Optical Zoom Fusion via Pixel Mapping and Morphing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dual-lenses designs in smartphones fail to achieve a clear and precise optical zooming mechanism, resulting in blurred images and significant skipping of objects between zoomed images due to differences in hardware parameters between standard and wide-angle lenses.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a wide-angle image capturing element and a long-focus image capturing element, where both elements capture images of the same spot, followed by exposure and white balance adjustment, robust image matching, and image morphing fusion to generate a new wide-angle image, ensuring consistent and clear zooming without skipping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If dual-lenses designs with standard and wide-angle lenses are used, then the smartphone can capture images with different fields of view, but the images suffer from blurring and significant skipping of objects during zooming due to hardware parameter differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses pixel correspondence relationship as an intermediary to bridge the wide-angle image and long-focus image. By establishing and applying pixel mapping relationships between the two different lens systems, the method enables seamless transition and fusion of images captured by lenses with different hardware parameters, eliminating skipping and blurring while maintaining adaptability across multiple fields of view
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts processing parameters including pixel correspondence relationships, fusion weights, and exposure settings based on the specific lens combination being used. By changing these parameters according to the particular wide-angle and standard lens pairing, the system optimizes image quality and eliminates skipping artifacts for each specific hardware configuration
2Illumination intensity
If a single lens with large aperture and wide angle design is used, then the smartphone camera can capture images of people and near objects under indoor and low light environments, but it cannot provide optical zooming function and causes background or foreground to be blurred
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the imaging function into multiple specialized lenses: a wide-angle lens for low light and wide scene capture, and a long-focus lens for optical zooming. By dividing the single-lens design into multiple lens segments with specialized functions, the system achieves both low light capability and optical zooming without compromise
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a multi-functional camera system where the wide-angle lens handles low light and wide scene imaging, while the long-focus lens provides optical zooming capability. The image fusion algorithm integrates outputs from both lenses, giving the single camera module universal functionality equivalent to multiple specialized cameras
3Manufacturing precision
If exposure and white balance adjustment are performed separately on wide-angle and long-focus images, then the images can be optimized for their respective characteristics, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the exposure and white balance adjustment processes into a unified image fusion framework. By combining multiple processing steps (exposure adjustment, white balance, pixel correspondence, and fusion) into an integrated pipeline, the system optimizes image quality across different lens combinations while managing processing complexity through systematic organization of operations
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is to provide a method for achieving a clear and precise optical zooming mechanism, which is applied to an electronic device equipped with a wide-angle image capturing element and a long-focus image capturing element. The wide-angle image capturing element and the long-focus image capturing element are controlled by the electronic device for capturing a wide-angle image and a long-focus image of a same spot simultaneously and respectively. The method enables the electronic device to sequentially perform an exposure and white balance adjustment process, a robust image matching algorithm and an image morphing fusion process to the wide-angle image and the long-focus image, respectively, so as to generate a clear and precise optical zooming image of the spot without having a significant skipping phenomenon occurred in an object within two zooming images.