Color Corrected High Resolution Imaging via Reference Camera
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Solution Overview
Problem
High resolution imaging camera arrays face limitations in accurately representing scene colors due to the degradation of color information during the imaging process, leading to incomplete color recovery and visually pleasing but inaccurate color enhancement.
Innovation Solution
An imaging apparatus comprising a camera array, a reference camera, and an image processor that synchronizes the imaging of a scene, allowing for the creation of high resolution images with color correction based on a reference image with higher color depth, either before or after merging the array images, to enhance color accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If color correction is applied to high resolution images from camera arrays, then color representation accuracy is improved, but the complexity of the imaging system increases due to the need for reference cameras and synchronization controllers
Solution Approach 1:
A reference camera is introduced as an intermediary device to capture reference images that serve as a mediator between the scene and the camera array images. This reference camera enables color correction without requiring direct modification of each individual camera in the array, thus improving color accuracy while managing system complexity through a dedicated reference device.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a copy of the scene from the reference camera's perspective and uses this reference image to correct colors in the high resolution images from the camera array. By working with a reference copy rather than directly processing each camera's output, the system achieves accurate color representation while simplifying the overall processing architecture.
2Productivity
If automatic color matching techniques are used on camera array images, then processing speed is improved, but color accuracy deteriorates due to limitations in representing true scene colors
Solution Approach 1:
The reference camera captures reference images of the scene in advance or simultaneously with the camera array. These pre-acquired reference images serve as a foundation for color correction, allowing the system to perform accurate color matching without relying solely on automatic techniques that may degrade color accuracy. The preliminary reference data enables more precise color restoration.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses reference images from the reference camera as feedback to correct and adjust the colors in the high resolution images from the camera array. This feedback mechanism allows the system to compare the reference scene representation with the actual captured images and apply corrections, thereby maintaining high processing speed while improving color accuracy through iterative refinement.
3Measurement precision
If high resolution imaging is achieved through camera arrays, then spatial resolution is improved, but color depth and quality are degraded due to the merging process
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging system is segmented into two functional parts: the camera array for capturing high resolution spatial information and the reference camera for capturing color depth information. By separating these functions, the system can maintain high spatial resolution from the array while recovering color depth from the reference camera, preventing the merging process from degrading color quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter focus of different camera systems: the camera array optimizes for spatial resolution parameters while the reference camera optimizes for color depth parameters. After capture, the system transforms and combines these different parameter sets, using the reference camera's color information to enhance the color depth of the high resolution images without sacrificing spatial resolution.
Data Source
AI summary
A high resolution imaging system includes an imaging camera array creating a sets or frames of array images of a scene and a reference camera creating reference images of the same scene. A synchronization controller coordinates imaging of the scene by the imaging camera array and the reference camera. An image processor merges the sets of array images into high resolution images and apply a color correction to the high resolution images based on reference images. Color correction can be performed on the merged high resolution image or on individual array images prior to merger into the high resolution image.