HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE CMOS IMAGE SENSOR HAVING ANTI-BLOOMING PROPERTIES AND ASSOCIATED METHODS

摘要

A method of providing blooming protection to a CMOS imager having a pixel array of a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, where the CMOS imager is operable to capture high dynamic range images using a rolling shutter, is provided. Such a method can include reading out charge accumulated by the pixels in a readout row of a first integration time, applying a reset to the readout row for a reset time sufficient to allow readout and reset to occur in at least one subsequent row, and starting a second integration time of the pixels in the readout row, wherein the second integration time is shorter than the first integration time, and wherein the at least one subsequent row is a sufficient number of rows to have a combined reset to preclude blooming effects from the pixel array during the second integration time.

主权项

1. A method of providing blooming protection to a CMOS imager having a pixel array of a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, where the CMOS imager is operable to capture high dynamic range images using a rolling shutter, comprising:
selecting a readout row of pixels; starting a first integration time of the pixels in the readout row; reading out charge accumulated by the pixels in the readout row to obtain a first readout; applying a reset to the readout row for a reset time sufficient to allow readout and reset to occur in at least one subsequent row; removing the reset and starting a second integration time of the pixels in the readout row, wherein the second integration time is shorter than the first integration time, and wherein the at least one subsequent row is a sufficient number of rows to have a combined reset to at least substantially preclude blooming effects from the pixel array in the readout row during the second integration time; and reading out charge accumulated by the pixels in the readout row to obtain a second readout.