Systems and methods for capturing digital images
First Claim
1. A device, comprising:
- a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and
one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to;
determine at least one ambient exposure parameter, wherein the at least one ambient exposure parameter includes capturing a sequence of images wherein each image is captured with a successively refined estimate until an ambient exposure goal is satisfied;
determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter;
capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter;
capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter;
store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and
combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for capturing digital images. In use, at least one ambient exposure parameter is determined, and at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter is determined. Next, via at least one camera module, an ambient image is captured according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter, and, via the at least one camera module, a flash image is captured according to the at least one flash exposure parameter. The captured ambient image and the captured flash image are stored. Lastly, the captured ambient image and the captured flash image are combined to generate a first merged image. Additional systems, methods, and computer program products are also presented.
243 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. A device, comprising:
-
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to; determine at least one ambient exposure parameter, wherein the at least one ambient exposure parameter includes capturing a sequence of images wherein each image is captured with a successively refined estimate until an ambient exposure goal is satisfied; determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A computer program product comprising computer executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that when executed by a processor instruct the processor to:
-
determine at least one ambient exposure parameter, wherein the at least one ambient exposure parameter includes capturing a sequence of images wherein each image is captured with a successively refined estimate until an ambient exposure goal is satisfied; determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image.
-
-
18. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
-
determining, using a processor, at least one ambient exposure parameter, wherein the at least one ambient exposure parameter includes capturing a sequence of images wherein each image is captured with a successively refined estimate until an ambient exposure goal is satisfied; determining, using the processor, at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capturing, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capturing, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; storing the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combining, using the processor, the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image.
-
-
19. A device, comprising:
-
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to; determine at least one ambient exposure parameter; determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image; wherein the device is configured such that the flash image is captured as one of a sequence of flash images captured according to successively refined flash exposure parameters, the sequence of flash images being captured until a flash exposure goal is satisfied. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
-
21. A device, comprising:
-
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to; determine at least one ambient exposure parameter; determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image; wherein the device is configured such that the first merged image includes interpolated pixels from pixel data of the ambient image, the interpolated pixels providing a higher effective resolution.
-
-
22. A device, comprising:
-
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to; determine at least one ambient exposure parameter; determine at least one flash exposure parameter based on the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via at least one camera module and within a first analog storage plane of an image sensor, an ambient image according to the at least one ambient exposure parameter; capture, via the at least one camera module and within a second analog storage plane of the image sensor, a flash image according to the at least one flash exposure parameter; store the captured ambient image and the captured flash image; and combine the captured ambient image and the captured flash image to generate a first merged image; wherein the device is configured such that the ambient image is captured at a lower resolution at a specific ISO value, and the flash image is captured at a higher resolution and a higher ISO value.
-
Specification