MODIFYING COLOR AND PANCHROMATIC CHANNEL CFA IMAGE

• US 20100119148A1
• Filed: 11/07/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnivision Technologies Incorporated (Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Shanghai)
• Original Assignee: Omnivision Technologies Incorporated (Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Shanghai)
• Inventors: Deever, Aaron T., Adams, James E. JR., Palum, Russell J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,073,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/167
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/741 by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/583 with different integration times

Abstract

A method of modifying a CFA image or full-color image having a plurality of color channels and a panchromatic channel, includes capturing the panchromatic channel at a different exposure time than at least one of the color image channels with the CFA sensor within one image; producing a panchromatic edge map and a color edge map from the CFA image; using the panchromatic edge map and the color edge map to provide motion estimates; and using the motion estimates to modify at least one of the channels of the CFA image or full-color image.

Claims

1. A method of modifying a CFA image or full-color image having a plurality of color channels and a panchromatic channel, comprising:

(a) capturing the panchromatic channel at a different exposure time than at least one of the color image channels with the CFA sensor within one image;

(b) producing a panchromatic edge map and a color edge map from the CFA image;

(c) using the panchromatic edge map and the color edge map to provide motion estimates; and

(d) using the motion estimates to modify at least one of the channels of the CFA image or full-color image.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further includes

(a) producing a blurred panchromatic CFA image from the CFA image;

(b) producing an edge gradients map from the blurred panchromatic CFA image;

(c) producing an edge gradients and magnitude map from the edge gradients map;

(d) producing a thinned edge map from the edge gradients and magnitude map; and

(e) producing the panchromatic edge map from the thinned edge map.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further includes

(a) producing an RGB CFA image from the CFA image;

(b) producing a blurred RGB CFA image from the RGB CFA image;

(c) producing an edge gradients map from the blurred RGB CFA image;

(d) producing an edge gradients and magnitude map from the edge gradients map;

(e) producing a resized edge gradients and magnitude map from the edge gradients and magnitude map;

(f) producing a thinned edge map from the resized edge gradients and magnitude map; and

(g) producing the color edge map from the thinned edge map.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) further includes

(a) producing a cross-correlation map from the panchromatic edge map;

(b) producing block motion estimates from the cross-correlation map; and

(c) producing the motion estimates from the block motion estimates.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step (d) further includes using the motion estimates to modify the panchromatic channel of the CFA image or full-color image.