Multi-Camera System Phase Control for Stitching Distortion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Focal plane distortion occurs when multiple cameras with CMOS image sensors using raster scan schemes capture images and are stitched together, especially due to vertical gaps between cameras, leading to inconsistent image alignment at joints.
Innovation Solution
A multi-camera system with phase control units that shift the vertical synchronization signal phases of each camera based on gap information from a reference position, ensuring synchronized exposure times across cameras, thereby preventing focal plane distortion during image stitching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If multiple cameras are arranged horizontally for panoramic imaging, then the field of view is expanded, but focal plane distortion occurs at image joints due to vertical gaps between cameras
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the timing parameter (exposure start time) of each camera by applying different vertical synchronization signal phases. This temporal parameter adjustment compensates for spatial misalignment (vertical gaps) between cameras, ensuring that corresponding image lines are captured at the same moment and preventing focal plane distortion at joints.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary phase adjustment to the vertical synchronization signals before the cameras capture images. By pre-calculating and applying the appropriate phase shifts based on each camera's vertical position, the system ensures that all cameras are synchronized in terms of exposure timing before the actual imaging process begins, thereby preventing distortion in advance.
2Ease of manufacture
If cameras are installed with vertical gaps between them, then installation flexibility is improved, but focal plane distortion stands out at image joints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the spatial arrangement parameter (vertical gaps between cameras) into a temporal compensation parameter (phase shift of vertical synchronization signals). Each camera receives a vertical synchronization signal with a phase shift proportional to its vertical gap distance, converting the installation flexibility advantage into a controllable timing parameter that prevents image alignment issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The system measures the actual vertical gap distances between cameras and uses this feedback information to calculate the appropriate phase shifts for each camera's vertical synchronization signal. This closed-loop approach ensures that the timing compensation accurately reflects the physical installation configuration, maintaining image alignment precision regardless of installation variations.
3Manufacturing precision
If precise camera alignment is required to prevent focal plane distortion, then image quality is improved, but installation complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent shifts the control parameter from spatial alignment (physical camera positions) to temporal synchronization (vertical synchronization signal phases). Instead of requiring precise physical alignment during installation, the system achieves image alignment through software-controlled timing adjustments, significantly simplifying the installation process while maintaining high image quality.
Data Source
AI summary
Focal plane distortion is prevented from standing out in the vicinity of a joint when a plurality of captured images are stitched and synthesized. A plurality of cameras are provided. Each camera includes an image sensor that outputs a signal by a raster scan scheme. Phases of a vertical synchronization signal supplied to the image sensors of the plurality of cameras are respectively shifted according to information of gap amounts of captured images of the respective cameras from a reference position in a vertical direction. Even if there are gaps in the vertical direction between the installed cameras, positional gaps between the installed image sensors due to variations in individual camera main bodies, and the like, there are no lines with largely different capture times in the vicinity of a joint of a synthesized image, and focal plane distortion is prevented from standing out in the vicinity of this joint.