Abstract: The invention provides an autonomous vehicle with a video camera that merges images taken a different light levels by replacing saturated parts of an image with corresponding parts of a lower-light image to stream a video with a dynamic range that extends to include very low-light and very intensely lit parts of a scene. The high dynamic range (HDR) camera streams the HDR video to a HDR system in real time—as the vehicle operates. As pixel values are provided by the camera's image sensors, those values are streamed directly through a pipeline processing operation and on to the HDR system without any requirement to wait and collect entire images, or frames, before using the video information.

Abstract: Systems and methods of the invention merge information from multiple image sensors to provide a high dynamic range (HDR) video. The present invention provides for real-time HDR video production using multiple sensors and pipeline processing techniques. According to the invention, multiple sensors with different exposures each produces an ordered stream of frame-independent pixel values. The pixel values are streamed through a pipeline on a processing device. The pipeline includes a kernel operation that identifies saturated ones of the pixel values. The streams of pixel values are merged to produce an HDR video.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for broadcasting video in a dual HDR/LDR format such that the video can be displayed in real time by both LDR and HDR display devices. Methods and devices of the invention process streams of pixels from multiple sensors in a frame-independent manner to produce an HDR video signal in real time. That HDR video signal is then tone-mapped to produce an LDR video signal, the LDR signal is subtracted from the HDR signal to calculate a residual signal, and the LDR signal and the residual signal are merged into a combined signal that is broadcast via a communications network.

Abstract: The invention is relates to systems and methods for high dynamic range (HDR) image capture and video processing in mobile devices. Aspects of the invention include a mobile device, such as a smartphone or digital mobile camera, including at least two image sensors fixed in a co-planar arrangement to a substrate and an optical splitting system configured to reflect at least about 90% of incident light received through an aperture of the mobile device onto the co-planar image sensors, to thereby capture a HDR image. In some embodiments, greater than about 95% of the incident light received through the aperture of the device is reflected onto the image sensors.

Abstract: A computing environment of the invention comprises a graph structure, or multiple interconnected graph structures, the behavior of which is driven by data flow through interconnected nodes, independent of an external code base. The computer system may include a plurality of interconnected nodes in which data flow between the nodes drives execution of one or more functions and wherein code within the system is restricted to said nodes, each of which performs a dedicated function and an engine to drive communication between said system and operating hardware. Data are injected into a node and the node responds by outputting a value (data) to one or more subsequent nodes. Those nodes, in turn, output a behavior that is dependent upon the value (data) they received from one or more other nodes. Thus, it is the data that drives operation of the graph and not a traditional code stack.

Abstract: Systems and methods of the invention merge information from multiple image sensors to provide a high dynamic range (HDR) video. The present invention provides for real-time HDR video production using multiple sensors and pipeline processing techniques. According to the invention, multiple sensors with different exposures each produces an ordered stream of frame-independent pixel values. The pixel values are streamed through a pipeline on a processing device. The pipeline includes a kernel operation that identifies saturated ones of the pixel values. The streams of pixel values are merged to produce an HDR video.

Abstract: Noise reduction in images is provided by performing a noise reduction step on blocks of pixels within a video-processing pipeline. The noise reduction step consists of applying a discrete cosine transform (DCT) to the block of pixels, quantizing the resulting DCT coefficients, and performing an inverse of the DCT to the quantized coefficients. The output of that noise reduction step is a block of image pixels similar to the input pixels, but with significantly less image noise. Because the noise reduction step can be performed quickly on small blocks of pixels, the noise reduction can be performed in real-time in a video processing pipeline.

Abstract: The invention provides an autonomous vehicle with a video camera that merges images taken a different light levels by replacing saturated parts of an image with corresponding parts of a lower-light image to stream a video with a dynamic range that extends to include very low-light and very intensely lit parts of a scene. The high dynamic range (HDR) camera streams the HDR video to a HDR system in real time—as the vehicle operates. As pixel values are provided by the camera's image sensors, those values are streamed directly through a pipeline processing operation and on to the HDR system without any requirement to wait and collect entire images, or frames, before using the video information.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for broadcasting video in a dual HDR/LDR format such that the video can be displayed in real time by both LDR and HDR display devices. Methods and devices of the invention process streams of pixels from multiple sensors in a frame-independent manner to produce an HDR video signal in real time. That HDR video signal is then tone-mapped to produce an LDR video signal, the LDR signal is subtracted from the HDR signal to calculate a residual signal, and the LDR signal and the residual signal are merged into a combined signal that is broadcast via a communications network.

Abstract: The invention provides methods that improve image compression and/or quality within the JPEG process by using a low-pass filter to remove high frequency components from image data, which removes blocking artifacts. Preferred embodiments apply the low-pass filter to the Chroma components after decompression prior to conversion into RGB color space.

Abstract: Stereoscopic cameras include two wide-angle lenses, such as panoramic lenses, stacked one above the other to create 3D images and maps with very wide fields of view of the environment. The cameras may include panoramic annual lenses (PALs) that take a 360 degree view of the environment. Image processing is used, on a frame-by-frame basis, to map the apparent distance to all features within the scene. The camera may be operated to produce a video or map output in which each pixel has not only red (R), green (G), and blue (B) values, but also has depth (D) value.

Abstract: Methods for the real-time, reversible compression of high dynamic range videos, allowing high dynamic range videos to be broadcast through standard dynamic range channels. The methods include streaming pixel values from at least one image sensor through a pipeline on a processor. The pipeline includes an HDR function that combines the streaming pixel values in real-time into an HDR stream and a transfer function that converts the HDR stream to an SDR video stream. The method further includes transmitting the SDR video stream to a receiver in real time for display as a video.

Abstract: The invention is relates to systems and methods for high dynamic range (HDR) image capture and video processing in mobile devices. Aspects of the invention include a mobile device, such as a smartphone or digital mobile camera, including at least two image sensors fixed in a co-planar arrangement to a substrate and an optical splitting system configured to reflect at least about 90% of incident light received through an aperture of the mobile device onto the co-planar image sensors, to thereby capture a HDR image. In some embodiments, greater than about 95% of the incident light received through the aperture of the device is reflected onto the image sensors.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for broadcasting video in a dual HDR/LDR format such that the video can be displayed in real time by both LDR and HDR display devices. Methods and devices of the invention process streams of pixels from multiple sensors in a frame-independent manner to produce an HDR video signal in real time. That HDR video signal is then tone-mapped to produce an LDR video signal, the LDR signal is subtracted from the HDR signal to calculate a residual signal, and the LDR signal and the residual signal are merged into a combined signal that is broadcast via a communications network.

Abstract: Systems and methods of the invention merge information from multiple image sensors to provide a high dynamic range (HDR) video. The present invention provides for real-time HDR video production using multiple sensors and pipeline processing techniques. According to the invention, multiple sensors with different exposures each produces an ordered stream of frame-independent pixel values. The pixel values are streamed through a pipeline on a processing device. The pipeline includes a kernel operation that identifies saturated ones of the pixel values. The streams of pixel values are merged to produce an HDR video.

Abstract: The invention provides an autonomous vehicle with a video camera that merges images taken a different light levels by replacing saturated parts of an image with corresponding parts of a lower-light image to stream a video with a dynamic range that extends to include very low-light and very intensely lit parts of a scene. The high dynamic range (HDR) camera streams the HDR video to a HDR system in real time—as the vehicle operates. As pixel values are provided by the camera's image sensors, those values are streamed directly through a pipeline processing operation and on to the HDR system without any requirement to wait and collect entire images, or frames, before using the video information.

Abstract: Matching color information in an optical system can include splitting an image forming beam into a bright intensity beam and a dark intensity beam, detecting, using multiple sensors, a color value for a light component from the bright intensity beam and the dark intensity beam, determining color values for the remaining light components associated with the bright intensity beam and the dark intensity beam, and transforming the color values associated with the dark intensity beam to calibrate the color values of the dark intensity beam against the color values of the light intensity beam, the color values of the light intensity beam including color inaccuracies.

Abstract: The invention is relates to systems and methods for high dynamic range (HDR) image capture and video processing in mobile devices. Aspects of the invention include a mobile device, such as a smartphone or digital mobile camera, including at least two image sensors fixed in a co-planar arrangement to a substrate and an optical splitting system configured to reflect at least about 90% of incident light received through an aperture of the mobile device onto the co-planar image sensors, to thereby capture a HDR image. In some embodiments, greater than about 95% of the incident light received through the aperture of the device is reflected onto the image sensors.

Abstract: The invention provides methods for broadcasting video in a dual HDR/LDR format such that the video can be displayed in real time by both LDR and HDR display devices. Methods and devices of the invention process streams of pixels from multiple sensors in a frame-independent manner to produce an HDR video signal in real time. That HDR video signal is then tone-mapped to produce an LDR video signal, the LDR signal is subtracted from the HDR signal to calculate a residual signal, and the LDR signal and the residual signal are merged into a combined signal that is broadcast via a communications network.

Abstract: Systems and methods of the invention merge information from multiple image sensors to provide a high dynamic range (HDR) video. The present invention provides for real-time HDR video production using multiple sensors and pipeline processing techniques. According to the invention, multiple sensors with different exposures each produces an ordered stream of frame-independent pixel values. The pixel values are streamed through a pipeline on a processing device. The pipeline includes a kernel operation that identifies saturated ones of the pixel values. The streams of pixel values are merged to produce an HDR video.