Imaging System Boundary Detection for Active Image Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Imaging systems are 'blind' to the settings of the zoom device and the type of imaging scope used, leading to inadequate exposure and tone mapping, as well as inability to automatically adjust the active portion of the digital image for monitor display and centering, due to lack of determination of the boundary between active and inactive image portions.
Innovation Solution
An imaging system comprising an imaging scope, camera, image processor, and system controller that uses RANSAC and Hough Transform techniques to identify the boundary between active and inactive image portions, generating boundary data to automatically select and adjust camera settings such as exposure, gain, and image processing parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the imaging system uses a light sensor with a rectangular-shaped light-sensitive surface to receive the captured light beam, then the image coverage area is improved, but the system becomes blind to the boundary between active and inactive image portions, leading to inadequate exposure and tone mapping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing step between light capture and image output: analyzing the digital image to detect the boundary between active and inactive portions. This intermediary analysis enables the system to identify the circular image boundary on the rectangular sensor, allowing subsequent automatic adjustment of camera settings based on the actual active image area rather than treating the entire sensor area as active.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by using the detected boundary information to automatically adjust camera settings such as exposure and tone mapping. The boundary detection results feed back into the camera control, enabling the system to adapt its parameters based on the actual active image portion, thereby resolving the exposure and tone mapping issues that arose from the rectangular sensor configuration.
2Speed
If the system automatically adjusts camera settings without determining the boundary between active and inactive image portions, then the operation speed is improved, but the image quality deteriorates due to inadequate exposure and tone mapping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by detecting and analyzing the boundary between active and inactive image portions before final image processing and output. This preliminary boundary detection step allows the system to pre-determine the appropriate camera settings for exposure and tone mapping, ensuring image quality is optimized before the image is displayed or stored, rather than attempting corrective adjustments afterward.
3Productivity
If the system processes the entire rectangular light-sensitive surface as active, then the productivity is improved, but the loss of information increases due to including inactive portions in image processing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the relevant active portion of the image for processing by detecting the boundary between active and inactive portions. Instead of processing the entire rectangular sensor output, the system identifies and isolates the circular active image area, extracting only this meaningful data for subsequent processing steps. This eliminates the waste of computational resources on inactive portions while preserving all relevant image information.
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging system includes an imaging scope, a camera, an image processor, and a system controller. The imaging scope is configured to illuminate an object and capture light reflected from the object. The camera has a light sensor with a light-sensitive surface configured to receive the captured light from the imaging scope and generate a digital image representative of the captured light. The image processor is configured to receive the digital image from the camera and use at least one of a random sample consensus (RANSAC) technique and a Hough Transform technique to (i) identify a boundary between an active portion and an inactive portion of the digital image and (ii) generate boundary data indicative of a characteristic of the boundary. The system controller is configured to receive the boundary data from the image processor and use the boundary data to determine a parameter of the imaging system.