Capturing and processing of images captured by camera arrays including heterogeneous optics
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A camera array, comprising:
- a plurality of cameras configured to capture images of a scene, where each camera comprises;
optics comprising at least one lens element and at least one aperture; and
a sensor comprising a two dimensional array of pixels and control circuitry for controlling imaging parameters; and
at least one spectral filter located within the camera, where each spectral filter is configured to pass a specific spectral band of light;
wherein the plurality of cameras comprises a plurality of different types of camera, where cameras of a given type share the same imaging characteristics and different types of cameras have different characteristics including using different types of filters;
wherein a camera that uses a first type of filter configured to pass a first spectral band includes a lens element having a first configuration for focusing light in the first spectral band and a camera that uses a second type of filter configured to pass a second spectral band includes a lens element having a second configuration for focusing light in the second spectral band;
wherein the plurality of cameras includes a central camera and the plurality of cameras forms;
at least one row of cameras above the central camera;
at least one row of cameras below the central camera;
at least one column of cameras to the left of the central camera; and
at least one column of cameras to the right of the central camera;
wherein cameras having the same type are located in locations selected from the group consisting of;
locations including at least one row in the camera array above the central camera and at least one row in the camera array below the central camera; and
locations including at least one column in the camera array to the left of the central camera and at least one column in the camera array to the right of the central camera.
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Abstract
A camera array, an imaging device and/or a method for capturing image that employ a plurality of imagers fabricated on a substrate is provided. Each imager includes a plurality of pixels. The plurality of imagers include a first imager having a first imaging characteristics and a second imager having a second imaging characteristics. The images generated by the plurality of imagers are processed to obtain an enhanced image compared to images captured by the imagers. Each imager may be associated with an optical element fabricated using a wafer level optics (WLO) technology.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A camera array, comprising:
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a plurality of cameras configured to capture images of a scene, where each camera comprises; optics comprising at least one lens element and at least one aperture; and a sensor comprising a two dimensional array of pixels and control circuitry for controlling imaging parameters; and at least one spectral filter located within the camera, where each spectral filter is configured to pass a specific spectral band of light; wherein the plurality of cameras comprises a plurality of different types of camera, where cameras of a given type share the same imaging characteristics and different types of cameras have different characteristics including using different types of filters; wherein a camera that uses a first type of filter configured to pass a first spectral band includes a lens element having a first configuration for focusing light in the first spectral band and a camera that uses a second type of filter configured to pass a second spectral band includes a lens element having a second configuration for focusing light in the second spectral band; wherein the plurality of cameras includes a central camera and the plurality of cameras forms; at least one row of cameras above the central camera; at least one row of cameras below the central camera; at least one column of cameras to the left of the central camera; and at least one column of cameras to the right of the central camera; wherein cameras having the same type are located in locations selected from the group consisting of; locations including at least one row in the camera array above the central camera and at least one row in the camera array below the central camera; and locations including at least one column in the camera array to the left of the central camera and at least one column in the camera array to the right of the central camera. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A camera array, comprising:
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a monolithic integrated module forming a plurality of cameras, where each camera comprises; a lens element array forming the optics of each of the plurality of cameras, where the optics of each camera comprises at least one lens element and at least one aperture; and a single semiconductor substrate on which all of the pixels and control circuitry for each camera are formed; and at least one spectral filter located within each camera, where each spectral filter is configured to pass a specific spectral band of light; and a controller configured to control operation parameters of the plurality of cameras; an image processing pipeline module comprising a parallax confirmation and measurement module; wherein the plurality of cameras comprises a plurality of different types of camera, where cameras of a given type share the same imaging characteristics and different types of cameras have different characteristics including using different types of filters; wherein a camera that uses a first type of filter configured to pass a first spectral band includes a lens element having a first configuration for focusing light in the first spectral band and a camera that uses a second type of filter configured to pass a second spectral band includes a lens element having a second configuration for focusing light in the second spectral band; wherein one of the plurality of cameras includes a central camera and the plurality of cameras forms; at least one row of cameras above the central camera; at least one row of cameras below the central camera; at least one column of cameras to the left of the central camera; and at least one column of cameras to the right of the central camera; wherein cameras having the same imaging characteristics and spectral filter are located in locations selected from the group consisting of; locations including at least one row in the camera array above the central camera and at least one row in the camera array below the central camera; and locations including at least one column in the camera array to the left of the central camera and at least one column in the camera array to the right of the central camera; wherein images captured by the plurality of cameras include different occlusions sets, where the occlusion set of a first camera is the portion of a scene visible to a second camera in the plurality of cameras that is occluded from the view of the first camera; and wherein the parallax confirmation and measurement module is configured to measure parallax using images captured by the plurality of cameras by; detecting parallax-induced changes that are consistent across all of the images taking into account the position of the cameras that captured the images; and ignoring pixels in the images captured by the plurality of cameras that are in an exposed occlusion set.
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19. A linear camera array, comprising:
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a plurality of cameras that form a linear array of cameras configured to capture images of a scene, where each camera comprises; optics comprising at least one lens element and at least one aperture; and a sensor comprising a two dimensional array of pixels and control circuitry for controlling imaging parameters; and at least one spectral filter located within the camera, where each spectral filter is configured to pass a specific spectral band of light; wherein the plurality of cameras comprises a plurality of different types of camera, where cameras of a given type share the same imaging characteristics and different types of cameras have different characteristics including using different types of filters; wherein a camera that uses a first type of filter configured to pass a first spectral band includes a lens element having a first configuration for focusing light in the first spectral band and a camera that uses a second type of filter configured to pass a second spectral band includes a lens element having a second configuration for focusing light in the second spectral band; wherein the linear array of cameras includes a central camera; and wherein cameras having the same imaging characteristics and filter are located on either side of the central camera. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification