VISIBLE LIGHT AND IR HYBRID DIGITAL CAMERA
First Claim
1. A hybrid camera comprising:
- (a) a sensor array comprising a color filter array that includes at least three colors wherein at least one color of said three colors appears at least once in each row of said color filter array;
(b) a rolling shutter configured to expose groups of pixels of said sensor array sequentially(c) an IR illuminator configured to illuminate a scene alternately in synchrony with said rolling shutter and sensor array; and
(d) a control system configured to operate said sensor array, said rolling shutter and said IR illuminator,wherein said control system is configured further to receive raw pixel data from said sensor array that include alternating visible data and visible plus IR data and to create from said raw pixel data a visible image of said scene and a separate monochrome IR image of said scene, wherein said control system is configured to create said monochrome IR image by subtraction of a first color image that includes the first color plus IR data pixels from a second image of said first color that includes the first color data only, and wherein said created monochrome IR image is subtracted from a second color image that includes visible and IR data to create a second color image, which is combined further with the first and third color images to create said visible image.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hybrid camera includes a sensor array, a rolling shutter configured to expose groups of pixels of the sensor array sequentially, an IR illuminator configured to illuminate a scene alternately in synchrony with the rolling shutter and the sensor array, and a control system configured to operate the sensor array, the rolling shutter and the IR illuminator. The hybrid camera control system is configured further to receive raw pixel data from the sensor array that include alternating visible data and visible plus IR data and to create from the raw pixel data a visible image of a scene and a separate monochrome IR image of the scene. An image acquisition method includes illuminating a scene with an IR illuminator alternately in synchrony with a rolling shutter and a sensor array, capturing visible data and visible plus IR data alternately, and creating visible and separate IR images using the captured data.
35 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A hybrid camera comprising:
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(a) a sensor array comprising a color filter array that includes at least three colors wherein at least one color of said three colors appears at least once in each row of said color filter array; (b) a rolling shutter configured to expose groups of pixels of said sensor array sequentially (c) an IR illuminator configured to illuminate a scene alternately in synchrony with said rolling shutter and sensor array; and (d) a control system configured to operate said sensor array, said rolling shutter and said IR illuminator, wherein said control system is configured further to receive raw pixel data from said sensor array that include alternating visible data and visible plus IR data and to create from said raw pixel data a visible image of said scene and a separate monochrome IR image of said scene, wherein said control system is configured to create said monochrome IR image by subtraction of a first color image that includes the first color plus IR data pixels from a second image of said first color that includes the first color data only, and wherein said created monochrome IR image is subtracted from a second color image that includes visible and IR data to create a second color image, which is combined further with the first and third color images to create said visible image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An image acquisition method, the method comprises the steps of:
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(a) illuminating a scene with an IR illuminator alternately in a sequence and in synchrony with a rolling shutter and a sensor array, wherein said sensor array comprising a color filter array that include at least three colors, and wherein at least one color of said three colors appears at least once in each row of said color filter array; (b) capturing said image in a sequence in groups of pixels that include visible data and visible plus IR data alternately using said sensor array; (c) creating visible and separate monochrome IR images using said captured data and having pixel to pixel alignment, wherein said monochrome IR image is created by subtraction of a first color image that includes the first color plus IR data pixels from a second image of said first color that includes the first color data only, and wherein said created monochrome IR image is subtracted from a second color image that includes visible and IR data to create a second color image, which is combined further with the first and third color images to create said visible image. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification