Image Sensor Exposure Area Segmentation for White Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image capturing systems face challenges in accurately capturing images under varying light sources, as they struggle to adjust exposure conditions for different areas effectively, leading to inconsistent white balance and color representation.
Innovation Solution
An image capturing apparatus with an image sensor that can change exposure conditions for each exposure area, coupled based on a threshold, and an image processing unit that calculates and applies development parameters for white balance correction across these areas, ensuring proper exposure and color representation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If white balance processing is performed for each area of the image sensor, then color accuracy under varying light sources is improved, but processing complexity and computational load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The image sensor area is divided into multiple exposure areas, each with independently adjustable exposure conditions. This segmentation allows white balance processing to be performed on smaller, manageable regions rather than the entire image, improving color accuracy in areas with different light sources while reducing the computational complexity compared to processing the whole image uniformly.
Solution Approach 2:
Different exposure conditions and white balance parameters are applied to different exposure areas based on their specific lighting characteristics. This local quality approach ensures that each area is processed according to its unique requirements, improving overall color accuracy while allowing the system to focus computational resources only where needed rather than uniformly processing the entire image.
2Reliability
If exposure conditions are adjusted for each area, then image quality under multiple light sources is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The image sensor is divided into multiple exposure areas that can be independently controlled. This segmentation enables the system to handle multiple light sources by capturing different exposure conditions in different areas, improving image quality reliability without requiring a completely complex multi-camera system.
Solution Approach 2:
The exposure conditions for each exposure area are dynamically adjustable based on the detected lighting conditions. This dynamic control allows the system to adapt to varying light sources in real-time, improving image quality reliability while using a single sensor rather than multiple fixed systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple exposure areas with different exposure conditions are used, then adaptability to varying light sources is improved, but control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The image sensor is segmented into multiple exposure areas, each capable of operating with different exposure conditions. This segmentation provides the adaptability needed to handle varying light sources across different parts of the scene while keeping the control mechanism relatively simple by using a single sensor with region-based control rather than multiple independent systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The exposure conditions (such as exposure time, gain, or aperture) are changed for different exposure areas to adapt to varying light sources. This parameter change approach provides versatility in handling different lighting scenarios while maintaining a unified sensor system, avoiding the complexity of multiple hardware systems with different fixed parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
An image capturing apparatus includes an image sensor configured to change an exposure condition for each of a plurality of exposure areas, each of the exposure areas including a single pixel or a plurality of pixels, and an image processing unit configured to perform steps of digital signal processing on a signal of a captured image includes generating a plurality of coupled areas in which the exposure areas are coupled based on a first threshold of the exposure condition, calculating a development parameter for each of the coupled areas, and applying the development parameter to the image processing unit for each of the exposure areas.