Dual sensor video camera

1. A dual-sensor digital video camera comprising:

a panchromatic sensor;

a color filter array (CFA) sensor including a low-pass filter; and

a beam splitter;

wherein the beam splitter is configured to split a beam of light into a first beam directed to the panchromatic sensor and a second beam directed to the CFA sensor;

wherein the panchromatic sensor produces first image information from the first beam;

wherein the CFA sensor produces second image information from the second beam;

wherein the dual-sensor digital video camera further comprises a memory medium storing alignment difference information indicating an alignment difference between the panchromatic sensor and the CFA sensor;

wherein the dual-sensor digital video camera further comprises one or more computational elements configured to:

determine a first plurality of pixels representing the first image information, wherein each pixel of the first plurality of pixels includes luminance information;

determine a second plurality of pixels representing the second image information, wherein each pixel of the second plurality of pixels includes luminance information and chrominance information;

produce a digital output signal including a third plurality of pixels, wherein the one or more computational elements are configured to produce each respective pixel of the third plurality of pixels by:

including in the respective pixel the luminance information of a particular pixel of the first plurality of pixels;

using the alignment difference information to determine a particular pixel of the second plurality of pixels that corresponds to the particular pixel of the first plurality of pixels; and

including in the respective pixel the chrominance information of the particular pixel of the second plurality of pixels.

2. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 1 ,

wherein the beam splitter is configured to direct more light to the panchromatic sensor than to the CFA sensor.

3. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computational elements comprise one or more of:

a processor; and/or

an FPGA.

4. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 1 ,

wherein the low-pass filter of the CFA sensor reduces color aliasing; and

wherein using the first image information from the panchromatic sensor for the luminance information of the digital output signal results in improved image sharpness.

5. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 1 , wherein the panchromatic sensor is not configured with a low-pass filter.

6. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 1 ,

wherein the alignment difference information stored on the memory medium includes:

horizontal alignment difference information indicating a difference in horizontal alignment between the first plurality of pixels and the second plurality of pixels; and

vertical alignment difference information indicating a difference in vertical alignment between the first plurality of pixels and the second plurality of pixels.

7. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 6 ,

wherein the alignment difference information stored on the memory medium further includes rotational alignment difference information indicating a difference in rotational alignment between the first plurality of pixels and the second plurality of pixels.

8. A dual-sensor digital video camera comprising:

a panchromatic sensor;

a color filter array (CFA) sensor including a low-pass filter; and

a beam splitter;

wherein the beam splitter is configured to split a beam of light into a first beam directed to the panchromatic sensor and a second beam directed to the CFA sensor;

wherein the panchromatic sensor produces first image information from the first beam;

wherein the CFA sensor produces second image information from the second beam;

wherein the dual-sensor digital video camera further comprises one or more computational elements configured to produce a digital YCbCr output signal from the first image information and the second image information, wherein producing the YCbCr output signal includes:

producing a first YCbCr signal by generating a digital RGB signal from the second image information from the CFA sensor and converting the digital RGB signal to YCbCr format; and

replacing Y components of pixels of the first YCbCr signal with luminance values from pixels in the first image information from the panchromatic sensor to produce pixels of the YCbCr output signal.

9. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 8 ,

wherein the one or more computational elements are further configured to sub-sample the YCbCr output signal to YCbCr 4:2:2 format.

10. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 8 ,

wherein the beam splitter is configured to direct more light to the panchromatic sensor than to the CFA sensor.

11. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 8 , wherein the one or more computational elements comprise one or more of:

a processor; and/or

an FPGA.

12. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 8 , further comprising:

a memory medium storing alignment difference information, wherein the alignment difference information indicates an alignment difference between the panchromatic sensor and the CFA sensor.

13. The dual-sensor digital video camera of claim 8 ,

wherein the low-pass filter of the CFA sensor reduces color aliasing; and

wherein using the first image information from the panchromatic sensor for the luminance information of the output signal results in improved image sharpness.

14. A method for producing an output signal for a digital video camera, the method comprising:

receiving first image information from a panchromatic sensor;

receiving second image information from a color filter array (CFA) sensor, wherein the CFA sensor includes a low-pass filter; and

producing a digital YCbCr output signal from the first image information and the second image information, wherein producing the YCbCr output signal includes:

producing a first YCbCr signal by generating a digital RGB signal from the second image information from the CFA sensor and converting the digital RGB signal to YCbCr format; and

replacing Y components of pixels of the first YCbCr signal with luminance values from pixels in the first image information from the panchromatic sensor to produce pixels of the YCbCr output signal.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising: sub-sampling the YCbCr output signal to YCbCr 4:2:2 format.

16. A dual-sensor digital video camera comprising:

a panchromatic sensor;

a color filter array (CFA) sensor including a low-pass filter; and

a beam splitter;

wherein the beam splitter is configured to split a beam of light into a first beam directed to the panchromatic sensor and a second beam directed to the CFA sensor;

wherein the panchromatic sensor produces first image information from the first beam;

wherein the CFA sensor produces second image information from the second beam;

wherein the dual-sensor digital video camera further comprises a memory medium storing alignment difference information indicating an alignment difference between the panchromatic sensor and the CFA sensor;

wherein the dual-sensor digital video camera further comprises one or more computational elements configured to:

produce digital output signals including a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the plurality of pixels includes 1) luminance information from a respective pixel generated from the first image information and 2) chrominance information from a corresponding respective pixel from the second image information, wherein in producing the digital output signals the one or more computational elements are configured to determine, from the alignment difference information, the corresponding respective pixel from the second image information.