KR100889107B1 - Portable Terminal Having Plrality of Cameras and Method for Controlling Camera Active State of the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosed apparatus relates to a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras. The disclosed portable terminal includes a plurality of cameras; And a camera driver coupled to the plurality of cameras to control an activation state and driving of the camera, wherein the camera driver controls the activation state of the camera by analyzing contrast information on the optical signal introduced into the camera. According to the disclosed terminal, there is an advantage that a camera can be selected more easily in a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras, and an advantage of changing a mode for an active state of a camera without manipulation of a user interface such as a keypad and a key button. have.

Handheld terminal, camera

Description

Portable terminal having plurality of cameras and method for controlling camera active state of the same}

1 is a view showing the appearance of a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an operation structure between a camera and a camera driver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view showing a state of use of the portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a camera mode in a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly to a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras.

Recently, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, which is a 3.5 generation mobile communication technology, has been implemented to enable high-speed transmission and reception of multimedia data while moving, such as video calls and video on-deman (VOD). Multimedia services have been commercialized.

In addition, the recent portable terminal is equipped with various multimedia functions in addition to the mobile communication function, which is an original function of the portable terminal, due to the development of processor technology and the increase in the capacity of the semiconductor memory.

For example, a recent portable terminal may be equipped with a high resolution camera to capture still images and videos, and process the captured images to be stored in a memory provided in the portable terminal or transmitted through a mobile communication network.

In particular, recently, portable terminals having two or more cameras have been used for various needs.

For example, a camera for video call and a camera for general shooting are installed in one portable terminal. At this time, the camera for video call is generally installed in the front of the portable terminal and the camera for shooting is generally installed in the rear of the portable terminal. That is, by installing the camera on both sides of the portable terminal to use any one camera as needed.

As another example, two or more cameras may be installed in a portable terminal to acquire an image such as a stereoscopic image or a panoramic image.

As such, when a user wants to use any one camera in a portable terminal in which two or more cameras are installed, the user has to select a camera using a keypad or a button of the terminal.

For example, in a mobile terminal having a video camera attached to the front for video communication and a general camera attached to the back for normal shooting, the user can change the mode or change the menu using a shortcut key on the keypad to change the mode of the camera. Had to change through. Such a conventional method frequently requires changing a mode by pressing a large number of buttons, and there is a problem that a user who is unfamiliar with the operation feels uncomfortable because the mode change method is not intuitive.

 In order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, the present invention proposes a portable terminal that can select a camera more easily in a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a portable terminal capable of changing the mode of a camera without manipulating user interfaces such as a keypad and a key button.

Still another object of the present invention is to propose a portable terminal capable of easily changing a video call mode and a general photographing mode of a camera in a portable terminal for a video call.

Other objects of the present invention may be derived by those skilled in the art through the following examples.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a plurality of cameras; And a camera driver coupled to the plurality of cameras to control an activation state and driving of the camera, wherein the camera driver analyzes contrast information on an optical signal introduced into the camera to control the activation state of the camera. A terminal is provided.

The camera driver may include a contrast analyzer configured to be coupled with the light receivers of each of the plurality of cameras to receive contrast information on an optical signal output from the light receiver to determine whether the brightness of the optical signal is greater than or equal to a preset reference value. .

The camera driver may further include an activation / deactivation control unit for changing an activation state of a camera having contrast information less than or equal to the reference value based on an analysis result of the contrast analyzer.

The plurality of cameras includes a video call camera and a general shooting camera, and the activation / deactivation control unit deactivates a state of an activated camera when one contrast information, which is activated among two cameras, is equal to or less than the preset reference value. To activate the deactivated camera.

The plurality of cameras may be cameras installed for capturing panoramic images.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of controlling an activation state of a camera in a portable terminal equipped with a plurality of cameras, the method comprising: outputting contrast information of an optical signal introduced into the camera; Analyzing the contrast information to determine whether the brightness is equal to or greater than a preset reference value; And (c) controlling an activation state of some or all of the plurality of cameras based on the determination information.

As the present invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description.

However, this is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiment of the present invention, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to the present invention in detail.

Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are used for the same components in the drawings, and duplicate descriptions of the same components are omitted.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. The term and / or includes a combination of a plurality of related items or any item of a plurality of related items.

1 is a view showing the appearance of a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a display unit 100, a command keypad 102, a number keypad 104, and a first camera are provided on a front surface of a portable terminal including a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention. The second camera 108 and the battery 110 is provided.

Although a portable terminal in the form of a slide is illustrated in FIG. 1, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the spirit of the present invention may be applied to a flip terminal, a folding terminal, a bar terminal, and the like.

The display unit 100 displays various information such as menu information, communication information, and image information in response to a user's request. In the mode of using the camera, the photographed subject may be displayed in the camera, and in the video call mode, image information of the other party of the call may be displayed.

The display unit 100 may be implemented using a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diodes (OLED), or the like.

The command keypad 102 is provided with various kinds of command buttons. When the portable terminal is a mobile communication terminal, a menu button, a call button, a call end button, etc. may be provided as key buttons of a command keypad.

The number keypad 104 is provided with number buttons and is used for selecting a telephone number or a specific number of a menu, for example.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first camera 106 attached to the front surface may be used as a video call camera. In the video call, the video call camera is preferably disposed on the front of the portable terminal, since the video call must be taken while viewing the video of the other party through the display unit 100.

In addition, the second camera 108 may be used as a general photo camera. Since the camera for photographing is aimed at the subject by the camera and checking the captured image through the display unit 100, the camera is disposed at the rear of the portable terminal.

Of course, the use of the first camera 106 and the second camera 108 is not limited as described above, and the use of the camera may be variously set as necessary.

In addition, FIG. 1 illustrates a case where a plurality of cameras are disposed on the front and the rear of the portable terminal, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the position of the camera may be variously changed as necessary.

For example, when a plurality of cameras are provided for capturing panoramic images, the plurality of cameras may be installed by changing positions only on the rear side of the portable terminal.

As described in the related art, when a user selects and uses a camera in a portable terminal equipped with a plurality of conventional cameras and wants to change the currently activated camera to another camera, the user presses a button on the keypad or a menu. You had to perform a camera selection or camera change through the screen.

The present invention proposes a portable terminal capable of selecting a camera or changing a camera only by blocking light from entering a camera that is not to be used without requiring a keypad manipulation when changing a camera or changing a camera mode.

For example, a user may select or change a camera by simply covering a camera, which is not used among the first camera and the second camera, with a finger or various other tools.

4 is a view showing a state of use of the portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, when a video call camera is provided at a front side and a general shooting camera is provided at a rear side, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a user selects a camera to be used by covering one of the cameras with a finger. You can change which cameras are active.

For example, it is assumed that the video call camera 106 is activated and the general shooting camera 108 is in an inactive state, as shown in FIG. At this time, if the user wants to deactivate the video call camera 106 and to activate the normal shooting camera 108, the user is to block the light to the lens of the video call camera 106.

At this time, the portable terminal detects that the light input to the currently active video call camera 106 is blocked, and deactivates the video call camera 106 and activates the general shooting camera 108 according to the detected information. .

On the contrary, as shown in (b) of FIG. 4, when the user wants to change the camera mode while the video call camera 106 is deactivated and the general shooting camera 108 is in an active state, the user needs to change the camera mode. (108) The camera mode can be changed by covering the lens with light.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first camera 200, a second camera 202, a camera driver 204, a key input unit 206, and storage. The controller 208 may include an image processor 210, a display 212, and a controller 214.

The first camera 200 and the second camera 202 have a function of converting an optical signal of a subject incident through a lens into an electrical signal through an image sensor and converting the converted electrical signal into image data and outputting the converted image signal. do.

The first camera 200 and the second camera 202 are provided with a light receiving unit for receiving an optical signal, and the light receiving unit outputs contrast information of the optical signal introduced through the camera lens.

The camera driver 204 functions to control operations of the first camera and the second camera. The camera driver 204 is electrically connected to the camera to receive contrast information of the optical signal, and controls activation / deactivation of the camera based on the contrast information.

The camera driver 204 selectively activates the camera based on the contrast signal provided from the light receiver of the camera. In addition to activation / deactivation of the camera, when the camera is set to move the camera mechanically, it controls the movement of the camera.

The image processor 210 functions to decode the image photographed by the first camera 200 or the second camera 202. The image captured by the first camera 200 or the second camera 202 is provided to the image processor 210 through the controller 214, and the image processor 210 decodes the image according to a preset decoding scheme. . In the case of a video communication terminal, the image processor 210 may decode image data transmitted from a terminal of a call counterpart through a mobile communication network.

The image data decoded by the image processor 210 is provided to the display unit 212 through a control unit, and the display unit 212 displays the decoded image data.

The key input unit 206 functions to generate a key event signal corresponding to a key pressed by the user through the command keypad or the number keypad and provide it to the controller 214. The control unit 214 performs a processing operation such as displaying a menu screen or displaying a number pressed by the user according to the key input information.

The storage unit 208 stores information necessary for the operation of the portable terminal and information designated by the user. Information necessary for the operation of the portable terminal may include a portable terminal control program and environmental information mainly stored in a ROM or flash memory, and the information specified by the user may include telephone number information, memo information, and video data. There will be.

3 is a block diagram illustrating an operation structure between a camera and a camera driver according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first camera includes a first light receiver 300, and the second camera includes a second light receiver 302. Here, the light receiving unit is a component that is naturally provided in a general camera as a component for receiving an optical signal and does not need to be added separately.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first light receiving unit 300 and the second light receiving unit 302 outputs the contrast information on the amount of the light signal introduced into the camera lens, the camera driver and the camera for receiving the contrast information The light receiving portion of is electrically coupled.

The light receivers of the first camera and the second camera output the first contrast information or the second contrast information to the contrast analyzer 310 of the camera driver in the activated state. For example, when the first camera is in an active state, the light receiver of the first camera outputs the first contrast information and provides the first contrast information to the contrast analyzer 310 of the camera driver. When both cameras are activated, the first contrast information and the second contrast information may be received from both cameras.

The contrast analyzer 310 receives contrast information from the camera and determines whether an optical signal having a predetermined reference value or more is input to the camera.

The determination information of the contrast analyzer 310 is provided to the activation / deactivation controller 312. The activation / deactivation control unit 312 controls activation / deactivation of the first camera and the second camera based on the determination information of the contrast analyzer 310.

When the contrast information is received from the light receiver of the first camera while the first camera is activated, and the contrast analyzer determines that the amount of the optical signal is less than or equal to a preset reference value, the activation / deactivation control unit 312 determines the state of the first camera. Transitions to the deactivated state and outputs a control signal for activating the second camera.

That is, the activation / deactivation control unit 312 controls the camera in which the user covers the lens to be in an inactive state and controls the camera in which the lens is not covered to be in an active state.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of changing a camera mode in a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, in the initial state, the portable terminal generates a control signal for controlling the camera activation state to a default state (S500). For example, in the case of a video call portable terminal, the video call terminal is controlled to be in an active state and the general shooting camera is deactivated when in a video call mode.

Some or all of the cameras of the plurality of cameras are driven according to the activation state control signal (S502).

The light receiver of the driven camera outputs contrast information corresponding to the intensity of the incoming optical signal, and the camera driver electrically coupled with the camera receives the contrast information of the camera (S504).

The contrast analysis unit of the camera driver analyzes the contrast information to determine whether the incoming optical signal has a brightness greater than or equal to a preset reference value (S506). When the brightness is greater than or equal to a preset reference value, the activation / deactivation control unit of the camera driver maintains the activation state of the currently activated camera and continuously receives the contrast information of the camera.

If the contrast information analysis result does not have a salinity higher than a predetermined reference value, the activation / deactivation control unit of the camera driver changes the activation state of the camera (S508). If a video call camera is activated on a portable terminal equipped with a video call camera and a general shooting camera, and the user blocks the light by covering the video call camera, the video call camera is switched to inactive state and the general shooting camera is turned off. It changes to active state. Of course, the state of the general shooting camera may be maintained in an inactive state, and only the state of the video call camera may be changed to an inactive state.

Although described with reference to the embodiments above, those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be variously modified and changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Could be.

As described above, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage that the camera can be selected more easily in a portable terminal having a plurality of cameras.

In addition, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is an advantage in that the mode for the active state of the camera can be changed without manipulating user interfaces such as a keypad and a key button.

In particular, the present invention may be utilized to easily change the video call mode and the normal shooting mode of the camera in a portable terminal for a video call.

Claims (10)

A plurality of cameras; And A camera driver coupled to the plurality of cameras to control an activation state and driving of the camera, The camera driving unit is characterized in that for controlling the active state of the camera by analyzing the contrast information on the optical signal introduced into the camera. The method of claim 1, The camera driver may include a contrast analyzer configured to be coupled to the light receivers of each of the plurality of cameras to receive contrast information on an optical signal output from the light receiver to determine whether the brightness of the optical signal is greater than or equal to a preset reference value. Portable terminal made with. The method of claim 2, The camera driving unit further comprises an activation / deactivation control unit for changing an activation state of a camera having contrast information below the reference value based on an analysis result of the contrast analyzer. The method of claim 3, The plurality of cameras includes a video call camera and a general shooting camera, and the activation / deactivation control unit deactivates a state of an activated camera when one contrast information, which is activated among two cameras, is equal to or less than the preset reference value. The mobile terminal, characterized in that the transition to and to activate the disabled camera. The method of claim 3, The plurality of cameras is a portable terminal, characterized in that the camera installed for the panorama image shooting. A method of controlling an activation state of a camera in a portable terminal equipped with a plurality of cameras, Outputting contrast information of the optical signal introduced into the camera (a); Analyzing the contrast information to determine whether the brightness is equal to or greater than a preset reference value; And And (c) controlling an activation state of some or all of the plurality of cameras based on the determination information. The method of claim 6, The contrast information is output by the light receiving unit provided in the camera, the activation state control method of a portable terminal. The method of claim 7, wherein The plurality of cameras includes a video call camera and a general shooting camera, and the step (c) is to deactivate the state of the activated camera when the contrast information of one of the two cameras is lower than or equal to the preset reference value. The method of controlling the activation state of a portable terminal, characterized in that the transition to the and activates the deactivated camera. The method of claim 7, wherein And the plurality of cameras are cameras installed for capturing panoramic images. A recording medium in which a combination of instructions for performing the method of any one of claims 6 to 9 is tangibly embodied and a program readable by a digital information processing apparatus is recorded.

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