Color Image Sensor Infrared Elimination via Pixel Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional color image sensors are affected by infrared light components, leading to inaccurate detection of red, green, and blue light, which can disrupt the construction of correct wavelength responses and impact applications like gesture recognition and ambient light detection.
Innovation Solution
A color image sensor with a specific arrangement of color filters and a processing unit that calculates signal differences between various pixel types to isolate and eliminate infrared light components, allowing for accurate detection of red, green, and blue light, and enabling gesture recognition and ambient light detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional color filters (red, green, blue) are used to detect specific spectral ranges, then color detection capability is provided, but infrared light components penetrate the filters causing inaccurate detection
Solution Approach 1:
The sensing array is segmented into multiple pixel types (red pixels, green pixels, blue pixels, and clear pixels) with different spectral response characteristics. This segmentation allows the system to capture both color information and infrared components separately, enabling subsequent elimination of infrared interference through differential processing while maintaining color detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Clear pixels are introduced as intermediary elements that detect total light energy including infrared components without color filtering. These clear pixels serve as mediators to provide reference data for infrared subtraction, allowing the system to maintain both color detection and infrared rejection capabilities.
2Measurement precision
If clear pixels are added to detect total light energy for infrared elimination, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges color detection pixels and clear pixels into a unified sensing array structure with a shared substrate and color filter array. This integration allows multiple functions (color detection, infrared detection, infrared elimination) to be achieved within a single compact device without requiring separate sensor modules, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively improves the accuracy of color detection by constructing correct wavelength responses and enhances the practicality of the image sensor for applications such as gesture recognition and ambient light detection by eliminating infrared interference.
Implementation Method 1
every pixel of an image sensing array is overlaid with a red color filter, a green color filter or a blue color filter to allow the pixels under the color filters can only detect the energy of specific spectral range
Implementation Method 2
As a pixel is configured to detect light energy impinging on the sensing surface thereof
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a color image sensor including a sensing array and a processing unit. The sensing array includes a red pixel, a green pixel, a blue pixel, a red and green pixel and a red and blue pixel configured to output a detected signal, respectively. The processing unit is configured to calculate a signal difference between detected signals associated with the red pixel and the red and green pixel to be served as a red detected signal, calculate a signal difference between detected signals associated with the green pixel and the red and green pixel to be served as a green detected signal, and calculate a signal difference between detected signals associated with the blue pixel and the red and blue pixel to be served as a blue detected signal.