Color image sensor having an optimum exposure time for each color
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorHerbert J. Erhardt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image sensor is disclosed which is adapted to sense a color image and comprises three channels, one for each of the primary colors. Each channel is identical except for the color of the filter associated therewith. In order to provide the optimum exposure time for each of the colors, the integration time for each of the channels is controlled independently. The line readout time for each of the channels is maintained the same, however, so that the three channels can be read out in parallel.
Claims15
An image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of channels, each of said channels including an image sensor element which is adapted to produce a color representation of a portion of a color image, each of said channels being adapted to sense a color different from the other channels;
- means for controlling the integration time of each of said sensor elements in accordance with the color which the element is adapted to sense;
- and
- means for reading out signal charges from each of said channels simultaneously and in parallel.
An image sensor for sensing color images, said image sensor comprising:
- a plurality of channels spaced from each other by an integral number of pixel heights, each of said channels containing a line of image sensor elements, and each of said channels being adapted to sense a different color in an image:
- means for controlling the integration time of the sensor elements in said image sensors, the integration time of the sensor elements in one of said channels being different from the integration time of the sensor elements in another of the channels;
- and
- means for reading the signal charges out of said channels simultaneously and in parallel.
A method of sensing a color image formed on an image sensor having a plurality of arrays of image sensor elements, each of said arrays being adapted to sense one of the primary colors, said method comprising the steps of:
- controlling the effective integration time of the image sensor elements in each array in accordance with the color being sensed by that array;
- and
- reading signal charges out of said arrays simultaneously and in parallel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.