An imaging system includes a light emitter that emits light toward the surroundings of a vehicle, an imager that captures an image of a range including a region that is illuminated with light emitted by the light emitter, and a difference image generator that generates (n−1) difference images from n captured images captured by the imager (n is an integer no smaller than 3). The difference image generator generates a difference image based on an image included in the n captured images and captured while the light emitter is on and an image included in the n captured images and captured while the light emitter is dimmed.

An information processing device includes: a determination unit that determines retrieval information used to retrieve at least one photographing recipe including information on photographing; an acquisition unit that acquires relative setting values representing relative values of photographing setting values, corresponding to one of the at least one photographing recipe retrieved on a basis of the retrieval information; and a setting unit that sets a photographing device to perform photographing on a basis of the relative setting values.

An image capturing apparatus generates an image of a high dynamic range that takes into account gain in addition to a range of change of storage capacitance. The image capturing apparatus having an image capturing device of a structure in which blocks each configured by a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged, includes a first control circuit, a second control circuit, and a generating circuit. The first control circuit is configured to control sensitivity in units of the blocks. The second control circuit is configured to control a gain of a signal for each block obtained by the image capturing device. The generating circuit is configured to, by mapping image data of blocks obtained under the control of the second control circuit to a region that accords with sensitivity set for the blocks in a preset high dynamic range, generate image data of the high dynamic range.

An image capturing apparatus generates an image of a high dynamic range that takes into account gain in addition to a range of change of storage capacitance. The image capturing apparatus having an image capturing device of a structure in which blocks each configured by a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged, includes a first control circuit, a second control circuit, and a generating circuit. The first control circuit is configured to control sensitivity in units of the blocks. The second control circuit is configured to control a gain of a signal for each block obtained by the image capturing device. The generating circuit is configured to, by mapping image data of blocks obtained under the control of the second control circuit to a region that accords with sensitivity set for the blocks in a preset high dynamic range, generate image data of the high dynamic range.

A vehicular vision system includes a plurality of cameras disposed at a vehicle and having respective exterior fields of view. Each camera includes an image sensor and a microcontroller having memory, and each camera is in communication with a vehicle controller. Image data captured by the image sensor of each camera is communicated to the vehicle controller. The vehicle controller communicates control data to each camera, and the communicated control data is stored in memory of each camera. With the communicated control data stored in the memory of each camera, the vehicle controller communicates a trigger signal to each camera during operation of the vehicle and vision system. Responsive to the communicated trigger signal, the microcontroller of each camera loads parameters of the control data stored in the respective memory into the respective image sensor so that the parameters of the image sensors of all of the cameras are synchronized.

A method of controlling parameters for image sensors includes; receiving a first image and a second image, calculating first feature values related to the first image and second feature values related to the second image; generating comparison results by comparing the first feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the first image with the second feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the second image, and controlling at least one parameter on the basis of the comparison results.

A method of controlling parameters for image sensors includes; receiving a first image and a second image, calculating first feature values related to the first image and second feature values related to the second image; generating comparison results by comparing the first feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the first image with the second feature values of fixed regions and first variable regions of the second image, and controlling at least one parameter on the basis of the comparison results.

A camera system and method provide a trailing motion blur effect without the use of a flash. In one embodiment, a variable light-transmissive filter is positioned in front of an image sensor. While the light-transmissive property of the filter is lower, the blurred image of the object in motion is produced. The light-transmissive property of the filter is increased during the exposure in order to produce a clearer image of the object. In a method, a plurality of images taken in rapid succession are combined to produce a clear image of the object with a trailing blurred image of the object.

A camera system and method provide a trailing motion blur effect without the use of a flash. In one embodiment, a variable light-transmissive filter is positioned in front of an image sensor. While the light-transmissive property of the filter is lower, the blurred image of the object in motion is produced. The light-transmissive property of the filter is increased during the exposure in order to produce a clearer image of the object. In a method, a plurality of images taken in rapid succession are combined to produce a clear image of the object with a trailing blurred image of the object.

A sensor system with a plurality of sensors or sensor functions is provided. The sensors can include an event detection sensor, a time of flight sensor, and imaging sensor. The different sensors can be implemented on the same or different substrates. Accordingly, sensors with pixels having different or shared functions can be included in the sensor system. In operation, an event detection signal from an event detection sensor causes the operation of a time of flight sensor to be initiated. In response to the detection of an object within a critical range by the time of flight sensor, the imaging sensor is activated. The image sensing and event detection pixels can be provided as part of different arrays of pixels, or can be included within a common array of pixels.