Patent Document ID: 5493335
Application ID: 08085516
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An electronic camera adapted for processing images of different resolution, said camera comprising: an image sensor for generating a baseband image signal representative of color image pixels arranged in vertical and horizontal directions as obtained from a two-dimensional array of photosites covered by a pattern of luminance and chrominance color filters; a buffer memory having sufficient capacity for storing the color image pixels as baseband signals corresponding to at least one image; an output memory, connected subsequent to the buffer memory, for storing processed image signals obtained from the buffer memory; a resolution mode switch for selecting a pixel resolution of the image by specifying an order in which the color image pixels are selected for storage in both vertical and horizontal directions, said order including a full resolution mode in which all color image pixels are selected and at least one reduced resolution mode in which less than all color image pixels are selected; a controller responsive to the pixel resolution selected by the resolution mode switch for accordingly changing the number of horizontal and vertical pixels that represent the image, said controller effecting a subsampling of the color image pixels for the reduced resolution mode; and means for storing the selected color image pixels in said output memory, whereby said output memory is able to store more images in said reduced resolution mode than in said full resolution mode.