Phase detection data encoding techniques

An apparatus, comprising:

• a memory storing processor-readable code;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform operations including:
• receiving image data and first phase detection data corresponding to the image data;
• determining a first channel of the first phase detection data and a second channel of the first phase detection data;
• and
• coding the first phase detection data to determine second phase detection data by separately coding the first channel and the second channel.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving image data and first phase detection data corresponding to the image data;
• determining a first channel of the first phase detection data and a second channel of the first phase detection data;
• and
• coding the first phase detection data to determine second phase detection data by separately coding the first channel and the second channel.

An image capture device, comprising:

• an image sensor comprising a phase detection (PD) compression module, the image sensor configured to output image data and to output corresponding first phase detection (PD) data compressed by the PD compression module;
• a memory storing processor-readable code;
• and
• at least one processor coupled to the memory and to the image sensor, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, by the at least one processor from the image sensor over a data bus, the image data and the first phase detection data;
• determining, by the at least one processor, a first channel of the first phase detection data and a second channel of the first phase detection data;
• and
• decompressing, by the at least one processor, the first phase detection data to determine second phase detection data by separately decoding the first channel and the second channel.