Methods and apparatus for compensating for motion and/or changing light conditions during image capture
First Claim
1. A method of generating one or more images, the method comprising:
- receiving user input indicating a scene area of interest;
capturing using a first camera module, during a first image capture time period, an image including a complete image of said scene area of interest, said first camera module having a first focal length;
capturing multiple images using a set of camera modules during a second image capture time period, said set of camera modules including at least said first camera module and a second camera module, said first camera module capturing a first image including a first portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period but missing a second portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period, wherein said first camera module misses a portion of said scene area of interest during the second image capture time period due to a change in camera position between said first and second image capture time periods;
identifying, for use in generating a composite image, an image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest, said identified image being;
(i) an image captured by said second camera module in said set of camera modules or (ii) an image captured during a different image capture time period than said second image capture time period; and
generating the composite image from the first portion of said scene area of interest included in said first image captured by said first camera module during the second image capture time period and the identified image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for compensating for motion and/or changing light conditions during image capture, e.g., in video, through use of multiple camera modules and/or images captured by multiple camera modules are described. During image capture time periods a plurality of camera modules capture images. During a first image capture time period a first camera module captures an image including a complete image of a user selected scene area of interest. During an additional image capture time period the first camera module captures an image including a portion of the scene area of interest; however, a portion of the scene area image is missing from the captured image, e.g., due to camera motion, occlusion and/or lighting conditions. Captured images from other camera modules and/or from during different image capture time periods which include the missing portion are identified and ranked; the highest ranked image is used in generating a composite image.
120 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of generating one or more images, the method comprising:
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receiving user input indicating a scene area of interest; capturing using a first camera module, during a first image capture time period, an image including a complete image of said scene area of interest, said first camera module having a first focal length; capturing multiple images using a set of camera modules during a second image capture time period, said set of camera modules including at least said first camera module and a second camera module, said first camera module capturing a first image including a first portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period but missing a second portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period, wherein said first camera module misses a portion of said scene area of interest during the second image capture time period due to a change in camera position between said first and second image capture time periods; identifying, for use in generating a composite image, an image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest, said identified image being;
(i) an image captured by said second camera module in said set of camera modules or (ii) an image captured during a different image capture time period than said second image capture time period; andgenerating the composite image from the first portion of said scene area of interest included in said first image captured by said first camera module during the second image capture time period and the identified image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A method of generating one or more images, the method comprising:
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receiving user input indicating a scene area of interest; capturing using a first camera module, during a first image capture time period, an image including a complete image of said scene area of interest, said first camera module having a first focal length; capturing multiple images using a set of camera modules during a second image capture time period, said set of camera modules including at least said first camera module and a second camera module, said first camera module capturing a first image including a first portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period but missing a second portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period, wherein said first camera module misses a portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period due to a change in lighting conditions between said first and second image capture time periods, said missing second portion of said scene area of interest corresponding to a portion of a first sensor which was saturated due to lighting levels higher during said second image capture time period than during said first image capture time period; identifying, for use in generating a composite image, an image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest, said identified image being;
(i) an image captured by said second camera module in said set of camera modules or (ii) an image captured during a different image capture time period than said second image capture time period; andgenerating the composite image from the first portion of said scene area of interest included in said first image captured by said first camera module during the second image capture time period and the identified image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest.
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4. A method of generating one or more images, the method comprising:
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capturing multiple images using a set of camera modules during a second image capture time period, said set of camera modules including at least a first camera module and a second camera module, said first camera module capturing a first image including a first portion of a scene area of interest during said second image capture time period but missing a second portion of said scene area of interest during said second image capture time period; identifying, for use in generating a composite image, an image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest, said identified image being;
(i) an image captured by said second camera module in said set of camera modules or (ii) an image captured during a different image capture time period than said second image capture time period, wherein identifying, for use in generating a composite image, said image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest includes;i) identifying one or more images including said second missing portion; and ii) ranking the identified one or more images including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest based on at least one of resolution or time of image capture; and iii) selecting, based on the ranking of the identified one or more images including said missing second portion, a highest ranked one of the identified one or more images including said second missing portion for use as the identified image for use in combining with the first image captured by the first camera module; and generating the composite image from the first portion of said scene area of interest included in said first image captured by said first camera module during the second image capture time period and the identified image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system comprising:
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a plurality of optical chains; an image capture controller configured to control a first optical chain in said plurality of optical chains to capture, during a first period of time, an image of a scene area of interest, the first optical chain having a first focal length, and to control a first set of optical chains in the plurality of optical chains to capture multiple images during a second time period, the first set of optical chains including said first optical chain, which captures a first portion of said scene area of interest during said second period of time but misses a second portion of said scene area of interest during said second period of time due to a change in camera position between said first and second periods of time, and at least a second optical chain, which captures a second image during said second period of time; and a processor configured to; identify at least one image including said missing second portion of said scene area of interest captured during said second period of time, said identified at least one image being an image captured during said second period of time by another optical chain in said first set of optical chains; and generate a composite image from the first portion of said scene area of interest included in an image captured by said first optical chain during said second period of time and the missing second portion of said scene area of interest included in an image captured by said another optical chain during said second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification