Digital Camera Zoom via Sensor Cropping and Decimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital zoom in cameras results in progressively decreasing resolution as the zoom factor increases, leading to a perception that digital zoom is inferior to optical zoom, and existing technologies struggle to provide high-resolution digital zoom capable of operating with camcorder speed data while maintaining low distortion and low light performance.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating an electronic image by electronically cropping and decimating the sensor area, allowing for a high-resolution digital zoom with a substantially constant output resolution across different zoom levels, achieved by adjusting the decimation factor and window size, and combining this with optical zoom for enhanced performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional digital zoom is achieved by cropping and enlarging a window in standard resolution picture, then digital zoom function is implemented, but the spatial resolution progressively decreases as the cropping factor increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor array is divided into multiple independently controllable zones or regions, allowing selective reading of specific sensor elements corresponding to the cropped window area. This segmentation enables high-resolution digital zoom by directly reading uncropped sensor data from the region of interest without requiring full-frame readout, thereby maintaining spatial resolution while achieving zoom functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-resolution output to a multi-resolution capability by allowing the system to output images at different resolutions based on the cropped window size and selected sensor regions. This dimensional change in resolution space enables the system to maintain high spatial resolution for zoomed-in views by matching the output resolution to the actual captured detail in the cropped region.
2Quantity of substance
If the sensor array reads out all sensor elements, then complete image data is captured, but the data rate exceeds the maximum transfer rate for video applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and reads only the specific sensor elements within the cropped window region instead of reading the entire sensor array. This extraction approach reduces the data volume to be transferred while retaining the essential image information needed for the zoomed view, thereby achieving high-resolution digital zoom at camcorder-compatible data rates without requiring full-frame readout.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs partial reading of the sensor array by selectively activating and reading only the necessary sensor elements corresponding to the cropped region, rather than reading all sensor elements. This partial action approach reduces the data transfer burden while maintaining sufficient image quality for the desired zoom level, enabling the system to operate within camcorder data rate constraints.
3Manufacturing precision
If a high pixel number sensor is used to accommodate DSC requirements, then high resolution is achieved, but the transfer rate may not accommodate video applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic control over which sensor elements are read and at what rate, allowing the system to adapt the data transfer rate to match the specific zoom level and region of interest. This dynamic reading approach enables the high-resolution sensor to operate at reduced data rates for zoomed-in views by only transferring data from the relevant sensor regions, thereby accommodating video application requirements while maintaining high resolution capability when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A camera system and a method for zooming the camera system is disclosed. The method generally includes the steps of (A) generating an electronic image by sensing an optical image received by the camera, the sensing including electronic cropping to a window size to establish an initial resolution for the electronic image, (B) generating a final image by decimating the electronic image by a decimation factor to a final resolution smaller than the initial resolution and (C) changing a zoom factor for the final image by adjusting both of the decimation factor and the window size.