Systems and methods for ground truth generation using single photon avalanche diodes

A method for single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image capture, the method comprising:

• over a frame capture time period, selectively activating an illuminator to alternately emit light from the illuminator and refrain from emitting light from the illuminator;
• over the frame capture time period, performing a plurality of sequential shutter operations to configure each SPAD pixel of a SPAD array to enable photon detection, the plurality of sequential shutter operations generating, for each SPAD pixel of the SPAD array, a plurality of binary counts indicating whether a photon was detected during each of the plurality of sequential shutter operations;
• based on a first set of binary counts of the plurality of binary counts, generating an ambient light image;
• and
• based on a second set of binary counts of the plurality of binary counts, generating an illuminated image.

One or more hardware storage devices storing instructions that are executable by one or more processors of a system to configure the system for single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image capture by configuring the system to:

• over a frame capture time period, selectively activate an illuminator to alternately emit light from the illuminator and refrain from emitting light from the illuminator;
• over the frame capture time period, perform a plurality of sequential shutter operations to configure each SPAD pixel of a SPAD array to enable photon detection, the plurality of sequential shutter operations generating, for each SPAD pixel of the SPAD array, a plurality of binary counts indicating whether a photon was detected during each of the plurality of sequential shutter operations;
• based on a first set of binary counts of the plurality of binary counts, generate an ambient light image;
• and
• based on a second set of binary counts of the plurality of binary counts, generate an illuminated image.