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Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic rangeSolid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20090174792, Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device capable of expanding the dynamic range of picked up images. Heretofore, a solid-state imaging device for synthesizing two image signals having the amount of exposure different from each other to obtain an image signal with a wide dynamic range is disclosed in, for example, the gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-214829 and the gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-275527. The gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-214829 discloses a digital still camera capable of obtaining an image signal with a wide dynamic range by level shifting two continuous field images picked up by the change of the exposure time, and then synthesizing them into one frame image. The gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-275527 discloses a digital still camera capable of obtaining an image signal with a wide dynamic range by level shifting a plurality of frame images having a different exposure times obtained from a plurality of CCDs, and then synthesizing them into one frame image. In addition, there has been known an example of a video camera which expands the dynamic range by using a special CCD capable of reading a long-time exposure signal and a short-time exposure signal within one field period (“Development of method of processing single-plate Hyper-D color camera signal,” Image Media Society Technical Report, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 1-6 (1998)). However, for example, in the digital still camera disclosed in the gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-214829, two continuous field images picked up by the change of the exposure time are synthesized, so that the image after synthesized only has an image resolution for one field, that is, a resolution of a half of the number of pixels of CCD, whereby a short in the resolution of picked up image is concerned about. On the other hand, in the digital still camera disclosed in the gazette of Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. HEI9-275527, image signals having a different exposure times picked up by a plurality of CCDs are synthesized, so that the image after synthesized has an image resolution for one frame, that is, a resolution for the number of pixels of CCD, and however, a plurality of CCDs are required, which is disadvantageous in the size/cost of the imaging device. For the imaging device having been reported in “Development of method of processing single-plate Hyper-D color camera signal,” Image Media Society Technical Report, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 1-6 (1998), a special CCD is required to expand the dynamic range of picked up images. It is an object of the present invention to provide a solid-state imaging device capable of picking up an image with an expanded dynamic range at a lower cost and at an image resolution equivalent to the number of pixels of CCD by using one CCD used generally with such a solid-state imaging device regardless of consumer or business applications. The solid-state imaging device of the present invention has a solid-state imaging element for outputting a plurality of image signals having different exposure times, and signal synthesizer means for synthesizing image signals outputted from the above-mentioned solid-state imaging element; at least one of image signals outputted from the above-mentioned solid-state imaging element by the signal synthesizer means is processed as an image signal having a small number of pixels than other image signals, thereby allowing an image with an expanded dynamic range to be picked up at an image resolution equivalent to the number of pixels of CCD. Continue reading about Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range... Full patent description for Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Image processor, image processing method and recording medium Next Patent Application: Image processor, image acquisition apparatus, storage medium of image processing program and image processing method Industry Class: Television ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Solid-state imaging device for enlargement of dynamic range patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 2.79105 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Qualcomm , Schering-Plough , Schlumberger , Seagate , Siemens , Texas Instruments , paws |
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