Methods and apparatus for controlling sensors to capture images in a synchronized manner
First Claim
1. A method of operating a camera device to scan a portion of a scene area of interest, the method comprising:
- controlling a plurality of image sensors to scan the scene area of interest from a first edge of said scene area of interest to a second edge of said scene area of interest, said first and second edges of said scene area of interest being parallel, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from said first edge to said second edge of the scene area of interest, said controlling including operating a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said controlling further including operating a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said first and second image sensors capturing images of different portions of said scene area of interest;
wherein said first image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a first focal length;
wherein said second image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a second focal length; and
wherein said controlling includes controlling the rate at which pixel rows are read out of the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond.
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus relating to capturing images of a scene area in a synchronized manner using a plurality of optical chains are described. In various embodiments image sensors corresponding to the plurality of optical chains of a camera are operated in rolling shutter mode to read out rows of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when the image sensors have a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position. In some embodiments a scene area of interest is captured by initiating a scan and thus image capture of the scene area by one or more optical chains which are operated in a coordinated manner. In some embodiments a controller controls the plurality of image sensors to perform a read out of pixel values in a synchronized manner, e.g., with rows of pixel values being read out sequentially in accordance with operation of a rolling shutter implementation.
168 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of operating a camera device to scan a portion of a scene area of interest, the method comprising:
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controlling a plurality of image sensors to scan the scene area of interest from a first edge of said scene area of interest to a second edge of said scene area of interest, said first and second edges of said scene area of interest being parallel, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from said first edge to said second edge of the scene area of interest, said controlling including operating a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said controlling further including operating a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said first and second image sensors capturing images of different portions of said scene area of interest; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a first focal length; wherein said second image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a second focal length; and wherein said controlling includes controlling the rate at which pixel rows are read out of the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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12. A camera device, comprising:
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a plurality of optical chains; and a sensor controller configured to control a plurality of image sensors, corresponding to said plurality of optical chains, to scan a scene area of interest from a first edge of said scene area of interest to a second edge of said scene area of interest, said first and second edges of said scene area of interest being parallel, said sensor controller controlling, as part of said scan, image capture according to a scan position which progresses from said first edge to said second edge of the scene area of interest, said sensor controller controlling a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said sensor controller further controlling a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said first and second image sensors capturing images of different portions of said scene area of interest; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to a first optical chain having a first focal length and said second image sensor corresponds to a second optical chain having a second focal length; and wherein said sensor controller is configured to control the rate at which pixel rows are read out of the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A non-transitory computer readable medium, said non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions, said non-transitory computer readable medium comprising:
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instructions, which when executed by a processor, control a plurality of image sensors to scan the scene area of interest from a first edge of said scene area of interest to a second edge of said scene area of interest, said first and second edges of said scene area of interest being parallel, said scanning including controlling image capture according to a scan position which progresses from said first edge to said second edge of the scene area of interest, said instructions causing said processor to control a first image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to a current scan position when said first image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said current scan position changing over time, said instructions further causing said processor to control a second image sensor in said plurality of image sensors in rolling shutter mode to read out a row of pixel values corresponding to the current scan position when said second image sensor has a row of pixel values corresponding to said current scan position, said first and second image sensors capturing images of different portions of said scene area of interest; wherein said first image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a first focal length; wherein said second image sensor corresponds to an optical chain having a second focal length; and wherein said processor is configured to control the rate at which pixel rows are read out of the first and second image sensors as a function of the focal length of the individual optical chains to which the first and second image sensors correspond.
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Specification