System, apparatus, and method for improved background correction and calibration of optical devices

A method of processing optical data, comprising:

• defining a dark level estimate value for an optical sensor that receives the optical data;
• collecting active pixel values from active pixels of the optical sensor;
• generating dark subtracted pixel values from the active pixel values and the dark level estimate values;
• generating corrected active pixel values by modifying the active pixel values based on the dark subtracted pixel values
• detecting saturated pixels within the active pixels using a saturation threshold,
• generating a saturation mask based on the saturated pixels, and
• generating adjusted active pixel values by applying the saturation mask to the corrected active pixel values.

A computer program product having a series of operating instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that directs one or more processors, when initiated thereby, to perform operations for adjusting digital representations of electrical charges from pixels of a pixel area of an optical sensor, the operations comprising:

• characterizing signal levels from pixels of the optical sensor, wherein the pixels include pixels from one or more reduced illumination regions of the optical sensor;
• detecting saturated pixels of the pixels of the pixel area using a saturation threshold;
• generating a saturation mask based on the saturated pixels;
• and
• adjusting digital representations of the electrical charges using the saturation mask and the characterizations.