Plural focal-plane imaging

摘要

An imaging system captures focused imagery from two or more focal planes, yet does so with relatively simple optical elements. Some arrangements involve folded optical paths, to make them more compact in size. Others enable the image sensors to be mounted in coplanar arrangement. Still others involve digital compositing, e.g., to mitigate undesired bokeh effects. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

主权项

1. An apparatus comprising:
first and second image sensors; a first optical arrangement, including at least a first lens, the first optical arrangement serving to focus a first image from a first focal plane on the first image sensor; and a second optical arrangement, including at least a first reflector, the second optical arrangement serving to focus a second image from a second focal plane on the second image sensor; wherein a portion of the first optical arrangement partially occludes an optical path to the second image sensor and wherein the first focal plane is different than the second focal plane, and wherein the second optical arrangement further includes a curved reflector having a central axis that is non-parallel to a central axis of the first lens, and an image plane of the second image sensor is non-parallel to the second focal plane; and wherein the curved reflector is a convex reflector which is configured to reflect light directly onto the second image sensor.