CFA image with synthetic panchromatic image

• US 8,224,082 B2
• Filed: 03/10/2009
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omnivision Technologies Incorporated (Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Shanghai)
• Original Assignee: Omnivision Technologies Incorporated (Will Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Shanghai)
• Inventors: Kumar, Mrityunjay, Adams, James E. Jr., Pillman, Bruce H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jayesh A
• Application Number:
  US12/401,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20100232692A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: 382/300, 382/167
• US Class Current: 382/167
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10024 Color image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/10041 Panchromatic image
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/20201 Motion blur correction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/4007 based on interpolation, e.g. bilinear interpolation image demosaicing G06T3/4015; edge-driven or edge-based scaling G06T3/403
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/50 using two or more images, e.g. averaging or subtraction
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 5/73 Deblurring; Sharpening
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/133 including elements passing panchromatic light, e.g. filters passing white light
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/135 based on four or more different wavelength filter elements

Abstract

A method for forming a final digital color image with reduced motion blur including of a processor for providing images having panchromatic pixels and color pixels corresponding to at least two color photo responses, interpolating between the panchromatic pixels and color pixels to produce a panchromatic image and a full-resolution color image to produce a full-resolution synthetic panchromatic image from the full-resolution color image; and developing color correction weights in response to the synthetic panchromatic image and the panchromatic image; and using the color correction weights to modify the full-resolution color image to provide a final color digital image.

Claims

1. A method for forming a final digital color image with reduced motion blur, the method comprising:

(a) providing images having panchromatic pixels and color pixels corresponding to at least two color channels having associated color photo responses;

(b) interpolating between the panchromatic pixels to produce a full-resolution panchromatic image and interpolating between the color pixels to produce a full-resolution color image;

(c) producing a full-resolution synthetic panchromatic image from the full-resolution color image;

(d) computing color correction weights based on ratios of pixels in the full-resolution synthetic panchromatic image and corresponding pixels in the full-resolution panchromatic image; and

(e) using the color correction weights to modify the full-resolution color image to provide the final digital color image with reduced motion blur.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the panchromatic pixels and the color pixels provided in step (a) are captured with different exposure times.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the panchromatic pixels and the color pixels provided in step (a) are captured using a single image sensor having both panchromatic pixels and color pixels.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) includes computing the full-resolution synthetic panchromatic image by calculating a weighted sum of the color channels in the full-resolution color image.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step (d) includes applying a nonlinear operation on the color correction weights.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the color correction weights are limited to values less than or equal to one.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein step (e) includes multiplying the full-resolution color image by the color correction weights to provide the final color digital image.