Image Pickup Apparatus Exposure Synthesis for High Frame Rate
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-speed image pickup devices face challenges in achieving proper exposure times longer than the frame period without decreasing frame rates, as shorter exposure times are required for higher frame rates, limiting the ability to capture images with desired dynamic ranges in moving images or live views.
Innovation Solution
An image pickup apparatus and method that determine a proper exposure time longer than the frame period by setting a combination of long and short exposure times, where the total time of short and long exposure times equals the desired exposure time, allowing for the synthesis of images within the frame period to generate a synthetic image corresponding to the desired exposure time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the frame rate is increased to achieve smooth object movement in moving images, then the frame rate is improved, but the exposure time becomes shorter making it impossible to obtain proper exposure times longer than the frame period
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the exposure process into multiple segments: short exposure images captured at high frame rates and long exposure images captured at lower frame rates. These segmented exposure images are then synthesized to create a final image with the desired long exposure time while maintaining high frame rate playback, thus resolving the contradiction between high frame rate and long exposure time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple exposure images (both short and long exposure images) into a synthesized output image. By combining these different exposure images through addition or other synthesis methods, the system achieves the effect of long exposure while maintaining the temporal resolution of high frame rate capture
2Duration of action of moving object
If the frame rate is decreased to obtain exposure time longer than the frame period, then the exposure time is improved, but the smoothness of object movement and the number of sequential frames are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the exposure time requirements by capturing some frames with short exposure at high frame rate and other frames with long exposure at lower frame rate. This segmentation allows the system to achieve average long exposure time while maintaining high frame rate for smooth playback
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically changes the exposure time parameter across different frames within the same sequence. By alternating between short and long exposure times for different frames, the system achieves the desired average exposure time while maintaining high frame rate, thus changing the exposure time parameter in a controlled manner
Data Source
AI summary
An image pickup apparatus includes a microcomputer that sets, when a proper exposure time is longer than a frame period, one or more long exposure times equal to or shorter than the frame period and a short exposure time such that a total time of the one or more long exposure times and the short exposure time is equal to the proper exposure time, an image pickup device that outputs a long exposure image and a short exposure image for every frame period, and a cumulative addition processing section that adds the short exposure image and the long exposure image or long exposure images of one or more frames to generate a synthetic image corresponding to the proper exposure time.