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US 8,542,288 B2Granted
Camera system and imaging method using multiple lens and aperture units
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsMalik Waqas, Muhammad Siddiqui
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A camera system (100) comprises a plurality of imaging units (190), wherein each imaging unit (190) includes a lens unit (120) and an aperture unit (110), and wherein the apertures (115) of the aperture units (110) have different size during an exposure period. A plurality of images of the same scene are captured at different aperture sizes during an exposure period, wherein the images are shifted versions of the scene and feature different depth-of-field and exposure value ranges. A processing unit (200) applies a high-dynamic resolution and/or a super-resolution method on the basis of the obtained images.
Claims10
A camera system comprising:
- at least two imaging units, each imaging unit comprising a lens unit and an aperture unit wherein each aperture unit is configured to pass light through an aperture during an exposure period and each aperture unit is arranged such that light passing through its aperture passes through the respective lens unit;
- and
- a processing unit configured to combine primary images obtained from the imaging units to an output image, wherein
- the apertures of the at least two aperture units have different sizes,
- one of the primary images is a reference image and the other primary images feature different shift values describing the displacement of the respective other primary image relative to the reference image,
- the processing unit comprises a pre-processing unit configured to transfer sharpness information from primary images obtained from imaging units with narrow apertures into primary images obtained from imaging units with wide apertures to obtain pre-processed images, and
- the pre-processing unit comprises a high-pass filter configured to extract sharpness information from the primary image obtained from an imaging unit having the narrowest aperture and summation units, each summation unit configured to add the sharpness information to one of the other primary images to obtain the pre-processed images.
4 more elements
A camera system comprising:
- at least two imaging units, each imaging unit comprising a lens unit and an aperture unit wherein each aperture unit is configured to pass light through an aperture during an exposure period and each aperture unit is arranged such that light passing through its aperture passes through the respective lens unit;
- and
- a processing unit configured to combine primary images obtained from the imaging units to an output image, wherein
- the apertures of the at least two aperture units have different sizes,
- one of the primary images is a reference image and the other primary images feature different shift values describing the displacement of the respective other primary image relative to the reference image, and
- the processing unit comprises a first image formation unit configured to perform a high-dynamic range imaging process on the basis of shift-compensated images, each shift-compensated image obtained from one of the primary or one of the pre-processed images by estimating each primary or pre-processed image a displaced image, the displacement specified by the respective shift value.
3 more elements
A camera system comprising:
- at least two imaging units, each imaging unit comprising a lens unit and an aperture unit wherein each aperture unit is configured to pass light through an aperture during an exposure period and each aperture unit is arranged such that light passing through its aperture passes through the respective lens unit;
- and
- a processing unit configured to combine primary images obtained from the imaging units to an output image, wherein
- the apertures of the at least two aperture units have different sizes,
- one of the primary images is a reference image and the other primary images feature different shift values describing the displacement of the respective other primary image relative to the reference image, and
- the processing unit comprises a second image formation unit configured to perform a super-resolution imaging process on the basis of exposure-compensated images, each exposure-compensated image obtained from one of the primary or one of the pre-processed images by compensating for effects resulting from exposure at different aperture sizes.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.