Reduced blooming around light sources

A method for reduced blooming around light sources comprising:

• acquiring an acquired frame of an environment external to a vehicle with a camera, wherein the acquired frame has a plurality of pixels;
• calculating a first number of a plurality of edges in the acquired frame with the camera;
• detecting one or more light sources in the acquired frame with an electronic control unit;
• determining a first number of a plurality of blooming pixels around the one or more light sources among the plurality of pixels with the electronic control unit;
• calculating a second number of the plurality of edges with the electronic control unit;
• generating a processed frame by modifying a plurality of contrast curves of the plurality of pixels with the electronic control unit in response to the first number of the plurality of edges and the second number of the plurality of edges to reduce the plurality of blooming pixels around the one or more light sources;
• and
• displaying the processed frame on a visual display.

A vehicle comprising:

• a camera operational to acquire an acquired frame of an environment external to the vehicle and calculate a first number of a plurality of edges in the acquired frame, wherein the acquired frame has a plurality of pixels;
• an electronic control unit coupled to the camera and operational to:
• detect one or more light sources in the acquired frame;
• determine a first number of a plurality of blooming pixels around the one or more light sources among the plurality of pixels;
• calculate a second number of the plurality of edges, and
• generate a processed frame by modifying a plurality of contrast curves of the plurality of pixels in response to the first number of the plurality of edges and the second number of the plurality of edges to reduce the plurality of blooming pixels around the one or more light sources;
• a visual display coupled to the electronic control unit and operational to display the processed frame;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to the electronic control unit and operational to transmit the processed frame to a back office, wherein the back office is external to the vehicle.