Vehicle Camera Image Processing for Reflected Light Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle image processing technologies fail to effectively remove reflected light from headlights and taillights of other vehicles, leading to driver dazzling and reduced visibility at night or in rainy conditions, increasing the risk of collisions.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus and method that utilize a camera and controller to extract and separate elliptical or closed surface-shaped light regions from image data, identifying and removing reflected light by comparing with stored data and adjusting brightness to match the road surface, thereby improving driver visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If brightness of display is controlled to prevent dazzling, then driver comfort is improved, but visibility of surrounding vehicles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The light region is segmented into two distinct components: point source (headlights/taillights of other vehicles) and reflected light (glare on road surface). By separating these components through shape analysis, the system can selectively process only the reflected light portion to remove dazzling effects while preserving the point source information that indicates other vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
Different processing strategies are applied to different regions of the image based on their characteristics. The point source regions (actual vehicles) are preserved with original brightness, while the reflected light regions (glare areas) are selectively dimmed or removed. This local differentiation allows simultaneous maintenance of vehicle visibility and reduction of driver dazzling.
2Illumination intensity
If reflected light is removed from image data, then driver visibility is improved, but image processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary classification of light regions into point sources and reflected light based on shape characteristics (elliptical/closed surface shapes) before executing the removal process. By pre-identifying and separating reflected light regions through shape analysis, the subsequent removal operation becomes a simple targeted adjustment rather than complex global processing, thus limiting the increase in processing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses shape parameters (elliptical shape, closed surface shape) as the basis for identifying reflected light regions. By changing the approach from intensity-based processing to shape-based classification, the system achieves efficient separation of reflected light from point sources using relatively simple geometric analysis, thereby controlling processing complexity while improving visibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus and a method for processing an image mounted in a vehicle include a camera mounted in the vehicle to acquire image data around the vehicle. A controller is configured to analyze the image data to extract at least one light region having an elliptical shape or a closed surface shape formed of a free curve, separates the light region into a point source and reflected light, and then corrects and outputs the image data of a location at which the reflected light is confirmed.