Patent ID: 7411616

Claim:
An exposure controller for an electronic camera that is detachably attached and connected to electronic equipment having a display and that controls an exposure of the electronic camera of which a photographic coverage is set to at least one of a front and a rear of a screen of the display, the exposure controller comprising: exposure detecting means for generating exposure detection information indicating a mean magnitude of a video signal generated by the electronic camera for a single photographic image in response to the video signal; exposure adjusting means for adjusting the exposure of the electronic camera according to the exposure detection information generated by the exposure detecting means; a noise removing circuit for removing noise from the video signal generated by the electronic camera; and photographic coverage detecting means that outputs a coverage detection signal when the photographic coverage of the electronic camera is set to the rear of the screen, wherein the exposure detecting means virtually divides the single photographic image using a first pattern and a second pattern to generate first exposure detection information in the first pattern in which the photographic image is divided into an upper area and a lower area, the first exposure detection information indicating that a magnitude of the video signal corresponding to the lower area is more strongly reflected, and to generate second exposure detection information in the second pattern in which the photographic image is divided into a central area and a surrounding area, the second exposure detection information indicating that the magnitude of the video signal corresponding to the central area is more strongly reflected, and the exposure adjusting means adjusts the exposure of the electronic camera according to the first exposure detection information when the photographic coverage detecting means outputs the coverage detection signal and according to the second exposure detection information when the photographic coverage detecting means does not output the coverage detection signal.