Photometric measurement apparatus
First Claim
1. A photometric measurement apparatus, comprising:
- a) a digital video camera for generating digital data representing the image of a scene of interest;
b) means for stepwise changing the exposure duration of the camera;
c) means for controlling said camera to create automatically a series of digital images of the same scene over a range of different exposures;
d) means for storing the digital images;
e) means for assembling data from said series of digital images at each picture element of interest to create a single composite digital image containing data from at least some of said digital images and representing at each picture element an intensity dynamic range greater than that obtainable from any single image;
f) means for storing said assembled data representing said composite digital image; and
g) means for producing a compressive transformation of the assembled data forming said composite image to generate a display image of the original scene, each point in the display image being correlated with a corresponding point in the composite image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A photometric measurement apparatus, includes a digital video camera for generating digital data representing the image of a scene of interest, a device for stepwise changing the exposure duration of the camera; a device for controlling the camera to create automatically a series of digital images of the same scene over a range of different exposures; a device for storing the digital images; a device of assembling data from the series of digital images to create a single composite digital image containing information from at least some of the digital images and representing an intensity dynamic range greater than that obtainable from what can be measured from any single image; and a device for storing said assembled data representing said composite digital image.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A photometric measurement apparatus, comprising:
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a) a digital video camera for generating digital data representing the image of a scene of interest; b) means for stepwise changing the exposure duration of the camera; c) means for controlling said camera to create automatically a series of digital images of the same scene over a range of different exposures; d) means for storing the digital images; e) means for assembling data from said series of digital images at each picture element of interest to create a single composite digital image containing data from at least some of said digital images and representing at each picture element an intensity dynamic range greater than that obtainable from any single image; f) means for storing said assembled data representing said composite digital image; and g) means for producing a compressive transformation of the assembled data forming said composite image to generate a display image of the original scene, each point in the display image being correlated with a corresponding point in the composite image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of carrying out photometric measurement analysis, comprising the steps of:
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a) generating data representing an electronic image of a scene of interest with a video camera for; b) stepwise changing the exposure of the video camera over a predetermined range of values; c) automatically controlling said camera to create a series of images of the same scene over said predetermined range; d) storing said images; e) combining the data from said series of images at each picture element of interest to create a composite image containing data from at least some of said images and representing at each picture element a dynamic range greater than can be acquired in any single image; f) storing said combined data representing said composite image; and g) producing a compressive transformation of the assembled data forming said composite image to generate a display image of the original scene, each point in the display image being correlated with a corresponding point in the composite image. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An intelligent camera for performing photometric measurements, comprising a sensor array for generating data representing an electronic image of a scene of interest;
- means for stepwise changing the exposure of the array to a scene of interest;
means for controlling said exposure changing means to create automatically a series of images of the same scene over a range of exposures;
means for storing said images as files;
means for combining data from said series of image files at each picture element of interest to create a composite image file containing data from at least some of said images and representing at each picture element a dynamic range greater than can be acquired in any single image;
means for storing said combined data as composite files representing said composite image; and
means for producing a compressive transformation of the data in said composite image to generate a display image of the original scene, each point in the display image being correlated with a corresponding point in the composite image. - View Dependent Claims (19)
- means for stepwise changing the exposure of the array to a scene of interest;
Specification