Patent ID: 7580619

Claim:
An image-taking apparatus, comprising: a liquid crystal layer composed of transparent liquid crystal molecules; a first electrode placed along the liquid crystal layer; a plurality of transparent second electrodes placed along the liquid crystal layer on the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer from the first electrode, with a voltage being applied between the first electrode and each of the plurality of transparent second electrodes; a plurality of transparent transistors placed along the liquid crystal layer together with the plurality of second electrodes to adjust the voltages applied to the plurality of second electrodes; a control section which changes orientation of the liquid crystal molecules by applying drive signals to the plurality of transistors separately and thereby applying a voltage between the first electrode and each of the plurality of second electrodes; an image pickup device which generates an image signal of subject light that forms an image on a surface of the image pickup device after passing through the first electrode, the liquid crystal layer, and the second electrodes; and at least one movement sensor, wherein the control section applies drive signals to the plurality of transistors based on an output of the at least one movement sensor.