Methods and apparatus for controlling sensors to capture images in a synchronized manner
First Claim
1. A method of operating a camera device to scan a portion of a scene area of interest, the method comprising:
- controlling a plurality of image sensors to scan the scene area of interest, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from a first region of the scene area of interest to a second region of the scene area of interest, said controlling including operating a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said controlling further including operating a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position;
wherein said first image sensor corresponds to a first optical chain having a first focal length;
wherein said second image sensor corresponds to a second optical chain having a second focal length which is different from the first focal length; and
wherein said controlling includes controlling the rate at which pixel rows are scanned by the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond, the scan rate of the first sensor corresponding to the first optical chain having the first focal length being controlled to be different from the scan rate of the second sensor corresponding to the second optical chain having the second focal length.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus relating to capturing images of a scene area in a synchronized manner using a plurality of optical chains are described. In various embodiments image sensors corresponding to the plurality of optical chains of a camera are operated in rolling shutter mode to read out rows of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when the image sensors have a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position. In some embodiments a scene area of interest is captured by initiating a scan and thus image capture of the scene area by one or more optical chains which are operated in a coordinated manner. In some embodiments a controller controls the plurality of image sensors to perform a read out of pixel values in a synchronized manner, e.g., with rows of pixel values being read out sequentially in accordance with operation of a rolling shutter implementation.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of operating a camera device to scan a portion of a scene area of interest, the method comprising:
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controlling a plurality of image sensors to scan the scene area of interest, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from a first region of the scene area of interest to a second region of the scene area of interest, said controlling including operating a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said controlling further including operating a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to a first optical chain having a first focal length; wherein said second image sensor corresponds to a second optical chain having a second focal length which is different from the first focal length; and wherein said controlling includes controlling the rate at which pixel rows are scanned by the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond, the scan rate of the first sensor corresponding to the first optical chain having the first focal length being controlled to be different from the scan rate of the second sensor corresponding to the second optical chain having the second focal length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A camera device, comprising:
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a plurality of optical chains; and a sensor controller configured to control a plurality of image sensors, corresponding to said plurality of optical chains, to scan a scene area of interest, said sensor controller controlling, as part of said scan, image capture according to a scan position which progresses from a first region of the scene area of interest to a second region of the scene area of interest, said sensor controller controlling a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said sensor controller further controlling a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position, said first and second image sensors capturing images of different portions of said scene area of interest; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to a first optical chain having a first focal length and said second image sensor corresponds to a second optical chain having a second focal length which is different from said first focal length; and wherein said sensor controller is configured to control the scan rate of the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond, the scan rate of the first and second sensors being controlled to be different. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer readable medium, said non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions, said non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:
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instructions, which when executed by a processor, control a plurality of image sensors to scan a scene area of interest, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from a first region of the scene area of interest to a second region of the scene area of interest, said controlling including operating a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said controlling further including operating a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to capture a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixels corresponding to said current scan position; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to a first optical chain having a first focal length; wherein said second image sensor corresponds to a second optical chain having a second focal length which is different from the first focal length; and wherein said controlling includes controlling the rate at which pixel rows are scanned by the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond, the scan rate of the first sensor being controlled to be different from the scan rate of the second sensor.
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Specification