RGBIR Sensor Color Correction via IR Contamination Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hybrid RGBIR sensors face challenges in capturing images due to IR contamination of the RGB channels, leading to color errors that are difficult to correct, affecting image quality and accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A color correction system that employs demosaic processing to recover full resolution images by exploiting high-frequency correlations between RGB and IR channels, calculates IR weighting factors to correct for IR contamination, and reconstructs images into a mosaic Bayer pattern, effectively removing IR contamination from the RGB channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If hybrid RGBIR sensors are used to capture infrared components, then image brightness and tonality are improved, but IR contamination contaminates RGB channels and introduces color errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the harmful IR contamination from the RGB channels by calculating correction terms based on the IR channel data and subtracting these terms from the contaminated RGB channel data, thereby separating the useful RGB information from the harmful IR contamination
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the IR channel as an intermediary to estimate and calculate the contamination amount. By measuring the IR channel response, the system computes correction terms that represent the IR contamination level, which are then used to correct the RGB channels
2Measurement precision
If demosaic processing is applied to recover full resolution images, then color reproduction is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-calculating correction terms during the demosaic process before the final color correction is applied. The correction terms are computed based on the demosaiced IR channel data and stored for use in correcting the RGB channels, streamlining the overall processing workflow
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the color correction operation with the existing demosaic processing pipeline. By integrating the correction term calculation into the demosaic process and using the same processing resources and data structures, the system combines two operations into a unified workflow, reducing overall system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are provided for color correction of image frames, received from a hybrid RGBIR sensor, using resolution recovery of the red, green, blue (RGB), and infra-red (IR) channels. The color correction is to compensate for IR contamination of the RGB channels. A methodology implementing the techniques according to an embodiment includes a demosaic operation on the RGBIR image frame to generate full resolution red, green, blue, and IR frames. The demosaic operation includes filtering to extract Chroma and Luma components of the RGBIR image to reconstruct the full resolution images. The method also includes calculating an IR weighting factor for the pixels of each of the full resolution RGB frames, and correcting for IR contamination of those pixels by subtracting a scaled value of the corresponding pixels from the full resolution IR frame. The scaled value is based on the IR weighting factor associated with the pixel to be corrected.