CAMERA DEVICE INCLUDING MULTIPLE OPTICAL CHAINS AND RELATED METHODS
First Claim
1. A camera device, comprising:
- a first optical chain including a first filter having a first filter pattern including a first plurality of filter elements, at least some of said first plurality of filter elements corresponding to different colors, said first filter being part of a first sensor; and
a second optical chain including a second filter having a second filter pattern including a second plurality of filter elements, said second plurality of filter elements including i) color filter elements of a first color in a different ratio to color filter elements of a second color than said first filter pattern or ii) a filter element of a type not included in said first filter pattern, said second filter being part of a second sensor which is implemented on a separate semiconductor from said first sensor.
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Abstract
A camera device includes multiple sensors with each sensor including an integrated multi-element filter. Because of the use of different filters in different sensors, a wide variety of filter patterns can be supported in a single camera device without the need for moveable or otherwise changeable filters. While multiple optical chains and sensors are included which sensors are used during a given time period are determined based on the whether a power save mode of operation is active and/or the image capture mode being used. Fewer optical chains are used during power save mode for capturing images corresponding to the image mode in use, e.g., color, IR, or monochrome. While the camera device may include a large number of optical modules, e.g., 4, 10 or more, in some embodiments sensors of optical chains not selected for use during a given time period are intentionally powered down to conserve power.
38 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A camera device, comprising:
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a first optical chain including a first filter having a first filter pattern including a first plurality of filter elements, at least some of said first plurality of filter elements corresponding to different colors, said first filter being part of a first sensor; and a second optical chain including a second filter having a second filter pattern including a second plurality of filter elements, said second plurality of filter elements including i) color filter elements of a first color in a different ratio to color filter elements of a second color than said first filter pattern or ii) a filter element of a type not included in said first filter pattern, said second filter being part of a second sensor which is implemented on a separate semiconductor from said first sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7)
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8. The camera device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:
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determine a second mode of camera device operation to be used during a second period of time from second user input or at least a second sensed condition; and select a second set of optical chains in said camera device to use to capture one or more images during said second period of time based on the determined second mode of operation, said second mode of operation being different from said first mode of operation, second set of optical chains being different from said first set of optical chains. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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8-1. A method of operating a camera device, including multiple optical chains, at least some of said multiple optical chains including sensors with multi-element filters, at least some optical chains including filters of a different type then another optical chain in said multiple optical chains, the method comprising:
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determining a first mode of camera device operation to be used during a first period of time from first user input or at least a first sensed condition; and selecting a first set of optical chains in said camera device to use to capture one or more images during said first period of time based on the determined first mode of operation and the type of filter included in individual optical chains.
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13. A camera device, comprising:
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a mode determinator configured to determine determining if the camera device is operating in a power save mode of operation or a normal mode of operation; and an optical chain set selector for selecting a first set of optical chain modules based on an image capture mode of operation to be used to capture images when it is determined that said camera device is operating in the power save mode of operation and a second set of optical chain modules based on the image capture mode of operation to be used to capture images when it is determined that said camera device is operating in a normal mode of operation, said first set of optical chain modules including fewer optical chain modules than said second set. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a camera device, comprising:
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determining if the camera device is operating in a power save mode of operation or a normal mode of operation; and selecting a set of optical chains based on whether the camera device is determined to be in a power save mode of operation or a normal mode of operation, said step of selecting a set of optical chains including selecting a first set of optical chains based on an image capture mode of operation to be used to capture images when it is determined that said camera device is operating in the power save mode of operation and a second set of optical chains based on the image capture mode of operation to be used to capture images when it is determined that said camera device is operating in a normal mode of operation, said first set of optical chains including fewer optical chains than said second set. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification