Compound Camera Sensor with Shifted Cell Arrays for Depth of Field
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a persistent need for more compact light sensors capable of generating high-quality color images with extended depth of field, as traditional cameras face limitations in thickness and image quality due to the use of single sensors with Bayer patterns, and multi-sensor systems are costly and complex.
Innovation Solution
A light sensor with four cell arrays, each for a color of the Bayer pattern, where at least one green image is shifted by half a pixel pitch horizontally and vertically, and red and blue images are shifted relative to the first green image, allowing for enhanced image definition and combination to achieve a 2N×2M output RGB image with improved depth of field.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single sensor with Bayer pattern is used, then device complexity is reduced, but image quality and depth of field are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is divided into four separate cell arrays, each dedicated to capturing a specific color channel (R, G1, G2, B). This segmentation allows each array to capture color information independently without the need for color interpolation, thereby improving image quality while maintaining relatively simple device architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces asymmetric positioning of the cell arrays, where the second green image array is shifted by half a pixel pitch relative to the first green image array. This asymmetric arrangement enables extended depth of field by capturing multiple focus planes simultaneously, resolving the contradiction between simplicity and image quality.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are used to improve image quality, then image quality improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges four separate color channel sensors into a single integrated sensor substrate. This combining approach achieves multi-sensor image quality (with extended depth of field and high resolution) while avoiding the complexity and cost of multiple independent sensor systems, as all cell arrays share the same optical path and processing infrastructure.
3Measurement precision
If aperture size is reduced to increase depth of field, then depth of field improves, but light sensitivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the aperture-depth of field trade-off by introducing a new dimension: multiple cell arrays positioned at different depths. By capturing images at multiple focus planes simultaneously through the same aperture, the system achieves extended depth of field without requiring small apertures, thereby maintaining light sensitivity.
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
This configuration enables the generation of high-quality RGB images comparable to multi-sensor systems while reducing sensor thickness, achieving enhanced depth of field and image resolution with a single shot, and allows for image reconstruction using a data processing pipeline to select the sharpest image from staggered depth of field ranges.
Implementation Method 1
four lenses, the focal length of which is halved, as shown in FIG. 2. The lenses are oriented such that at least a second green image, commonly provided by the fourth cell array, is both horizontally and vertically shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from a first (reference) green image
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a light sensor includes four cell arrays, one for each color of the Bayer pattern, and four lenses each focusing the light coming from the scene to be captured on a respective cell array. The lenses are oriented such that at least a second green image, commonly provided by the fourth cell array, is both horizontally and vertically shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from a first (reference) green image. In a second embodiment, the four lenses are oriented such that the red and blue images are respectively shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from the first or reference green image, one horizontally and the other vertically, and the second green image is shifted (spaced) apart by half a pixel pitch from the reference green image both horizontally and vertically.