IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD

• US 20140347533A1
• Filed: 05/16/2014
• Published: 11/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Toyoda, Tetsuya
• Granted Patent: US 9,392,237 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/294
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/672 based on the phase difference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/62 Detection or reduction of noise due to excess charges produced by the exposure, e.g. smear, blooming, ghost image, crosstalk or leakage between pixels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/704 Pixels specially adapted for focusing, e.g. phase difference pixel sets

Abstract

An image processing device of the present invention comprises an image sensor having phase difference detection pixels for focus detection arranged at positions of some imaging pixels, a crosstalk effect level estimating section for estimating crosstalk effect level for respective pixel values, from pixel values of pixels that are subject to the effects of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and pixel values of nearby pixels that are not subject to the effect of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and a correction processing section for correcting pixel values of pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels based on the crosstalk effect level that has been estimated by the crosstalk effect level estimating section.

Claims

1. An image processing device comprising:

an image sensor having phase difference detection pixels for focus detection arranged at positions of some imaging pixels,

a crosstalk effect level estimating section for estimating crosstalk effect level for respective pixel values, from pixel values of pixels that are subject to the effects of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and pixel values of nearby pixels that are not subject to the effect of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and

a correction processing section for correcting pixel values of pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels based on the crosstalk effect level that has been estimated by the crosstalk effect level estimating section.

2. The image processing device of claim 1 further comprising,

a mixing section for, when pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels exist nearby, mixing pixel values of a plurality of same color pixels that are arranged within a specified region, and include pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and wherein

the crosstalk effect level estimating section estimates the crosstalk effect level from output pixel values of the mixing section and pixel values of same color pixels nearby that are not affected by crosstalk.

3. The image processing device of claim 2, wherein

pixel values input to the mixing section are mixed with pixel values of a plurality of same color pixels within the image sensor 21.

4. The image processing device of claim 1 wherein,

the correction processing section applies the same processing to all pixels that are the subject of correction, in accordance with crosstalk effect level that has been estimated by the crosstalk effect level estimating section.

8. The image processing device of claim 1 wherein,

the correction processing section applies the same processing to all pixels that are the subject of correction, in accordance with crosstalk effect level that has been estimated by the crosstalk effect level estimating section.

5. An image processing device comprising:

an image sensor having phase difference detection pixels for focus detection arranged at positions of some imaging pixels,

a first mixing section, arranged within a first region of the image sensor, for mixing pixel values of a plurality of same color pixels including pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels,

a second mixing section, arranged within a second region of the image sensor, for mixing pixel values of a plurality of same color pixels that have not been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels,

a crosstalk effect level estimating section for estimating crosstalk effect level of mixed pixel values within the first region and mixed pixel values within the second region, from the respective mixed pixel values, and

a correction processing section for correcting pixel values of pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels within the first region in accordance with the crosstalk effect level that has been estimated by the crosstalk effect level estimating section.

6. The image processing device of claim 5, wherein

the first region is set so as to be adjacent to at least one or more second regions.

7. The image processing device of claim 6 wherein,

pixel values input to the first mixing section and second mixing section are mixed with pixel values of a plurality of same color pixels within the image sensor.

9. An image processing method, for an image processing device having an image sensor with phase difference detection pixels for focus detection arranged at positions of some imaging pixels, comprising:

a step of estimating a crosstalk effect level for respective pixel values, from pixel values of pixels that are subject to the effects of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and pixel values of nearby pixels that are not subject to the effect of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and

a step of correcting pixel values of pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels based on the estimated crosstalk effect level.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a computer program, for an image processing device, this image processing device having an image sensor with phase difference detection pixels four focus detection arranged up positions of some image in pixels, the program comprising:

a step of estimating a crosstalk effect level for respective pixel values, from pixel values of pixels that are subject to the effects of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and pixel values of nearby pixels that are not subject to the effect of crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels, and

a step of correcting pixel values of pixels that have been affected by crosstalk from the phase difference detection pixels based on the estimated crosstalk effect level.