Hdr image sensor employing multi-tap pixel architecture and method for operating same
Active Publication Date: 2022-10-27
SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD
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Benefits of technology
The text describes a method for reducing motion artifacts in images by using two different exposure times. The first exposure time is made up of multiple shorter exposures, while the second exposure time is made up of multiple shorter exposures interspersed with the first exposure times. By integrating the output voltage samples from these exposures, the method achieves a more accurate representation of incident light and reduces motion artifacts in the resulting image.
Problems solved by technology
Since the scene is sampled in different time periods, these methods cause motion-artifacts when merging the multi-exposure data into a single HDR image.
This scheme reduces motion-artifacts but suffers from inflexibility as well as accuracy limitations due to the difficultly in precisely controlling the relative gains for each pixel.
Further, the dynamic range extension is limited by the dual gain ratio, which is particularly constrained for small pixel sensors.
Method used
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[0021]The following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of certain exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept disclosed herein for illustrative purposes. The description includes various specific details to assist a person of ordinary skill the art with understanding the inventive concept, but these details are to be regarded as merely illustrative. For the purposes of simplicity and clarity, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted when their inclusion may obscure appreciation of the inventive concept by a person of ordinary skill in the art.
[0022]In embodiments of an image sensor and method for driving the same described below, the sensor includes a pixel array in which each pixel may be a multi-tap pixel having a single photodetector and multiple “taps” from the photodetector to respective storage nodes, e.g., floating diffusion (FD) nodes. Each tap includes transfer circ...
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An image sensor may include control circuitry, a plurality of pixels, and an image processor. Each pixel includes a photodetector, at least first and second storage nodes, and transfer circuitry. The transfer circuitry is responsive to control signals generated by the control circuitry to transfer first charges generated by the photodetector during a first exposure time within a frame period to the first storage node. Second charges may be generated by the photodetector during a second, longer exposure time during the frame period, and transferred to the second storage node. The image processor may generate image frame data based on output voltage samples derived from the first and second charges of each of the plurality of pixels.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present disclosure relates generally to image sensors and more particularly to image sensors for generating high dynamic range (HDR) images.DISCUSSION OF THE RELATED ART[0002]In an HDR image sensor, dynamic range is increased relative to traditional imaging through multi-sampling of local regions of a scene, so that brighter and darker portions of the scene are digitized separately. Short exposure times are used to obtain samples in brighter portions of a scene, and longer exposure times are used to sample darker portions of the scene. Each region of the scene (e.g., a region defined by a single pixel or a group of adjacent pixels) may be determined as either a bright region, a dark region or, in some HDR schemes, an intermediate luminance region. ND conversion with a fixed number of bits may be used to digitize a selected sample(s) of each region, resulting in a higher resolution image and higher overall dynamic range.[0003]To obtain multiple samples for th...
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Login to View More IPC IPC(8): H04N5/355H04N5/378
CPCH04N5/3559H04N5/35581H04N5/378H04N25/53H04N25/589H01L27/14627H04N25/58H04N25/60H04N25/766H04N25/75H04N25/59
InventorELIZOV, ROEEYAFFE, YOELEISENBERG, AMITHAMAMI, SHY
OwnerSAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD