Electronic device and method for providing image of surroundings of vehicle

1. An electronic apparatus in a vehicle for providing an image of surroundings of the vehicle, the electronic apparatus comprising:

a first image sensor;

a second image sensor; and

a processor configured to:

obtain feature information of a first image obtained by the first image sensor and a second image obtained by the second image sensor, wherein the feature information includes brightness information of the first image and the second image, and

provide a composite image that represents the surroundings of the vehicle, by using a portion of the first image and a portion of the second image, based on the brightness information of the first image and the second image, wherein the composite image has a dynamic range wider than the first image and the second image.

2. The electronic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

divide the first image into a plurality of first areas,

divide the second image into a plurality of second areas,

obtain distance information of each of the plurality of first and second areas, and

provide a composite image that represents the surroundings of the vehicle, by using the portion of the first image and the portion of the second image, based on the obtained distance information.

3. The electronic apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to obtain the distance information based on a distance between the first and second image sensors, image data of the plurality of first areas, and image data of the plurality of second areas.

4. The electronic apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to: compare the image data of the plurality of first areas with the image data of the plurality of second areas,

select a first area including a particular subject from among the plurality of first areas and a second area including the particular subject from among the plurality of second areas based on the comparison, and

calculate a distance between the particular subject and the vehicle based on a disparity between the selected first area and the selected second area.

5. The electronic apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to estimate a distance between the first area including the particular subject and a neighboring area based on the calculated distance,

wherein the neighboring area does not include the particular subject.

6. The electronic apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to divide the first image into a plurality of first areas by dividing the first image into multiple blocks.

7. The electronic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first image sensor and the second image sensor differ in physical characteristics.

8. The electronic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first image sensor and the second image sensor capture images in the same direction and are separately arranged from each other.

9. The electronic apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the composite image corresponds to at least one of a wide dynamic range (WDR) image having a wider dynamic range than the first image and the second image, an image with noise that is reduced more than in the first image and the second image, and a depth image that represents a distance between the vehicle and a subject included in at least one of the first image and the second image.

10. The electronic apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform photometric calibration on at least one of the plurality of first and second areas to identify a subject in the first image and a subject in the second image.

11. A method, performed in an electronic apparatus, of providing an image of surroundings of a vehicle, the method comprising:

obtaining a first image by a first image sensor of the electronic apparatus;

obtaining a second image by a second image sensor of the electronic apparatus;

obtaining feature information of the first image and the second image, wherein the feature information includes brightness information of the first image and the second image; and

providing a composite image that represents the surroundings of the vehicle, by using a portion of the first image and a portion of the second image, based on the brightness information of the first image and the second image, wherein the composite image has a dynamic range wider than the first image and the second image.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein obtaining the feature information comprises:

dividing the first image into a plurality of first areas;

dividing the second image into a plurality of second areas; and

obtaining distance information of each of the plurality of first and second areas,

wherein providing the composite image comprises providing a composite image that represents the surroundings of the vehicle, by using the portion of the first image and the portion of the second image based on the obtained distance information.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein obtaining the distance information comprises obtaining the distance information based on a distance between the first and second image sensors, image data of the plurality of first areas, and image data of the plurality of second areas.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein obtaining the distance information comprises:

comparing the image data of the plurality of first areas with the image data of the plurality of second areas;

selecting a first area including a particular subject from among the plurality of first areas and a second area including the particular subject from among the plurality of second areas based on the comparison; and

calculating a distance between the particular subject and the vehicle based on a disparity between the selected first area and the selected second area.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer included in an electronic apparatus to perform a method comprising:

obtaining a first image by a first image sensor of the electronic apparatus;

obtaining a second image by a second image sensor of the electronic apparatus;

obtaining feature information of a first image obtained by the first image sensor and a second image obtained by the second image sensor, wherein the feature information includes brightness information of the first image and the second image; and

providing a composite image that represents the surroundings of the vehicle, by using a portion of the first image and a portion of the second image, based on the brightness information of the first image and the second image, wherein the composite image has a dynamic range wider than the first image and the second image.