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US 2014/0368685 A1Published application
Capturing and Processing of High Dynamic Range Images Using Camera Arrays
AssigneePelican Imaging Corporation
InventorsKartik Venkataraman, Amandeep S. Jabbi, Robert H. Mullis
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Abstract
A camera array, an imaging device and/or a method for capturing image that employ a plurality of imagers fabricated on a substrate is provided. Each imager includes a plurality of pixels. The plurality of imagers include a first imager having a first imaging characteristics and a second imager having a second imaging characteristics. The images generated by the plurality of imagers are processed to obtain an enhanced image compared to images captured by the imagers. Each imager may be associated with an optical element fabricated using a wafer level optics (WLO) technology.
Claims21
A camera array, comprising:
- a plurality of cameras configured to capture images of a scene from different viewpoints, where each camera comprises:
- optics comprising at least one lens element and at least one aperture;
- and
- a sensor comprising a two dimensional array of pixels and control circuitry for controlling imaging parameters;
- and
- at least one spectral filter located within the camera, where each spectral filter is configured to pass a specific spectral band of light;
- a controller configured to control operation parameters of the plurality of cameras;
- and
- an image processing pipeline module;
- wherein the controller configures the plurality of cameras so that cameras having the same filter type operate at different exposures simultaneously;
- and
- wherein the image processing pipeline module is configured to process images captured by the plurality of cameras to generate a high dynamic range image by:
- linearizing the camera response in images captured by cameras having the same filter type and different exposures based upon the exposure of the camera that captured the image;
- measuring parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras;
- registering images captured by the plurality of cameras to account for the difference in the viewpoints of the cameras using measured parallax;
- and
- combining linearized images registered to account for differences in the viewpoints of the plurality of cameras using measured parallax to obtain a high dynamic range image.
14 more elements
The camera array of claim 21, wherein the super-resolution processing module is configured to select at least one distance as a focal plane and to apply blurring to pixels in at least one higher resolution image with depths in the depth map that are not proximate a focal plane.
A camera array, comprising:
- a monolithic integrated module forming an array of cameras, where the monolithic integrated module comprises:
- a lens element array forming the optics of each of the plurality of cameras, where the optics of each camera comprises at least one lens element and at least one aperture;
- and
- a single semiconductor substrate on which all of the pixels and control circuitry for each camera are formed;
- a controller configured to control operation parameters of the plurality of cameras;
- and
- an image processing pipeline module;
- wherein the controller configures the plurality of cameras so that cameras having the same filter type operate at different exposures simultaneously;
- and
- wherein the image processing pipeline module is configured to process images captured using the cameras to generate a high dynamic range image by:
- linearizing the camera response in images captured by cameras having the same filter type and different exposures based upon the exposure of the camera that captured the image;
- measuring parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras;
- registering images captured by the plurality of cameras to account for the difference in the viewpoints of the cameras using measured parallax;
- and
- combining linearized images registered to account for differences in the viewpoints of the plurality of cameras using measured parallax to obtain a high dynamic range image:
- wherein images captured by the plurality of cameras include different occlusions sets, where the occlusion set of a first camera is the portion of a scene visible to a second camera in the plurality of cameras that is occluded from the view of the first camera;
- and
- wherein the image processing pipeline module comprises a parallax confirmation and measurement module configured to measure parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras by:
- detecting parallax-induced changes that are consistent across the captured images taking into account the position of the cameras that captured the images and the different exposures;
- and
- ignoring pixels in the images captured by the plurality of cameras that are in the occlusion set of the central camera.
18 more elements
A camera array, comprising:
- a plurality of cameras formed on separate semiconductor substrates and mounted to a motherboard, where each camera comprises:
- optics comprising at least one lens element and at least one aperture;
- and
- a sensor comprising a two dimensional array of pixels and control circuitry for controlling imaging parameters;
- a controller configured to control operation parameters of the plurality of cameras;
- and
- an image processing pipeline module;
- wherein the controller configures the plurality of cameras so that cameras having the same filter type operate at different exposures simultaneously;
- and
- wherein the image processing pipeline module is configured to process images captured using the plurality of cameras to generate a high dynamic range image by:
- linearizing the camera response in images captured by cameras having the same filter type and different exposures based upon the exposure of the camera that captured the image;
- measuring parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras;
- and
- registering images captured by the plurality of cameras to account for the difference in the viewpoints of the cameras using measured parallax;
- and
- combining linearized images registered to account for differences in the viewpoints of the plurality of cameras using measured parallax to obtain a high dynamic range image;
- wherein images captured by the plurality of cameras include different occlusions sets, where the occlusion set of a first camera is the portion of a scene visible to a second camera in the plurality of cameras that is occluded from the view of the first camera;
- and
- wherein the image processing pipeline module comprises a parallax confirmation and measurement module configured to measure parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras by:
- detecting parallax-induced changes that are consistent across the captured images taking into account the position of the cameras that captured the images and the exposures;
- and
- ignoring pixels in the images captured by the plurality of cameras that are in the occlusion set of the central camera.
19 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.