Adaptive Dynamic Range Imaging: Optical Control of Pixel Exposures Over Space and Time

  • Authors:
  • Shree K. Nayar;Vlad Branzoi

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-

  • Venue:
  • ICCV '03 Proceedings of the Ninth IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision - Volume 2
  • Year:
  • 2003

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Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to imaging thatsignificantly enhances the dynamic range of a camera.The key idea is to adapt the exposure of each pixel onthe image detector, based on the radiance value of thecorresponding scene point. This adaptation is done inthe optical domain, that is, during image formation. Inpractice, this is achieved using a spatial light modulatorwhose transmittance can be varied with high resolutionover space and time. A real-time control algorithm isdeveloped that uses acquired images to automaticallyadjust the transmittance function of the spatial modulator. Each captured image and its corresponding transmittance function are used to compute a very high dynamic range image that is linear in scene radiance.We have implemented a video-rate adaptive dynamicrange camera that consists of a color CCD detector anda controllable liquid crystal light modulator. Experiments have been conducted in scenarios with complexand harsh lighting conditions. The results indicate thatadaptive imaging can have a significant impact on visionapplications such as monitoring, tracking, recognition,and navigation.