Embodiments of imaging devices of the present disclosure automatically utilize simultaneous image captures in an image processing pipeline. In one embodiment, control processing circuitry initiates simultaneous capture of the first image by the first image sensor and the second image by the second image sensor; and image processing circuitry generates an enhanced monoscopic image comprising at least portions of the first image and the second image.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An image capture device, comprising: a first image sensor for recording a first image of a scene; a second image sensor for recording a second image of the scene; control processing circuitry to initiate simultaneous capture of the first image of the scene by the first image sensor and the second image of the scene by the second image sensor; and image processing circuitry to generate an enhanced monoscopic image of the scene comprising at least portions of the first image and the second image, wherein the image processing circuitry is configured to process first pixels of the first image less than all of which are also contained in the second image in a first processing path and to process second pixels of the second image that are not contained in the first image in a second processing path.
2. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the enhanced monoscopic image comprises a first portion obtained from the first image and a second portion obtained from the second image, wherein the first portion comprises at least one of having an exposure level that is different from the second portion or having a depth of field that is different from the second portion.
3. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein a resolution of the enhanced monoscopic image is greater than individual resolutions of the first image and the second image.
4. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the second image is analyzed and compared with the first image to isolate a defect in the first image, wherein the enhanced monoscopic image is a corrected version of the first image with the defect removed.
5. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein: the control processing circuitry is configured to operate in a stereoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image; a monoscopic mode utilizing singular operation of the first image sensor to generate a monoscopic image; and an enhanced monoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate the enhanced monoscopic image; and the control processing circuitry is configured to automatically switch between modes of operation comprising at least two of the monoscopic mode, the stereoscopic mode, or the enhanced monoscopic mode.
6. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the first image is used as image data for the enhanced monoscopic image and the second image is used as enhancement data to enhance at least one image characteristic of the first image, wherein the enhanced monoscopic image comprises the first image with the at least one improved characteristic.
7. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the first image sensor is configured to operate at a first binning level during the simultaneous capture that is different from a second binning level at which the second image sensor is configured to operate during the simultaneous capture.
8. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein at least one pixel of the enhanced monoscopic image is derived from an average of at least one pixel in the first image and at least one pixel in the second image.
9. The image capture device of claim 1 , wherein the image processing circuitry is configured to: identify the first pixels of the first image that are also contained in the second image; remove the identified pixels in the second image from the second image; and process remaining pixels of the second image in the second processing path, wherein the remaining pixels comprise the second pixels.
10. An image processing method, comprising: recording a first image captured by a first image sensor; recording a second image captured by a second image sensor, wherein the first image and the second image are simultaneously captured; comparing at least portions of the first image and the second image, wherein the comparing comprises: identifying, using a mask, pixels in the second image that are similar to pixels in the first image; removing the identified pixels in the second image from the second image; processing the first image in a first processing path; processing remaining pixels of the second image in a second processing path; and responsive to outputs of the first processing path and the second processing path, generating an enhanced monoscopic image.
11. The image processing method of claim 10 , wherein the first image is used as image data for the enhanced monoscopic image and the second image is used as enhancement data to enhance at least one image characteristic of the first image, wherein the enhanced monoscopic image comprises the first image with the at least one improved characteristic.
12. The image processing method of claim 11 , wherein the at least one improved characteristic comprises at least one of an improved depth of field, an improved resolution; or an improved exposure level.
13. The image processing method of claim 10 , wherein the second image is analyzed and compared with the first image to isolate a defect in the first image, wherein the enhanced monoscopic image is a corrected version of the first image with the defect removed.
14. The image processing method of claim 13 , wherein: the defect comprises a lens shading defect, and the first image sensor comprises an image sensor that is configured to pass red, green, or blue light to sensor pixels and the second image sensor comprises a different type of image sensor than the first image sensor.
15. The image processing method of claim 10 , wherein an image capture device comprises the first image sensor and the second image sensor, the method further comprising: switching operation of the image capture device between a stereoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image; a monoscopic mode utilizing singular operation of the first image sensor to generate a monoscopic image; and an enhanced monoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate the enhanced monoscopic image.
16. The image processing method of claim 10 , wherein at least one pixel of the enhanced monoscopic image is derived from an average of at least one pixel in the first image and at least one pixel in the second image.
17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having an image processing program, when executed by a hardware processor, causing the hardware processor to: record a first image captured by a first image sensor; record a second image captured by a second image sensor, wherein the first image and the second image are simultaneously captured; compare at least portions of the first image and the second image, wherein the comparing comprises: identifying, using a mask, pixels in the second image that are similar to pixels in the first image; removing the identified pixels in the second image from the second image; processing the first image in a first processing path; processing remaining pixels of the second image in a second processing path; and responsive to outputs of the first processing path and the second processing path, generate an enhanced monoscopic image.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein an image capture device comprises the first image sensor and the second image sensor, the image processing program further causing the hardware processor to: switch operation of the image capture device between a stereoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image; a monoscopic mode utilizing singular operation of the first image sensor to generate a monoscopic image; and an enhanced monoscopic mode utilizing simultaneous operation of the first image sensor and the second image sensor to generate the enhanced monoscopic image.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the first image is used as image data for the enhanced monoscopic image and the second image is used as support data to correct a defect in the first image.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the first image is used as image data for the enhanced monoscopic image and the second image is used as enhancement data to enhance at least one image characteristic of the first image, wherein the enhanced monoscopic image comprises the first image with the at least one improved characteristic.
21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17 , wherein at least one pixel of the enhanced monoscopic image is derived from an average of at least one pixel in the first image and at least one pixel in the second image.
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December 22, 2011
February 23, 2016
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