Technique for increased exposure range in image sensors
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus comprising:
- an image sensor including at least a first pixel array and a second pixel array, wherein at least some pixels of the first pixel array are interspersed over an image sensing area with pixels of the second pixel array, wherein the first and second pixel array comprise different color pixels; and
a control logic circuit operable to capture a first multi-color image with only the pixels of the first pixel array using a first exposure duration and capture a second multi-color image at substantially the same time with only the pixels of the second pixel array using a second exposure duration, wherein at least a portion of the pixels of one pixel array are replaceable with pixels of the other pixel array to produce a third multi-color image.
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Abstract
An apparatus comprising an image sensor and a control logic circuit. The image sensor includes at least a first pixel array and a second pixel array, wherein at least some of the pixels of the first pixel array are interspersed over an image sensing area with pixels of the second pixel array. The control logic circuit is operable to control durations of exposure of the first pixel array and the second pixel array independently.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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an image sensor including at least a first pixel array and a second pixel array, wherein at least some pixels of the first pixel array are interspersed over an image sensing area with pixels of the second pixel array, wherein the first and second pixel array comprise different color pixels; and a control logic circuit operable to capture a first multi-color image with only the pixels of the first pixel array using a first exposure duration and capture a second multi-color image at substantially the same time with only the pixels of the second pixel array using a second exposure duration, wherein at least a portion of the pixels of one pixel array are replaceable with pixels of the other pixel array to produce a third multi-color image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 30)
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14. A system comprising:
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a memory circuit, the memory circuit including a removably coupled flash memory; an image sensor to provide image information to the memory circuit, the image sensor including at least a first pixel array and a second pixel array, wherein the first and second pixel array comprise different color pixels and at least some pixels of the first pixel array are interspersed with pixels of the second pixel array, and wherein the first pixels of the first pixel array can be exposed to an image differently than the pixels of the second pixel array can be exposed to the image; and a microprocessor coupled to the memory circuit and the image sensor operable to capture a first multi-color image using only the pixels of the first pixel array using a first exposure duration and capture a second multi-color image using only the pixels of the second pixel array at substantially the same time using a second exposure duration, wherein at least a portion of the pixels of one pixel array are replaceable with pixels of the other pixel array to produce a third multi-color image. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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forming at least a first pixel array and a second pixel array of an image sensor such that at least some pixels of the first pixel array are interspersed with pixels of the second pixel array, wherein the first and second pixel array comprise different color pixels; coupling the pixels of the first pixel array and the second pixel array to control logic, the control logic operable to capture a first multi-color image using only the pixels of the first pixel array using a first exposure duration and capture a second multi-color image using only the pixels of the second pixel array at substantially the same time using a second exposure duration, wherein at least a portion of the pixels of one pixel array are replaceable with pixels of the other pixel array to produce a third multi-color image; and providing first storage for image information obtained from the first pixel array and second storage for image information obtained from the second pixel array. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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31. A computer readable storage medium including program code for a microprocessor to execute embodiments of a method comprising:
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exposing pixels of at least one pixel array and pixels of another pixel array to an image, wherein the first and second pixel array comprise different color pixels and at least some of the pixels of the one pixel array are interspersed with pixel clusters of the other pixel array, and wherein only pixels of the one pixel array are exposed to an image using a first exposure duration to obtain a first captured multi-color image and only pixels of the other pixel array are exposed to the image at substantially the same time using a second exposure duration to obtain a second captured multi-color image; and combining image information obtained from the pixel arrays, wherein at least a portion of the pixel clusters of one pixel array are replaceable with pixel clusters of the other pixel array to produce a third multi-color image. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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Specification