Digital video camera with binning or skipping correction
View Patent ↗A method of operation for a video camera and the video camera are disclosed. The method generally comprises the steps of (A) sensing an optical signal with a plurality of pixels to generate an input signal, wherein the sensing is capable of a pixel reduction by at least one of binning the pixels and skipping some of the pixels and (B) processing the input signal in order to reduce artifacts caused by the pixel reduction to generate an output signal.
1. A method of operation for a video camera, comprising the steps of:
(A) sensing an optical signal with a plurality of pixels to generate an input signal, wherein said sensing is capable of a pixel reduction by at least one of binning said pixels and skipping some of said pixels;
(B) processing said input signal in order to reduce artifacts caused by said pixel reduction to generate an output signal; and
(C) sharpening a picture formed by said pixels, wherein a first amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is active differs from a second amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is inactive.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (B) comprises the sub-steps of:
changing a spatial position for each of said pixels in said output signal relative to said input signal without changing a spatial size of said picture formed by said pixels; and
maintaining said spatial position for each of said pixels in said output signal relative to said input signal while said pixel reduction is inactive.
3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said changing causes each of said pixels in said output signal to have substantially equal spatial separation from each other in at least one of (i) a horizontal direction and (ii) a vertical direction.
4. The method according to claim 2 , wherein said changing comprises the sub-step of:
interpolating said pixels in said input signal.
5. The method according to claim 2 , wherein step (C) comprises the sub-step of:
demosaicing said pixels after said changing said spatial position of said pixels.
6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said sharpening of said picture occurs after said demosaicing.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said sharpening is performed only on a luminance component for each of said pixels.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein step (C) comprises the sub-step of:
directionally smoothing along at least one edge region of said picture formed by said pixels.
9. A video camera comprising:
a sensor (i) having a plurality of pixels for generating an input signal and (ii) capable of a pixel reduction by at least one of binning said pixels and skipping some of said pixels; and
a circuit configured to (i) generate an output signal by reducing artifacts in said input signal caused by said pixel reduction and (ii) sharpen a picture formed by said pixels, wherein a first amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is active differs from a second amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is inactive.
10. A method of operation for a video camera, comprising the steps of:
(A) sensing an optical signal with a plurality of pixels to generate an input signal, wherein said sensing is capable of a pixel reduction by at least one of binning said pixels and skipping some of said pixels;
(B) processing said input signal to generate an output signal, wherein said processing varies in response to both (i) a size of an input picture formed by said input signal and (ii) an on/off condition of said pixel reduction; and
(C) sharpening a picture formed by said pixels, wherein a first amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is active differs from a second amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is inactive.
11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein step (B) comprises the sub-steps of:
changing a spatial position for each of said pixels in said output signal relative to said input signal while said pixel reduction is active without changing a spatial size of said picture formed by said pixels; and
maintaining said spatial position for each of said pixels in said output signal relative to said input signal while said pixel reduction is inactive.
12. The method according to claim 11 , wherein said changing causes each of said pixels in said output signal to have substantially equal spatial separation from each other in at least one of (i) a horizontal direction and (ii) a vertical direction.
13. The method according to claim 11 , wherein step (B) further comprises the sub-step of:
demosaicing said pixels before said changing said spatial position of said pixels.
14. The method according to claim 11 , wherein step (C) comprises the sub-step of:
demosaicing said pixels after said changing said spatial position of said pixels.
15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein said sharpening of said picture occurs after said demosaicing.
16. The method according to claim 10 , wherein step (B) further comprises the sub-step of:
converting said pixels to a YUV format.
17. The method according to claim 10 , wherein step (C) comprises the sub-steps of:
demosaicing said pixels; and
smoothing said picture formed by said pixels after said demosaicing.
18. A video camera comprising:
a sensor (i) having a plurality of pixels for generating an input signal and (ii) capable of a pixel reduction by at least one of binning said pixels and skipping some of said pixels; and
a circuit configured to (i) generate an output signal by processing said input signal and (ii) sharpen a picture formed by said pixels, wherein (A) said processing varies in response to both (i) a size of an input picture formed by said input signal and (ii) an on/off condition of said pixel reduction and (B) a first amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is active differs from a second amount of said sharpening performed while said pixel reduction is inactive.