Fast Auto-Focus: Must-have technology for next generation digital cameras

University of Texas at Dallas
posted on 07/19/2011

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This technology, while easily incorporated into existing systems, creates a sharper, faster and more accurate autofocus on consumer-grade digital and cell phone cameras.  Consumers want to shoot high-quality photos with as little effort as possible and they determine quality by the image sharpness. Using a novel algorithm, Fast Auto-Focus quickly and easily determines an optimal set of passive AF parameters, resulting in a fully automatic approach to achieving superior auto focus (AF) performance in both good and low lighting conditions.  Early prototype trials have demonstrated real-world AF performance and across the board improvements in the following performance measures: speed, accuracy, power consumption, and user experience.

Background:

Facilitating the automatic capture of high-quality images with little or no user intervention is the primary objective in any consumer level digital or cell-phone camera system design. The sharpness of a captured image is determined in large part by the ability of the camera's auto-focus (AF) system to quickly adjust the distance between the lens and image sensor to ensure pictures are taken with an imperceptible amount of blur.  Due to its ease of hardware integration, the passive AF approach has become the de facto standard in realizing auto-focusing for point-and-shoot digital or cell-phone cameras. In passive AF, a focus actuator is adjusted via a search algorithm to locate the in-focus position by maximizing a sharpness measure extracted from a particular frequency band of the incoming image of the scene. The existing search algorithms use parameters that are set in an ad hoc manner.  Unlike the current systems, Fast Auto Focus uses a filter-switching search algorithm to optimize the autofocus system.

Potential Benefits:

·         Flexible - Easy implementation across many platforms while also allowing for retrofitting to existing systems

·         Inexpensive - No additional hardware requirements

·         Easy Use - Improves end user experience without requiring them to change current practices

Potential Applications:

·         Digital Still Cameras

·         Camera Phones

·         Digital Video Cameras

·         Other Image Sensors

IP Status:

US patent pending – received Notice of Allowance.  US Patent Application No. 12,435,818 "Automatic Focusing Apparatus and Method for Digital Images Using Automatic Filter Switching" Filed on May 5, 2009.  Foreign rights preserved.

Inventors:

·         Mark Gamadia, Ph.D.

·         Nasser Kehtarnavaz, Ph.D.

ID Number: MP 09-010

Additional Materials:

·         UTD FAF Briefing

·         US Patent Application (Google Patents)

·         PCT Application

Licensing Opportunity: This technology is available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing.

Contact: Becky Stoughton, Associate Director, email: rebecca.stoughton@utdallas.edu, phone: 972-883-4574