High sensitivity color image generation using hybrid sensor

1. A method of generating a full-frame color image, comprising:

receiving sensor data from a hybrid sensor, the sensor data comprising partial-frame chromatic data of a plurality of chromatic channels and partial-frame color-insensitive data;

generating full-frame color-insensitive data based on the partial-frame color-insensitive data; and

generating the full-frame color image based on the full-frame color-insensitive data and the partial-frame chromatic data,

wherein the full-frame color image comprises a plurality of full-frame chromatic images each corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of chromatic channels, and wherein the generating of the full-frame color image comprises generating each of the plurality of full-frame chromatic images using a colorization process based on the full-frame color-insensitive data and the partial-frame chromatic data of the respective chromatic channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the hybrid sensor comprises a sensor array having a plurality of chromatic sensing elements of a first quantity and a plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements of a second quantity greater than the first quantity, the plurality of chromatic sensing elements configured to generate the partial-frame chromatic data, the plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements configured to generate the partial-frame color-insensitive data, and

the plurality of chromatic sensing elements are sparsely distributed among the plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements across a light-receiving surface of the sensor array.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of the full-frame color-insensitive data comprises interpolating the partial-frame color-insensitive data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating of the full-frame color-insensitive data is further based on the partial-frame chromatic data.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the colorization process comprises applying the partial-frame chromatic data of the respective chromatic channel to the full-frame color-insensitive data through a substantially linear function.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the colorization process further comprises determining one or more coefficients of the substantially linear function using a guided filter solver or a bilateral solver.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of chromatic channels comprises a red channel, a green channel and a blue channel.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of chromatic channels comprises a cyan channel, a magenta channel and a yellow channel.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the partial-frame color-insensitive data comprises white light data, infrared data, or a combination of both.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

an input module configured to receive sensor data from a hybrid sensor, the sensor data comprising partial-frame chromatic data of a plurality of chromatic channels and partial-frame color-insensitive data;

a spatial filtering module configured to generate full-frame color-insensitive data based on the partial-frame color-insensitive data; and

a colorization module configured to generate a plurality of full-frame chromatic images based on the full-frame color-insensitive data and the partial-frame chromatic data, each of the plurality of full-frame chromatic images corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of chromatic channels,

wherein the colorization module is, in generating the plurality of full-frame chromatic images, further configured to apply the partial-frame chromatic data of the each of the plurality of chromatic channels to the full-frame color-insensitive data through a respective linear function.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein:

the input module is further configured to receive the sensor data from a hybrid sensor,

the hybrid sensor comprises a sensor array having a plurality of chromatic sensing elements of a first quantity and a plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements of a second quantity greater than the first quantity, the plurality of chromatic sensing elements configured to generate the partial-frame chromatic data, the plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements configured to generate the partial-frame color-insensitive data, and

the plurality of chromatic sensing elements are sparsely distributed among the plurality of non-chromatic sensing elements across a light-receiving surface of the sensor array.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the spatial filtering module is configured to generate the full-frame color-insensitive data by performing interpolation on the partial-frame color-insensitive data.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the spatial filtering module is configured to generate the full-frame color-insensitive data further based on the partial-frame chromatic data.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising:

an output module configured to transmit the plurality of full-frame chromatic images as a full-frame color image.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the colorization module is further configured to determine one or more coefficients of the linear function using a guided filter solver or a bilateral solver.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of chromatic channels comprises a red channel, a green channel and a blue channel.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of chromatic channels comprises a cyan channel, a magenta channel and a yellow channel.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the partial-frame color-insensitive data comprises white light data, infrared data, or a combination of both.