Enhanced imaging system for a motor vehicle

A motor vehicle comprising:

• a passenger cabin;
• a dashboard facing the passenger cabin and having first and second portions adjacent to one another;
• an instrument panel cluster attached to the first portion of the dashboard and facing the passenger cabin;
• a center stack attached to the second portion of the dashboard and facing the passenger cabin;
• and
• an enhanced imaging system comprising:
• a vision processing module including a camera for capturing at least one of a video and an image external to the passenger cabin, and the camera generating a data signal, in response to the camera capturing at least one of the video and the image;
• a graphics processor configured to:
• determine whether at least one of the video and the image comprises one of an HDR video and an HDR image, in response to the graphics processor receiving the data signal from the vision processing module;
• tone map at least one of the video and the image to generate an RGB histogram including an overall tonal range, in response to the graphics processor determining that at least one of the video and the image comprises one of the HDR video and the HDR image;
• compare the overall tonal range to a tonal threshold;
• detect at least one object having a boundary, with the boundary surrounding an interior region that has an object tonal value and separating the interior region from an exterior region that has an exterior tonal value;
• and
• generate an optimized signal for transforming the tone mapping to increase a difference between the object tonal value and the exterior tonal value, in response to the graphics processor determining that the overall tonal range is above the tonal threshold;
• and
• a display device mounted to at least one of the instrument panel cluster and the center stack, with the display device being configured to receive the optimized signal from the graphics processor and display one of an optimized video and an optimized image, in response to the display device receiving the optimized signal from the graphics processor.

A method for operating an enhanced imaging system for a motor vehicle having a passenger cabin, and the enhanced imaging system includes a vision processing module with a camera, a graphics processor, and a display device, the method comprising:

• capturing, using the camera, at least one of a video and an image external to the passenger cabin;
• generating, using the camera, a data signal, in response to the camera capturing at least one of the video and the image;
• determining, using the graphics processor, whether at least one of the video and the image comprises one of an HDR video and an HDR image, in response to the graphics processor receiving the data signal from the vision processing module;
• tone mapping, using the graphics processor, at least one of the video and the image to generate an RGB histogram including an overall tonal range, in response to the graphics processor determining that at least one of the video and the image comprises one of the HDR video and the HDR image;
• comparing, using the graphics processor, the overall tonal range to a tonal threshold;
• detecting, using a graphics processor, at least one object having a boundary surrounding an interior region that has an object tonal value and separating the interior region from an exterior region that has an exterior tonal value;
• and
• generating, using the graphics processor, an optimized signal for transforming the tone mapping to increase a difference between the object tonal value and the exterior tonal value, in response to the graphics processor determining that the overall tonal range is above the tonal threshold;
• and
• receiving, with the display device, the optimized signal from the graphics processor and displaying, using the display device, one of an optimized video and an optimized image, in response to the display device receiving the optimized signal from the graphics processor.