IMAGE-SENSING METHOD HAVING A VERY SHORT INTEGRATION TIME

摘要

The invention relates to image sensors, and more particularly to matrix sensors having active pixels in CMOS technology.;According to the invention, a method for imaging a scene with a very short integration time, by using a standard image sensor comprising a matrix of pixels, comprising photodiodes, and charge storage nodes, is provided. Two images of the same scene are produced under identical light conditions, one of the images corresponding to integration of charges during a first time interval with a duration Tint and the other image corresponding to a second time interval with a duration T′int longer than Tint, and a difference between these two images is established, representing an image integrated during a time interval T′int−Tint. The light may be provided by a light pulse (IMP).;This method may be used for observing points in a scene that lie at a well-determined distance, the brevity of the integration time allowing good precision of the observation distance.

主权项

1. A method for imaging a scene with a very short integration time by using an image sensor comprising a matrix of pixels, each pixel comprising a photodiode and means for reading the charges accumulated by the photodiode during an integration duration, the matrix furthermore comprising sequencing means for establishing start and end instants of the integration duration, the method being characterized in that two images of the same scene are produced under identical light conditions, one of the images corresponding to integration of charges during a first time interval with a duration Tint and corresponding to the even rows of the matrix, the other image corresponding to a second time interval with a duration T′int longer than Tint and corresponding to the odd rows of the matrix, and a difference between these two images is established, representing an image integrated during a time interval T′int−Tint, the difference being formed by the pixel-to-pixel difference between the luminances of the pixels of an odd row and the luminances of the pixels of an even row immediately adjacent.