Apple Files HDR Imaging Patent Application
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent application that reveals the company's intent to protect high-dynamic range (HDR) photo capability in its products.
Apple had filed the application on June 9, 2011 and before the release of the first HDR capable iPhone.
The patent application describes an image sensor and the HDR feature to take "two or more reads" of the sensor following an initial picture. "Data read out during these scans may be deinterleaved by an image signal processor and combined into a high dynamic range image," the document reads.
The process to generate a HDR picture Apple lays out is not different from the usual idea to combine characteristics of multiple picture into a single picture to achieve "greater dynamic range of luminances between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than standard digital imaging techniques". However, the company states that independently taken pictures may be slightly different due to hand movement/ Added HDR capability to an image sensor would be able to eliminate downsides that would cause the combination of pictures to be misaligned.
In detail, the application states: "To generate a HDR image during a single exposure of the frame (i.e., fixed amount of time t during which the rolling shutter reset moves across a frame), multiple reads of the same row of pixels of the image sensor may occur. For example, a first data read, of the data stored in a row of pixels, may be undertaken at a time n, where n is a fixed fractional time of time t. This time n may be, for example, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/10, 1/20, or another value of the frame time t. This time n may be represented as line. That is, the first data read may occur at a time n subsequent to the reset of a row of pixels by the rolling shutter reset."
It is just a patent application at this time and we are not aware of any patents that may be collide with Apple's request. However, since HDR photography has been in the mainstream since the middle of the last decade, it would be highly unusual, if there was no prior art.
Just hope this is not affecting actual HDR usage and the way to improve it further.
Reading from 2 or more pictures, and changes image based on it. Only difference I see if how many times they read the data or how they read it. I bet there is a lot of prior art from other companies on this. Heck I just used HDR Camera+ on my android phone to take some photos which works off of 3 photos and than makes a 4th HDR picture.
This is just like when it was discovered Apple filed for a facial recognition patent. Everyone was whining "how can Apple patent facial recognition". Apple wasn't trying to patent facial recognition (which would be impossible), they patented a specific method for doing it. If you search the USPTO you'll find numerous facial recognition patents. Some for still images, some for video, some need bright light, some work in low light, some are highly secure, some require a single frontal picture, some require multiple pictures from the front & sides and on and on. Apple's version was a low security system that required minimal processing power suitable for portable devices and their patent specifically stated that.
Yet people still whine on thinking Apple was trying to patent something that already existed (facial recognition).
Anyway, Apple's approach is novel.
Its as retarded as the rest. They take old ideas and patent it for smartphones and in so doing inhibits other smartphone manufacturers from implementing technologies to which Apple really had no original input. A smartphone is just a computer so I don't know how they get away with such farcical behaviour. If the Americans are happy with it fine, but anybody who is interested can go read the history of HDR imaging on wikipedia. I don't think the world should be held technologically hostage just because some US patent office can't be bothered to use wikipedia.
"Hold-And-Modify, usually abbreviated as HAM, is a display mode of the Commodore Amiga computer. It uses a highly unusual technique to express the color of pixels, allowing many more colors to appear on screen than would otherwise be possible."
I think the NASA and other similar agencies must have heaps of prior art in that domain.
Many cameras also have a panoramic feature that lets you scan an area and automatically stitch images/video together to create a higher resolution final result.
US patent office patents get thrown out more and more in courts around the world as many newer patents are to generic to pass in other country's offices. I feel sorry for the real US inventors as they could come to suffer in court due to the offices poor rep.
This would be one of the most retarded comments ever. As usual, Tom's posters living up to their reputation if knowing little about tech but having a "know it all attitude" about it at the ame time.
That's what they SHOULD do.
But then, they could only block people from using that EXACT code to do it - if someone wrote how to do it in another programming language - they couldn't do squat about it - which is why they are trying to Patent the RESULTS. A blatant abuse of the patent system.
I think USPTO are on apples payroll... the antitrust goverment agency should investigate this !