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:
Mar. 21, 2006
Filed:
Jan. 25, 2002
Applicants:
Xiaodong Luo, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Xinping He, San Jose, CA (US);
Inventors:
Xiaodong Luo, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Xinping He, San Jose, CA (US);
Assignee:
OmniVision Technologies, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
H04N 5/235 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
In a CMOS image sensor, it is important to control the exposure time or gain. For varying changes in ambient light, the exposure time of the array must be changed. The present invention describes a method for controlling the exposure time or gain to ensure a smooth and fast change in the brightness of the obtained image. If the exposure time is the be decremented or incremented, then the gain control is increased or decreased, respectively to smooth out the changes in image brightness. This substantially reduces image flicker.