PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11650484-B1
Application Number: US-202016943835-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B1

Title: Electronic device with camera status indicator

Abstract:
An electronic device may have a camera. The camera may capture still and moving images. A camera status indicator may be included in the electronic device. The camera status indicator may emit light to indicate when the camera is in use capturing video or other images. The camera status indicator may have multiple light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes or lasers. The light-emitting devices may have different colors. Clear encapsulant may cover the light-emitting devices. A white polymer wall or other light recycling structure may run along an outer peripheral edge of the encapsulant. A light diffusing coating layer may coat an outer surface of the clear encapsulant. Light reflections from the status indicator may be reduced in captured images.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a camera; 
 a camera status indicator that is configured to emit light to indicate when the camera is capturing an image; and 
 control circuitry configured to identify a reflection of the emitted light in the captured image and to temporarily turn off the camera status indicator, in response to identifying the reflection of the emitted light in the captured image, when the camera is capturing subsequent images. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the camera status indicator has multiple light-emitting devices. 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the electronic device comprises a transparent member, the camera status indicator is configured to emit the light through the transparent member, the camera is configured to capture the image through the transparent member, and the light-emitting devices comprise light-emitting devices selected from the group consisting of: lasers and light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the control circuitry is configured to perform image processing operations on the captured image that remove the reflection from the captured image. 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the camera status indicator has a light-diffusing coating. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1  wherein the camera status indicator has an octagonal package. 
     
     
       7. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing; 
 a camera in the housing that is configured to capture video; and 
 a camera status indicator configured to emit light to indicate when the camera is capturing the video, wherein the camera status indicator includes:
 light-emitting devices, 
 a light diffuser formed from a diffusive coating that overlaps the light-emitting devices, 
 a light recycling wall surrounding the light emitting devices, and 
 a black wall running along a peripheral edge of the light recycling wall. 
 
 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7  wherein the light-emitting devices comprise light-emitting devices of different colors. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  wherein the camera status indicator comprises encapsulant that covers the light-emitting devices of different colors and wherein the diffusive coating coats a surface of the encapsulant. 
     
     
       10. The electronic device defined in  claim 9  wherein the light recycling wall surrounds a peripheral edge of the encapsulant and wherein the light recycling wall is configured to recycle the emitted light. 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  further comprising control circuitry configured to synchronize operation of the camera status indicator with the camera so that the emitted light indicating that the camera is capturing video is emitted during periods in which the camera is momentarily insensitive to light. 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 8  wherein the light-emitting devices are arranged in a pattern where no straight peripheral edge of the light-emitting devices has light-emitting devices of only a single color. 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 7  wherein the camera status indicator has an octagonal package, the electronic device has a transparent member, and the transparent member has a cylindrical recess that receives the octagonal package. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13  further comprising a non-light-emitting electrical component in the octagonal package. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 14  wherein the light-emitting devices are arranged in an array and wherein the non-light-emitting electrical component is a sensor located in the array. 
     
     
       16. An electronic device, comprising:
 a camera; and 
 a status indicator including:
 a printed circuit; 
 light-emitting devices on the printed circuit, wherein the light-emitting devices comprise red devices, blue devices, and green devices and wherein no peripheral edge of the light-emitting devices contains only light-emitting devices of a single color; 
 a non-light-emitting electrical component on the printed circuit and interspersed between the light-emitting devices; 
 clear encapsulant covering the light-emitting devices and the non-light-emitting electrical component; 
 a light diffusing coating on the clear encapsulant; 
 a light recycling wall surrounding the clear encapsulant and comprising a white wall; and 
 a black wall running along a peripheral edge of the white wall. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the light diffusing coating comprises silicone containing light-scattering particles. 
     
     
       18. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the status indicator further includes a thermistor on the printed circuit. 
     
     
       19. The electronic device defined in  claim 16  wherein the printed circuit is coupled to an octagonal package. 
     
     
       20. The electronic device defined in  claim 16 , wherein the non-light-emitting electrical component comprises a sensor on the printed circuit and interspersed between the light-emitting devices.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/884,019, filed Aug. 7, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This relates generally to electronic devices and, more particularly, to electronic devices with cameras. 
     Electronic devices sometimes include cameras for capturing still and moving images. It is often not clear whether the camera is on and being used to capture an image or whether the camera is off. Challenges can therefore arise when operating an electronic device with a camera. 
     SUMMARY 
     An electronic device may have a camera. The camera may capture still and moving images. A camera status indicator may be included in the electronic device. The camera status indicator may emit light to indicate when the camera is in use capturing video or other image content. 
     The camera status indicator may have multiple light-emitting devices such as light-emitting diodes or lasers. The light-emitting devices may have different colors and may be mounted to a printed circuit. The light-emitting devices may be arranged on the printed circuit so that no peripheral edge of the light-emitting devices contains only light-emitting devices of a single color. 
     Clear encapsulant may cover the light-emitting devices. A white polymer wall or other light recycling structure may run along an outer peripheral edge of the encapsulant. A coating of clear polymer containing light-scattering particles may form a light diffuser coating layer on an outer surface of the clear encapsulant. A black wall may run around the outer edge of the light diffuser coating layer and the encapsulant and may be coupled to the printed circuit. The package formed from these structures may have an octagonal shape and may be received within a circular recess on an inner surface of a transparent protective member mounted in a device housing. 
     To prevent light reflections from the status indicator in captured images, status indicator operation may be synchronized with camera operation. With this arrangement, light from the status indicator is emitted only when the camera is insensitive to light. If desired, an electronic shutter may be used to prevent light from the status indicator from reaching the camera whenever a pulse of status indicator light is emitted. Polarizers and other arrangements may also be used to block reflected light. In some configurations, image processing operations may be used to identify and address reflections in captured images. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is cross-sectional view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  3    is a diagram of an illustrative pixel and component layout for a status indicator in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  4    is a diagram of an illustrative status indicator in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative light-emitting diode in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative status indicator in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  7    is a top view of an illustrative indicator with an octagonal package in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  8    is a timing diagram of illustrative synchronized operations involving a camera and a camera status indicator in an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  9    is a diagram of an illustrative electronic device with a shutter for blocking indicator light reflections in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  10    is a diagram of an illustrative electronic device with polarizer structures for blocking indicator light reflections in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  11    is a diagram of an illustrative captured image with an indicator light reflection in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  12    is a flow chart of illustrative operations involved in operating a device with a camera and a camera status indicator in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic devices may include cameras. As an example, a visible light camera may be used in an electronic device such as a cellular telephone, head-mounted device, wristwatch device, computer, or other electronic device. The visible light camera in an electronic device may capture still and/or moving images. 
     A light-emitting status indicator may be mounted adjacent to a camera. During operation, the state of the status indicator may be adjusted in accordance with the operating mode of the camera. When the camera is off, for example, the indicator may be turned off or may exhibit a particular color (e.g., green). In this way, the user of the electronic device and/or people in the vicinity of the electronic device that are in range of the camera can be informed that the camera is currently not active. When the camera is needed to capture an image (e.g., video) and is turned on, the indicator light can be used to supply a different color of output light (e.g., red). This informs people that the camera is being used. 
     The indicator may have multiple light sources. The light sources may be lasers (e.g., laser diodes), light-emitting diodes such as organic light-emitting diodes or light-emitting diodes formed from crystalline semiconductor dies, and/or other light-emitting components. In an illustrative configuration, the indicator may have multiple light-emitting diodes or lasers forming pixels of different colors. By incorporating multiple pixels into the indicator, the indicator may have the ability to change color, to exhibit motion effects (e.g., chasing lights effects), and/or to emit other patterns of light. In this way, the indicator may serve as a versatile light-based output device for the electronic device. 
     In addition to or instead of being used to indicate the current status of a camera in the electronic device, an indicator may be used to provide a user with notifications (e.g., a notification that an email message or text message has been received), may be used to provide power status information (e.g., by flashing when power is low), may be used to provide information on the status of a count-down timer (e.g., to indicate to a user when the camera in the electronic device will be capturing an image), and/or may be used to provide output associated with other activities and/or status items in the electronic device. Configurations in which status indicators are used to indicate camera status may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
       FIG.  1    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device with a status indicator of the type that may be used as a camera status indicator. As shown in  FIG.  1   , system  8  may include one or more electronic devices such as electronic device  10 . The electronic devices of system  8  may include computers, cellular telephones, head-mounted devices, wristwatch devices, and other electronic devices. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , electronic devices such as electronic device  10  may have control circuitry  12 . Control circuitry  12  may include storage and processing circuitry for controlling the operation of device  10 . Circuitry  12  may include storage such as hard disk drive storage, nonvolatile memory (e.g., electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid-state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry  12  may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, graphics processing units, application specific integrated circuits, and other integrated circuits. Software code may be stored on storage in circuitry  12  and run on processing circuitry in circuitry  12  to implement control operations for device  10  (e.g., data gathering operations, operations involving the adjustment of the components of device  10  using control signals, etc.). Control circuitry  12  may include wired and wireless communications circuitry. For example, control circuitry  12  may include radio-frequency transceiver circuitry such as cellular telephone transceiver circuitry, wireless local area network (WiFi®) transceiver circuitry, millimeter wave transceiver circuitry, and/or other wireless communications circuitry. 
     In scenarios in which system  8  includes multiple electronic devices, the communications circuitry of the electronic devices (e.g., the communications circuitry of control circuitry  12  of device  10 ), may be used to support communication between the electronic devices. For example, one electronic device may transmit video and/or audio data to another electronic device in system  8 . Electronic devices in system  8  may use wired and/or wireless communications circuitry to communicate through one or more communications networks (e.g., the internet, local area networks, etc.). The communications circuitry may be used to allow data to be received by device  10  from external equipment (e.g., a tethered computer, a portable device such as a handheld device or laptop computer, online computing equipment such as a remote server or other remote computing equipment, or other electrical equipment) and/or to provide data to external equipment. Arrangements in which system  8  includes a single device  10  may also be used. 
     Device  10  may include input-output devices  22 . Input-output devices  22  may be used to allow a user to provide device  10  with user input. Input-output devices  22  may also be used to gather information on the environment in which device  10  is operating. Output components in devices  22  may allow device  10  to provide a user with output and may be used to communicate with external electrical equipment. 
     As shown in  FIG.  1   , input-output devices  22  may include one or more displays such as display(s)  14 . In some configurations, display  14  of device  10  includes left and right display devices (e.g., left and right components such as left and right scanning mirror display devices, liquid-crystal-on-silicon display devices, digital mirror devices, or other reflective display devices, left and right display panels based on light-emitting diode pixel arrays (e.g., organic light-emitting display panels or display devices based on pixel arrays formed from crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diode dies), liquid crystal display devices panels, and/or or other left and right display devices in alignment with the user&#39;s left and right eyes, respectively. In other configurations, display  14  includes a single display panel that extends across both eyes or uses other arrangements in which content is provided with a single pixel array. In handheld devices such as cellular telephones, a single pixel array may, for example, be formed on the front face of device  10 . Cellular telephones, tablet computers, wristwatches, and other devices may also be provided with multiple displays, if desired. 
     Display  14  is used to display visual content for a user of device  10 . In some arrangements, the content that is presented on display  14  may include computer-generated content (e.g., virtual objects). Computer-generated content may be displayed in the absence of real-world content or may be combined with real-world content. In some configurations, a real-world image may be captured by a camera (e.g., an outwardly facing camera) so that computer-generated content may be electronically overlaid on portions of the real-world image (e.g., when device  10  is a pair of virtual reality goggles with an opaque display). In other configurations, an optical coupling system may be used to allow computer-generated content to be optically overlaid on top of a real-world image. As an example, device  10  may have a see-through display system that provides a computer-generated image to a user through a beam splitter, prism, holographic coupler, or other optical coupler while allowing the user to view real-world objects through the optical coupler. 
     Input-output circuitry  22  may include sensors  16 . Sensors  16  may include, for example, three-dimensional sensors (e.g., three-dimensional image sensors such as structured light sensors that emit beams of light and that use two-dimensional digital image sensors to gather image data for three-dimensional images from light spots that are produced when a target is illuminated by the beams of light, binocular three-dimensional image sensors that gather three-dimensional images using two or more cameras in a binocular imaging arrangement, three-dimensional lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors, three-dimensional radio-frequency sensors, or other sensors that gather three-dimensional image data), cameras (e.g., infrared and/or visible cameras with respective infrared and/or visible digital image sensors), gaze tracking sensors (e.g., a gaze tracking system based on an image sensor and, if desired, a light source that emits one or more beams of light that are tracked using the image sensor after reflecting from a user&#39;s eyes), touch sensors, buttons, capacitive proximity sensors, light-based (optical) proximity sensors, other proximity sensors, force sensors, sensors such as contact sensors based on switches, gas sensors, pressure sensors, moisture sensors, magnetic sensors, audio sensors (microphones), ambient light sensors, microphones for gathering voice commands and other audio input, sensors that are configured to gather information on motion, position, and/or orientation (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, compasses, and/or inertial measurement units that include all of these sensors or a subset of one or two of these sensors), and/or other sensors. 
     User input and other information may be gathered using sensors and other input devices in input-output devices  22 . If desired, input-output devices  22  may include other devices  24  such as haptic output devices (e.g., vibrating components), light-emitting diodes and other light sources (e.g., status indicator lights formed from one or more light-emitting components), speakers such as ear speakers for producing audio output, and other electrical components. Device  10  may include circuits for receiving wireless power, circuits for transmitting power wirelessly to other devices, batteries and other energy storage devices (e.g., capacitors), joysticks, buttons, and/or other components. 
     Electronic device  10  may have housing structures (e.g., housing walls, straps, etc.), as shown by illustrative support structures  26  of  FIG.  1   . In configurations in which electronic device  10  is a wrist-mounted device, support structures  26  may include wrist straps. In configurations in which electronic device  10  is a head-mounted device (e.g., a pair of glasses, goggles, a helmet, a hat, etc.), support structures  26  may include head-mounted support structures (e.g., a helmet housing, head straps, temples in a pair of eyeglasses, goggle housing structures, and/or other head-mounted structures). The head-mounted support structures may be configured to be worn on a head of a user during operation of device  10  and may support display(s)  14 , sensors  16 , other components  24 , other input-output devices  22 , and control circuitry  12 . In configurations in which device  10  is a handheld device such as a cellular telephone or tablet computer, support structures  26  may be omitted. 
       FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device. As shown in  FIG.  2   , electronic device  10  may include optional support structures  26  (see, e.g., support structures  26  of  FIG.  1   ). These support structures may be coupled to housing  30 . Housing  30  may have housing walls that separate an external region such as exterior  32  (e.g., the external environment surrounding device  10 ) from an internal device region such as interior  34 . Housing  30  may include housing walls and other structures formed from polymer, glass, crystalline material such as sapphire, metal, fiber composite materials such as carbon fiber materials and fiberglass, ceramic, natural materials such as wood, fabric, other materials, and/or combinations of these materials. One or more displays  14  may be mounted in device  10  (e.g., on face F 1  and/or face F 2  of device  10 ). Face F 1  may be the front (outwardly facing) face of device  10  and face F 2  may be the rear (inwardly facing) face of device  10  (e.g., when device  10  is a head-mounted device) or face F 1  may be the rear (outwardly facing) face of device  10  and face F 2  may be the front (inwardly facing) face of device  10  (e.g., when device  10  is a cellular telephone). Other configurations for mounting displays and other components in device  10  may be used, if desired. The portions of housing  30  that overlap display(s)  14  may be transparent (e.g., clear glass, sapphire, clear polymer, or other transparent material) and may sometimes be referred to as display cover layers. 
     Electrical components  42  may be mounted in interior  34  on one or more printed circuits such as printed circuit  44 . Components  42  may include integrated circuits, discrete components such as inductors, resistors, and capacitors, sensors  16  and other input-output devices  22  of  FIG.  1   , circuitry such as control circuitry  12  of  FIG.  1   , batteries, and/or other devices. 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , device  10  may include components such as camera  50  and a light-emitting component such as status indicator  52 . Indicator  52  may be used to provide light output such as light output indicating the current operating mode of camera  50  and may sometimes be referred to as a camera indicator light, camera indicator, camera status indicator light, camera status indicator, status indicator, etc. Camera  50  may be a visible light camera and/or may include image sensors operable at other wavelengths (e.g., infrared wavelengths or ultraviolet wavelengths). Cameras such as camera  50  may include three-dimensional cameras such as structured light cameras, cameras with multiple lenses and image sensors that gather three-dimensional images through binocular optical arrangements, and/or other light sensing devices. In an illustrative configuration, which is sometimes described herein as an example, camera  50  is a visible light camera for capturing still and/or moving images. 
     Cameras and camera indicators can be mounted in any suitable location within device  10  (e.g., under transparent housing structures, in alignment with holes or transparent regions in housing  30  that serve as camera and indicator light windows, etc.). In the illustrative example of  FIG.  2   , camera  50  and indicator  52  have been mounted under transparent member  54  in an outwardly-facing location where camera  50  can capture images of external objects such as object  58  and where indicator  52  can emit light in the direction of object  58  (e.g., to serve as a visual status indicator for a person in the camera&#39;s field of view). 
     Transparent member  54  may be formed from sapphire or other crystalline material, glass, polymer, or other transparent material that allows member  54  to serve as an optical component window. Because member  54  is transparent, camera  50  can receive image light from exterior  32  through member  54  and indicator  52  can emit light that passes through member  54  and is viewable by a user in exterior  32 . Member  54  may be a circular member (e.g., a disk), a rectangular member (e.g., a sheet of transparent material), or other suitable structures for protecting camera  50  and indicator  52 . If desired, the inwardly facing surface of member  54  may have one or more recesses for receiving components such as camera  50  and indicator  52  (e.g., to help minimize the overall thickness of device  10 ). These recesses may have circular outlines (e.g., the recesses may be shallow cylindrical recesses that do not pass through the entire thickness of member  54 ). 
     Indicator  52  may be formed from multiple light-emitting devices. These devices, which may sometimes be referred to as pixels, may be formed from light-emitting diodes, lasers (e.g., vertical cavity surface emitting diodes, laser diodes formed from crystalline semiconductor dies, etc.). The light-emitting elements of indicator  52  may be arranged in any suitable pattern. As shown in the example of  FIG.  3   , indicator  52  may include an array of light-emitting devices  60 . The size of the array and the number of devices  60  of  FIG.  3    is illustrative. More devices  60  may be included in indicator  52  or fewer devices  60  may be included in indicator  52 , if desired. 
     Devices  60  may include green light-emitting devices G, blue light-emitting devices B, and red light-emitting devices R. The illustrative pattern of  FIG.  3    may be used to intersperse red, green, and blue devices with each other so that indicator  52  may produce output light with desired patterns, colors, and intensities. If desired, optional additional components  62  may be interspersed with devices  60  (e.g., in a random pattern to reduce or eliminate visibility of these components to the naked eye). Components  62  may include, for example, one or more of sensors  18 , one or more other components  24 , etc. 
       FIG.  4    is a top view of indicator  52  in an illustrative configuration in which light-emitting devices  60  have been arranged to fit within circular outline  50 R, thereby making indicator  52  appear circular to an observer. The four corners of a square array of devices  60  have been removed, leaving four exposed peripheral edges. To prevent undesired color fringing along the border of indicator  52 , the different colors of devices  60  may be distributed in a balanced pattern. In particular, red devices R, green devices G, and blue devices B may be arranged in indicator  52  so that none of the peripheral edges (e.g., the top, bottom, left, and right edges of  FIG.  4   ) of indicator  52  have only a single color of device  60 . 
     The diameter of indicator  52  may be at least 1 mm, at least 1.5 mm, 2 mm, at least 3 mm, less than 10 mm, less than 5 mm, less than 4 mm, less than 3 mm, less than 2.5 mm, or other suitable value. Devices  60  may be separated by sub-pixel gaps (e.g., gaps that are smaller than the smallest lateral dimension of devices  60 ). As an example, devices  60  may be separated by gaps of less than 50 microns, less than 100 microns, less than 200 microns, less than 300 microns, at least 5 microns, at least 10 microns, or other suitable values. Devices  60  may have lateral dimensions of 50-500 microns, 200 microns, 100-300 microns, at least 75 microns, at least 100 microns, less than 800 microns, less than 600 microns, less than 400 microns, less than 250 microns, less than 300 microns, or other suitable dimensions. As an example, red and green devices  60  may be 175 by 200 micron devices and blue devices  60  may be 200 by 400 micron devices. 
     A flip-chip arrangement may be used in forming devices  60 , so that wire bonds need not be used in interconnecting the terminals of devices  60  with signal lines on printed circuit substrates. Green and blue devices  60  (e.g., gallium nitride devices) may be grown on sapphire substrates. Sapphire is transparent, so emitted green and blue light may pass through the substrate when green and blue devices  60  are flip-chip bonded to printed circuit signal lines. Red devices  60  may be grown from a semiconductor such as gallium arsenide, which is opaque to red light. To allow red devices  60  to be flip-chip mounted, polishing and/or etching techniques may be used to remove the gallium arsenide substrate from red devices  60  after initial growth. Initially, the layers making up red devices  60  may be grown on a gallium arsenide substrate. The red devices  60  may then be bonded face down on a sapphire substrate. The exposed gallium arsenide substrate may be removed and the processing of the red devices may be completed, producing devices of the type shown by illustrative red device  60  of  FIG.  5   . As shown by device  60  of  FIG.  5   , device  60  may have a sapphire substrate such as substrate  82 . A bonding layer such as bonding layer  80  (e.g., a polymer adhesive layer) may be used in attaching the semiconductor layers of device  60  to substrate  82 . Device  60  may be formed from a multiple quantum well layer such as layer  76  sandwiched between p-type gallium arsenide layer  78  and n-type gallium arsenide layer  74 . Distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and isolation layer  72  may be formed between the semiconductor structures of device  60  and terminals  70 . 
     A cross-sectional side view of an illustrative packaging arrangement for mounting devices  60  to form indicator  52  is shown in  FIG.  6   . As shown in  FIG.  6   , indicator  52  may have multiple light-emitting devices  60  of different colors mounted (e.g., flip-chip bonded using solder or conductive adhesive) to printed circuit  86 . Clear encapsulant  88  (e.g., clear polymer such as clear silicone or other clear material) may cover devices  60  to help protect devices  60  from moisture and other environmental contaminants. The thickness of encapsulant  88  may be at least 0.05 mm, at least 0.1 mm, 0.25 mm, less than 0.5 mm, or other suitable thickness. 
     Light-recycling structures such as white walls  90  may be formed from polymer with embedded light-scatting particles (e.g., inorganic particles such as titanium dioxide particles or other particles with a refractive index that varies from the refractive index of the polymer). White walls  90  may be formed in a ring running along the peripheral edge of encapsulant  88  to help recycle light that has been emitted from devices  60  and that is traveling laterally outwards (e.g., by reflecting this light outwardly in direction  96 ). 
     Diffuser layer  94  may be formed from polymer with light-scattering structures (e.g., bubbles or other voids, bumps and/or ridges on the surfaces of layer  94 , and/or embedded light-scattering particles such as particles of titanium dioxide or other material with a refractive index that varies from the refractive index of the polymer). Diffuser layer  94  may serve as a light diffuser that helps homogenize light emitted by devices  60 . The thickness of diffuser layer  94  may be at least 0.05 mm, at least 0.1 mm, 0.25 mm, less than 0.5 mm, or other suitable thickness. Diffuser layer  94  may be formed as a coating on the upper surface of encapsulant  88 . 
     Opaque walls  92  (e.g., black walls formed from black polymer) may run along the peripheral edge of indicator  52  and may help to block stray light from the layer of encapsulant  88  over devices  60  and the diffuser formed from layer  94 . Opaque walls  92  and the other structures of indicator  52  may be coupled to printed circuit  86 , thereby forming a package for devices  60  and indicator  52 . 
     The polymer material used in forming the package for indicator  52  (e.g., encapsulant  88 , light diffuser coating layer  94 , etc.) may be silicone or other polymer that can withstand elevated temperatures (e.g., solder reflow temperatures of 180-240° C., etc.). One or more temperature sensors such as temperature sensor  94  may be mounted to printed circuit  86  within the package of indicator  52  to monitor operating temperature. Temperature sensor  94  may be, for example, a negative temperature coefficient thermistor. 
     In the illustrative arrangement of  FIG.  6   , diffuser layer  94  is formed as a coating on encapsulant  88 . If desired, a light diffuser for indicator  52  may be formed from a separate sheet of diffusive material (e.g., a polymer layer with light-scattering structures that is separate from layer  88  and that is not formed as a coating on layer  88 ). The sheet of diffusive material may be attached to layer  88  with adhesive. 
     The package for indicator  52  may have a rectangular footprint (outline when viewed from above) or may have other suitable shapes. A top view of an illustrative configuration for indicator  52  when indicator  52  has an octagonal outline is shown in  FIG.  7   . When an octagonal shape is used for indicator  52 , multiple indicators can be formed in a large panel that is singulated using horizontal cuts, vertical cuts, and diagonal cuts (e.g., cuts made with a saw, laser, etc.). At the same time, the octagonal shape of  FIG.  7    helps allow indicator  52  to fit within a cylindrical recess in the underside of member  54 . Particularly with some window materials (e.g., sapphire), use of a drill bit to produce recesses in member  54  results in cylindrical recesses with circular outlines. Octagonal indicators can fit more effectively within these recesses than rectangular indicators. 
     It may be desirable to use indicator  52  to indicate the current state of camera  50 . For example, when camera  50  is actively gathering video (or is turned on and ready to capture an image when a shutter release button is pressed) indicator  52  can produce first illumination (e.g., a first color and/or a first still and/or moving light pattern). When camera  50  is turned off or is otherwise inactive and not capturing video or other images (and/or is deactivated so as to be incapable of capturing images), indicator  52  can produce second illumination (e.g., a second color and/or a second still and/or moving light pattern). As an example, indicator  52  may be red when camera  50  is capturing a moving image (video) and can be green or dark when no video is being captured. 
     When indicator  52  is illuminated, the light emitted by indicator  52  has the potential to create an undesired reflection. For example, if a user is capturing video with camera  50  while device  10  is pointed at a glass window, the window may reflect the light emitted by indictor  52  back towards camera  50 . This may give rise to an undesired reflection (e.g., a bright spot) in the captured image. 
     Accordingly, device  10  may be configured to suppress reflections from indicator  52 . With one illustrative arrangement, which is illustrated by the timing diagram of  FIG.  8   , light output from indicator  52  is synchronized with camera periods where camera  50  is insensitive to light. During active camera periods  94 , images are captured and rows of image sensor pixels are read out by the image sensor control circuitry of camera  50 . During inactive camera periods  96  (e.g., periods of about 1 ms or less per image frame or other suitable inactive camera periods), the image sensor of camera  50  is not actively capturing images and is insensitive to light. During use of camera  50  to capture video, periods  94  alternate with periods  96 . Because reflections of light from indicator  52  will not be detected during periods  96 , the presence of undesired reflections of indicator light in captured images can be avoided by only activating the light-emitting devices  60  of indicator  52  during periods of time such as indicator active period  98  of  FIG.  8    that lie within periods  96 . By limiting light emission of indicator  52  to those portions of the operation of camera  50  where the image sensor of camera  50  is not sensitive to light, images containing reflections of indicator  52  can be avoided. Inactive periods  96  can be produced by ensuring that the row read out times of a rolling shutter image sensor are timed to ensure a sufficiently large gap between periods  94  or by using a global shutter image sensor with a satisfactory inactive period  96 . To avoid flicker, it may be desirable for the image sensor frame rate and the light emission rate for indicator  52  to be greater than 60 Hz. Other image capture frame rates and repetition rates for light output from indicator  52  may be used, if desired. 
     Another way in which to suppress indicator reflections in captured images involves the use of an electronic shutter such as shutter  100  of  FIG.  9   . Shutter  100  may be a liquid crystal shutter, a mechanical shutter, or other suitable electrically controllable light modulator that can be placed in transparent and opaque states. Shutter  100  overlaps camera  50  and can therefore block reflections of emitted light from indicator  52  when this light reflects from an external object such as object  102 . During operation, control circuitry  12  may be used to synchronize the operation of indicator light  52  and electronic shutter  100 . When camera  50  is active, there is a risk that reflected light from indicator  52  can create undesired reflections in the image being captured by camera  50 . Control circuitry  12  therefore closes shutter  100  each time indicator  52  is used to emit light. With an illustrative configuration, indicator  52  is used to emit pulsed light at frequency f (e.g., a frequency greater than 60 Hz, greater than 200 Hz, greater than 1000 Hz, less than 1 MHz, or other suitable pulse rate). Each light emission pulse may have a relatively short duration (e.g., less than 1 ms, less than 100 microseconds, less than 10 microseconds, greater than 1 ns, etc.). In synchronization with each light emission pulse, control circuitry  12  causes shutter  100  to transition from a transparent state to an opaque state. The duration of the opaque state is sufficient that each light emission pulse occurs only during a time period in which shutter  100  is opaque. In this way, reflected light from indicator  52  is not captured by camera  50 . 
     A polarization-based configuration for suppressing indicator reflections is illustrated in  FIG.  10   . In the example of  FIG.  10   , linear polarizer  104  overlaps indicator  52 . The pass axis of linear polarizer  104  is aligned with the Y axis of  FIG.  10   , so linear polarizer  104  linearly polarizes light emitted from indicator  52  along the Y axis. Linear polarizer  106  overlaps camera  50 . The pass axis of linear polarizer  106  is aligned with the X axis of  FIG.  10    and is therefore orthogonal to the pass axis of linear polarizer  104 . As a result of this arrangement, light  108  that is emitted by indicator  52  and that reaches reflective external object  110  is polarized along the Y axis. The pass axis of polarizer  106  is orthogonal to the linear polarization axis of light  108 , so that when light  108  reflects from object  110  and reaches polarizer  106 , polarizer  106  blocks light  108 . If desired, electrically adjustable liquid crystal polarizers or other time-varying polarizers may be used in device  10 . For example, polarizer  106  may be an electrically adjustable polarizer that is turned on only when indicator  52  is active. 
     If desired indicator reflections in captured images can be suppressed by reducing the on-axis emission intensity of indicator  52 . Microlouvers, light collimating films (e.g., upside down prism films), lenses, diffraction gratings, and/or other structures may be used to reduce the intensity of light that is emitted by indicator  52  in a direction parallel to the surface normal of indicator  52 . At off-axis orientations (e.g., at 5-90° from the surface normal or other suitable range of angles), the brightness of emitted light from indicator  52  can be relatively large. The reduction of on-axis emitted light will help reduce reflections from flat surfaces that are perpendicular to device  10  and other reflective objects that tend to reflect emitted light directly back to the emitter. At the same time, by maintaining or increasing off-axis light emission intensity from indicator  52 , people in the vicinity of device  10  can view indicator  52  satisfactorily. 
     Another indicator light reflection mitigation approach that may be used by device  10  involves image processing. With this approach, images are captured that contain undesired reflections of indicator light  52 . The reflections are then analyzed to detect the reflections and appropriate action taken. For example, identified reflections may be removed from the captured images by image processing. 
     Consider, as an example, illustrative captured image  120  of  FIG.  11   . As shown in  FIG.  11   , image  120  may contain images of real-world objects  124 . Image  120  may also contain reflected light from indicator  52 . For example, a reflected image of indicator  52  may appear in the form of a small circular artifact, as shown by status indicator reflection  122  of  FIG.  11   . 
     Illustrative operations in identifying reflection  122  and removing reflection  122  from image  120  or taking other appropriate action are shown in  FIG.  12   . During the operations of  FIG.  12   , control circuitry  12  may recognize and remove undesired reflections from captured images or take other suitable action. 
     During the operations of block  130 , a user may press a shutter release button (e.g., a physical button, a touch screen button, or other suitable button) or an image capture operation may be initiated automatically, thereby causing control circuitry  12  to use camera  50  to capture image  120  ( FIG.  11   ). Image  120  may be a video image with multiple frames or a still image. A glass window pane or other reflective object may be located within the field of view of camera  50  during the image capture operation. As a result, light that is emitted from indicator  52  will reflect from this object and will be present in captured image  120 , as illustrated by reflection  122  of  FIG.  11   . 
     During the operations of block  132 , a pattern recognition algorithm implemented on control circuitry  12  is used to scan image  120  for the presence of a potential indicator light reflection such as reflection  122 . Potential reflections may be identified based on factors such as artifact size, color, and shape. If desired, emitted light may be modulated (e.g., as a function of time) and the camera image data captured by camera  50  can be processed to detect the modulation (e.g., by making frame-to-frame comparisons of captured image content in a scenario in which indicator  52  is turned on and off during alternating captured image frames, etc.). Emitted light may also be tagged by co-emitting infrared light (e.g., 900 nm light) that can be detected in a captured image. In some configurations, a phase time-of-flight sensor, self-mixing sensor, or other sensor with distance discrimination capabilities and/or an infrared structured light three-dimensional image sensor (e.g., a three-dimensional image sensor operating at 940 nm or other suitable infrared wavelength) can help identify the shape and location of reflective surfaces such as windows that tend to create indicator light reflections. When a detected reflective surface is detected as being present, a reflection-sized artifact in image  120  can be considered to potentially be due to a reflection. 
     In the event that the search operations of block  132  do not identify any potential reflected images of indicator  52 , processing may loop back to block  130 , as indicated by line  138 . 
     In response to detecting a circular feature in image  120  that has attributes such as shape, color, and/or size attributes that potentially match those of an indicator light reflection or otherwise detecting a potential reflection, processing may proceed to block  134 . For example, if control circuitry  12  detects a bright round object with a size similar to that expected from a reflection of indicator  52 , processing may proceed to bock  134 . During the operations of block  134 , additional image processing may be performed to determine whether the circular feature (or other suspected reflection) identified during bock  132  corresponds to an indicator reflection. These operations may involve, for example, analysis of the color of reflected light, data analysis to determine whether circular feature contains any signatures of indicator light modulation, time-of-flight sensor analysis and/or three-dimensional image sensor analysis, image processing operations on the current frame and/or previous frames to measure the size, shape, and color of the suspected reflection and to analyze its appearance over time, and/or other image processing operations. In response to determining that the suspected light reflection does not correspond to an indicator light reflection, processing may loop back to block  130  as shown by line  138 . 
     If, however, an indicator light is identified during the operations of block  134 , appropriate corrective action can be taken in response. In particular, during the operations of block  136 , control circuitry  12  can temporarily turn off indicator light  52  so that reflection  122  is not present in subsequent captured images (or in succeeding portions of a video currently being captured) and/or control circuitry can perform image processing operations on captured image  120  to remove reflection  122 . For example, captured image data can be processed so that reflection  122  is replaced with the colors and shapes of nearby image regions, thereby visually obscuring reflection  122  in the processed image. 
     System  8  may gather and use personally identifiable information. It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20200730
Publication Date: 20230516
Grant Date: 20230516
Priority Date: 20190807
Inventors: LIU, RONG
OZTALAY, BENJAMIN M.
YOU, CHENHUA
PROVENCHER, COREY S.
OW, FLORENCE W.
BRITT, JEREMY L.
SPECHLER, JOSHUA A.
QI, JUN
HAN, LING
LIU, SHAOFENG
CAO, SHERRY
ASHCROFT, Tavys Q.
YIN, VICTOR H.
ZHU, WENYONG
HONG, ZIRUO
KERESZTES, JANOS C.
LIN, HUNG SHENG
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "F21Y2113/17", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2113/17", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/30", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21W2111/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21V3/0625", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21W2111/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2113/17", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/30", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21V3/0625", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N5/23229", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/18", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/634", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/61", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G03B17/18", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 86333929