Predictive Image Sensor Cropping for Video Stabilization
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-resolution image sensors and devices with multiple image capture units face challenges in processing and stabilizing video frames due to computational, memory, and thermal resource limitations, as well as difficulties in mapping between different field of views and resolutions, leading to inefficiencies in video image stabilization (VIS) operations.
Innovation Solution
Implementing predictive image sensor cropping operations within the image signal processing (ISP) pipeline to selectively read and process only the necessary pixels, using prior image information and positional data to determine cropping regions, thereby reducing the number of pixels processed and improving memory and thermal efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all pixels of high-resolution video frames are read out and processed to determine VIS operations, then the quality of image stabilization is improved, but the computational load, memory usage, and thermal resources are excessively consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and processes only the necessary subset of pixels (cropped regions) from high-resolution video frames instead of all pixels. By identifying and processing only the relevant pixel regions required for VIS operations, the system maintains stabilization quality while significantly reducing computational load and memory consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the high-resolution video frame into multiple regions, identifying and processing only the cropped regions that contain relevant information for stabilization. This segmentation allows the system to divide the processing task into manageable portions, reducing overall computational requirements while maintaining stabilization effectiveness.
2Measurement precision
If image sensor cropping operations are performed later in the ISP pipeline, then more complete image information is available for accurate cropping decisions, but the computational resources are wasted on processing unnecessary pixels earlier in the pipeline
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs image sensor cropping operations at an early stage in the ISP pipeline, before full image processing occurs. By making cropping decisions based on available preliminary image information (such as exposure data or preliminary processing results), the system eliminates unnecessary pixels early, preventing waste of computational resources on processing pixels that will ultimately be discarded.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple image capture devices with different resolutions are used, then the versatility and field of view coverage are improved, but the difficulty of mapping between different FOVs and resolutions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the resolution parameter by cropping high-resolution images to match the resolution of lower-resolution image capture devices. This parameter transformation simplifies the mapping process between devices with different resolutions and fields of view, reducing the complexity of multi-device coordination while maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, methods, and non-transitory program storage devices are disclosed herein to perform predictive image sensor cropping operations to improve the performance of video image stabilization operations, especially for high resolution image sensors. According to some embodiments, the techniques include, for each of one or more respective images of a first plurality of images: obtaining image information corresponding to one or more images in the first plurality of images captured prior to the respective image; predicting, for the respective image, an image sensor cropping region to be read out from the first image sensor; and then reading out, into a memory, a first cropped version of the respective image comprising only the predicted image sensor cropping region for the respective image. Then, a first video may be produced based, at least in part, on the first cropped versions of the one or more respective images of the first plurality of images.