Random Optical Filter Array for High-Resolution Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional color imaging devices with a single image sensor face challenges in capturing high-resolution images due to limited information acquisition across red, green, and blue wavelength regions, leading to potential resolution decline and artifacts like false colors during demosaicing.
Innovation Solution
An image generation device employing a random optical filter array with concave lenses and optical filters of varying transmission characteristics, where concave lenses are placed between or in front of optical filters and a photodiode, allowing light to diverge and mix information across pixels, enabling sufficient data capture and high-resolution image generation using compressed sensing techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single image sensor is used to reduce size and cost, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision of color information deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the color filtering function by placing multiple optical filters (red, green, blue) in a random pattern array in front of a single image sensor. Each pixel captures information from multiple wavelength regions through the random filter arrangement, enabling color information acquisition without using multiple separate image sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new dimension of random spatial arrangement for the optical filters, moving away from traditional regular Bayer patterns. This random dimensionality allows each pixel to receive diverse wavelength information through compressed sensing, improving color measurement precision while maintaining single-sensor simplicity.
2Loss of information
If demosaicing is used to acquire three wavelength regions per pixel, then color information completeness is improved, but image resolution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by having each pixel capture mixed wavelength information from multiple optical filters simultaneously through the random filter array. This pre-capture of diverse spectral information at each pixel location eliminates the need for post-processing demosaicing, thereby preserving image resolution while achieving complete color information.
Solution Approach 2:
The random optical filter array acts as an intermediary that enables each pixel to directly capture multiple wavelength regions. This intermediary structure allows compressed sensing to reconstruct complete color information without traditional demosaicing operations, maintaining both color completeness and resolution.
3Loss of information
If demosaicing processing is applied to reconstruct full color information, then color information completeness is improved, but image quality deteriorates due to artifacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the demosaicing processing step entirely from the imaging system. By using a random optical filter array with compressed sensing, the system directly captures sufficient color information at each pixel without requiring subsequent demosaicing operations, thereby eliminating the source of false color artifacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potential harm of information loss into a benefit by using compressed sensing with a random filter array. The random arrangement creates a measurement matrix that, when combined with sparsity constraints, enables accurate reconstruction of color information without demosaicing artifacts, turning the randomness from a disadvantage into an advantage.
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
This approach suppresses resolution decline and generates high-quality, artifact-free color images by ensuring each pixel receives diverse information from multiple wavelength regions, enhancing image fidelity and reducing false color artifacts.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of concave lenses and a plurality of optical filters having different transmission characteristics... the plurality of concave lenses are located between the plurality of types of optical filters and the photodiode
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of optical filters having different transmission characteristics... acquire information regarding the three different wavelength regions of red (R), green (G), and blue (B)
Implementation Method 3
a photodiode that receives light that has passed through the random optical filter array
Data Source
AI summary
An imaging system serving as an image generation device is provided with: a random color filter array that has a plurality of concave lenses and a plurality of color filters having different transmission characteristics; a photodiode that receives light that has passed through the random color filter array; an AD converter that converts the light received by the photodiode into digital data; and a color image generation circuit that generates an image using the digital data and modulation information of the random color filter array, in which the plurality of concave lenses are located between the plurality of color filters and the photodiode, or the plurality of color filters are located between the plurality of concave lenses and the photodiode.