System and method for acquiring a still image from a moving image

A method for extracting a still image from an input moving image, comprising steps of:

• a) providing an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites;
• b) forming a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by repeatedly switching the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites according to a predetermined temporal switching pattern, wherein the predetermined temporal switching pattern is based upon identification of at least one of a plurality of candidate temporal switching patterns having a minimal residual error and condition number value;
• and
• c) operating on the temporally decomposed representation of the moving image to extract the still image.

A method for extracting a still image from a moving image of a moving object or scene acquired by a sensor, comprising the steps of:

• selecting an optimal temporal switching pattern, wherein the temporal switching pattern is based upon identification of at least one of a plurality of candidate temporal switching patterns having a minimal residual error and condition number value;
• switching the light impinging on a photosensitive element of each of a plurality of pixels of the sensor reflected from the moving object or scene so as to modulate photocurrent integrated by a storage site according to the temporal switching pattern during an exposure time to generate an encoded input image;
• decoding the encoded input image according to an inverse of the temporal switching pattern to still image;
• and
• measuring movement of the object or scene based upon an operatively interconnected encoder and providing movement measurements to the step of selecting the optimal temporal switching pattern so as to optimize selection thereof.

A system for acquiring a still image from an input moving image, comprising:

• a) an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites;
• b) an image capture process that forms a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by repeatedly switching the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites according to a temporal switching pattern, wherein the image extraction process is constructed and arranged to determine the best version of the temporal switching pattern by (a) using each of a plurality of candidate temporal switching patterns to respectively generate the blur matrix;
• (b) solving for a set of blur transform coefficients with respect to each blur matrix respectively;
• (c) computing respectively the residual error and the condition number with respect to each set of blur coefficients;
• and
• c) an image extraction process that operates on the temporally decomposed representation of the moving image to extract the still image.