An image processing apparatus of the present invention for processing image data obtained by an image capturing apparatus comprises one or more processors and/or circuitry which functions as: an output unit that outputs the image data obtained by the image capturing apparatus and maximum luminance information which is information for indicating a maximum luminance of the image data to an external device; an acquisition unit that acquires a maximum luminance that the image capturing apparatus is capable of handling; and a control unit that controls the output unit to output the maximum luminance acquired by the acquisition unit as the maximum luminance information.

A photosensor includes a photoelectric converter including first and second electrodes and a photoelectric conversion layer therebetween; a transistor having a gate, a source and a drain; a connector electrically connecting the first electrode and the gate together; and one or more wiring layers including a part of the connector. The transistor outputs an electric signal from one of the source and the drain, the electric signal corresponding to a change in dielectric constant between the first electrode and the second electrode, the change being caused by incident light on the photoelectric conversion layer. The one or more wiring layers include a first line coupled to the one of the source and the drain and a second line supplied with a fixed voltage in a period during operation. A distance between the first line and the connector is less than a distance between the second line and the connector.

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method for enhancing vision for a vision impaired user. The method comprises, for a point in an input image, determining (210) a weight for the point based on visual importance of the point in the input image; comparing (220) the weight for the point to a threshold; and if the weight for the point meets the threshold, determining (230) a first output value for an imaging element of a vision enhancement apparatus so that a difference between the first output value and an intensity level of a portion of the input image neighbouring the point increases with the weight, wherein the difference is at least one Just-Noticeable-Difference of the vision enhancement apparatus, such that when the first output value is applied to the imaging element of the vision enhancement apparatus to create a first visual stimulus, the first visual stimulus is substantially perceivable by the vision impaired user.

A method for operating a camera system of a motor vehicle, in which images of an environmental region of the motor vehicle are captured by means of an image sensor of the camera system via an optic device and an image correction function is activated by means of a control unit of the camera system, in which a light fall-off in a boundary region of the images caused by the optic device is compensated for, wherein a current brightness level of the environmental region is captured by means of the control unit and the activation and deactivation of the image correction function are effected depending on the current brightness level.

There is provided a method and system for extending image sensor dynamic range using coded pixels. The method including: providing pixel codes to pixels in the photodetector array for each subframe of a frame; receiving a sensor readout of each of the pixels in the photodetector array for each subframe; for each subframe, based on the pixel code, routing each sensor readout value for collection at one or more taps or to a drain; combining the collected sensor readout values at each of the taps to determine a single pixel value for the frame; and outputting the single pixel value for each pixel for the frame.

An imaging device is provided. The device comprises: an imaging unit in which a plurality of pixels each including a photoelectric conversion element are arranged; a signal processor configured to process a signal output from the imaging unit; and a storage device configured to store the signal output from the imaging unit and transfer the signal to the signal processor. The storage device stores a plurality of image signals output by the plurality of pixels arranged in the imaging unit as a plurality of sub-frames and then outputs a sub-frame satisfying a predetermined condition out of the plurality of sub-frames as a signal for configuring a single frame.

A conversion method for converting luminance of a video, including a luminance value in a first luminance range, to be displayed on a display apparatus includes: acquiring a first luminance signal indicating a code value obtained by quantization of the luminance value of the video; and converting the code value indicated by the acquired first luminance signal into a second luminance value determined based on a luminance range of the display apparatus, the second luminance value being compatible with a second luminance range with a maximum value smaller than a maximum value of the first luminance range and larger than 100 nit. This provides the conversion method capable of achieving further improvement.

This image pickup system includes an image pickup unit that captures a subject to obtain a pixel signal, and a processing circuit that generates a first video signal having a first dynamic range from the pixel signal generated by the image pickup unit, and generates a second video signal having a second dynamic range correlated with the first dynamic range.

A focus detection device, comprising a processor having a brightness value detection section, an evaluation value calculation section, a parameter calculation section, a reliability determination section and a control section, wherein the brightness value detection section detects brightness values of pixels within a given evaluation region based on the image data, the evaluation value calculation section calculates evaluation values based on the brightness values, the parameter calculation section calculates parameters representing degree of symmetry of the evaluation values for positions of the focus, the reliability determination section determines reliability based on the parameters, and the control section performs focus detection based on extreme values that are calculated based on the parameters, and the reliability.

Systems and methods for setting the white balance of an image are described. Embodiments of the systems and methods may receive image data comprising a plurality of exposures, generate a plurality of white balance values based on merge information from a high dynamic range (HDR) merge of the exposures, and adjust a white balance of each pixel of the image data based on the white balance values.