DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 1 recites “A display control apparatus comprising;” in line 1. It should be changed to “A display control apparatus comprising[[;]]:”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-6 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokozeki et al. (US 2016/0295100 A1) in view of Maeda et al. (US 2022/0086361 A1).
As to claim 1, Yokozeki et al. discloses a display control apparatus (Fig.1) comprising;
one or more processors (Fig.1: camera control unit 207) that execute a program ([0175]: computer executable instructions) stored in a memory ([0175]: storage medium) and thereby function as:
a display control unit that performs control such that a live view image being captured by an imaging unit is displayed ([0041-0042]: the image sensing element 201 outputs an image pickup signal and the display unit 205 displays an image based on the image pickup signal) and such that a display item indicating a degree of focus is superimposed on the live view image ([0044]: a focus assist indicator/frame displayed on the display unit in MF mode. The focus assist indicator represents the focusing state within a focus assist frame superimposed on an image, and the user can visually recognize the defocus amount and defocus direction from the focus assist display. Also see Figs.5A-5C, 10A-10G, 12A-12B and 14A-14B);
a detection unit (Fig.1: subject detecting unit 210) capable of detecting a plurality of parts of a subject in the live view image ([0046]: the subject detecting unit 210 performs face detection and human body detection);
an acquisition unit (Fig.1: focus detection signal processing unit 204) that acquires a focus detection result for a focus detection region corresponding to a position at which the display item is displayed ([0043-0044]: the focus detection signal processing unit 204 performs correlation computation based on two image signals for focus detection output to calculate an image defocus amount and reliability information. The focus assist indicator represents a focusing state within a focus assist frame superimposed on an image); and
a changing unit that changes a display mode of the display item based on the focus detection result acquired by the acquisition unit (Figs.5A-5C; [0063-0065]: changes in focus assist display mode in accordance with the focusing state is shown in Figs.5A-5C. FIG. 5A illustrates a focusing state in a case where the focus lens is present on a minimum-object-distance side about a subject within the focus assist frame 500; FIG. 5B illustrates a focusing state in a case where the focus lens is present on the infinite end side about the subject; FIG. 5C illustrates a focusing state in a case where the focus lens is present at an in-focus position about the subject),
wherein the display control unit changes a responsiveness with which the display item is displayed ([0130-0133]: “changing the focus assist display control based on an amount of change (moving amount) of a position of a focus detection region.” It also teaches that the number of times of averaging of detection results of the focusing state are set differently for “no movement”, “small movement” and large movement”, to increase the responsiveness of the focus assist display)
Yokozeki et al. does not expressly disclose changing the responsiveness … in accordance with a part detected by the detection unit.
However, Maeda et al. teaches detecting different subject parts, such as an eye and a face, displaying an indication frame corresponding to the detected part, and using an eye-sized or face-sized frame for defocus calculation depending on the detected part and its reliability (Figs.4, 10 and 16; [0080-0081]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yokozeki et al. to use the eye/face detection and indication frame selection technique of Maeda et al., such that changing the responsiveness with which the display item is displayed in accordance with a part detected by the detection unit, so as to allow the focus assist display and its responsiveness/averaging control to be based on the most appropriate detected subject part, thereby improving focus assistance accuracy, display stability, and usability during focus operation.
As to claim 2, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the subject to be detected by the detection unit is an animal, and the plurality of parts includes at least two of a face, an eye, a head, and a body (Maeda et al. teaches that the detected eye may be an eye of an animal such as a pet, and further teaches that not only an eye but also a feature portion of a face or an object may be used. See Maeda et al. [0081]. Thus, Maeda et al. suggests detecting plural parts of an animal subject, including at least an eye and a feature portion of the face).
As to claim 3, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the subject to be detected by the detection unit is a person, and the plurality of parts includes at least two of a face, an eye, a head, a torso, an upper body, and an entire body (Yokozeki et al.: [0046] and [0099]: the subject detecting unit 210 may detect face, human body, eye, ear, nose, or mouth).
As to claim 4, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the display control unit changes the responsiveness by changing an averaging number for calculating an average of the focus detection result (Yokozeki et al.: [0131]: “For “small movement”, the number of times of averaging of detection results of the focusing state may be reduced, compared with that for “no movement”, to increase the responsiveness of the focus assist display”).
As to claim 5, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein the display control unit changes an averaging number for calculating an average of the focus detection result in accordance with a position variation or a size of the focus detection region (Yokozeki et al.: [0131-0133]: the number of times of averaging of focus detection results is changed based on movement amount. This corresponds to the claimed position variation).
As to claim 6, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein the display control unit changes an averaging number for calculating an average of the focus detection result in accordance with a posture or a movement of the subject detected by the detection unit (Yokozeki et al.: [0131-0133]: the number of times of averaging of focus detection results is changed based on movement amount).
Method claim 15 recites substantially similar subject matter as disclosed in claim 1; therefore, it is rejected for the same reasons.
As to claim 16, Yokozeki et al. discloses a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium that stores a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to Claim 15 (Yokozeki et al.: [0175]: computer executable instructions recorded on a storage medium).
Claim(s) 7-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokozeki et al. (US 2016/0295100 A1) in view of Maeda et al. (US 2022/0086361 A1) as applied to claim1 above, and further in view of Tomosada et al. (US 2019/0045133 A1).
As to claim 7, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 4.
The above combination fails to disclose when the subject detected by the detection unit comprises a plurality of subjects, the display control unit changes an averaging number for calculating an average of the focus detection result in accordance with a relationship between a main subject and a detection subject other than the main subject.
However, Tomosada et al. teaches changing a focus-related processing according to a relationship between a main subject and another subject (Figs.6, 9 and 12A-12B; [0067-0069] teaches priority and auxiliary frames for maintaining focus on a main subject, determining whether the main subject exists in the priority/auxiliary frame, and changing processing when a subject in the priority frame is at a shorter distance than the current in-focus position. [0092] further teaches when many focus detection areas indicate a near-side subject, another subject appears on the near side in the priority frame, and the auxiliary frame is not used, so focus control is performed based on only the priority frame).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yokozeki et al. and Maeda et al. with the teaching of Tomosada et al. to change the averaging number according to the relationship between a main subject and another detected subject, so as to improve focus display stability and reduce unintended or unstable focus/display changes when another subject appears near or in front of the main subject.
As to claim 8, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. and Tomosada et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 7, wherein the relationship between the main subject and the detection subject other than the main subject is a distance between the main subject and the detection subject other than the main subject (Tomosada et al.: [0092] teaching determining when another subject appears on the near side relative to the current main subject/current in-focus state and changing focus modes accordingly).
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yokozeki et al. (US 2016/0295100 A1) in view of Maeda et al. (US 2022/0086361 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Kubota (JPS58172639A, English translation attached).
As to claim 13, Yokozeki et al. in view of Maeda et al. discloses the display control apparatus according to Claim 1.
The above combination fails to disclose the display control unit changes the responsiveness by changing an in-focus width for determining whether an in-focus state is established based on the focus detection result.
However, Kubota teaches changing the defocus value/range used to determine/display an in-focus state, i.e., changing in-focus width, according to aperture information (Abstract. It is known that the aperture/F-number affects the depth of field or depth of focus, therefore, affects the focus range/width).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Yokozeki et al. and Maeda et al. with the teaching of Kubota to change the responsiveness by changing an in-focus width for determining whether an in-focus state is established based on the focus detection result, so as to improve display stability and reduce flicker near the in-focus boundary.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-12 and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/ZHENZHEN WU/Examiner, Art Unit 2637
/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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