IMAGE GENERATING APPARATUS
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An image generating apparatus comprising:
- an image unit configured to;
perform, at a current capturing cycle, a capturing task of capturing first and second images based on respective first and second shutter times different from each other, each of the first and second images having an analog pixel value of each pixel thereof; and
amplify the analog pixel values of each of the first and second images by an analog gain;
an image combination unit configured to;
convert the analog pixel values of each of the first and second images into digital pixel values of a corresponding one of the first and second images; and
combine the digital pixel values of the first image with the digital pixel values of the second image to thereby generate a composite image having a digital pixel value of each pixel thereof;
an amplifier configured to amplify the digital pixel values of the composite image by a digital gain;
a compression unit configured to compress the amplified digital pixel values of the composite image in accordance with a predetermined compression characteristic to thereby generate a compressed composite image as an output image;
a setter configured to variably set, for the image capturing task at a next capturing cycle, the first and second shutter times and a total gain, the total gain being based on combination of the analog gain and the digital gain; and
an allocating unit configured to;
obtain a threshold gain based on the first and second shutter times and the compression characteristic; and
variably allocate the total gain to at least one of the analog gain and the digital gain in accordance with a comparison among the total gain, the threshold gain, and an upper limit for the analog gain.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In an image generating apparatus, a setter is configured to variably set, for an image capturing task at a next capturing cycle, first and second shutter times and a total gain. The total gain is based on combination of an analog gain and a digital gain. An allocating unit is configured to obtain a threshold gain based on the first and second shutter times and a compression characteristic. The allocating unit is configured to variably allocate the total gain to at least one of the analog gain and the digital gain in accordance with a comparison among the total gain, the threshold gain, and an upper limit for the analog gain.
26 Citations
3 Claims
-
1. An image generating apparatus comprising:
-
an image unit configured to; perform, at a current capturing cycle, a capturing task of capturing first and second images based on respective first and second shutter times different from each other, each of the first and second images having an analog pixel value of each pixel thereof; and amplify the analog pixel values of each of the first and second images by an analog gain; an image combination unit configured to; convert the analog pixel values of each of the first and second images into digital pixel values of a corresponding one of the first and second images; and combine the digital pixel values of the first image with the digital pixel values of the second image to thereby generate a composite image having a digital pixel value of each pixel thereof; an amplifier configured to amplify the digital pixel values of the composite image by a digital gain; a compression unit configured to compress the amplified digital pixel values of the composite image in accordance with a predetermined compression characteristic to thereby generate a compressed composite image as an output image; a setter configured to variably set, for the image capturing task at a next capturing cycle, the first and second shutter times and a total gain, the total gain being based on combination of the analog gain and the digital gain; and an allocating unit configured to; obtain a threshold gain based on the first and second shutter times and the compression characteristic; and variably allocate the total gain to at least one of the analog gain and the digital gain in accordance with a comparison among the total gain, the threshold gain, and an upper limit for the analog gain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
-
Specification