Granted Patent B2

US 10,477,087 · App. 15/815,463 · Granted Nov 12, 2019

Inventors: William Guie Rivard (Menlo Park, CA); Brian J. Kindle (Sunnyvale, CA); Adam Barry Feder (Mountain View, CA)

Assignee: DUELIGHT LLC

H04N5/2256H04N5/2353

Abstract

Claims (47)

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and

one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:

meter a first ambient condition, using a camera module, for a first ambient frame;

determine a first ambient capture time based on the metering of the first ambient condition;

meter a first flash condition, using the camera module, for a first flash frame, wherein meter the first flash condition includes a pre-metering capture;

determine a first flash capture time based on the metering of the first flash condition;

capture, using a rolling shutter image sensor within the camera module, the first ambient frame based on the first ambient capture time;

after capturing the first ambient frame, enable a flash circuit during an active period;

capture, using the rolling shutter image sensor, the first flash frame based on a combination of the first ambient capture time and the first flash capture time; and

generate a final image based on the first ambient frame and the first flash frame.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein metering the first ambient condition includes identifying a white balance.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein metering the first flash condition includes capturing multiple metering images.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein metering the first ambient condition results in a first set of exposure parameters and metering the first flash condition results in a second set of exposure parameters.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an exposure time of the first flash condition is less than an exposure time of the first ambient condition.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein metering the first flash condition includes determining one or more of: a flash duration, a flash intensity, and a flash color.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , comprising further instructions to:

capture a second image based on the first ambient capture time;

capture a third image based on the first flash capture time;

blend the second image and the third image to create a fourth image.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein metering the first flash condition includes determining exposure parameters that satisfy an exposure goal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the exposure goal ensures that not more than five percent of over-exposed pixels are contained within the final image.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the exposure goal provides a limit on a number of over-exposed pixels within the final image.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the exposure goal includes a set intensity goal including a range of goal values or a fixed goal value.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the exposure goal bounds over-exposed pixels associated with the metering of the first flash condition to over-exposed pixels associated with the metering of the first ambient condition.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the exposure goal is associated with a point of interest.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first flash condition is used to determine a flash intensity.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the flash intensity is used to control over-exposed pixels or is used to satisfy an exposure goal.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the flash intensity is based on the metering of the first ambient condition and a distance to a flash point of interest.

17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the active period ends before a scan out of the first flash frame.

18. An apparatus, comprising:

a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and

one or more processors in communication with the non-transitory memory, wherein the one or more processors execute the instructions to:

meter a first flash condition, using a camera module, for a first flash frame, wherein meter the first flash condition includes a pre-metering capture;

determine a first flash capture time based on the metering of the first flash condition;

in response to determining the first flash capture time, meter a first ambient condition, using the camera module, for a first ambient frame;

determine a first ambient capture time based on the metering of the first ambient condition;

capture a first image based on the first flash capture time and the first ambient capture time.

19. A method, comprising:

metering a first ambient condition, using a camera module, for a first ambient frame;

determining a first ambient capture time based on the metering of the first ambient condition;

metering a first flash condition, using the camera module, for a first flash frame, wherein metering the first flash condition includes a pre-metering capture;

determining a first flash capture time based on the metering of the first flash condition;

capturing, using a rolling shutter image sensor within the camera module, the first ambient frame based on the first ambient capture time;

after capturing the first ambient frame, enabling a flash circuit during an active period;

capturing, using the rolling shutter image sensor, the first flash frame based on a combination of the first ambient capture time and the first flash capture time; and

generating a final image based on the first ambient frame and the first flash frame.

Assignments (2)

Cited By (9)

US 12,205,294 US 12,401,911 US 12,401,912 US 12,418,727 US 12,423,788 US 12,445,736 US 12,499,548 US 12,620,250 US 12,666,159