Mobile Image Processing Bit Width Extension for Highlight Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current image processing technologies face challenges in handling highlights, where high brightness areas lead to loss of detail information due to saturation, especially in mobile terminals, resulting in poor image quality and increased power consumption from multi-frame processing and limited restoration effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
An image processing method that increases the bit width of signal values exceeding saturation during image processing, allowing for mapping back to the original bit width to retain highlight information, thereby avoiding the need for multi-frame processing and improving restoration quality without scene-specific limitations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multi-frame processing is used to restore highlight information, then restoration effectiveness is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by extending the bit width of the image signal before processing occurs. By preparing the signal with sufficient bit width (e.g., 10-bit or 12-bit) to accommodate potential highlight values, the system prevents saturation from occurring in the first place. This eliminates the need for subsequent multi-frame processing to recover lost highlight details, thereby reducing power consumption while maintaining restoration effectiveness.
2Productivity
If standard bit width processing is used, then processing speed is maintained, but highlight detail information is lost due to saturation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the bit width parameter of the image signal from the standard 8-bit to extended 10-bit or 12-bit. This parameter change allows the signal to represent a wider range of brightness values without saturation. The processing speed is maintained because the extended bit width processing is performed in a single pass through the image data, avoiding the need for multiple processing passes or complex algorithms.
3Loss of information
If bit width is increased to retain highlight information, then information retention is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by simply extending the bit width parameter of the image signal from 8-bit to 10-bit or 12-bit. This is a straightforward parameter modification that can be implemented in existing image processing pipelines without requiring complex additional hardware or software. The extended bit width allows highlight information to be retained throughout processing, and the signal is subsequently mapped back to the standard 8-bit range for output, maintaining compatibility with standard display devices.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are an image processing method and device, a mobile terminal, and a storage medium. The method includes: acquiring a first image output by an image sensor; responsive to that a first signal value of the first image after being processed exceeds a saturation value of a first bit width at a preset image processing stage, recording the first signal value of the processed first image as a second signal value with a second bit width, the second bit width being greater than the first bit width; and mapping the second signal value recorded with the second bit width to a third signal value recorded with the first bit width to obtain a second image. Through the method, an operation of increasing a bit width can be used to retain more information of an image and improve the quality of the image, and an implementation is simple and effective.