as shown in
However, in coordination with a rolling shutter, an extension HID flash module usually cannot locate the optimal flash timing and fails to improve the quality of photos.
From one perspective, the present invention provides a method for controlling flash timing of an extension flash module cooperating with a mobile device to provide supplemental light when the mobile device having an image retrieval device is taking a photo, the image retrieval device including pixels arranged in rows, the method comprising: detecting a specific event before a flashable time period, wherein the flashable time period is a period from the time at which a last row in a specific frame begins exposure to the time at which a first row in the specific frame ends exposure, wherein the time period from when the specific event occurs to a flashable time in the flashable time period has a fixed length of time; and informing the extension flash module the occurrence of the specific event, so that the extension flash module triggers a flash instruction after a delay time from when the specific event occurs, such that the flash timing of the extension flash module is in the flashable time period.
In one embodiment, the delay time is determined according to a flash delay time and the time period from when the specific event occurs to the flashable time in the flashable time period, wherein the flash delay time is a period from the time at which the extension flash module starts to execute the flash instruction to the time at which the extension flash module actually flashes.
In one embodiment, the time at which the specific event occurs is t0, the time at which the last row in the specific frame begins exposure is t1, and the time at which the first row in the specific frame ends exposure is t2, and wherein the delay time which begins at t0 has a duration of td1, and the flash delay time has a duration of td, wherein an initial time point of the duration of td is the time at which the extension flash module starts to execute the flash instruction, then the following relationship is fulfilled: (t1−td−t0)<td1<(t2−td−t0).
In one embodiment, the delay time is determined by steps including: (A) exposing a frame according to a given delay time; (B) checking the exposed frame and comparing brightnesses of the pixels with a reference threshold, to determine whether a pixel has a brightness lower than the reference threshold; (C1) when none of the pixels has a brightness lower than the reference threshold, setting the given delay time as a default delay time; (C2) when one or more of the pixels have a brightness lower than the reference threshold, and the pixel having brightness lower than the reference threshold is exposed earlier than half of the other pixels, shortening the delay time; and (C3) when one or more of the pixels have a brightness lower than the reference threshold, and the pixel having brightness lower than the reference threshold is exposed later than half of the other pixels, prolonging the delay time.
In one embodiment, the reference threshold of brightness is set by steps including: performing an exposure without flashing the extension flash module; and taking a lowest, highest, or average brightness among all pixels, or a brightness of a pixel at a predetermined position, as the reference threshold.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises: lowering the reference threshold when an ambient light is relatively dimmer, and raising the reference threshold when the ambient light is relatively brighter.
In one embodiment, the delay time is pre-stored in a driver program of the extension flash module or an application program of the mobile device.
In one embodiment, the delay time is stored in a memory device included in the extension flash module.
In one embodiment, the specific event includes: the time at which one of the rows of the pixels in the specific frame begins exposure; the time at which one of the rows of the pixels in the previous Nth frame prior to the specific frame begins exposure; or the time at which one of the rows of the pixels in the previous Nth frame prior to the specific frame ends exposure; wherein N is a natural number.
From yet another perspective, the present invention provides a method for controlling flash timing of an extension flash module cooperating with a mobile device to provide supplemental light when the mobile device having an image retrieval device is taking a photo, the image retrieval device including pixels arranged in rows, the method comprising: sensing a light emitting time point at which the mobile device emits light; and triggering a flash instruction after a delay time from the light emitting time point at which the mobile device emits light, such that the flash timing of the extension flash module is in a flashable time period; wherein the flashable time period is a period from the time at which a last row in a specific frame begins exposure to the time at which a first row in the specific frame ends exposure.
In one embodiment, the light emitting time point is: a time point at which a built-in light emitting diode (LED) supplement lamp of the mobile device begins to emit light for the first time or a time point at which the built-in LED supplement lamp begins to emit light for the second time.
From yet another perspective, the present invention provides a method for controlling flash timing of an extension flash module cooperating with a mobile device to provide supplemental light when the mobile device having an image retrieval device is taking a photo, the image retrieval device including pixels arranged in rows, the method comprising: detecting a specific event before a flashable time period, wherein the flashable time period is a period from the time at which a last row in a specific frame begins exposure to the time at which a first row in the specific frame ends exposure, wherein the time period from when the specific event occurs to a flashable time in the flashable time period has a fixed length of time; and triggering a flash instruction so that the extension flash module flashes during the flashable time period according to a flash delay time and the period from the specific event to the flashable time, wherein the flash delay time is a period from the time at which the extension flash module starts to execute the flash instruction to the time at which the extension flash module actually flashes.
In one embodiment, the specific event comprises the time at which the first row in the specific frame begins exposure, and the fixed length of time is the period from the time at which the first row begins exposure to the time at which the last row begins exposure.
In one embodiment, the specific event comprises the time at which a Kth row in the specific frame begins exposure, and the fixed length of time is the period from the time at which the Kth row begins exposure to the time at which the last row begins exposure, N and K both being natural numbers.
In one embodiment, the specific event comprises the time at which the Kth row in a previous Nth frame prior to the specific frame begins exposure, and the fixed length of time is N frame times plus the period from the time at which the Kth row begins exposure to the time at which the last row begins exposure, N and K being natural numbers.
In one embodiment, the specific event comprises the time at which the Kth row in a previous Nth frame prior to the specific frame ends exposure, and the fixed length of time is N or N−1 frame times plus the period from the time at which the Kth row begins exposure to the time at which the last row begins exposure, N and K being natural numbers.
In one embodiment, the specific event comprises the time at which a built-in LED of the mobile device begins lighting for a first time after a user presses a shutter or the time at which a built-in LED of the mobile device begins lighting for a second time after a user presses a shutter, wherein the extension flash module comprises a photometry module, and wherein when the photometry module in the extension flash module detects light from the built-in LED, the extension flash module triggers a flash instruction according to a flash delay time and the period from the time at which the built-in LED begins lighting for the first time or for the second time to the flashable time in the flashable time period, so that the extension flash module flashes during the flashable time period, wherein the flash delay time is a period from the time at which the extension flash module starts to execute the flash instruction to the time at which the extension flash module actually flashes.
The spirit of the present invention is to use a specific event as a reference time point; the time at which the specific event occurs is relatively fixed and known compared to the flashable time. Meanwhile, the delay time of the flash module is also taken into account, such that the extension flash module is triggered at a proper timing and flashes during the flashable time period. Therefore, with the method for taking photos provided by the present invention, pixels are properly exposed under a low lighting or backlighting environment, whereby the quality of photos taken by the mobile device is enhanced.
The objectives, technical details, attribute or parameters, and effects of the present invention will be better understood with regard to the detailed description of the embodiments below, with reference to the attached drawings.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinafter. The drawings as referred to throughout the description of the present invention are for illustration only, but not drawn according to actual scale.
According to the present invention, an extension flash module such as an HID flash module cooperates with a mobile device to provide supplemental light when the mobile device is taking a photo. The mobile device has an image retrieval device such as a photo sensor, and the image retrieval device includes pixels arranged in rows.
Step S300: Start.
Step S301: Detecting a specific event before a flashable time. Referring to
After a mobile device confirms that a user has pressed the shutter giving a shutter instruction, the mobile device will perform preparation actions, such as performing photometry and focusing, and determine a specific frame to be retrieved and the exposure time of a photo sensor. At and after a certain moment, the flashable time period t1—t2 of the extension flash module becomes known, i.e., it has a fixed relationship, which will no longer be affected by any other task that the mobile device may be performing, with a certain event (referred to as a “specific event” in this specification) that occurs at that certain moment. Based on this, for instance, a designer may predict the time of the specific frame by designing a certain application program or use a signal from a certain hardware to determine the time of the specific frame. That is, when the specific event occurs, the time period from when the specific event occurs to the flashable time is fixed and is a relatively stable and known period. There is a fixed length of time between the occurrence of the specific event and the flashable time. (The flashable time can be any designated time point within the flashable time period.) Therefore, in one aspect, the present invention adopts the time of a specific event as the basis for prediction.
In one embodiment, the prediction of the flashable time and the flash control can be implemented by a mobile device application program (e.g., a mobile phone application program), and for example, the mobile phone application program can retrieve the time at which the first photo sensor row begins exposure (in a specific frame desired to be retrieved) as the specific event. In this example, the fixed length of time is the period from the time at which the first photo sensor row begins exposure to the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure. For another example, the specific event can be the time at which the Kth photo sensor row (in a specific frame desired to be retrieved) begins exposure. In this example, the fixed length of time is the period from the time at which the Kth photo sensor row begins exposure to the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure. For another example, the specific event can be the time at which the Kth photo sensor row in the previous Nth frame begins exposure. In this example, the fixed length of time is N frame times plus the period from the time at which the Kth photo sensor row begins exposure to the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure. For another example, the specific event can be the time at which the Kth photo sensor row in the previous Nth frame ends exposure. If the Kth photo sensor row ends exposure earlier than the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure, then in this example, the fixed length of time is N frame times plus the period from the time at which the Kth photo sensor row ends exposure to the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure. If the Kth photo sensor row ends exposure later than the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure, then in this example, the fixed length of time is N−1 frame times plus the period from the time at which the Kth photo sensor row ends exposure to the time at which the last photo sensor row begins exposure. In the above examples, the fixed length of time, which corresponds to the period from the specific event to the flashable time, is calculated with reference to the last time point (t2) of the flashable time period. However, equivalently, the fixed length of time can calculated with reference to any time point between (and including) t1 and t2.
In another embodiment, the prediction of the flashable time and the flash control can be implemented by referring to a hardware signal. For example, the specific event may be a signal from a built-in LED supplement lamp of the mobile device.
Step S302: Triggering a flash instruction so that the extension flash module flashes during the flashable time period according to a flash delay time and the period from the specific event to the flashable time. “Trigger a flash instruction” in the context of this specification means that the extension flash module starts to execute a flash instruction that it receives or has received. As far as the extension flash module is concerned, a flash delay time td exists between the time at which the extension flash module starts to execute a flash instruction and the time at which the actual flashing of the extension flash module occurs. Therefore, the flash control should take into account, in addition to the period from the specific event to the flashable time, the delay time of the extension flash module itself. That is, because the above-mentioned period from the specific event to the flashable time is a constant and the delay time of the extension flash module is a known value, the method of this embodiment can determine when to trigger the flash instruction according to such constant and known value. For example, if the delay time from the time at which the flash instruction is received by the extension flash module to the time at which the actual flashing of the extension flash module occurs is td (td is calculated with reference to the time at which the flash instruction is received), then the time point for triggering the flash instruction should be between (t1−td) and (t2−td). Or, if the reference initial time point of the delay time td is the time at which the specific event occurs (the delay time td starts being counted at the time when the specific event occurs) and assuming that such time at which the specific event occurs is t0, then the flash timing needs to fulfill the relationship: (t1−t0)<td<(t2−t0). The extension flash module flashes when the delay time td ends. If the delay time td is calculated with reference to a certain other time point which has a time difference from the time at which the specific event occurs, such time difference can be taken into account, depending on the definition of the delay time td (i.e., depending on when to start counting the delay time td).
The above embodiments give examples as to how the flash timing can be controlled when the extension flash module is connected by hardware (e.g. via a universal serial bus (USB), or a headset socket) to the mobile device, in coordination with the internal software of the mobile device to determine the specific event. In another embodiment which is in compliance with the spirit of the present invention, the extension flash module may also be optically coupled to control the flash timing.
Please note that optical coupling is only one among many possible ways to embody the present invention; people ordinarily skilled in the art would readily conceive, in light of the teachings of the present invention, that the present invention may also be implemented wirelessly—such as via Wi-Fi, near field communication (NFC) or Bluetooth—or by detecting a sound produced by the shutter of the mobile device. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein.
The above description describes a “fixed length of time” from when a specific event occurs to the flashable time, which is a relatively stable and known time period. However, there can still be insignificant variations or errors caused by unknown sources; therefore even designers themselves cannot guarantee that the “fixed length of time” absolutely does not contain any minor variation. Nevertheless, from the standpoint of practical application, as long as such a variation is within than an acceptable range, a good flashing control can still be achieved. For example, if an error in calculating the “fixed length of time” is smaller than half of the flashable time period, such an error is tolerable and still falls within the scope defined by the present invention.
In addition, because the flash module is used as an extension hardware to be attached to a mobile device, the extension flash module must be able to cooperate with different types of mobile devices. Although as far as a single mobile device is concerned, the period from the specific event to the flashable time is a constant, different types of mobile devices have different constants. In one embodiment, if the constants of some types of mobile devices are known, different known constants can be pre-stored in a driver program of the extension flash module or an application program of the mobile device. Please refer to
In another embodiment, different known constants can be stored in the hardware circuit. Please refer to
In another embodiment, referring to
To avoid misjudgments, a pixel number threshold can be set, such that: the delay time is adjusted only when the number of the pixels having a brightness lower than the reference threshold exceeds the pixel number threshold.
In addition, in one embodiment, the reference threshold of brightness can be determined by, for example but not limited to: exposing the pixels without flashing the extension flash module, and taking the thus obtained brightness (which can be, e.g., a lowest, highest, or average brightness among all pixels, or a brightness of a pixel at a specific position such as the center, a peripheral location, or a corner) as the reference threshold.
In one embodiment, the reference threshold of brightness can be adjusted according to the sensing of the ambient light. For example, if the mobile device is equipped with an ambient light sensor, the sensed value of the ambient light can be taken as a reference to correspondingly lower the reference threshold when the ambient light is relatively dimmer, and correspondingly raise the reference threshold when the ambient light is relatively brighter.
In light of the above, the spirit of the present invention is to use a specific event as a reference time point; the time at which the specific event occurs is relatively fixed and known compared to the flashable time. Meanwhile, the delay time of the flash module is also taken into account, such that the extension flash module is triggered at a proper timing and flashes during the flashable time period. Therefore, with the method for taking photos provided by the present invention, pixels are properly exposed under a low lighting or backlighting environment, whereby the quality of photos taken by the mobile device is enhanced.
While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention should not be limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art. It will be apparent that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 103140180 A | Nov 2014 | TW | national |
| 104107362 A | Mar 2015 | TW | national |
The present invention claims priority to TW 103140180, filed on Nov. 19, 2014, and TW 104107362, filed on Mar. 9, 2015. The present invention is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/643,905, filed on Mar. 10, 2015.
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| 20050157207 | Voss | Jul 2005 | A1 |
| 20060284996 | Kanai | Dec 2006 | A1 |
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| 20130076952 | Shi | Mar 2013 | A1 |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20160142603 A1 | May 2016 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14643905 | Mar 2015 | US |
| Child | 14943227 | US |
