Chromatic Aberration Correction Circuit with Sharpening Clamp
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image processing pipelines face challenges in efficiently reducing chromatic aberration in images captured with wide-angle lenses, leading to artifacts due to over-sharpening, which consumes significant CPU bandwidth and increases power consumption.
Innovation Solution
An image processor circuit that receives pixel values, generates sharpening values to reduce chromatic aberration, and clamps the sharpening amount to prevent artifacts, thereby correcting axial chromatic aberration in images captured with wide-angle lenses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If image processing is performed on CPU to reduce chromatic aberration, then chromatic aberration correction is achieved, but CPU bandwidth consumption increases and power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces CPU-based software processing with a dedicated hardware image processing pipeline that includes specialized circuits for chromatic aberration correction. This substitution of general-purpose computing with purpose-built hardware eliminates the high CPU bandwidth consumption and power usage associated with software-based image processing while achieving the same chromatic aberration correction function.
2Manufacturing precision
If sharpening values are generated to reduce chromatic aberration, then sharpness of pixels is improved, but artifacts appear in full-color image due to over-sharpening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different processing characteristics to different regions and color channels. The chromatic aberration correction circuit selectively applies sharpening based on local image characteristics, and the clamp circuit applies region-specific constraints to prevent over-sharpening artifacts. This local differentiation allows sharpness improvement in areas needing it while avoiding artifacts in areas where excessive sharpening would be harmful.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a clamp circuit that monitors sharpening values and provides feedback control to prevent over-sharpening. When sharpening values exceed predetermined thresholds, the clamp circuit adjusts them downward, creating a feedback mechanism that automatically prevents artifact generation while maintaining optimal sharpness enhancement.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments relate to axial chromatic aberration (ACA) reduction of raw image data generated by image sensors. A chromatic aberration reduction circuit performs chromatic aberration reduction on the raw image data to correct the ACA in the full color images through sharpening that has been clamped to reduce sharpening overshoot.