Patent ID: 8077211
Filing Date: 2011-12-13
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An imaging device comprising: an angular velocity sensor configured to detect a shaking of a camera body having an imaging unit and to output a blurring signal corresponding to the detected shaking; a high-pass filter including a time constant that can be set to a first time constant or a second time constant, which is less than the first time constant, said high-pass filter being configured to eliminate a direct current component that is included within the blurring signal in accordance with the first time constant, and to output a fluctuation portion of the blurring signal with respect to a reference voltage as an angular velocity signal; an analog switch configured to cause a charge that is accumulated within the high-pass filter to discharge according to the second time constant; a computation unit configured to receive the angular velocity signal, and to perform a computation to correct a blurring of an image imaged by the imaging unit in accordance with the angular velocity signal; a detection unit configured, in order to detect a change of the angular velocity of the camera body, to sample the angular velocity signal at predetermined times, to obtain a derivative value in accordance with a sampled value of the angular velocity signal, and to detect a time change in the obtained derivative value, the detection unit having a predetermined absolute threshold value; and a switching unit configured to switch the time constant of the high-pass filter between the first time constant and the second time constant switching the analog switch on or off in accordance with a detection result of the detection unit; wherein: the detection unit comprises a determination unit configured to compute a duration time from a time when an absolute value of the derivative value is greater than or equal to the absolute threshold value to a time when the absolute value of the derivative value is less than the absolute threshold value, and to determine whether or not the duration time is greater than a predetermined threshold time; and the switching unit is configured to switch the analog switch on, to cause the charge that is accumulated within the high-pass filter to discharge according to the second time constant, when the determination unit determines that the absolute value of the derivative value is less than the absolute threshold value, and that the duration time is greater than the predetermined threshold time interval.