Image Processing Device Synthesizing Visible and Infrared Images

The patent combines a high beam image capturing device with a low beam image capturing device into a single system. The high beam device provides wide coverage while the low beam device provides high-quality images in the overlapping region. The images are then synthesized to create a final image that has both wide coverage and high quality, resolving the contradiction between irradiation range and image quality.

The patent applies different image processing strategies to different regions of the field of view. In the region where both high beam and low beam illuminate, the system uses the high-quality low beam image. In regions only illuminated by the high beam, it uses the high beam image. This local quality approach allows the system to maximize both coverage and image quality in different areas simultaneously.

The patent merges the functionality of separate high beam and low beam image capturing devices. The low beam device captures high-quality images in its narrow field of view, while the high beam device captures wider area images. By combining these devices and synthesizing their outputs, the system achieves both high image quality and wide visibility range, resolving the contradiction between image quality and irradiation range.

The patent extends the solution from a two-dimensional trade-off (image quality vs. irradiation range) to a three-dimensional solution by adding the temporal dimension through image synthesis. The system captures images from both devices simultaneously or in rapid succession, then synthesizes them into a single composite image that exhibits both high quality and wide coverage properties, effectively resolving the contradiction by operating in an expanded solution space.