HIMAX IMAGING LIMITED Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20150341537 | LOCAL ENHANCEMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD - An embodiment of a local enhancement apparatus is provided, in which a block divider divides an image into a plurality of blocks, and a first enhancement unit performs a brightness-preserved enhancement on each block of the plurality of blocks to generate a brightness-preserved block. A second enhancement unit performs a brightness-adjusted enhancement on the each block to generate a brightness-adjusted block. A scene dynamic range estimator generates a dynamic range of the image according to characteristics of the image. A blender blends the brightness-preserved blocks and the brightness-adjusted blocks to generate an enhanced image based on the dynamic range. | 11-26-2015 |
20150312464 | MULTI-EXPOSURE IMAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELIMINATING ROLLING SHUTTER FLICKER - A method for eliminating flicker of a multi-exposure imaging system is provided. The method includes the steps of: capturing a long exposure image based on a long exposure from a scene; capturing a short exposure image based on a short exposure from the scene; obtaining an exposure ratio of the long exposure to the short exposure; generating a long accumulated value by accumulating pixel values of a portion of the long exposure image; generating a short accumulated value by accumulating pixel values of a portion of the short exposure image corresponding to the portion of the long exposure image; and generating a flicker gain according to the long average value, the short average value and the exposure ratio. | 10-29-2015 |
20150310595 | LOCAL CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS - A local enhancement method is provided, including: dividing an image into a plurality of blocks, which include a first block and a second block adjacent to the first block; generating histograms of the blocks respectively; generating enhancement functions of the blocks respectively based on the corresponding histograms, wherein the enhancement functions include at least a first contrast enhancement function of the first block and a second contrast enhancement function of the second block; and for each pixel in the blocks: generating a first enhanced pixel value for a current pixel of the first block based on the first contrast enhancement; generating a second enhanced pixel value for the current pixel of the first block based on the second contrast function of the second block; and generating a final enhanced pixel value for the current pixel based on the first and second enhanced pixel values. | 10-29-2015 |
20150304580 | SENSING DEVICES - A sensing device is provided. The sensing device includes a plurality of pixel groups and a readout circuit. The pixel groups are arranged on a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns to form a pixel array. The pixel groups include a first pixel group and a second pixel group which are arranged on the different rows and the same column. The readout circuit is coupled to the pixel groups. When the first pixel group is triggered to perform a readout operation to generate a first sensing signal, the second pixel group performs a coupling operation to generate a reference signal. The readout circuit performs a subtraction operation based on the first sensing signal and the reference signal to generate a first readout data corresponding to the readout operation of the first pixel group. | 10-22-2015 |
20150281666 | IMAGE SENSOR EQUIPPED WITH ADDITIONAL GROUP OF SELECTIVELY TRANSMISSIVE FILTERS FOR ILLUMINANT ESTIMATION, AND ASSOCIATED ILLUMINANT ESTIMATION METHOD - An image sensor includes a two dimensional array of pixel elements, a color filter array, and a digital circuit. The color filter array is superimposed on and in registration with the two dimensional array of pixel elements. The color filter array includes a first group of selectively transmissive filters and a second group of selectively transmissive filters. The first group of selectively transmissive filters is arranged to selectively transmit spectral energy in M colors of the visible spectrum, wherein M is larger than two. The second group of selectively transmissive filters is arranged to selectively transmit spectral energy in N colors of the visible spectrum, wherein any selectively transmissive filter of the first and the second groups of selectively transmissive filters is arranged to transmit spectral energy in one specific color of the visible spectrum, and N is larger than M. An associated illuminant estimation method is also provided. | 10-01-2015 |
20150281611 | MULTI-MODE OPERATION PIXEL DESIGN FOR PIXEL PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT - A pixel circuit includes a plurality of pixel units, and one of the pixel units includes a photosensor, a readout circuit, and a switch circuit. The readout circuit is coupled to a supply voltage and the photosensor, which includes a floating diffusion node for storing data of the photosensor and an output node for outputting data of the floating diffusion node. The switch circuit is coupled between the photosensor and a tail node, wherein the tail node is coupled to the floating diffusion node of another pixel unit. | 10-01-2015 |
20150255497 | SHARED ACTIVE PIXEL SENSOR - A shared active pixel sensor with a shared photodiode, a shared sense node, a transfer gate, a shared reset gate and a shared source follower gate is disclosed. A shared photodiode includes at least a first signal node and a second signal node. A shared sense node electrically connected to the shared photodiode. A transfer gate disposed between the first signal node and the shared sense node to control the first signal node and the shared sense node. A shared reset gate is electrically connected to the shared sense node and a shared source follower gate reads a photocurrent from the shared photodiode. | 09-10-2015 |
20150200217 | WIDE DYNAMIC RANGE PIXEL CIRCUIT - A pixel circuit includes: a photodetector, a signal adjustment circuit and a switch circuit. The photodetector is employed for generating an output signal in response to light that is incident thereon. The signal adjustment circuit is coupled to the photodetector, and employed for selectively adjusting the output signal to allow the output signal to have a plurality of different logarithmic functions in respect to an intensity of the light. The switch circuit is coupled to the signal adjustment circuit and the photodetector, and employed for coupling the photodetector to the signal adjustment circuit. | 07-16-2015 |
20150181142 | IMAGE SENSOR WITH MULTI-SHARED PIXEL ARCHITECTURE AND DUAL READOUT PATH - An image sensor includes an M-shared pixel architecture, an N-shared pixel architecture and a switch unit, wherein M is an integer not smaller than two and N is an integer not smaller than two. The switch unit is coupled between a floating diffusion node of the M-shared pixel architecture and a floating diffusion node of the N-shared pixel architecture. | 06-25-2015 |
20150163471 | CAMERA ARRAY SYSTEM - A camera array system includes an image sensor device, a hybrid color filter array disposed above the image sensor device, and a lens array disposed above the hybrid color filter array. The hybrid color filter array includes plural kinds of monochromatic color filters and at least one mosaic filter; and the lens array includes a number of optic lenses. The at least one mosaic filter is utilized to perform stereo matching in order to estimate depth information. | 06-11-2015 |
20150130959 | IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND EXPOSURE CONTROL METHOD - An image processing device is provided. The image processing device includes a sensor array having a plurality of light sensors, configured to receive reflected light of a scene and generate an image array; an exposure controller, configured to receive the image array from the sensor array, and segment the image array into at least one regions; at least two timing controllers, wherein each timing controller is configured to receive pixel data of one of the at least one regions, respectively, and apply an individual exposure setting to the corresponding region; and an image processor, configured to generate an exposed image by organizing the exposed regions from the timing controllers. | 05-14-2015 |
20150124128 | LENS SHADING CORRECTION SYSTEM - A lens shading correction (LSC) system includes an illuminant estimator configured to calculate at least one spectral association-measurement of a current frame according to pixel data of an LSC circuit, and then to correlate the at least one calculated spectral association-measurement with spectral association-measurements of a plurality of pre-defined illuminants to determine at least one correlated illuminant. An LSC parameter generator retrieves at least one set of pre-calibrated LSC parameters from a pre-calibrated LSC parameter memory. The LSC parameter generator generates a set of LSC parameters based on the at least one retrieved set of pre-calibrated LSC parameters according to the at least one correlated illuminant. | 05-07-2015 |
20150116525 | METHOD FOR GENERATING HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES - The present disclosure provides a method for generating HDR images. Steps of the method include capturing a spatially varying exposure image data of a scene by an image sensing array using a first exposure value and a second exposure value, wherein the first exposure value is larger than the second exposure value; re-sampling the spatially varying exposure image data to obtain a first image data corresponding to the first exposure value and second image data corresponding to the second exposure value; determining a motion index of each pixel of a HDR image data according to the first image data and the second image data; determining a pixel value of each pixel of the HDR image data according to a corresponding first pixel value of the first image data, a corresponding second pixel value of the second image data and the motion index; and outputting the HDR image data. | 04-30-2015 |
20150093025 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - An image processing module is provided. A de-mosaic unit in the image processing module includes an edge direction detection unit and a multi-pixel directional interpolation unit. The edge direction detection unit is used to determine a first color row luminance difference according to a plurality of first color pixels of a pixel row of raw data, and determine a first color column luminance difference according to a plurality of first color pixels of a pixel column of raw data. The multi-pixels directional interpolation unit is used to determine pixel luminance of a third color array according to the first color column luminance difference, the first color row luminance difference, the third color pixels adjacent to a first color pixel and the third color pixels adjacent to a second color pixel. | 04-02-2015 |
20150077599 | LENS SHADING CORRECTION METHOD AND IMAGE SIGNAL PROCESSOR FOR PERFORMING THE SAME - A lens shading correction method for pixels of an image is provided. The method includes the steps of: inputting coordinates of the pixels and setting a threshold range on the image; providing a first gain function and a second gain function, each relating the coordinates of the pixels to brightness gains; performing the first gain function on the pixels located at the interior of the threshold range for calculating the brightness gains; and performing a blended gain function on the pixels located at the exterior of the threshold range for calculating the brightness gains, wherein the blended gain function is the combination of the first gain function and the second gain function. | 03-19-2015 |
20150070552 | IMAGE SENSOR WITH CONVEX SUBSTANCES AND NOTCHES WHICH CHANGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH DISTANCES TO IMAGE SENSOR CENTER - An image sensor is provided in the present invention, including a plurality of optical elements, wherein each optical element includes a semiconductor substrate, a dielectric layer and a color filter set. The semiconductor substrate includes a plurality of photosensitive units. The dielectric layer is disposed above the semiconductor substrate and includes a plurality of notches. The color filter set is disposed above the dielectric layer and includes a plurality of filter units and a plurality of convex substances corresponding to the filter units, and the convex substances and the notches are engaged with each other, wherein the convex substances and the notches change in accordance with the distance to the center of the image sensor. | 03-12-2015 |
20150062388 | IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE - A bad pixel correction method for an image is provided. The bad pixel correction method includes the steps of determining whether each of pixels of a predetermined block in the image is a bad pixel sequentially; when a current pixel of the block is determined to be bad and a temperature value is higher than a threshold, re-determining that at least one previously determined pixel in the predetermined block to be bad; and correcting the current pixel and the previously determined pixel, wherein the previously determined pixel is adjacent to the current pixel | 03-05-2015 |
20140355872 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING INTERPOLATING DIRECTION FOR COLOR DEMOSAICKING - The invention provides a method for determining interpolating direction for color demosaicking. In the method, edge information of each pixel of an image captured by a color filter array is first obtained. Then, a highly horizontal level and a highly vertical level of each pixel are determined. An interpolating direction of each pixel is determined based on the edge information, the highly horizontal level and the highly vertical level of the pixel. | 12-04-2014 |
20140063322 | ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH CAMERA FUNCTIONS - An electronic device with camera functions includes a housing and a camera module. The housing has a first opening and a second opening. The first opening is disposed on a display surface of the housing, and the second opening is disposed on a rear surface of the housing. The camera module is located between the first opening and the second opening. Therefore, a user can take a photograph for an object by the display surface or the rear surface of the electronic device facing toward the object. | 03-06-2014 |
20140037207 | SYSTEM AND A METHOD OF ADAPTIVELY SUPPRESSING FALSE-COLOR ARTIFACTS - A system and a method of adaptively suppressing false-color artifacts are disclosed. A luma spatial frequency unit detects edges or an area with a substantially high luma spatial frequency within an active window, and a chroma spatial frequency unit detects substantial fluctuations in colors within the active window. A false-color detector determines occurrence of false-color artifacts according to results of the luma spatial frequency unit and the chroma spatial frequency unit. A compensator performs compensation on chroma components if the false-color detector decides that the false-color artifacts occur. | 02-06-2014 |
20130266231 | SERIAL IMAGE DATA FORMAT AND METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERING IMAGE DATA FROM SERIAL TO PARALLEL - A method for converting image data from serial to parallel is provided. The method has steps of: receiving serial data of an image into a line buffer according to a serial clock signal of the image, wherein the serial data at least comprises a frame start code, and a row start code; detecting the frame start code of the serial data in the line buffer to trigger a vertical synchronous signal of the image; and detecting the row start code of the serial data in the line buffer to trigger a horizontal synchronous signal of the image. | 10-10-2013 |
20130165752 | ENDOSCOPE INTEGRATED WITH A LIGHT SOURCE - The invention is directed to an endoscope having a wafer-level imaging module (WLM) and a light source bonded on a substrate. The endoscope also includes a holder, to which the substrate with the bonded WLM and the bonded light source is attached. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165751 | WATERPROOF ENDOSCOPE AND A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - The invention is directed to a waterproof endoscope having a wafer-level imaging module (WLM) bonded on a substrate. The endoscope also includes a holder, which has a groove formed into an inner surface of the holder. First glue is filled in the groove, and second glue is applied at a junction between the holder and the tube. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165750 | ENDOSCOPE CAPABLE OF CHANGING DIRECTION - The invention is directed to an endoscope having a distal section coupled to a distal end of a tube, and a wire disposed in the tube, wherein a distal end of the wire is fixed at a distal point of the tube. The endoscope also includes a handling section coupled to a proximal end of the tube. The wire slidingly passes through a sliding point that is situated between the distal point and the proximal end of the wire, such that the wire is constrained at the sliding point. A proximal end of the wire is capable of being pulled to bend the tube. | 06-27-2013 |
20130165749 | ENDOSCOPE CAPABLE OF CAPTURING 3D IMAGE - An endoscope including a tube and a distal section is provided. The distal section, coupled to a distal end of the tube, includes a left wafer-level image sensor, disposed to capture at least one left image, and a right wafer-level image sensor, disposed to capture at least one right image. Wherein, the captured left image and right image are processed as a 3D image. | 06-27-2013 |
20130162789 | ENDOSCOPE WITH A LIGHT SOURCE - An endoscope including a tube, a wafer-level imaging module, a holder and a light source is provided. The wafer-level imaging module is coupled to a distal end of the tube. The holder is disposed to house the wafer-level imaging module. The light source is bonded on the surface of the holder. | 06-27-2013 |
20130162767 | ENDOSCOPE AND WIRELESS TRANSMISSION SYSTEM THEREOF - An endoscope, tied-in a display device, including a tube, a distal section and a handling section is provided. The distal section, coupled to a distal end of the tube, includes a first wafer-level image sensor which is disposed to capture at least one first image. The handling section, coupled to a proximal end of the tube, includes a transmitter which transmits the first image to the display device via a wireless connection. | 06-27-2013 |
20130128083 | HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGE SENSING DEVICE AND IMAGE SENSING METHOD AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A high dynamic range (HDR) image sensing method is provided. The image sensor includes steps of: sensing an image with a long integration time by a first long integration time sensor; and sensing the image with a short integration time by a first short integration time sensor. | 05-23-2013 |
20130077860 | IMAGE SIGNAL PROCESSOR AND METHOD FOR IMAGE ENHANCEMENT - An image signal processor for image enhancement is provided. The image signal processor receives a first, a second, and a third component of an RGB signal of each pixel of an image, and has: an image enhancer for performing image enhancement on the first component of the RGB signal to produce a first enhanced component of the RGB signal; a gain generator, coupled to the image enhancer, for producing an enhancement gain based on the first component and the first enhanced component of the RGB signal; and a gain multiplier, coupled to the gain generator, for performing image enhancement on the second and the third component based on the enhancement gain to produce a second and a third enhanced component. | 03-28-2013 |
20130077858 | IMAGE PROCESSING MODULE AND IMAGE PROCESSING METHOD - An image processing module is provided. A de-mosaic unit in the image processing module includes an edge direction detection unit and a multi-pixel directional interpolation unit. The edge direction detection unit is used to determine an edge direction of a central pixel of the pixel array. The multi-pixels directional interpolation unit is used to determine at least one missing color value of the central pixel based on the edge direction, and determine at least one missing color value of the neighboring pixels based on the edge direction. An image enhancement unit in the image processing module is connected to the de-mosaic unit. | 03-28-2013 |