Image capture using infrared and visible spectrum light

摘要

A device (e.g., an image capture device, or camera) includes a sensor and a filtering apparatus. Incident light received by the device includes visible spectrum light and infrared light. The filtering apparatus can alternately filter out the infrared light while allowing the sensor to be exposed to the visible spectrum light, and filter out the visible spectrum light while allowing the sensor to be exposed to the infrared light. For example, the filtering apparatus can include a shutter that, when in a first position, filters out the infrared light and, when in a second position, filters out the visible spectrum light. In particular, the shutter can be a rotating shutter that includes a visible spectrum pass filter in one sector and an infrared pass filter in another sector.

主权项

1. A device comprising:
a sensor operable for sensing light from an object that is a source of infrared light and further operable for detecting visible spectrum light; and a filtering apparatus between the sensor and the object, the filtering apparatus comprising a shutter that rotates about an axis, the shutter having a first sector that filters out the infrared light and exposes the sensor to the visible spectrum light, the shutter also having a second sector that filters out the visible spectrum light and exposes the sensor to the infrared light; wherein the sensor outputs a frame of image data in response to exposure to the visible spectrum light and a frame of image data in response to exposure to the infrared light.