Infrared White Balancing for Mixed Lighting Scenes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Image capture devices struggle to accurately compensate for varying color temperatures of multiple illumination sources, leading to unnatural color shifts and decreased image quality.
Innovation Solution
Employing multi-point infrared measurements to distinguish different illumination sources within a scene and applying tailored white balancing corrections to each portion, combined with computer vision and metadata for enhanced accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If white balancing is applied to the entire image frame using a single correction, then processing is simple and fast, but color accuracy deteriorates in scenes with multiple illumination sources
Solution Approach 1:
The image frame is segmented into multiple portions based on infrared measurements that identify different illumination sources. Each portion is then white balanced independently with corrections tailored to its specific illumination source, rather than applying a single uniform correction to the entire frame. This segmentation enables accurate color correction in multi-illumination scenes while maintaining manageable processing complexity through systematic region-based handling.
Solution Approach 2:
Different white balancing corrections are applied to different portions of the image frame based on local illumination characteristics. Each region receives a customized correction profile matched to its specific light source temperature and type, ensuring local color accuracy rather than compromising the entire image with an average correction.
2Measurement precision
If infrared measurements are used to distinguish different illumination sources and apply tailored white balancing, then color accuracy improves, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Infrared measurements serve as an intermediary layer that bridges the gap between raw image data and accurate white balancing. The infrared channel detects illumination source characteristics without adding visible color cast, providing a clean signal for determining which white balancing correction to apply to each image portion. This intermediary measurement enables accurate multi-source white balancing while keeping the visible image processing relatively simple.
3Reliability
If different white balancing corrections are applied to different portions of the image, then natural appearance improves, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
Infrared measurements of illumination sources are obtained in advance and used to pre-determine the white balancing corrections needed for different image portions before the actual visible image processing occurs. This preliminary characterization of lighting conditions allows the system to prepare correction profiles ahead of time, reducing the computational burden during final image rendering and minimizing processing time penalties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Improves image quality by correcting color temperature inconsistencies, resulting in a more natural appearance and accurate representation of scenes with mixed lighting conditions.
Implementation Method 1
An infrared sensor of the image capture device may be used to obtain infrared measurements of a scene
Data Source
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AI summary
A multi-point measurement of a scene captured in an image frame may be used to process the image frame, such as by applying white balance corrections to the image frame. In some examples, the image frame may be segmented into portions that are illuminated by different illumination sources. Different portions of the image frame may be white balanced differently based on the color temperature of the illumination source for the corresponding portion. Infrared measurements of multiple points in the scene may be used to determine a characteristic of the illumination source of different portions of the scene. For example, a picture that includes indoor and outdoor portions may be illuminated by at least two illumination sources that produce different infrared measurements values. White balancing may be applied differently to these two portions to correct for color temperature of the different sources.