Black level adjustment device and method for CMOS image sensor

• US 8,878,965 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2013
• Issued: 11/04/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Himax Imaging Limited (Himax Technologies Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Himax Imaging Limited (Himax Technologies Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chen, Po-Chang, Peng, Yuan-Chih
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Nhan T
• Application Number:
  US13/927,502
• Time in Patent Office: 496 Days
• Field of Search: 348/245, 348/243, 348/241, 348/222.1, 382/254, 382/274
• US Class Current: 348/245
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/63 applied to dark current
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/633 by using optical black pixels

Abstract

A black level adjustment method for a CMOS image sensor is provided. The CMOS image sensor has a pixel array with dark rows and active rows. The method has the following steps of: computing an average value of pixels from the dark rows, wherein the average value is in the form of an integer and a fraction; calculating a black level control (BLC) offset value according to the integer; generating a dithering mask based on the fraction; applying the dithering mask to pixels from the active rows; and adding the calculated BLC offset value to the dithered pixels from the active rows to generate resulting pixels.

Claims

1. A black level adjustment method for a CMOS image sensor with a pixel array comprising dark rows and active rows, the method comprising the steps of:

computing an average value of pixels from the dark rows, wherein the average value is in the form of an integer and a fraction;

calculating a black level control (BLC) offset value according to the integer;

generating a dithering mask based on the fraction;

applying the dithering mask to pixels from the active rows; and

adding the calculated BLC offset value to the dithered pixels from the active rows to generate resulting pixels.

2. The black level adjustment method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of computing the average value further comprises:

calculating a summation value of the pixels of the dark rows; and

dividing the summation value by a number of the pixels of the dark rows to generate the average value.

3. The black level adjustment method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of calculating the BLC offset value comprises:

calculating the BLC offset value by subtracting the integer from a predetermined black level.

4. The black level adjustment method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of generating the dithering mask comprises:

comparing the fraction with each element in a threshold map, respectively;

if the element is smaller than the fraction, setting the corresponding element in the dithering mask to 1; and

if the element is not smaller than the fraction, setting the corresponding element in the dithering mask to 0.

5. The black level adjustment method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of applying the dithering mask to the pixels from the active rows comprises:

subtracting the corresponding element in the dithering mask from the pixels of the active rows to generate the resulting pixels.

6. A black level adjustment device for a CMOS image sensor with a pixel array comprising dark rows and active rows, comprising:

a computation unit, coupled to the dark rows, for calculating the average value of pixels from the dark rows, wherein the average value is in the form of an integer and a fraction, and the computation unit further calculates a black level control (BLC) offset value according to the integer;

a mask generation unit, coupled to the computation unit, for generating a dithering mask based on the fraction;

a dithering processing unit, coupled to the mask generation unit and the active rows, for applying the dithering mask to pixels from the active rows; and

an offset calculating unit, for adding the calculated BLC offset value to the dithered pixels from the active rows to generate the resulting pixels.

7. The black level adjustment device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the computation unit further calculates a summation value of the pixels of the dark rows, and divides the summation value by a number of the pixels of the dark rows to generate the average value.

8. The black level adjustment device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the computation unit further calculates the BLC offset value by subtracting the integer from a predetermined black level.

9. The black level adjustment device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the mask generation unit further compares the fraction with each element in a threshold map, respectively, wherein if the element is smaller than the fraction, the mask generation unit sets the corresponding element in the dithering mask to 1, and if the element is not smaller than the fraction, the mask generation unit sets the corresponding element in the dithering mask to 0.

10. The black level adjustment device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the dithering processing unit further subtracts the corresponding element in the dithering mask from the pixels of the active rows to generate the resulting pixel.