Method And Device For Creating Pictures

• US 20080170848A1
• Filed: 02/09/2006
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Wernersson, Mats
• Granted Patent: US 7,962,034 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 396/335
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10144 Varying exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/003 Deblurring; Sharpening vibration or motion blur correction for cameras comprising an electronic image sensor H04N23/682
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/73 Deblurring; Sharpening
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14643 Photodiode arrays; MOS imagers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/684 performed by controlling the image sensor readout, e.g. by controlling the integration time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6845 by combination of a plurality of images sequentially taken
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/689 Motion occurring during a rolling shutter mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/741 by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/76 by influencing the image signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/2625 for obtaining an image which is composed of images from a temporal image sequence, e.g. for a stroboscopic effect sequence generated by event triggered capturing H04N7/188

Abstract

The invention relates to a method and a device for creating an enhanced picture by means of several consecutive exposures. The method comprises the steps of: exposing a light sensitive sensor to a series of exposures, wherein the whole light sensitive sensor in each exposure is exposed simultaneously, and all the exposures of the series are combined to form a finished picture. Preferably, the exposures are combined with a correction for sharpness enhancement. The problem of motion distortion in an image stabilization system is solved by letting each exposure of the series be exposed by means of a global shutter.

Claims

1. A method for creating a picture comprising the steps of:

exposing a light sensitive sensor to a series of exposures,

wherein the whole light sensitive sensor in each exposure is exposed simultaneously, each exposure being underexposed, and all the exposures of the series are combined to form a finished picture.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein each exposure is taken with a short exposure time.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein each exposure is taken with a small aperture.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the exposures are combined with a correction for sharpness enhancement.

5. A method according to claim 1, for each exposure comprising the steps of:

resetting all pixels of the light sensitive sensor with a global shutter closed;

opening the global shutter;

exposing the whole light sensitive sensor to light for the desired exposure time;

closing the global shutter; and

reading out the pixels values.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein all pixels of the light sensitive sensor are reset simultaneously.

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein the pixel values are read out in a rolling mode.

8. A device for creating a picture comprising an optical system for exposing a light sensitive sensor, a mechanical or electronical global shutter capable of exposing the whole light sensitive sensor simultaneously, wherein:

the optical system is arranged to expose the light sensitive sensor for a series of exposures, so that the whole light sensitive sensor in each exposure is exposed simultaneously, each exposure being underexposed, and in that the device is arranged combine all the exposures of the series to form a finished picture.

9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the device is arranged to take each exposure with a short exposure time.

10. A device according to claim 8, wherein the device is arranged to take each exposure with a small aperture.

11. A device according to claim 8, wherein the device is arranged to combine the series of exposures with a correction for sharpness enhancement.

12. A device according to claim 8, wherein the device is arranged to perform the following steps for each exposure:

resetting all pixels of the light sensitive sensor with the global shutter closed;

opening the global shutter;

exposing the whole light sensitive sensor to light for the desired exposure time;

closing the global shutter; and

reading out the pixels values.

13. A device according to claim 12, wherein the device is arranged to reset all pixels of the light sensitive sensor simultaneously.

14. A device according to claim 12, wherein the device is arranged to read out the pixel values in a rolling mode.

15. A device according to claim 8, wherein the sensor is a digital CMOS image sensor, and the global shutter is a mechanical shutter.

16. A device according to claim 8, wherein the global shutter is an electronical shutter.