Exposure control apparatus including a spatial light modulator

Claim 2

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens system; a spatial light modulator receiving light passing through said lens system and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said received light reflected from said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator on the basis of the output from said photoelectric conversion device, in order to switch the states of the controllable elements between a first state, in which at least a portion of said received light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and a second state in which said received light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 3

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 4

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens for focusing image light representing an image; a spatial light modulator receiving said image light and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said received image light reflected from said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; exposure analysis means for calculating a luminance level of said image as a whole based on said electrical signal output by said photoelectric conversion device; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on an output of said exposure analysis means, in order to switch the states of the controllable elements between a first state, in which at least a portion of said received image light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and a second state in which said received image light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 5

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens for focusing image light representing an image; a spatial light modulator receiving said image light and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said received image light reflected from said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; exposure analysis means for calculating a luminance level of said image as a whole based on said electrical signal output by said photoelectric conversion device; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on an output of said exposure analysis means, in order to switch the states of the controllable elements between a first state, in which at least a portion of said received image light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and a second state in which said received image light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 6

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 3, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 7

An exposure control apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said exposure analysis means calculates a luminance level of said image as a whole based on said electrical signal, and compares said luminance level to a predetermined threshold; and said control means changes states of a number of said controllable elements based on the results of said comparison performed by said exposure analysis means.

Claim 10

A method of exposure control as set forth in claim 5, wherein said step (c) further comprises the step of (c1) comparing said luminance level to a predetermined threshold, and (c2) outputting a control signal to said spatial light modulator based on output of said step (c1); and said step (d) comprises the step of (d1) changing states of a number of said controllable elements based on said control signal.

Claim 11

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 6, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 14

A method of exposure control as set forth in claim 9, wherein said step (c) further comprises the step of (c1) comparing said luminance level to a predetermined threshold, and (c2) outputting a control signal to said spatial light modulator based on output of said step (c1), said output signal designating said part of said image; and said step (d) comprises the step of (d1) changing states of a number of said controllable elements corresponding to said part of said image based on said control signal.

Claim 15

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 9, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 16

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens for focusing image light representing an image; a spatial light modulator receiving said image light and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said image light reflected by said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; exposure analysis means for calculating a luminance level of a part of said image based on said electrical signal output by said photoelectric conversion device; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on output of said exposure analysis means, in order to switch the states of the controllable elements between a first state, in which at least a portion of said received image light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and a second state in which said received image light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 17

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens for focusing image light representing an image; a spatial light modulator receiving said image light and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said image light reflected by said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; exposure analysis means for calculating a luminance level of a part of said image based on said electrical signal output by said photoelectric conversion device; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on output of said exposure analysis means, in order to switch the states of the controllable elements between a first state, in which at least a portion of said received image light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and a second state in which said received image light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 18

An exposure control apparatus as set forth in claim 12, wherein said exposure analysis means calculates a luminance level of a part of said image based on said electrical signal, compares said luminance level to a predetermined threshold, and outputs an address signal designating said part of said image; and said control means changing states of a number of said controllable elements corresponding to said part of said image based on results of said comparison and said address signal.

Claim 19

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 12, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 20

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens system; a spatial light modulator receiving light passing through said lens system and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said received light reflected from said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator on the basis of said electrical signal.

Claim 21

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens system; a spatial light modulator receiving light passing through said lens system and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said received light reflected from said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, the plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator on the basis of said electrical signal.

Claim 22

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 15, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.

Claim 23

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens system for focusing image light representing an image; a light source emitting a source light; a spatial light modulator for receiving said image light and said source light, and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said image light received via said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, said plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on said electrical signal to switch states of said controllable elements from a first state, in which said source light is guided through said lens system, and a second state, in which said source light is not guided through said lens system.

Claim 24

An exposure control apparatus comprising: a lens system for focusing image light representing an image; a light source emitting a source light; a spatial light modulator for receiving said image light and said source light, and having a plurality of controllable elements; a photoelectric conversion device for converting said image light received via said spatial light modulator into an electrical signal; and control means for controlling, individually and simultaneously, said plurality of controllable elements of said spatial light modulator based on said electrical signal to switch states of said controllable elements from a first state, in which said source light is guided through said lens system, and a second state, in which said source light is not guided through said lens system.

Claim 25

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 17, wherein in said second state at least a portion of said received image light is guided to said photoelectric conversion device, and in said first state said image light is not guided to said photoelectric conversion device.

Claim 26

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 17, wherein said spatial light modulator guides said image light to said photoelectric conversion device by reflecting said image light.

Claim 27

The exposure control apparatus set forth in claim 17, wherein said plurality of controllable elements are a plurality of reflective members.