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US 6,611,288 B1Granted
Dead pixel correction by row/column substitution
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsEric R. Fossum, Nick Doudoumopoulos, Roger Panicacci
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Bad pixels areas in an optical device are investigated and corrected. An upper limit on the number of bad areas is defined. Each bad area can be one, or more than one pixel.
Claims14
An apparatus for detecting an image in pixel format, comprising:
- a photosensitive substrate, having an image detection portion operating in pixel units, said substrate including:
- a plurality of photodetecting pixels;
- a plurality of on chip registers, each register having a pixel address storage area, each said storage area being capable of storing a value indicative of a block of defective pixels, wherein said value comprises a type indicator indicative of a shape of said block of pixels;
- a comparing part, comparing current addresses for said pixels with value that are stored in said registers, and producing an output indicative thereof;
- and
- a pixel correction element detecting addresses of bad pixels from said comparing part and which substitutes a different pixel value corresponding to an obtained pixel value based on said output from said comparing part.
3 more elements
A pixel correction method, comprising:
- initially determining pixels within a pixel array which are not operating according to a predetermined criteria;
- defining an indicia of said pixels, wherein said indicia includes an address and a single value which represents a shape of a block of pixels and storing said indicia in a storage element on the same substrate as said pixel array;
- determining an address of a current pixel;
- comparing, on the same substrate as said pixel array, said address to said indicia in said storage element;
- and
- when a pixel is detected as not operating according to the criteria based on said comparing, replacing the not operating pixel and other pixels in said block of pixels corresponding to the single value with a value of an obtained good pixel.
3 more elements
An apparatus for detecting an image in pixel format, comprising:
- a photosensitive substrate, having an image detection portion operating in pixel units, said substrate including:
- a plurality of photodetecting pixels
- a plurality of on chip registers, each register having an address storage area, each said storage area being capable of storing a value indicative of a block of defective pixels, wherein said value comprises a type indicator indicative of a shape of said block of pixels;
- a comparing part, comparing current addresses for said pixels with value that are stored in said registers, and producing an output indicative thereof;
- an analog to digital converter operative to convert a sampled analog signal from a photodetecting pixel to a digital pixel value;
- a digital output;
- and
- a pixel correction element detecting an address of a bad pixel from said comparing part and which replaces a digital pixel value corresponding to a pixel value obtained from said bad pixel with a different digital pixel value corresponding to another obtained pixel value before said pixel value is presented at said digital output, based on said output from said comparing part,
- wherein said apparatus is an active pixel sensor including, in each of said pixel units, a photosensor, an in-pixel follower element and in-pixel selection element.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.