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Image sensor defect identification using blurring techniques

Inactive Publication Date: 2008-03-06
MICRON TECH INC
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  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

If one or more sensor elements are defective or occluded, this condition may degrade image quality.
Sensor elements may include “bright defects” and “dark defects,” perhaps causing them to be unusable.
A dark defect may also result from a dust particle lodged against the sensor element, blocking some or all of the light that might otherwise impinge on the element.
Such methods may incur substantial cost, and may fail to identify dark defects resulting from dust particles.

Method used

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  • Image sensor defect identification using blurring techniques
  • Image sensor defect identification using blurring techniques
  • Image sensor defect identification using blurring techniques

Examples

Experimental program
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Embodiment Construction

[0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus 100 according to various embodiments of the invention. Many of the embodiments described herein may operate to automatically identify one or more unusable image sensor array (ISA) elements 102, including clusters thereof.

[0014]An unusable ISA element 102 may be of a stuck pixel variety, characterized by an output level that is unchanging as the illuminance incident to the stuck pixel changes, as previously described. A stuck pixel ISA element may comprise a bright defect or a dark defect. A darkly defective ISA element that is not of the stuck pixel variety may be occluded by dust particles (e.g., a dust particle 104). The dust particle 104 may fall on and lodge adjacent to the darkly defective ISA element. This may occur during or after assembly of a digital camera or other imaging system containing an ISA, such as an imaging system 105 comprising an ISA 106, for example. Unusable ISA elements may often be compensated if their positio...

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PUM

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Abstract

Embodiments described herein may operate to image a scene with an imaging system using an image blurring technique. An image sensor array (ISA) element may be identified as a dark defect element if a first ratio of an average of a set of illuminance signal magnitudes from a set of surrounding ISA elements to a magnitude of an illuminance signal from the ISA element is greater than a threshold sharpness value. The image sensor array element may be identified as a bright defect element if a second ratio of the magnitude of the illuminance signal from the ISA element to the average of the set of illuminance signal magnitudes from the set of surrounding ISA elements is greater than the threshold sharpness value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]Various embodiments described herein relate to apparatus, systems, and methods associated with imaging and image sensor arrays, including the detection of sensor defects.BACKGROUND INFORMATION[0002]Image sensors are widely used in a variety of consumer electronic devices, including digital cameras and cellular telephones with built-in digital cameras. An image sensor may comprise a matrix of sensor elements. If one or more sensor elements are defective or occluded, this condition may degrade image quality.[0003]Sensor elements may include “bright defects” and “dark defects,” perhaps causing them to be unusable. Some bright and dark defects may be of a “stuck pixel” variety. That is, an output signal from a stuck sensor element may register a fixed signal level regardless of the brightness of light incident to the element. The terms “defective element” and “unusable element” are used interchangeably herein. “Brightness of light” may hereinafter be referred to usi...

Claims

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Application Information

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IPC IPC(8): H04N9/64H04N5/353H04N5/367H04N9/07
CPCH04N5/3675H04N5/2176H04N17/002H04N25/683H04N25/63
Inventor OVSIANNIKOV, ILIA
Owner MICRON TECH INC