Patent ID: 9113117
Filing Date: 2015-08-18
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An image-taking apparatus comprising: a gain control unit configured to control a gain for amplifying a signal from an image-pickup sensor; an image data generation unit configured to generate image data representing a subject image captured by the image-pickup sensor; a switching unit configured to switch an output of the image data generated by the image data generation unit to either a color output or a monochrome output; a maximum gain setting unit configured to set a maximum value of the gain controlled by the gain control unit; a switching evaluation value calculation unit configured to calculate a switching evaluation value based on an output from the image data generation unit; a determination unit configured to determine the switching of the output of the image data by the switching unit based on a result of comparison between the switching evaluation value and a switching threshold value for switching the output of the image data to either a color output or a monochrome output; and a threshold value correction unit configured to correct the switching threshold value according to the maximum gain value set by the maximum gain setting unit, wherein the threshold value correction unit sets the switching threshold value with the maximum gain value set larger than an initial value to be smaller than the switching threshold value with the maximum gain value set smaller than the initial value, and wherein the gain control unit, the image data generation unit, the switching unit, the determination unit, and the threshold value correction unit are implemented, at least in part, by a processor and a memory in the image-taking apparatus.