Image Sensor Scene Illuminant Estimation via Chromaticity Trend
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image sensor technologies face challenges in accurately estimating scene illuminants, leading to poor white balance and color correction, which are computationally intensive and require significant storage, making them resource-intensive and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
An image sensor apparatus with a processor that generates and compares pixel and illuminant characteristic curves to estimate scene illuminants, using a statistical trend analysis to determine the most likely illuminant, reducing storage and computational requirements while maintaining high estimation accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional methods are used to estimate scene illuminants, then estimation accuracy can be achieved, but computational intensity and storage requirements become excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential chromaticity information from the full pixel data by projecting onto a two-dimensional chromaticity space. This extraction retains the critical illuminant estimation capability while discarding redundant information, thereby reducing computational complexity and storage requirements without sacrificing estimation accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the color space into a two-dimensional chromaticity subset, separating the essential illuminant characteristics from the complete pixel data. This segmentation allows the system to process only the relevant chromaticity components for illuminant estimation, reducing the computational burden while maintaining precision.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive pixel data is processed for illuminant estimation, then estimation accuracy improves, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the chromaticity components necessary for illuminant estimation from the full pixel data. By projecting pixel data onto a two-dimensional chromaticity space, the system retains the essential information for accurate illuminant estimation while eliminating redundant data that would increase processing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by processing only the necessary subset of pixel data (chromaticity components) rather than the complete pixel data. This partial processing approach achieves sufficient estimation accuracy while significantly reducing processing time and computational resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
An image sensor apparatus is disclosed. The image sensor apparatus includes an image sensor for generating pixel data corresponding to a scene under a scene illuminant and a processor. The processor includes an illuminant estimation module for receiving a subset of the pixel data associated with a subset of a color space and finding a chromaticity trend in the pixel data subset to estimate the scene illuminant. A white balance and color correction module in the processor applies white balance and color correction coefficients to the pixel data according to the estimated scene illuminant.