Patent · US Expired

Red/near-infrared filtering for CCD cameras

US5555464A · kind A · utility

51Cited by
6References
3Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateJul 28, 1995
Grant dateSep 10, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 28, 2015

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/131
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A CCD camera is adapted for detecting red and near-infrared wavelengths by employing filters that are constructed to allow for the passage of only red light in certain areas and near-infrared light in other areas of the filter. The areas are designed to match the pixel geometry of the lens of a primary color CCD camera that has a predefined pattern of red, blue and green pixels. The match is such that the red bandpass filter areas overlay the red pixels, and the near-infrared bandpass filter areas match the blue and green pixel areas. The red, green and blue output lines of the CCD camera are supplied to a signal processor which uses the signals on these lines to provide combinations of red and near-infrared magnitude that are capable of detecting vegetation from a background. The camera is suitable for full color use again merely by removing the filter that provides R and NIR sensing without otherwise disabling or modifying the camera.

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