Adjustable variable resolution inspection systems and methods

1. A pipe inspection camera head, comprising:

a body;

a sensor module for sensing a condition associated with the body;

an electronic imaging element, including an image sensor and associated optics, disposed in the body, the image sensor configured to:

capture a first image, at a first resolution, covering a first field of view; and

generate, based on the sensed condition, a second image comprising ones of a plurality of tiled images corresponding to tiled subsets of the first field of view, wherein the second image has a second resolution different from the first resolution; and

an electronics module configured to:

convert the first image to a first analog signal;

provide a first visual output corresponding to the first analog signal to a camera control unit (CCU) at the first resolution;

extract the second image comprising the plurality of tiled images;

convert the second image to a second analog signal; and

provide a second visual output corresponding to the second analog signal to the CCU at the second resolution.

2. The camera head of claim 1 , further comprising a second electronic imaging element disposed in the body, wherein a field of view of the imaging element overlaps with a field of view of the second imaging element.

3. The camera head of claim 2 , wherein optical axes of the imaging element and the second imaging element are non-parallel.

4. The camera head of claim 3 , wherein optical axes of the imaging element and the second imaging element are divergent.

5. The camera head of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of additional imaging elements.

6. The camera head of claim 5 , wherein the imaging element is oriented along a camera head centerline, and wherein additional imaging elements are oriented with outward divergent optical axes relative to the imaging element.

7. The camera head of claim 5 , wherein optical axes of ones of the plurality of additional imaging elements are non-parallel.

8. The camera head of claim 7 , wherein optical axes of ones of the plurality of additional imaging element are divergent.

9. The camera head of claim 1 , further including a lighting element to project a light marker on an area being viewed by the camera head.

10. The camera head of claim 9 , wherein the lighting element is a laser.

11. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution.

12. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the second visual output is provided as a zoomed-in field of view relative to the first visual output.

13. The camera head of claim 1 , wherein the condition corresponds to a motion of the camera head.

14. The camera head of claim 13 , wherein motion is a stop motion.

15. The camera head of claim 13 , wherein motion is a speed threshold.

16. The camera head of claim 13 , wherein motion is a start motion.

17. A pipe inspection system, comprising:

a camera control unit (CCU);

a camera head including:

a camera head body;

a sensor module configured to s2010ense a condition associated with the body;

an electronic image sensor disposed in the body, the image sensor configured to: capture a first image, at a first resolution, covering a first field of view; and

generate, based on the sensed condition, a second image comprising ones of a plurality of tiled images corresponding to tiled subsets of the first field of view, wherein the second image has a second resolution different from the first resolution; and

an electronics module configured to:

convert the first image to a first analog signal;

provide a first visual output corresponding to the first analog signal to a camera control unit (CCU) at the first resolution;

extract the second image comprising the plurality of tiled images;

convert the second image to a second analog signal; and

provide a second visual output corresponding to the second analog signal to the CCU at the second resolution;

a transmission media to carry the analog signals from the camera head to the CCU;

wherein the CCU includes:

a CCU body;

an electronics module configured to receive and process analog signals including image or video data provided from the camera head;

an electronics module configured to extract the image or video data from the analog signals; and

a CCU processing module configured to interpret the analog signal being received, or a translated version of the analog signal, and format data contained therein for display, storage, and/or transmission.

18. The pipe inspection system of claim 17 , wherein the second resolution is higher than the first resolution.

19. The pipe inspection system of claim 17 , wherein the sensor module comprises an accelerometer.