Using a scene illuminating infrared emitter array in a video monitoring camera for depth determination

Abstract

A process generates depth maps of a scene in the field of vision of a camera. The camera has a plurality of illuminators, a lens assembly, an image sensing element, a processor, and memory. The illuminators provide illumination using all of the illuminators. The lens assembly focuses incident light on the image sensing element. The memory stores image data from the image sensing element. The processor executes programs to control operation of the camera. The process operates in a second mode, where each of a plurality of subsets of the illuminators provides illumination separately from other subsets. The process sequentially activates each of the subsets to illuminate a scene and receives reflected illumination from the scene incident on the lens assembly and focused onto the image sensing element. The process measures light intensity values at the image sensing element and stores those measured light intensity values.