Patent attributes
A photographic image is divided into a central area and a surrounding area, and video signals for the central and surrounding areas are integrated by an area integrator circuit. When an operator of video camera attached to a notebook personal computer is to photograph himself/herself with an imager of the video camera pointing toward the operator, a control microcomputer causes the integration result for the former to be multiplied by a larger weighting before both are summed. The control microcomputer generates exposure information according to the result, and compares the exposure level indicated by this information with the reference level to control an electronic shutter of an imaging device and the gain of an amplifier circuit so that the exposure level matches the reference level. Thus, the exposure of the video camera can be adjusted to an appropriate level. If the imager points towards an object on the opposite side of the operator, exposure control is performed as usual.
