Patent ID: 8681263

Claim:
An imager, comprising: an image-capturing sensor that captures a subject image with a rolling shutter and outputs image data, said image-capturing sensor including an imaging area, wherein said imaging area includes a virtual horizontal auto-focus area that produces horizontal data, and a virtual vertical auto-focus area that produces vertical data, and wherein said virtual horizontal auto-focus area and said virtual vertical auto-focus area overlap one another; a focusing detector that determines whether a subject image is in focus of said image-capturing sensor using the output image data; a light-source detector that detects what type of light that is illuminating a subject; a light cycle detector that detects a cycle of a light that is illuminating said subject; and a flicker detector that detects a flicker in the output image data; wherein said flicker detector detects said flicker when the detected type of light corresponds to a certain type of light, said focusing detector automatically uses said horizontal data, without said vertical data, from the output image data so as to determine whether a subject image is in focus, when said flicker detector detects a flicker, and said focusing detector uses said horizontal data from the output image data so as to determine whether said subject image is in focus when a charge storing time per one row of said image-capturing sensor is shorter than a threshold time that is determined according to the light cycle detected by said light cycle detector.