Method and apparatus for color interpolation
First Claim
1. A color imaging system providing on-the-fly color interpolation using analog signals to reconstruct colors during sensor readout, the imaging system comprising:
- an array of pixel sensor elements wherein at least part of the array is arranged in rows and columns;
a color filter including a plurality of color filter components organized in a predefined pattern, the color filter overlaying at least a portion of the array;
a readout control circuit coupled to the array wherein the readout control circuit is configured to simultaneously read out values for a group of pixel elements within a first portion of the array, including at least two pixel elements from two different rows and two pixel elements from two different columns and to reconstruct color components for at least a first pixel sensor element and a second pixel sensor element using color information from other pixels elements within at least the first portion of the array while the readout control circuit is reading said first portion of the array and wherein said readout control circuit enables sub-sampling said array by skipping pixel elements along horizontal or vertical directions of said array;
a plurality of color amplifiers for generating a buffered color video signal from said readout pixel elements each corresponding to one of said color filter components wherein each said color amplifier has a programmable gain, said programmable gain is used to provide on-the-fly color interpolation, and wherein said color amplifiers are contained within said array of pixel sensors;
a comparator circuit adapted to compare an address of a pixel sensor element currently being read by the readout control circuit with a stored list of defective pixel sensor addresses; and
at least one delay element for storing at least one previous analog pixel value read by the readout control circuit, wherein if the address of the current pixel sensor element matches a defective pixel address in the stored liet, the readout control circuit reads the previous analog value.
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Abstract
This invention is directed to imaging methods and systems for flexibly addressing and processing imaging pixel sensor elements. A novel architecture is described which allows for a highly integrated, low cost imager with high speed performance and good image quality. The imaging system provides on-the-fly color interpolation, color compensation (also called color correction, color maximization or white balance) and/or fixed pattern noise reduction. The hardware and/or software related to on-the-fly color interpolation, color compensation and/or fixed pattern noise reduction may be provided on-chip.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A color imaging system providing on-the-fly color interpolation using analog signals to reconstruct colors during sensor readout, the imaging system comprising:
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an array of pixel sensor elements wherein at least part of the array is arranged in rows and columns; a color filter including a plurality of color filter components organized in a predefined pattern, the color filter overlaying at least a portion of the array; a readout control circuit coupled to the array wherein the readout control circuit is configured to simultaneously read out values for a group of pixel elements within a first portion of the array, including at least two pixel elements from two different rows and two pixel elements from two different columns and to reconstruct color components for at least a first pixel sensor element and a second pixel sensor element using color information from other pixels elements within at least the first portion of the array while the readout control circuit is reading said first portion of the array and wherein said readout control circuit enables sub-sampling said array by skipping pixel elements along horizontal or vertical directions of said array; a plurality of color amplifiers for generating a buffered color video signal from said readout pixel elements each corresponding to one of said color filter components wherein each said color amplifier has a programmable gain, said programmable gain is used to provide on-the-fly color interpolation, and wherein said color amplifiers are contained within said array of pixel sensors; a comparator circuit adapted to compare an address of a pixel sensor element currently being read by the readout control circuit with a stored list of defective pixel sensor addresses; and at least one delay element for storing at least one previous analog pixel value read by the readout control circuit, wherein if the address of the current pixel sensor element matches a defective pixel address in the stored liet, the readout control circuit reads the previous analog value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification