Method and apparatus for synchronizing auto exposure between chromatic pixels and panchromatic pixels in a camera system

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one camera unit comprising a lens and a sensor, the sensor of the at least one camera unit operable to sense different color light on different chromatic pixels and panchromatic light on panchromatic pixels;
• and
• a controller, operatively coupled to the at least one camera, the controller operative to:
• detect an illumination type of a scene,
• ascertain an exposure ratio between the chromatic pixels and the panchromatic pixels based on the illumination type of the scene, and
• determine a first exposure for the different chromatic pixels and a second exposure for the panchromatic pixels, where the first exposure is different from the second exposure based on the exposure ratio between the chromatic pixels and the panchromatic pixels,
• wherein the at least one camera simultaneously captures an image of the scene using the first exposure for the different chromatic pixels and the second exposure for the panchromatic pixels.