KR100566977B1 - Device and Method Auto Flashing for Camera Using Analog Gain - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for an auto flash of a camera using an analog gain, which can be implemented simply and compactly without a separate hardware configuration by using an analog gain for brightness.

According to the present invention, in an electronic device provided with a camera, a camera for photographing a subject and detecting an analog gain for light intensity, and a flash on / off setting based on the analog gain for light intensity detected by the camera is set. A control means for controlling, a memory means for storing a reference analog gain with respect to the brightness which is the basis of the flash on / off setting control of the control means, and a flash for emitting light by the flash on / off control of the control means. Characterized in that the configuration. According to the configuration as described above, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly.

Camera, electronics, mobile phone, auto flash

Description

Device and Method Auto Flashing for Camera Using Analog Gain

1 is an operation flowchart for camera light emission according to the prior art.

2 is a block diagram for camera auto flash using analog gain according to the present invention;

3 is an operation flowchart for camera auto flash using analog gain according to the present invention;

         Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

210; Cell phone 212; Key button part

214; Control unit 216; Display part

218; Memory section 252; Lens part

254; An imaging unit 256; DSP

280; Flash

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device camera, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for auto flashing a camera using an analog gain, which can be implemented simply and compactly without a separate hardware configuration by using an analog gain for brightness. will be.

First, the present invention relates to an electronic device having a camera, but for convenience of explanation, a mobile communication terminal having a camera (hereinafter, also referred to as "mobile phone") will be described as an example.

In general, a mobile phone transmits and receives voice data to and from a large station by a mobile communication system including a base station, a base station controller, and a switching station. Recently, due to the remarkable development of information and communication technology, a mobile phone has various functions added thereto. Mobile phones are coming out.

For example, there is a mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as a "camera phone") that has a digital camera (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "camera") and has a function of transmitting and receiving image data captured by the camera.

That is, when a user wants to capture and retain a specific scene or a subject necessary for a job, the user can capture a desired scene using a mobile phone equipped with such a camera and store it in the mobile phone. Also, the captured image may be wirelessly transmitted to another terminal through the mobile communication terminal.

Mobile phones (ie, electronic devices) to which the camera is attached have been introduced to cameras equipped with a camera auto flash function.

The auto flash function of the camera is a function of automatically controlling the flash function of the camera on / off according to the brightness of the camera attention environment. In other words, when the environment around the camera is dark, the flash of the camera automatically emits light.

The following describes the prior art of the electronic device equipped with the camera flash function as described above.

In order to implement the conventional camera auto flash function, a separate device implemented as a separate circuit supporting a strobe signal is required. The storobe signal is a signal for controlling the on / off of the camera flash, and a detailed description thereof is omitted since it is a known technique before the application of the present invention.

In the case of a miniaturized camera module that does not have a separate circuit supporting the strobe signal according to the prior art, the flash is turned on and off every time a user takes a picture. In this case, the camera auto Although the flash function is not implemented, the flash light emitting process in the miniaturized camera module having no separate circuit will be described based on FIG. 1.

In FIG. 1, an operation flowchart for emitting a camera according to the related art is illustrated, and a subject to be photographed is checked through a camera preview (operation 110).

Then, the user directly sets the flash to on or off (step 112), and when the flash is set to on, the user emits the flash at the same time as photographing (steps 114 to 118).

After determining whether the user has set the storage of the captured photo (step 120), if the storage is set, the captured photo is stored (122), and the display returns to the initial state.

However, the camera flash light emitting method according to the prior art as described above poses the following problems.

First, when the camera auto flash function is implemented by a circuit configuration that supports a strobe signal, which is a hardware configuration, a separate hardware circuit configuration must be provided. Therefore, a problem that the consumer's desire to buy is deteriorated due to the recent trend toward miniaturization of the camera module. have.

Second, when the camera auto flash function is implemented by a circuit configuration that supports the strobe signal, there is a problem that additional costs are required because a separate circuit must be implemented.

Third, the miniaturized camera module did not have an auto flash function because the user had to manually turn on / off the flash setting every time a user took a picture.

The present invention was created to solve the above problems of the prior art, and the object of the auto flash apparatus and method of the camera using the analog gain according to the present invention is simple, without a separate hardware configuration, by using the analog gain for brightness. The present invention provides an apparatus and method for auto flashing a camera using analog gain, which can be compactly implemented.

The auto flash apparatus of the camera using the analog gain of the present invention for achieving the above object is, in an electronic device provided with a camera, a camera for photographing a subject, and detecting the analog gain for light intensity, and the electronic device Control means for controlling a flash on / off setting by comparing the analog gain for the brightness detected by the camera with a preset reference value, and a reference analog for the brightness which is the preset reference value built in the electronic device. And memory means for storing the gain, and flash which emits light by flash on / off control of the control means.

According to the above configuration, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly by using the analog gain without a separate hardware configuration.

In the auto flash apparatus of the camera using the analog gain according to the present invention, the camera includes a lens unit to which an image of a subject is incident, and an optical gain of light intensity by converting an optical signal of a subject incident through the lens unit into an electrical signal. And an DSP for converting an electrical signal and an analog gain input from the imaging unit into a digital signal.

According to the configuration as described above, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly by using the analog gain.

The auto flash apparatus of the camera using the analog gain according to the present invention is characterized in that the electronic device is a mobile communication terminal performing wireless communication with a mobile communication system including a base station, a base station control station, and a switching station.

According to the above configuration, in the camera provided in the mobile phone, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly without a separate hardware configuration.

The auto flash method of the camera using the analog gain according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a first step of entering an auto flash mode and detecting an analog gain for light intensity, and comparing the detected analog gain with a reference analog gain. And a third step of setting the flash on only when the analog gain detected by the comparison is smaller than the reference analog gain.

According to the above configuration, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly by using the analog gain without a separate hardware configuration.

The auto flash method of the camera using the analog gain according to the present invention further includes a fourth step of controlling the flash off setting when the detected analog gain is greater than the reference analog gain as a result of the comparison of the second step. It features.

According to the above configuration, there is an advantage that the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented simply and compactly by using the analog gain without a separate hardware configuration.

The following describes in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment of the auto flash apparatus and method of the camera using the analog gain of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a camera auto flash using the analog gain according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 shows a mobile phone 210 that performs wireless communication with a mobile communication system including a base station, a base station control station, and a switching station.

The mobile phone 210 is provided with a control unit 214. The controller 214 reads an analog gain (analog gain, magnitude of an analog signal, hereinafter referred to as 'AG') for the brightness detected by the camera 250 described below, and is stored in the following memory unit 218. Controls the flash on / off setting compared to the reference analog gain value.

Of course, the controller 214 controls the peripheral device (for example, the key button unit 210). The controller 214 may be implemented as a mobile station modem (MSM).

The memory unit 218 is connected to the controller 214. The memory unit 218 is controlled by the controller 214 and stores a reference analog gain value for controlling the flash on / off setting.

The key button unit 212 is connected to the controller 214. The key button unit 212 is a user interface for commanding camera mode entry or auto flash setting.

The display unit 216 is connected to the controller 214. Through the display unit 216, the user may check a subject coming into the lens 252 of the camera 250.

The camera 250 is connected to the mobile phone 210. The camera 250 photographs a subject and detects an analog gain with respect to light intensity.

The camera 250 includes a lens unit 252, an imaging unit 254, and a digital signal processor (DSP) 256.

The lens unit 252 is an input unit through which an image of a subject is incident. The imaging unit 254 is connected to the lens unit 252. The imaging unit 254 converts an optical signal of a subject incident through the lens unit 252 into an electrical signal and senses an analog gain for light intensity.

The DSP 256 is connected to the imaging unit 254. The DSP 256 converts an electrical signal and an analog gain input from the imaging unit 254 into a digital signal.

In addition, a flash 280 is connected to the mobile phone 210. The flash 280 emits light by flash on / off control of the controller 214.

Next, the auto flash process of the camera using the analog gain of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a camera auto flash operation using an analog gain according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the user previews a camera to view a subject through the display unit 216 (step 310). After performing step 310, when the user enters the photo shooting mode by the key button unit 212 (step 312), the user can take a picture by using the camera 250.

After performing step 312, the controller 214 determines whether the user has set the auto flash setting (step 314), and if the user has set the auto flash setting, enters the auto flash mode (step 314 or less to be described below). .

As a result of the determination in step 314, if the auto flash mode is not set, the user must manually set the flash on / off manually as in the conventional art.

Of course, the setting of the auto flash mode is performed by the user inputting a function button (not shown) in the key button unit 212.

When entering the auto flash mode, the camera 250 reads the detected analog gain AG value (step 316).

The controller compares the analog gain AG read from the camera 250 with a reference analog gain AG (step 318).

As a result of the comparison in operation 318, when the analog gain AG read from the camera 250 is smaller than the reference analog gain AG value, the flash 280 is turned on (operation 322). If the analog gain AG read from 250 is not smaller than the reference analog gain AG value, the flash 280 is set to OFF (step 326).

When the analog gain AG read from the camera 250 is smaller than the reference analog gain AG value, it means that the environment around the camera is dark, and that the analog gain AG read from the camera 250 is large. It means that the environment is bright.

When the flash is turned on in step 322, the flash 280 is emitted at the same time as photographing (steps 324 and 330), and when the flash 280 is turned off in step 326, the flash is turned off. In operation 330, a picture is taken in the absence of light emission.

After determining whether to store the captured picture (step 332), if there is a picture storage command, the captured picture is stored (step 334), and the initial state is returned.

As described above, the present invention is characterized by a simple and compact implementation of the camera's auto flash by using an analog signal for the brightness, without having to use a conventional strobe signal supported auto flash circuit.

The above embodiments of the present invention are merely one embodiment of the technical idea of the present invention, and of course, other modifications are possible within the technical idea of the present invention.

Auto flash apparatus and method of the camera using the analog gain of the present invention having the configuration and operation process as described above has the following effects.                     

First, by using analog gain for brightness without a separate hardware configuration, it is possible to implement the auto flash function of the camera simply and compactly.

Second, the camera's auto flash function can be implemented by using the analog gain for brightness without any hardware configuration, thereby reducing the product cost.

Third, since the auto flash function of the camera can be implemented using the analog gain for brightness without a separate hardware configuration, there is an advantage in that the camera can be miniaturized.

Claims (5)

In the electronic device provided with a camera, A camera which photographs a subject and detects an analog gain for light intensity; Control means built in the electronic device and controlling flash on / off setting by comparing an analog gain for the brightness detected by the camera with a preset reference value; Memory means which is built in the electronic device, and stores a reference analog gain with respect to the brightness which is the preset reference value; And a flash light emitting by flash on / off control of the control means. The method of claim 1, wherein the camera, A lens unit to which an image of the subject is incident; An imaging unit which converts an optical signal of a subject incident through the lens unit into an electrical signal and detects an analog gain for light intensity; And a DSP for converting an electrical signal and an analog gain inputted from the image pickup unit into a digital signal. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device, A mobile communication terminal for performing wireless communication with a mobile communication system including a base station, a base station control station, and a switching station. delete delete

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