Wide dynamic range network camera
First Claim
1. A method for generating wide dynamic range image in video cameras having an image sensor capable of readout of externally specified partial frames, comprising the following steps:
- configuring said image sensor to expose and readout a base frame;
applying a low-pass filter to dark areas of the base frame;
compressing base frame pixel range from 0 to TH1 into range 0 to TH2 and stretching pixel range from TH1 to ADCmax into range from TH2 to ADCmax, wherein TH1 is a parameter where pixels above TH1 are oversaturated and wherein ADCmax is the maximum bit value of ADC output and wherein TH2 is a parameter where TH2<
TH1;
determining rectangular image areas (windows) enclosing largest oversaturated base frame areas;
storing the base frame in an image buffer memory;
configuring said image sensor to sequentially expose and readout said windows;
compressing the pixel range in each readout window from tw*TH1/t0 ADCmax into range TH2 to ADCmax, wherein said tw is an optical integration time of a current window and said t0 is an optical integration time of said base frame; and
replacing in said image buffer memory base frame pixels with luminance values greater than TH2 with corresponding pixels from said windows.
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Abstract
A network camera comprising an image sensor, an image processing unit, a buffer memory and a network interface. The image processing unit is configured to divide the entire image readout by the image sensor into a plurality of overexposed regions and a plurality of non-overexposed regions, select a subset of the overexposed regions containing most oversaturated pixels, control said image sensor to readout only said selected subset of the overexposed regions with adjusted optical integration time, apply multiplicative scaling to readout pixels of said selected subset of the overexposed regions to generate scaled pixels, and replace pixels in the entire image corresponding to said selected subset of the overexposed regions with respective said scaled pixels to increase dynamic range of the entire image.
48 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for generating wide dynamic range image in video cameras having an image sensor capable of readout of externally specified partial frames, comprising the following steps:
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configuring said image sensor to expose and readout a base frame; applying a low-pass filter to dark areas of the base frame; compressing base frame pixel range from 0 to TH1 into range 0 to TH2 and stretching pixel range from TH1 to ADCmax into range from TH2 to ADCmax, wherein TH1 is a parameter where pixels above TH1 are oversaturated and wherein ADCmax is the maximum bit value of ADC output and wherein TH2 is a parameter where TH2<
TH1;determining rectangular image areas (windows) enclosing largest oversaturated base frame areas; storing the base frame in an image buffer memory; configuring said image sensor to sequentially expose and readout said windows; compressing the pixel range in each readout window from tw*TH1/t0 ADCmax into range TH2 to ADCmax, wherein said tw is an optical integration time of a current window and said t0 is an optical integration time of said base frame; and replacing in said image buffer memory base frame pixels with luminance values greater than TH2 with corresponding pixels from said windows. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for generating wide dynamic range images in a video camera having an image sensor, the method comprising:
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controlling said image sensor to expose and readout a base frame; dividing the base frame into a plurality of sub-frames; identifying sub-frames having average luminance value greater than a predetermined threshold, as over exposed sub-frames; grouping the overexposed sub-frames into a plurality of clusters, wherein each cluster is defined as two or more overexposed sub-frames positioned so that their centers can be connected together by a continuous curve passing within the sub-frames of the each cluster; selecting a portion of the plurality of clusters; for each cluster in the selected portion, determining a minimum size rectangular window enclosing the entirety of the each cluster;
exposing each of said windows;applying multiplicative scaling to image pixels in each window; and replacing pixels of base frame with scaled pixels from one or more windows, wherein said base frame and said windows are exposed at different values of said optical integration time. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A video camera comprising:
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an image sensor for exposing and reading out a base frame; a memory buffer for buffering said base frame; and an image processing unit configured to divide the base frame into a plurality of sub-frames;
identify sub-frames having average luminance value greater than a predetermined threshold, as overexposed sub-frames;
group the overexposed sub-frames into a plurality of clusters, wherein each cluster is defined as two or more overexposed sub-frames positioned so that their centers can be connected together by a continuous curve passing within the sub-frames of the each cluster;
select a portion of the plurality of clusters, for each cluster in the selected portion, determining a minimum size rectangular window enclosing the entirety of the each cluster;
exposed each of said windows;
apply multiplicative scaling to image pixels in each window; and
replace pixels of base frame with scaled pixels from one or more windows, wherein said base frame and said windows are exposed at different values of said optical integration time. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification