Method controlling image sensor parameters

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020007809-A1
Application number	US-201916449287-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 21, 2019
Priority date	Sep 25, 2015
Publication date	Jan 2, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of controlling parameters for image sensors includes; receiving a first image and a second image, calculating first feature values related to the first image and second feature values related to the second image; generating comparison results by comparing the first feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the first image with the second feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the second image, and controlling at least one parameter on the basis of the comparison results.

First claim

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . An image sensor control system comprising:
a first camera having a first characteristic information including a first field-of view, a first focal length, a first resolution, and a first pixel pitch, the first camera being configured to generate a first image; a second camera having a second characteristic information including a second field-of view different from the first field-of view, a second focal length different from the first focal length, a second resolution different from the first resolution, and a second pixel pitch different from the first pixel pitch, the second camera being configured to generate a second image; and a controller configured to extract a first feature values from the first image and a second feature values from the second image, and to generate a third image different from the first and second images.

22 . The image sensor control system of claim 21 , wherein the controller is configured to control parameters of at least one of the first camera and the second camera based on at least one of the first and second feature values.

23 . The image sensor control system of claim 21 , wherein the parameters include at least one of an analog gain and an exposure time.

24 . The image sensor control system of claim 21 , wherein the controller is configured to:
generate a first corrected image by correcting the first image based on the first characteristic information and a second corrected image by correcting the second image based on the second characteristic information, and calculate the first feature values of the first corrected image and the second feature values of the second corrected image.

25 . The image sensor control system of claim 24 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the first corrected image by performing at least one of geometric transformation and image interpolation using the first characteristic information.

26 . The image sensor control system of claim 24 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate first comparison results by comparing the first feature values of fixed-size regions of the first corrected image with the second feature values of fixed-size regions of the second corrected image, generate second comparison results by comparing the first feature values of variable-size regions of the first corrected image with the second feature values of variable-size regions of the second corrected image, based on the first comparison results, and generate the third image based on the second comparison results, wherein the fixed-size regions are obtained by dividing a specific region for each of the first corrected image and the second corrected image equally according to a preset size and the variable-size regions are regions of different sizes contained in the specific region for each of the first corrected image and the second corrected image.

27 . The image sensor control system of claim 26 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate third comparison results by comparing the first feature values of other variable-size regions of the first corrected image with the second feature values of other variable-size regions of the second corrected image, and generate the third image based on the second comparison results and the third comparison results.

28 . The image sensor control system of claim 21 , wherein:
the first feature values comprise luminance values of the first image, and the second feature values comprise luminance values of the second image.

29 . The image sensor control system of claim 28 , wherein:
the first feature values further comprise at least one of saturation values, signal-to-noise ratio values, and detail values associated with the luminance values of the first image, and the second feature values further comprise at least one of saturation values, signal-to-noise ratio values, and detail values associated with the luminance values of the second image.

30 . An image sensor control system comprising:
a master camera having a first characteristic information including a first field-of view, a first focal length, a first resolution, and a first pixel pitch, the master camera being configured to generate a first image; a slave camera having a second characteristic information including a second field-of view different from the first field-of view, a second focal length different from the first focal length, a second resolution different from the first resolution, and a second pixel pitch different from the first pixel pitch, the slave camera being configured to generate a second image; and a controller configured to extract a first feature values from the first image and a second feature values from the second image, and to generate a third image based on at least one of the first feature values and the second feature values.

31 . The image sensor control system of claim 30 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the third image different from the first and second images by controlling the slave camera based on the first feature values.

32 . The image sensor control system of claim 30 , wherein the controller is configured to control parameters of at least one of the master camera and the slave camera based on at least one of the first and second feature values.

33 . The image sensor control system of claim 32 , wherein the parameters include at least one of an analog gain and an exposure time.

34 . The image sensor control system of claim 30 , wherein the controller is configured to:
generate a first corrected image by correcting the first image based on the first characteristic information and a second corrected image by correcting the second image based on the second characteristic information, and calculate the first feature values of the first corrected image and the second feature values of the second corrected image.

35 . The image sensor control system of claim 34 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the first feature values based on pixel values of fixed-size regions of the first corrected image and pixel values of variable-size regions of the first corrected image,
wherein the fixed-size regions are obtained by dividing a specific region for the first corrected image equally according to a preset size and the variable-size regions are regions of different sizes contained in the specific region for the first corrected image.

36 . An image sensor control system comprising:
a first camera having a first characteristic information including a first field-of view, a first focal length, a first resolution, and a first pixel pitch, the first camera being configured to generate a first image in response to first parameters; a second camera having a second characteristic information including a second field-of view different from the first field-of view, a second focal length different from the first focal length, a second resolution different from the first resolution, and a second pixel pitch different from the first pixel pitch, the second camera being configured to generate a second image in response to second parameters; and a controller configured to extract a first feature values from the first image and a second feature values from the second image, and to control at least one of the first camera and the second camera based on the first feature values and the second feature values, and to generate a third image different from the first image and the second image by controlling at least one parameter among the first parameters and the second parameters.

Assignees

• Ko Ha Young
• Noh Yo Hwan
• Kim Chae Sung
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ko Ha Young
• Noh Yo Hwan
• Kim Chae Sung

Classifications

• H04N23/72

  Combination of two or more compensation controls · CPC title

• H04N23/71

  Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation · CPC title

• H04N23/45

  for generating image signals from two or more image sensors being of different type or operating in different modes, e.g. with a CMOS sensor for moving images in combination with a charge-coupled device [CCD] for still images · CPC title

• G06F18/22

  Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures · CPC title

• H04N13/133

  Equalising the characteristics of different image components, e.g. their average brightness or colour balance · CPC title