A sensor control apparatus includes a readout control circuit and a region setting circuit. The readout control circuit controls an event-driven vision sensor including a sensor array that includes sensors that generate event signals when a change in incident light intensity is detected, in such a manner that the event signals are read out at a first frequency in a first region on the sensor array and that the event signals are read out at a second frequency higher than the first frequency in a second region on the sensor array. The region setting circuit changes at least part of the first region to the second region on the basis of the number of first event signals acquired by the readout in the first region within a given period of time or changes at least part of the second region to the first region on the basis of the number of second event signals acquired by the readout in the second region within the given period of time.

A cognitive sensor and a method of operating the same. The cognitive sensor includes a sensor unit, which generates electric signals in response to outside stimulations; a signal processing unit, which generates sensed data regarding the outside stimulations by processing electric signals generated by the sensor unit; a cognitive circuit unit, which specifies an area of interest in the sensed data processed by the signal processing unit; and an output unit, which outputs the sensed data generated by the signal processing unit, wherein at least a portion of the sensed data output by the output unit is sensed data regarding the area of interest.

An image sensor includes a pixel array including a plurality of unit pixels in a matrix including rows and columns, a selection unit configured to select outputs of some of the columns of the pixel array and output selection output signals, and an analog-digital conversion block including a plurality of analog-digital conversion units corresponding to the columns of the pixel array. First ones of the plurality of analog-digital conversion units include analog-digital conversion blocks configured to convert the selection output signals and output digital data. When the first analog-digital conversion units convert the selection output signals, second ones of the plurality of analog-digital conversion units are turned off.

A method of vehicle monitoring includes: obtaining a frame of an image before exposure; outputting a luminance value of each partition of the image, accumulation number of pixels lower than a first set threshold, accumulation number of pixels higher than a second set threshold, to generate an evaluation data; generating eigenvalues of a plurality of illuminance evaluation areas based on the evaluation data and the preset illuminance evaluation area distribution table; estimating the illuminance of an environment of a vehicle according to the eigenvalues of the plurality of illuminance evaluation areas and differentiation characteristics between normal illuminance and low illuminance; switching the region of interest of a current exposing image based on the estimating results, generating a weight table based on the content of the current exposing image and the switched region of interest, controlling the exposing of the region of interest based on the weight table.

Targets are read by image capture with a substantially constant resolution over an extended range of working distances. Return light returning from a far-out target located at a far-out working distance is sensed by an array of pixels over a relatively narrow field of view, and over a relatively wide field of view when a close-in target is located at a close-in working distance. A controller processes the sensed return light from the far-out target only from a set of the pixels located in a central region of the array. For the close-in target, the controller groups all the pixels into bins, each bin having a plurality of the pixels, and processes the sensed return light from the close-in target from each of the bins.

Embodiments of the subject application disclose various imaging control methods and apparatuses for a digital zoom image and various imaging devices. One of imaging control methods for a digital zoom image comprises: acquiring a digital zoom parameter; determining an actual imaging area of an image sensor according to the acquired digital zoom parameter; adjusting a pixel density distribution of the image sensor, to cause an average pixel density of the actual imaging area after adjustment to become greater than those of other areas of the image sensor; and acquiring, by using the actual imaging area with the adjusted average pixel density, an image of a scene to be photographed. The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the subject application cause that as many as possible pixels of the image sensor gather at an actual imaging area corresponding to a digital zoom parameter to participate in image collection, thereby improving efficiency of image collection and the definition of a collected image.

An optical apparatus captures images of a wide-angle scene with a single camera having a continuous panomorph zoom distortion profile. When combined with a processing unit, the hybrid zoom system creates an output image with constant resolution while allowing continuous adjustment in the magnification and field of view of the image without interpolation like a digital zoom system or without any moving parts like an optical zoom system.

An image processing device is an image processing device including a control unit configured to control a scan frequency of a region of an imaging unit, and an analysis unit configured to analyze a captured image captured in the imaging unit, and the analysis unit is configured to analyze the captured image to detect an optical signal transmitted from a signal source, identify an attribute of the signal source on the basis of information included in the detected optical signal, and set a region including the signal source in the captured image in a region with a different scan frequency, and the control unit is configured to control a scan frequency of the imaging unit for each region that is set in the captured image.

A light reception device according to an embodiment includes: a light receiving unit (100) including a plurality of light receiving elements (10) arranged in a matrix array; and a plurality of read lines that transmits each of signals read from the plurality of light receiving elements. In the light reception device, each of the plurality of read lines is connected to two or more light receiving elements among the plurality of light receiving elements.

Power consumption of an imaging element which outputs only a region of interest (ROI) at high resolution is reduced. In a two-dimensional pixel array in which pixel rows arranged in a predetermined direction are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, the imaging element performs imaging at high resolution for a first pixel row including a predetermined region and performs imaging at low resolution for a second pixel row other than this. The first image processing unit generates an image of a predetermined region on the basis of an imaging signal of the first pixel row. A pixel adding unit performs an adding process between pixels on the imaging signal of the first pixel row to make resolution the same as resolution of the imaging signal of the second pixel row. The second image processing unit generates an image of an entire region on the basis of the imaging signal of the second pixel row and the imaging signal of the first pixel row subjected to the adding process.