Image Capturing Apparatus Flicker Reduction via Region Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image capturing technologies, such as CMOS sensors, face challenges in reducing flicker effects under flicker light sources, particularly when the flicker period is longer than the frame time, leading to uneven brightness and residual flicker issues.
Innovation Solution
An image capturing apparatus with a detection unit to identify flicker and a control unit that adjusts exposure times for different regions of the imaging element, allowing for simultaneous capture of images with varying exposure times within a frame, ensuring the second exposure time is an integer multiple of the flicker period, thereby reducing flicker influence.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the accumulation time of the imaging element is set to an integer multiple of the flicker period, then the exposure difference between images and within an image is reduced, but this method cannot be used when the flicker period is longer than the frame time
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging element is divided into multiple regions, each capable of performing exposures with different exposure times simultaneously. This segmentation allows the system to capture multiple exposure durations within a single frame period, enabling flicker correction even when the flicker period exceeds the frame time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic exposure actions with different durations in different regions, synchronized with the detected flicker period. By performing exposures at strategically timed intervals that correspond to integer multiples of the flicker period, the system reduces exposure differences caused by flicker.
2Reliability
If image processing using inverse phase correction is applied, then line flicker is corrected, but excessive correction occurs in regions where no flicker has occurred
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the imaging element are assigned different exposure times based on local flicker characteristics. The control unit adjusts exposure times region-by-region, applying correction only where necessary while maintaining proper exposure in regions without flicker, thus avoiding excessive correction and unnatural brightness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes exposure time parameters across different regions of the imaging element. By adjusting the exposure time parameter locally for each region based on detected flicker patterns, the system achieves precise flicker correction without applying uniform excessive correction across the entire image.
3Productivity
If a single exposure time is used for the entire frame, then the frame rate is maintained, but flicker influence remains when the flicker period is longer than the frame time
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is segmented into multiple regions with different exposure times, allowing the system to capture the necessary exposure durations for flicker correction within the constraints of the frame rate. This enables maintaining productivity while improving reliability through region-specific exposure optimization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a spatial dimension to the exposure time parameter by allowing different exposure times in different spatial regions within the same frame. This dimensional approach enables flicker correction without compromising frame rate, as the multiple exposure times coexist within a single frame period.
Data Source
AI summary
An image capturing apparatus includes an imaging element which is capable of simultaneously performing exposures of different exposure times, a detection unit configured to detect flicker; and a control unit configured to control the imaging element such that, in a case where imaging is performed at a frame rate shorter than a period of the flicker, a first image is captured in a first region of the imaging element for a first exposure time which is an exposure time settable in one frame, and a second image is captured in a second region of the imaging element for a second exposure time which is a difference between a time of an integer multiple of the first exposure time and a time of the period of the flicker.