Patent · US Active

Imaging systems with high dynamic range and phase detection pixels

US10498990B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
1References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 21, 2018
Grant dateDec 3, 2019
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 6, 2038

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/10
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A pixel may include an inner sub-pixel group and an outer sub-pixel group. The inner sub-pixel group may have a smaller light collecting area than the outer sub-pixel group and therefore be less sensitive to light than the outer sub-pixel group. This may enable the pixel to be used to generate high dynamic range images, even with the sub-pixel groups using the same length integration time. The inner sub-pixel group may be nested within the outer sub-pixel group. Additionally, one or both of the inner sub-pixel group and the outer sub-pixel group can be split into at least two sub-pixels so that the sub-pixel group can be used to gather phase detection data. Adjacent pixels may have sub-pixel groups split in different directions to enable detection of vertical and horizontal edges in a scene.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.