System and method for acquiring a still image from a moving image
First Claim
1. A system for acquiring a still image from an input moving image, comprising:
- a) an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites;
b) an image capture process that forms a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by directing, according to a predetermined temporal switching pattern, the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites, such that the temporally decomposed image is formed with a temporally decomposed point-spread-function having an inverse transformation that is optimally well-conditioned; and
c) an image extraction process that applies the inverse transformation of the temporally decomposed point-spread-function to the temporally decomposed image to form a motion-blur free digital image.
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Abstract
A system and method captures a moving image of a scene that can be more readily de-blurred as compared to images captured through other methods operating on equivalent exposure-time intervals. Rather than stopping and starting the light measurement during the exposure-time interval, photo-generated current is switched between multiple charge storage sites in accordance with a temporal switching pattern that optimizes the conditioning of the solution to the inverse blur transform. By switching the image intensity signal between storage sites all of the light energy available during the exposure-time interval is transduced to electronic charge and captured to form a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image. As compared to related methods that discard approximately half of the image intensity signal available over an equivalent exposure-time interval, such a temporally decomposed image is a far more complete representation of the moving image and more effectively de-blurred using simple linear de-convolution techniques.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system for acquiring a still image from an input moving image, comprising:
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a) an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites; b) an image capture process that forms a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by directing, according to a predetermined temporal switching pattern, the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites, such that the temporally decomposed image is formed with a temporally decomposed point-spread-function having an inverse transformation that is optimally well-conditioned; and c) an image extraction process that applies the inverse transformation of the temporally decomposed point-spread-function to the temporally decomposed image to form a motion-blur free digital image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for extracting a still image from an input moving image, comprising steps of:
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a) providing an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites; b) forming a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by directing, according to a predetermined temporal switching pattern, the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites, such that the temporally decomposed image is formed with a temporally decomposed point-spread-function having an inverse transformation that is optimally well-conditioned; and c) operating on the temporally decomposed representation of the moving image to extract the still image. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for acquiring a still image from an input moving image, comprising:
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a) an imaging assembly including a plurality of pixels, each of the pixels comprising a photosensitive element and a plurality of integrating storage sites, each of the pixels being constructed and arranged to direct a measurement of light impinging on the photosensitive element to any one of the plurality of integrating storage sites; b) an image capture process that forms a temporally decomposed representation of the moving image in an exposure time interval by repeatedly switching the measurement of light impinging on each of the photosensitive elements among the plurality of integrating storage sites according to a predetermined temporal switching pattern, wherein the predetermined temporal switching pattern is the temporal switching pattern that results in a temporally decomposed point-spread-function whose mathematical inverse is maximally sparse; and c) an image extraction process that operates on the temporally decomposed representation of the moving image to extract the still image.
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Specification