Image acquisition method and image acquisition apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9888186-B2
Application number	US-201515117183-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2015
Priority date	Mar 13, 2014
Publication date	Feb 6, 2018
Grant date	Feb 6, 2018

Abstract

Image processing technologies and acquisition methods and apparatus are provided. A method comprises obtaining at least two images of different image quality of a target scene, and combining, according to data characteristics of the at least two images, the at least two images locally to obtain a target image. In a method and apparatus of the embodiments of the present application, local combination is performed on at least two images of different image quality according to data characteristics of the images, so that the dynamic range and/or signal-to-noise ratio can be improved locally on the basis of presenting image details as fully as possible, that is, the image quality can be improved according to requirements.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining, by a device comprising a processor, at least two images of different image quality of a target scene; and
combining, according to data characteristics of the at least two images, the at least two images locally to obtain a target image, wherein the combining, according to the data characteristics of the at least two images, the at least two images locally to obtain the target image comprises:
using a first partial region of a first image of a first resolution and a first dynamic range in the at least two images to replace a first corresponding region of a second image of a second resolution and a second dynamic range in the at least two images, to obtain the target image, wherein the first resolution is lower than the second resolution, and wherein the first dynamic range is greater than the second dynamic range, or
using a second partial region of the first image of the first resolution and a first signal-to-noise ratio in the at least two images to replace a second corresponding region of the second image of the second resolution and a second signal-to-noise ratio in the at least two images, to obtain the target image, wherein the first resolution is lower than the second resolution, and wherein the first signal-to-noise ratio is greater than the second signal-to-noise ratio.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two images of different image quality are images of different resolutions and of different dynamic ranges or signal-to-noise ratios.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the at least two images of different image quality of the target scene comprises:
obtaining, using at least three exposures for different durations of one image sensor and pixel binning, the at least two images of different resolutions and dynamic ranges.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the at least two images of different image quality of the target scene comprises:
obtaining, using one exposure of at least two image sensors, the at least two images of different resolutions and signal-to-noise ratios.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the obtaining the at least two images of different image quality of the target scene comprises:
obtaining, using one exposure of one image sensor and pixel binning, the at least two images of different resolutions and dynamic ranges.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the using the first partial region of the first image of the first resolution and the first dynamic range in the at least two images to replace the first corresponding region of the second image of the second resolution and the second dynamic range in the at least two images, to obtain the target image comprises:
analyzing a histogram of the first image region by region;
determining the first partial region according to a result of the analyzing the histogram; and
determining the first corresponding region in the second image and using the first partial region to replace the first corresponding region.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the using the second partial region of the first image of the first resolution and the first signal-to-noise ratio in the at least two images to replace the second corresponding region of the second image of the second resolution and the second signal-to-noise ratio in the at least two images, to obtain the target image comprises:
performing downsampling processing on the second image region by region;
determining, according to another image obtained by the downsampling processing and the first image, a mean square error of noise signals region by region;
determining the second partial region according to the mean square error; and
determining the second corresponding region in the second image and using the second partial region to replace the second corresponding region.

8. The method of claims 1 , wherein the first partial region or the first corresponding region, or the second partial region or the second corresponding region does not comprise a region with semantic information that exceeds a preset threshold.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the combining, according to the data characteristics of the at least two images, the at least two images locally to obtain the target image further comprises:
detecting semantic information of the first image or the second image of the at least two images.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein in the process of the using the first partial region to replace the first corresponding region or in the process of the using the second partial region to replace the second corresponding region, the replacement is performed pixel by pixel.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein, in the process of the using the first partial region to replace the first corresponding region or in the process of the using the second partial region to replace the second corresponding region, the replacement is performed by using alpha-blending.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first partial region or the second partial region is of an irregular shape.

13. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor, coupled to a memory, that executes or facilitates execution of executable modules, comprising:
an image obtaining module configured to obtain at least two images of different image qualities of a target scene; and
a processing module configured to combine, according to data characteristics of the at least two images, the at least two images locally, to obtain a target image, wherein:
the processing module uses a first partial region of a first image of the at least two images to replace a corresponding first region of a second image of the at least two images to obtain the target image, wherein the first image is of a first resolution and is of a first dynamic range, wherein the second image is of a second resolution and is of a second dynamic range, wherein the first resolution is lower than the second resolution, and wherein the first dynamic range is greater than the second dynamic range, or
the processing module uses a second partial region of the first image of the at least two images to replace a corresponding second region of the second image of the at least two images, to obtain the target image, wherein the first image is of the first resolution and of a first signal-to-noise ratio, wherein the second image is of the second resolution and is of a second signal-to-noise ratio, wherein the first resolution is lower than the second resolution, and wherein the first signal-to-noise ratio is greater than the second signal-to-noise ratio.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image obtaining module obtains, via processing at least three exposures, the at least two images having different resolutions and different dynamic ranges, and wherein the three exposures are respectively captured for different durations of one image sensor via pixel binning.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image obtaining module obtains the at least two images having different resolutions and different signal-to-noise ratios via processing of one exposure of at least two image sensors.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the image obtaining module obtains the at least two images having different resolutions and different dynamic ranges via processing of one exposure of one image sensor via pixel binning.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the processing module comprises:
a first analysis unit configured to analyze a histogram of the first image region by region;
a first determining unit configured to determine the first partial region according to t

Assignees

• Beijing Zhigu Ruituo Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zhou Hanning
• Ding Dayong

Classifications

• H04N23/81 Primary

  for suppressing or minimising disturbance in the image signal generation · CPC title

• H04N23/741

  by increasing the dynamic range of the image compared to the dynamic range of the electronic image sensors · CPC title

• G06F18/22

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

• H04N5/2355 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• G06K2009/4666

  Physics · mapped topic