The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 01, 2005
Filed:
Jul. 14, 2000
Armin Dobusch, Ingolstadt, DE;
Holger Jordan, Ingolstadt, DE;
Wolfgang Schmid, Brunnen, DE;
Armin Steiner, Ingolstadt, DE;
Armin Dobusch, Ingolstadt, DE;
Holger Jordan, Ingolstadt, DE;
Wolfgang Schmid, Brunnen, DE;
Armin Steiner, Ingolstadt, DE;
Conti Temic microelectronic GmbH, Nürnberg, DE;
Abstract
A method is described for detecting brightness signals from a multiplicity of light-sensitive sensor elements, in particular CCD lines or arrays, in which the brightness signals are amplified in such a way that an A/D converter which digitizes the amplified brightness signals works in its permissible working range. For the brightness signal of a predetermined sensor element, the gain is reduced in steps, preferably in binary steps, from a maximum gain factor down to a working value at which the A/D converter works in the permissible working range. For each following sensor element, the working value of the respective preceding sensor element is used as the maximum gain factor. The number of changeover operations of the amplifier is considerably reduced and thus the detection time is shortened.