High dynamic range imaging device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An imaging device comprising:
- a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods;
wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods;
wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods;
circuitry for conversion of a first value corresponding to a charge level on any given pixel directly to a floating point numerical format; and
circuitry for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to improved imaging devices having high dynamic range and to monitoring and automatic control systems incorporating the improved imaging devices.
76 Citations
35 Claims
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1. An imaging device comprising:
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a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods; wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods; circuitry for conversion of a first value corresponding to a charge level on any given pixel directly to a floating point numerical format; and circuitry for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An imaging device comprising:
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a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods; wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods; one of said set of available integration periods is selected and recorded in memory for substantially each pixel; corresponding reading of an integrated charge level on each pixel is digitized; a representation of a selected integration period along with said corresponding reading of an integrated charge level are mapped directly into a floating point representation; and circuitry for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel, such that a least significant bit of a mantissa value is not utilized for said converted value, but is used to add information about a selected pixel value without significantly changing an actual value of said pixel. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An imaging device, comprising:
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a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods; wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein values of indices identifying said selected integration period for a given pixel along with a corresponding digitized reading of a given pixel value are mapped directly into an IEEE 754-based floating point format; and circuitry for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel, such that a least significant bit of a mantissa value is not utilized for a converted value of said pixel, but is used to add information about a selected pixel value without significantly changing an actual value of said pixel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An imaging device comprising:
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a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods; wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods; one of said set of available integration periods is selected and recorded in memory for substantially each pixel; a corresponding reading of an integrated charge level on each pixel is digitized; a representation of a selected integration period along with said corresponding reading of an integrated charge level are mapped directly into a floating point representation; and circuitry for conversion of a first value corresponding to a charge level on any given pixel directly to a floating point numerical format, said circuitry for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel, such that a least significant bit of a mantissa value is not utilized for said converted value, but is used to add information about a selected pixel value without significantly changing an actual value of said pixel. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. An imaging device including:
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a two dimensional array of pixels configured to independently select one of a plurality of available integration periods; wherein each pixel of said two dimensional array of pixels is sampled to select one of said plurality of available integration periods; wherein a first sample of said each pixel sampling is for a longest of said plurality of available integration periods; and an integral circuit which provide image output from the array of pixels in a normalized floating point format; said circuit for detecting and flagging readings which are abnormally low or abnormally high for an integration range selected and used to acquire said reading of a light induced charge for said pixel, such that a least significant bit of a mantissa value is not utilized for a converted value of said pixel, but is used to add information about a selected pixel value without significantly changing an actual value of said pixel. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification