Driver assistance system with variable image resolution

A method of recording images for a driver assistance system of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps:

• recording images of a first type of a vehicle environment in a first recording mode with a forward looking camera having a variable or dynamic sensor resolution;
• recording images of a second type of only a section of the vehicle environment in a second recording mode with the camera, wherein the section of the vehicle environment recorded in the images of the second type is of a smaller area of the vehicle environment compared to a larger area of the vehicle environment recorded in the images of the first type;
• automatically switching between the first recording mode and the second recording mode wherein the camera is configured to iteratively record the images of the first type and the images of the second type according to predetermined intervals;
• wherein the images of the second type are recorded at a higher resolution than the images of the first type, wherein the images of the first type are binned images and the images of the second type are non-binned images;
• analyzing at least one of the images of the first type to determine the section of the vehicle environment;
• determining a vanishing point of the vehicle environment by determining a crossing point of an extrapolated border of a road with a horizon recorded by the camera in the at least one of the images of the first type;
• and
• determining a distant area around the vanishing point of the vehicle environment in the at least one of the images of the first type, wherein the distant area is at a far-range of the vehicle environment, and locating the section of the vehicle environment around the vanishing point.

A method of recording images of an environment outside of a vehicle, comprising steps:

• a) with a camera of the vehicle, performing first recording of one or more binned first images with a first resolution of a first area of the environment;
• b) with a driver assistance system of the vehicle, analyzing at least one of the one or more binned first images to determine a vanishing point in the environment as a crossing point at which an extrapolated border of a road in the environment crosses a horizon in the environment;
• c) with the driver assistance system, in the at least one of the one or more binned first images, selecting a second area of the environment around the vanishing point, wherein the second area is smaller than the first area;
• and
• d) with the camera, performing second recording of one or more non-binned second images with a second resolution of the second area of the environment, wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution.