METHOD AND CAMERA SYSTEM FOR THE GENERATION OF IMAGES FOR THE TRANSMISSION TO AN EXTERNAL CONTROL UNIT

• US 20110080495A1
• Filed: 10/01/2010
• Published: 04/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: First Sensor Mobility GmbH (TE Connectivity Ltd. (United Kingdom))
• Original Assignee: First Sensor Mobility GmbH (TE Connectivity Ltd. (United Kingdom))
• Inventors: BUSSE, Erik, PRINZ VON HESSEN, Wilhelm
• Application Number:
  US12/896,219
• Publication Number:
  US 20110080495A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/25 Determination of region of interest [ROI] or a volume of interest [VOI]

Abstract

A method and camera system are provided in which source images of a high resolution generated by an image sensor are processed by a processor in a way that, following a down-scaling of the resolution of the source image, an image copy is generated which can be transmitted to and processed in an external control unit. Additionally, a cropped image of a higher resolution in comparison to the image copy is created from the source image and also transmitted to the external control unit.

Claims

1. Method for generating images and their transmission to an external control unit, comprising:

recording a first source image of a high resolution determined by an image sensor that serves to record the image,

generating an image copy of the source image by a processor, wherein the image copy comprises macro pixels of down scaled resolution in comparison to the source image, and every macro pixel is created by combining a pre-defined amount of adjacent pixels of the source image so that the number of pixels per macro pixel describes a scaling factor,

comparing a pre-defined region of interest of the source image, with at least one stored geometrical structure,

creating a cropped image of the region of interest of the source image, when the region of interest contains said geometrical structure, and

transmitting the image copy and the cropped image, as long as these images are created beforehand, to the external control unit.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the resolution of the image copy and/or of the cropped image meet a standard of a graphic card.

3. Method according to claim 1, wherein the cropped image is unsealed.

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein the external control unit initiates recording of at least one more source image which shows content of the first source image at a later time, and the region of interest in the at least one more source image is examined for said geometrical structure for a possible creation of another cropped image.

5. Method according to claim 1, wherein the external control unit initiates transmission of at least one more cropped image of a region of interest of a second source image recorded at a later time irrespective of whether said geometrical structure was found in the region of interest or not.

6. Method according to claim 1, wherein the region of interest is determined by location of the region relative to borders of the source image and size of the region.

7. Method according to claim 1, wherein the source image is recorded in black and white.

8. Camera system for generation of images for transmission to an external control unit, comprising:

an image sensor for recording of images,

a memory unit for storage of image information and geometrical structures,

a connector, configured to connect to an external control unit and transmission of image information to the control unit,

a processor for processing a recorded source image, wherein the processor is configured to carry out a down scaling of resolution of the source image by combining several adjacent pixels to one macro pixel, and in this way create an image copy which consists of macro pixels,

wherein the processor is further configured to compare content of a pre-defined region of interest of the source image with at least one of the geometrical structures stored in the memory unit, and create a cropped image of the region of interest when this geometrical structure is found, and

wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the image copy and cropped image to the external control unit.

9. Camera system according to claim 8, wherein the image copy and/or the cropped image has a resolution that meets a standard of a graphic card.

10. Camera system according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an external signal which initiates recording of a source image and/or creation of a cropped image of a previously taken source image and/or a source image stored in the memory unit.

11. Camera system according to claim 8, wherein the image sensor has a resolution of 1 mega pixel or more.