KR20040104965A - Camera with strobe, control method thereof, and mobile phone therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An image pick device including a strobe a method for controlling the image pickup device, and a cellular phone including the device are provided to selectively use internal and external strobes by sensing attachment of the external strobe to a portable electronic device. CONSTITUTION: An image pickup device(2) that is provided with power from a power supply of a portable electronic device to carry out strobe photographing of an object includes an image pickup element(21), an internal strobe(22), an external strobe(23), and a controller(24). The image pickup element captures an image. The internal strobe is provided with power from a power supply(25) to operate, and generates light such that the image pickup element captures the image. The external strobe device is provided with power from the power supply to generate light and detachably attached to the outer side of the image pickup device. The controller processes the image captured by the image pickup element. The controller senses attachment of the external strobe to the image pickup device to cancel electrical connection of the power supply and the internal strobe, and electrically connects the power supply to the external strobe.

Description

Photographing apparatus having a strobe, a control method thereof, and a mobile phone having the same {Camera with strobe, control method, and mobile phone therewith}

The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus having a strobe, a method of controlling the same, and a mobile telephone having the same, and more particularly, includes a built-in strobe mounted on a portable electronic device and configured to emit low luminance auxiliary light. The present invention relates to a photographing apparatus having a strobe capable of selectively using a built-in strobe and an external strobe by sensing that a detachable external strobe is mounted, a control method thereof, and a mobile phone having the same.

Recently, various kinds of portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, compact disc (CD) players, motion picture expert group audio layer-3 (MP3) players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like are used. Many cameras are equipped with cameras that allow users to shoot video. In particular, a stroboscopic device may be provided so that low-luminance video can be photographed.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of a mobile phone equipped with a conventional camera.

Referring to the drawings, the cellular phone 1 includes a portable terminal body 11, a camera 12, a strobe apparatus 13, a strobe operation switch 14, and a power supply unit 15. As shown in FIG. At this time, the camera 12, the strobe device 13, the operation switch 14, and the power supply unit 15 are typically mounted on the portable terminal main body 11.

The camera 12 is a device for photographing an image. The strobe device 13 is a device that emits light automatically or according to a user's selection, so that a low luminance image can be captured. The operation switch 14 is a switch for operating the stroboscope device 13. The power supply unit 15 is a device for supplying power to the strobe device 13 and the terminal body (11).

The mobile phone 1 equipped with the conventional camera configured as described above provides the user's image to the other party through the camera 12 embedded in the terminal body 11 when the user makes a call, or the image according to the user's selection. To be photographed. At this time, when the user wants to make a call at night or in a dark area or to record an image in a dark place, the strobe device 13 is operated by turning on the operation switch 14 attached to the side of the terminal body. Allows you to shoot low brightness video.

A mobile phone with a Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-320622 and a video portable terminal with a Korean Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-054624 are equipped with a camera equipped with a strobe device in the mobile phone, so that images can be displayed even in an environment of low brightness. Disclosed is a mobile phone capable of photographing and sending a clear image to a counterpart.

In addition, the flash apparatus with a one-time-use camera of the US Patent No. 6,442,346 further includes an external flash device that can be attached to and detached from the disposable camera having a built-in flash device. Disclosed is a disposable camera capable of improving red-eye.

The content described in the specification of the above inventions is to be included in this specification, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

However, there is a problem in a conventional photographing apparatus provided in an electronic device such as a cellular phone, in which there is no device for automatically switching the power when the built-in or external strobe device is used.

In addition, when the built-in or external strobe device selectively emits light, there is a problem in that there is no device for controlling the strobe light emission time to match each of the built-in or external strobe device.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, the built-in strobe mounted on the portable electronic device to emit a low luminance secondary light is equipped with a strobe can be taken, by detecting that the removable external strobe is mounted, and the built-in strobe and An object of the present invention is to provide a photographing apparatus having a stroboscope capable of selectively using an external strobe, a control method thereof, and a mobile telephone having the same.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing the appearance of a mobile phone equipped with a conventional camera.

2 is a view schematically showing a photographing apparatus having a strobe as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a stroboscopic imaging control method using the imaging apparatus of FIG. 2 as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart schematically showing another embodiment of the stroboscopic imaging control method using the imaging apparatus of FIG.

<Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings>

1: mobile phone 11: body

12: camera 13: strobe

14: strobe operation switch 15, 25: power supply

2: recording device 21: recording device

22: internal strobe 23: external strobe

24: control unit

In order to achieve the above object, a photographing apparatus having a strobe according to the present invention is mounted on a portable electronic device, and receives a power supply from a power supply unit of the portable electronic device. And a photographing element, a built-in strobe, an external strobe, and a control unit.

The photographing device photographs an image. The built-in strobe is mounted inside and operated by receiving power from the power supply, and generates light so that the image pickup device can take an image with low luminance. The external strobe generates power by receiving power from the power supply, and is mounted to be detachable from the outside. The controller processes an image photographed by the photographing device, detects that the external strobe is mounted, releases electrical connection between the power supply unit and the internal strobe, and electrically connects the power supply unit and the external strobe. To control.

The control unit outputs a charging start signal to the external strobe, receives a charging detection signal from the external strobe, and detects mounting of the external strobe.

According to the present invention, by detecting that the external strobe is mounted, by disconnecting the power to the internal strobe and connected to the external strobe, it can be selectively used according to the shooting distance of the image to shoot the internal strobe and the external strobe, low brightness In addition, it is possible to improve the shooting quality of the image.

The controller sets a light emission time for stroboscopic imaging according to a type of strobe electrically connected to the power supply and operated.

According to the present invention, a light emission time suitable for a corresponding strobe device can be set for each of the selectively operated internal strobe and the external strobe, thereby improving the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

A mobile phone according to another aspect of the present invention is a mobile phone having a photographing apparatus capable of stroboscopic imaging of a subject by receiving power from a power supply, wherein the cellular phone is mounted on a main body and the main body, and includes a photographing element and a built-in stroboscopic light. And an imaging device including an external strobe and a control unit.

The photographing device photographs an image. The built-in strobe is mounted inside and operated by receiving power from the power supply, and generates light so that the image pickup device can take an image with low luminance. The external strobe generates power by receiving power from the power supply, and is mounted to be detachable from the outside. The controller processes an image photographed by the photographing device, detects that the external strobe is mounted, releases electrical connection between the power supply unit and the internal strobe, and electrically connects the power supply unit and the external strobe. To control.

Strobing imaging control method according to another aspect of the present invention, which is mounted on a portable electronic device, having a built-in strobe and an external strobe to receive power from the power supply of the portable electronic device, it is possible to strobe a low-brightness image In the stroboscopic imaging control method of the photographing apparatus,

(a) an initialization step of supplying power to the built-in strobe and charging, and setting a light emission time suitable for the built-in strobe;

(b) checking whether a shutter button is selected;

(c) checking whether the strobe shooting mode is selected;

(d) detecting whether the external strobe is mounted;

(e) supplying power to the external strobe when the external strobe is mounted; And

(f) performing stroboscopic imaging.

In the step (d), a confirmation signal outputting step of outputting a charge start signal to the external strobe, a detection signal input step of receiving a charge detection signal according to the charge start signal from the external strobe, and the received charge detection A determination step of determining whether or not the external strobe is mounted from the signal.

In the case where the external strobe is mounted as a result of step (d), it is preferable to further include a light emission time setting step of resetting the light emission time.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a view schematically showing a photographing apparatus having a strobe as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the photographing apparatus 2 having a strobe is mounted on a portable electronic device, and receives a power supply from the power supply unit 25 of the portable electronic device, and in the photographing apparatus capable of stroboscopic photographing of a subject, The photographing element 21, the built-in strobe 22, the external strobe 23, and the control part 24 are provided.

The photographing element 21 photographs an image. The built-in strobe 22 is mounted therein to operate by receiving power from the power supply unit 25 to generate light so that the low-luminance photographing element 21 can take an image. The external strobe 23 receives power from the power supply 25 to generate light, and is mounted to be detachable from the outside. The controller 24 processes the image photographed by the photographing element 21, detects that the external strobe 23 is mounted, and electrically connects the power supply 21 and the internal strobe 22. And releases, and controls to electrically connect the power supply unit 25 and the external strobe (23).

When the image to be photographed is dark and a desired image cannot be captured by a conventional photographing device, the auxiliary light is emitted by the strobe to capture the image. Therefore, a conventional imaging device is often equipped with a built-in strobe 22 therein. At this time, the built-in strobe 22 is mounted inside the photographing apparatus, and operates by receiving power from the power supply unit 25 of the photographing apparatus.

If necessary, the external strobe 23 can be attached to the outside of the photographing apparatus so that it can be used as another auxiliary light for capturing a low luminance image. At this time, the external stroboscopic 23 may have a built-in power supply, and may use the power supply. However, especially in a small portable electronic device such as a cellular phone, the external stroboscopic 23 needs to be downsized and lightweight. Therefore, in the case of the present invention, it is preferable that the external strobe 23 is mounted to be detachable from the outside of the photographing apparatus, and is supplied with power from the power supply unit 25 of the photographing apparatus.

For strobe photography of long distance images, it is necessary to increase the amount of strobe light. However, in the case of the built-in strobe 22, due to the limitation of the component mounting area of a mobile phone or the like, there is a problem in remote shooting of 3m or more by substantially increasing the amount of light. Therefore, the stroboscopic image shooting distance can be improved by using the external strobe 23 having a larger amount of light.

A dimming circuit is required to control the light emission of the strobe. The dimming circuit may be configured inside the strobe unit, and a separate dimming circuit part may be provided inside the photographing apparatus 2. At this time, the dimming circuit may be applied to the dimming circuit used in the conventional strobe.

The controller 24 is a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the photographing apparatus 2, such as processing an image photographed by the photographing element 21, and shares a controller of a portable electronic device on which the photographing apparatus 2 is mounted. Can also be used as

The control unit 24 controls the internal and external strobes 22 and 23 while exchanging predetermined signals with the internal strobe 22 and the external strobe 23. Signals transmitted and received between the control unit and the internal and external strobes 22 and 23 are charge start signals S1 and S11, charge detection signals S2 and S12, charge stop signals S3 and S13, and light emission start signals S4. , S14, and dimming control signals S5 and S15 are preferably provided.

The charge start signals S1 and S11 are start signals for starting charging the main capacitors provided in the built-in and external strobes 22 and 23 to supply electricity necessary for light emission of the built-in and external strobes 22 and 23. ) Is output to the built-in strobe 22 or the external strobe 23. The charge detection signals S1 and S12 are signals for detecting whether the strobe is charged and are input to the controller 24 from the built-in strobe 22 or the external strobe 23. The charge stop signals S3 and S13 are signals for stopping charging when the internal and external strobes 22 and 23 are completely charged, and the controller 24 inspects the charge detection signals S3 and S13 to complete the charging. In this case, the signal is output to the internal strobe 22 or the external strobe 23.

The light emission start signals S4 and S14 are configured such that when the shutter release switch SW1 included in the photographing apparatus is turned on while the strobe shooting mode is selected, the internal or external stroboscopic lights 22 and 23 start to emit light. Is a signal. The dimming control signals S5 and S15 are signals for terminating the light emission of the stroboscopic light emission initiated by the light emission start signals S4 and S14.

The control unit 24 detects that the external strobe 23 is mounted, and when the external strobe 23 is mounted, the power of the power supply unit 25 built in the photographing apparatus is supplied from the internal strobe 22 to the external strobe ( 23) to be automatically switched. At this time, the control unit 24 releases the electrical connection between the power supply unit 21 and the built-in strobe 22, so that the power supply unit 25 and the external strobe 23 can be electrically connected. At this time, the direction of the signal flow between the control unit 24 and the internal and external strobes 22 and 23 is not limited to the above-mentioned direction.

The controller 24 outputs a charge start signal S1 to the external strobe 23, receives a charge detection signal S2 from the external strobe 23, and detects whether the external strobe is mounted.

According to the present invention, by detecting that the external strobe (23) is mounted to disconnect the power supply to the internal strobe (22) and to connect with the external strobe (23), to shoot the internal strobe (22) and external strobe (23) It can be selectively used according to the shooting distance of the image to improve the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

In addition, the internal and external stroboscopic to share the power of the portable electronic device, it is easy to apply to the small portable electronic device.

Since the external strobe 23 mounts only the strobe on the outside as compared to the built-in strobe 22, it is advantageous in terms of the component mounting area, and thus the light quantity can be increased by increasing the light emission time, thereby improving the stroboscopic shooting distance. Therefore, the external strobe 23 is suitable for long distance shooting of 3m or more, it is preferable to set the light emission time in units of ms for long distance shooting. On the other hand, the built-in strobe 22 is suitable for short-range and medium-distance shooting of 1m to 3m, it is preferable to set the emission time in units of 을 for near and medium-range shooting. That is, it is preferable to set the light emission time of the external strobe 23 longer than the light emission time of the internal strobe 22.

Therefore, according to whether the external strobe 23 is mounted or not, it is possible to automatically operate with a predetermined light emission time set in advance. For example, it is preferable that the light emission time for near-field light emission is about 70 ms, the medium distance light emission time is about 180 ms, and the light emission time for long distance light emission is about 4 ms. The shooting distance and the light emitting time are determined in consideration of the degree of the charge energy amount of the main capacitor of the strobe and the performance of the light emitting components, and can be set differently for each strobe, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

The control unit 24 sets the light emission time for stroboscopic imaging according to the type of strobe electrically connected to the power supply unit 25 and operated. In this case, the light emission time is determined by the light emission start signals S4 and S14 and the dimming control signals S5 and S15. In the present embodiment, light emission start signals S4 and S14 that emit light are emitted. It may be implemented by controlling the time interval of the dimming control signal (S5, S15) to terminate.

The light emission time is first set to a light emission time for the internal strobe 22, and when the mounting of the external strobe 23 is detected, it is preferable to change to a light emission time for the external strobe.

In addition, the controller 24 may determine the light emission time according to the distance information of the subject detected and input from the outside. In this case, the distance information may be obtained by detecting a photo sensor for light reflected on the subject by strobe light and measuring a distance to the subject.

According to the present invention, a light emission time suitable for a corresponding strobe device may be set for each of the internal strobe 22 and the external strobe 23 which are selectively operated, thereby improving the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

It is also applicable to a mobile phone having a photographing apparatus 2 capable of stroboscopic imaging of low-brightness images by receiving power from the power supply unit 25. The mobile telephone includes a main body and a photographing apparatus 2 mounted on the main body. It is preferable to provide.

3 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a stroboscopic imaging control method using the imaging apparatus of FIG. 2 as a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, the stroboscopic imaging control method 200 is a strobe imaging control method of the imaging apparatus of FIG. 2, which includes (a) supplying and charging power to the built-in strobe and setting a light emission time suitable for the built-in strobe. Initializing step 201, (b) Checking whether the shutter button is selected (202), (c) Checking whether the strobe shooting mode is selected (203), (d) Mounting the external stroboscopic Detecting 204, 205, (e) supplying power to the external strobe 206, and (f) performing stroboscopic imaging (208) when the external strobe is mounted. Equipped.

In addition, the step (d) preferably includes a confirmation signal output step 204, a detection signal input step 205 and the determination step 205 to confirm the mounting of the external stroboscopic 23. The confirmation signal output step 204 outputs a charge start signal S1 to the external strobe. The detection signal input step 205 receives a charge detection signal S2 according to the charge start signal from the external strobe. The determination step 205 determines whether the external strobe is mounted from the input charge detection signal.

In the step (e), it is preferable to disconnect the power supply of the built-in strobe and connect the power to the external strobe.

The strobe shooting control method 200 is initialized 21 based on the use of the built-in strobe 22, supplies power to the built-in strobe 22, and charges the light. When the external strobe 23 is mounted and camera shooting is performed, the power is automatically switched to the external strobe 23. In other words, the mounting of the external strobe 23 is confirmed when the photographing is selected 202 by operating the shutter button or the like without the operation of confirming the attachment of the external external strobe 23.

This may be used even when the external strobe 23 is mounted while the image capture function of the cellular phone is selected 202 and the image is taken by the internal strobe 22.

In step (b), when the shutter button is pressed, the following steps (c) or less are performed, and when the shutter button is not pressed, the following steps are not performed and the standby state is maintained. Or other functions of the portable electronic device can be performed.

In the step (c), when the strobe shooting mode is selected, the following steps (d) or less are performed, and when the strobe shooting mode is not selected, normal camera shooting in which the strobe is not activated ( 209) can be performed.

In addition, when the strobe shooting mode is selected 203 without taking a picture in the strobe shooting control method 200 of the present invention, only the external strobe 23 is checked (204, 205), and the external strobe is checked. It is also possible to supply power to 23 (206) and reset the light emission time (207). In this case, it would be preferable to omit step (b) 202 and step (f) 208 above.

In addition, if the mounting of the external strobe 23 is not detected as a result of step (d) (204, 205), it is determined that the external strobe 23 is not mounted, so that the internal strobe 22 can be used, The power supply of the built-in strobe 22 is maintained, and the discharge time also maintains a preset value for the built-in strobe 22.

According to the present invention, by detecting that the external strobe (23) is mounted to disconnect the power supply to the internal strobe (22) and to connect with the external strobe (23), to shoot the internal strobe (22) and external strobe (23) It can be selectively used according to the shooting distance of the image to improve the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

The stroboscopic imaging control method 200 further includes a light emitting time setting step 207, and when the external strobe is mounted as a result of the step (d), it is preferable to reset the light emitting time. In the light emission time setting step 207, it is preferable to set the light emission time longer when the external strobe is mounted than when the external strobe is mounted.

According to the present invention, a light emission time suitable for a corresponding strobe device may be set for each of the internal strobe 22 and the external strobe 23 which are selectively operated, thereby improving the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

4 is a flowchart schematically showing another embodiment of the stroboscopic imaging control method using the imaging apparatus of FIG.

Referring to the drawing, the stroboscopic photographing control method 300 first determines whether the external strobe 23 is mounted when the photographing mode is selected 302 to use the photographing function of the photographing apparatus built in the mobile phone. To set the photographing apparatus.

To this end, the stroboscopic imaging control method 300 includes steps of initialization 301, selection and confirmation of a photography mode 302, 303, external stroboscopic detection 305, 306, and setting 307, 308.

In this case, the external strobe detection and setting steps 305, 306, 307, and 308 use the same method as the external strobe detection and setting steps 204, 205, 206, and 207 of FIG. 3. Omit.

If the photo shooting mode is not selected in this embodiment, the external strobe detection and setting steps 204, 205, 206, and 207 are not performed, and the standby of the ordinary cellular phone is enabled.

According to the photographing apparatus having a strobe according to the present invention, a control method thereof, and a mobile phone including the same, it is detected that the external strobe is mounted, the power of the internal strobe is disconnected, and the power of the external strobe is connected, The strobe and the external strobe can be selectively used according to the shooting distance of the image to be shot, thereby improving the shooting quality of the low luminance image.

In addition, the internal and external stroboscopic to share the power of the portable electronic device, it is easy to apply to the small portable electronic device.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Could be. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (17)

A photographing apparatus mounted on a portable electronic device and capable of stroboscopic photographing of a subject by receiving power from a power supply of the portable electronic device, A photographing element for photographing an image; A built-in strobe mounted inside to operate by receiving power from the power supply unit, the built-in strobe generating light so that the image pickup device can take an image of a low luminance; An external strobe which is mounted to be detachable from the outside by generating power by receiving power from the power supply; And By processing the image photographed by the photographing device, by detecting that the external strobe is mounted, to release the electrical connection of the power supply and the built-in strobe, and to control to electrically connect the power supply and the external strobe An imaging device having a control unit. The method of claim 1, And the control unit outputs a charge start signal to the external strobe and receives a charge detection signal from the external strobe to detect mounting of the external strobe. The method of claim 1, And the controller is configured to set a light emission time for strobing according to a type of strobe electrically connected to the power supply and operated. The method of claim 3, And the light emission time is set as the light emission time for the internal strobe, and when the mounting of the external strobe is detected, the light emission time is changed to the light emission time for the external strobe. The method of claim 3, And a light emitting time of the external strobe to be set longer than a light emitting time of the internal strobe. The method of claim 1, And the control unit determines the light emission time according to the distance information of the subject detected and input from the outside. A mobile phone comprising a photographing apparatus capable of stroboscopic photographing of a subject by receiving power from a power supply unit, A main body; And a built-in strobe mounted on the main body, the photographing element for capturing an image, and mounted therein to operate by receiving power from the power supply unit, and to generate light so that the photographing element can photograph an image with low luminance. By receiving power from a power supply unit to generate light, the external strobe mounted to be detachable from the outside, and processing the image taken by the photographing device, by detecting that the external strobe is mounted, the power supply unit and And a photographing apparatus having a control unit for releasing the electrical connection of the built-in strobe and electrically connecting the power supply unit and the external strobe. The method of claim 7, wherein And the controller outputs a charge start signal to the external strobe, receives a charge detection signal from the external strobe, and detects mounting of the external strobe. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit, And a light emitting time for stroboscopic photographing according to a type of strobe electrically connected to the power supply and operated. The method of claim 9, And the light emitting time is set to a light emitting time for the built-in strobe and is changed to a light emitting time for the external strobe when mounting of the external strobe is detected. The method of claim 9, And a light emitting time of the external strobe longer than the light emitting time of the internal strobe. The method of claim 7, wherein And the controller determines a light emission time according to distance information of a subject detected and input from the outside. In the stroboscopic imaging control method of a photographing apparatus mounted on a portable electronic device, having a built-in strobe and an external strobe to receive power from the power supply of the portable electronic device, strobe photography of low-luminance image, (a) an initialization step of supplying power to the built-in strobe and charging, and setting a light emission time suitable for the built-in strobe; (b) checking whether a shutter button is selected; (c) checking whether the strobe shooting mode is selected; (d) detecting whether the external strobe is mounted; (e) supplying power to the external strobe when the external strobe is mounted; And (f) A stroboscopic imaging control method comprising the step of performing stroboscopic imaging. The method of claim 13, In step (d), A confirmation signal output step of outputting a charging start signal to the external strobe; A detection signal input step of receiving a charging detection signal according to the charging start signal from the external strobe, and And a determination step of determining whether to mount an external strobe from the input charge detection signal. The method of claim 13, In the step (e), the strobe shooting control method of releasing the power connection of the internal strobe, and connecting the power to the external strobe. The method of claim 13, And a light emitting time setting step of resetting a light emitting time when the external strobe is mounted as a result of step (d). The method of claim 16, In the step of setting the light emission time, when the external strobe is mounted, the strobe shooting control method for setting a longer light emission time than when the internal strobe is mounted.