Systems and methods for synthesizing high resolution images using images captured by an array of independently controllable imagers

1. An array camera, comprising:

an imager array including a plurality of imagers and control circuitry for independently triggering each imager, where:

each of the imagers receives light through a separate lens system and includes a sensor;

the control circuitry controls the imaging parameters of the sensor of each imager;

a processor; and

memory containing an image processing pipeline software application and parameters defining a forward imaging transformation for the imager array;

wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to:

trigger the imagers in the imager array to obtain a plurality of input images and store the input images in memory, where the input images capture a scene in which depths of points in the imaged scene vary and each of the input images differs from the other input images due to:

scene independent geometric distortions inherent to the optics and manufacturing processes used to fabricate each of the plurality of imagers; and

scene dependent geometric displacements due to parallax based upon the depths of the points in the imaged scene; and

determine scene dependent parallax information with respect to the input images based upon disparity relative to a reference point of view resulting from the depths of points in the imaged scene, where the scene dependent parallax information comprises scene dependent geometric transformations;

determine an initial estimate of at least a portion of a high resolution image from a plurality of pixels from the input images based upon a total shift for each of the plurality of pixels relative to the reference point of view, where the total shift of a given pixel location is the combination of a scene independent geometric correction determined for the given pixel using geometric calibration data and the scene dependent geometric transformation determined for the given pixel location; and

determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image;

wherein each forward imaging transformation corresponds to the manner in which each imager in the plurality of images captures the input images and comprises applying geometric transformations related to parallax observed due to the depths of points in the imaged scene; and

wherein the high resolution image has a resolution that is greater than any of the input images.

2. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry controls imaging parameters for the sensor of each imager selected from the group consisting of: exposure times; gain; and black level offset.

3. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of imagers form a N×M array of imagers.

4. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the imager array captures a single channel of information.

5. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the imager array captures three channels of information.

6. The array camera of claim 5 , wherein the imager array includes imagers that sense red light (R), imagers that sense green light (G), and imagers that sense blue light (B).

7. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the imager array captures four channels of information.

8. The array camera of claim 7 , wherein the four channels of information are the three RGB channels and a fourth near-IR channel.

9. The array camera of claim 8 , wherein the imager array includes imagers that sense red light (R), imagers that sense green light (G), imagers that sense blue light (B), and imagers that sense near-IR wavelengths.

10. The array camera of claim 1 , the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to encode the high resolution image in accordance with the JPEG standard.

11. The array camera of claim 10 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to store the encoded high resolution image in a file format selected from the group consisting of the JPEG Interchange Format (JIF), the JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF), or the Exchangeable image file format (Exif).

12. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein imagers in the plurality of imagers have different fields of view resulting in a change in magnification of the image captured by the underlying sensor of the imager.

13. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to generate a depth map for the high resolution image.

14. The array camera of claim 13 , wherein generating the depth map further comprises:

determining depth information for pixels in the high resolution image based upon the input images, parallax information, and the characteristics of the imager array; and

interpolating the depth information to obtain depth information for every pixel in the high resolution image.

15. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to:

generate a focus map for the high resolution image; and

perform dynamic refocus of the high-resolution image by rendering the high resolution image using the focus map.

16. The array camera of claim 15 , wherein the focus map identifies pixels having depths in the depth map that are within a specified depth of a defined focal plane.

17. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the forward imaging transformation further comprises applying scene independent geometric transformations related to the different geometries of each of the imagers in the plurality of imagers.

18. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the forward imaging transformation further comprises applying photometric transformations related to the different photometric characteristics of each of the imagers in the plurality of imagers.

19. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to:

determine the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image comprises using an imaging prior including the geometric calibration data and applying scene independent geometric corrections to the input images using the geometric calibration data to obtain geometrically registered input images; and

determine the high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to at least one predetermined criterion comprises determining the high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the geometrically registered input images to within at least one predetermined criterion.

20. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein:

the depths of points in the imaged scene vary due to the presence of foreground and background objects;

each of the input images also differ from the other input images due to occlusion zones surrounding foreground objects; and

the scene dependent parallax information also includes occlusion maps.

21. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to determine an initial estimate of at least a portion of a high resolution image from a plurality of pixels from the input images by fusing at least portions of the input images to form the initial estimate of at least one portion of the high resolution image.

22. The array camera of claim 21 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to fuse at least portions of the input images to form the initial estimate of at least one portion of the high resolution image by:

populating a high resolution grid corresponding to the pixel locations of the at least a portion of the initial estimate of the high resolution image with pixels from the input images using the total shift for the pixels; and

interpolating the high resolution grid to obtain filtered pixel values for each pixel in the initial estimate of the high resolution image.

23. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image by:

transforming the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image using at least one forward imaging transformation;

comparing the transformed initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image to at least a portion of at least one input image; and

refining the estimate of the high resolution image based upon the comparison.

24. The array camera of claim 23 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image by transforming, comparing and refining estimates until the at least one predetermined criterion is satisfied.

25. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image by:

identifying pixels in the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image corresponding to pixels in at least one input image using at least one forward imaging transformation;

comparing the corresponding pixels; and

refining the estimate of the high resolution image based upon the comparison.

26. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein the image processing pipeline software directs the processor to determine a high resolution image that when mapped through the forward imaging transformation matches the input images to within at least one predetermined criterion using the initial estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image by:

generating an estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image; and

applying an intra-channel prior filter to the estimate of at least a portion of the high resolution image, where the intra-channel prior filter is configured to preserve edges while removing noise.

27. The array camera of claim 1 , wherein:

the imager array captures images in multiple color channels; and

the initial estimate of at least a portion of a high resolution image is an initial estimate of at least a portion of a high resolution image in a first color channel.