Flash Imaging Color Accuracy via Luminance Separation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing imaging technologies using flash units often result in images with unnatural colors when captured in low-light environments, as the flash mixes with the object's original color, leading to differences in perceived color under natural light conditions.
Innovation Solution
An imaging apparatus that captures multiple images with varying flash luminance levels, extracts color information from low-luminance images and luminance information from high-luminance images, and generates a corrected image by adjusting the color vector to match the perceived color under natural light conditions, minimizing the flash's impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a flash unit is used to provide brightness in low-light environments, then image brightness and reduced noise are improved, but the color of the image becomes unnatural due to mixing with the object's original color
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image data into color information and luminance information from different captured images. Color information is extracted from images with lower flash luminance, while luminance information is extracted from images with higher flash luminance, allowing independent optimization of each parameter
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the luminance parameter of the flash across multiple captured images while maintaining consistent color information. By varying the flash luminance parameter, the system obtains images with different brightness levels but consistent color characteristics, enabling separate extraction and combination of color and luminance data
2Manufacturing precision
If multiple images are captured with varying flash luminance to separate color and luminance information, then color accuracy and brightness are improved, but the capturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic action by capturing multiple images in rapid succession with systematically varied flash luminance settings. This periodic variation in flash intensity across multiple captures allows the system to gather diverse luminance data while maintaining consistent color information, which is then processed through automated algorithms
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing step that automatically separates and combines color and luminance information from multiple captured images. This intermediary process handles the complexity of multi-image processing, shielding the user from the underlying complexity while delivering improved color accuracy and brightness
3Illumination intensity
If slow shutter speed is used to capture more light in low-light environments, then image brightness is improved, but image blurring occurs due to movement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by capturing multiple images with varying flash luminance before processing. This preliminary multi-capture approach ensures sufficient light collection while using the flash to freeze motion, preventing blur before the images are combined and processed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple captured images with different flash luminance levels into a single final image. By combining these images, the system achieves the brightness equivalent of slow shutter speed while maintaining the sharpness provided by the flash, effectively merging the advantages of both approaches
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 3
AI summary
Acquiring enough brightness with flash and obtaining an image having a color close to a color which a human senses. An imaging apparatus (10) which emits a flash and photographs an object (20) includes: a lighting unit (11) which emits the flash to the object; an image obtaining unit (12) which obtains continuously-captured images including a first image and a second image by photographing the object (20) while the lighting unit (11) is emitting the flash, the second image having luminance greater than luminance of the first image; a color information obtaining unit (14) which obtains, from the first image, color information of a first color vector; a luminance information obtaining unit (15) which obtains, from the second image, luminance information of a second color vector; and an image generating unit (17) which generates a corrected image by generating a third color vector corresponding to the color information of the first color vector and the luminance information of the second color vector, the corrected image having luminance greater than the luminance of the first image.