A camera array, an imaging device and/or a method for capturing image that employ a plurality of imagers fabricated on a substrate is provided. Each imager includes a plurality of pixels. The plurality of imagers include a first imager having a first imaging characteristics and a second imager having a second imaging characteristics. The images generated by the plurality of imagers are processed to obtain an enhanced image compared to images captured by the imagers. Each imager may be associated with an optical element fabricated using a wafer level optics (WLO) technology.

A solid-state imaging device includes a color filter unit disposed on a pixel array unit including pixels two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix and a conversion processing unit disposed on a substrate having the pixel array unit thereon. The color filter unit has a color arrangement in which a color serving as a primary component of a luminance signal is arranged in a checkerboard pattern and a plurality of colors serving as color information components are arranged in the other area of the checkerboard pattern. The conversion processing unit converts signals that are output from the pixels of the pixel array unit and that correspond to the color arrangement of the color filter unit into signals that correspond to a Bayer arrangement and outputs the converted signals.

A solid state imaging device includes: a pixel array unit that has a plurality of pixels 2-dimensionally arranged in a matrix and a plurality of signal lines arranged along a column direction; A/D conversion units that are provided corresponding to the respective signal lines and convert an analog signal output from a pixel through the signal line into a digital signal; and a switching unit that switches or converts the analog signal output through each signal line into a digital signal using any of an A/D conversion unit provided corresponding to the signal line through which the analog signal is transmitted, and an A/D conversion unit provided corresponding to a signal line other than the signal line through which the analog signal is transmitted.

An endoscope device includes: an normal light image acquisition unit that acquires an normal light image; a special light image acquisition unit that acquires a special light image; a blended image generation unit that generates a blend image by combining one color component image from among a plurality of color component images constituting the normal light image and the special light image; and a superimposed image generation unit that generates a color superimposed image by combining the blended image with another color component image. The blended image generation unit generates the blended image by replacing a part of the pixels of the one color component image with the corresponding pixels of the special light image such that they are blended in a substantially uniform distribution over the entire blended image.

Provided are an image composition apparatus for composing color images with black-and-white images including infrared components, and an image composition method thereof The image composition method includes generating a first image signal with color information and a second image signal including infrared components without color information, dividing the first image signal into a brightness signal and a color signal, composing the brightness signal of the first image signal with a brightness signal of the second image signal to generate a composed brightness signal, and composing the composed brightness signal with the color signal of the first image signal to generate a color image.

A lens and colour filter assembly contains lens units, and each lens unit is assigned to a single-colour colour filter unit. The lens and colour filter assembly may be combined with pixel units such that a plurality of monochromatic, low-resolution images can be obtained, and the monochromatic images refer to shifted versions of the same image object. By a super-resolution technique comprising shift-compensation a mosaicked image is obtained which is then demosaiced. In the resultant image only few artefacts appear. Simple colour filter arrays allow a simplified fabrication process and provide less chromatic aberrations at less computational effort.

A lens unit (120) shows longitudinal chromatic aberration and focuses an imaged scene into a first image for the infrared range in a first focal plane and into a second image for the visible range in a second focal plane. An optical element (150) manipulates the modulation transfer function assigned to the first and second images to extend the depth of field. An image processing unit (200) may amplify a modulation transfer function contrast in the first and second images. A focal shift between the focal planes may be compensated for. While in conventional approaches for RGBIR sensors contemporaneously providing both a conventional and an infrared image of the same scene the infrared image is severely out of focus, the present approach provides extended depth of field imaging to rectify the problem of out-of-focus blur for infrared radiation. An imaging system can be realized without any apochromatic lens.

The disclosure extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for producing an image in light deficient environments with luminance and chrominance emitted from a controlled light source.

A method of generating one or more new digital images using an original digitally-acquired image including a selected image feature includes identifying within a digital image acquisition device one or more groups of pixels that correspond to the selected image feature based on information from one or more preview images. A portion of the original image is selected that includes the one or more groups of pixels. The technique includes automatically generating values of pixels of one or more new images based on the selected portion in a manner which includes the selected image feature within the one or more new images.

An image processing apparatus is configured to: acquire a correction factor from a recording unit for recording, for each of a plurality of pixels, the correction factor for correcting a difference in pixel value corresponding to a difference between a spectral sensitivity and a preset reference spectral sensitivity in a predetermined wavelength range at a pixel of interest, based on image data generated by an image sensor, the image sensor having the plurality of pixels on which color filters of a plurality of colors with different spectral transmittances are respectively located, the color filters forming a predetermined array pattern; calculate a correction amount for correcting a pixel value of the pixel of interest based on the correction factor at the pixel of interest and pixel values of pixels surrounding the pixel of interest; and correct the pixel value of the pixel of interest by using the correction amount.