DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Liu et al (US 2022/0224820).
Regarding Claim 1, Liu et al teach a method of operation of a processing system (method of capturing HDR image data using computing device 10; Fig 1 and ¶ [0032]), the method comprising:
receiving, from an image sensor (camera 15 with sensor 12; Fig 1 and ¶ [0038]-[0040]), image data in accordance with a high dynamic range (HDR) image capture operation (the camera processor 14 receives image frames from the camera image sensor 12, which may be images captured in HDR mode; Fig 1 and ¶ [0040]-[0043]);
receiving, for at least one pixel value of the image data (pixel data of the image frames are received by the processor 14; ¶ [0042]), an indication that the pixel value corresponds to a particular exposure of a plurality of exposures captured by the image sensor in accordance with the HDR image capture operation (pixel data includes exposure settings of the camera 15 sensor 12 in relationship to the HDR setting; Fig 1 and ¶ [0042]-[0045]);
performing one or more operations in accordance with the image data and the indication (based on the image exposure, the processor 14 may apply a digital gain to the output image to compensate for brightness; Fig 1 and ¶ [0046]); and
outputting one or more image frames in accordance with the one or more operations (the camera processor 14 generates an HDR image output based on the post-processing image data; Fig 1 and ¶ [0045]-[0046]).
Regarding Claim 2, Liu et al teach the method of claim 1 (as described above), wherein performing the one or more operations (processor 14 may cause camera 15 to capture images using particular settings; Fig 1 and ¶ [0046]-[0047]) includes: selecting a particular gain value in accordance with the indication and scaling the pixel value in accordance with the particular gain value (based on the image exposure, the processor 14 may apply (select) a digital gain to the output image to compensate (scaling the pixel value) for brightness; Fig 1 and ¶ [0046]).
Regarding Claim 3, Liu et al teach the method of claim 1 (as described above), wherein the particular exposure is selected from among the plurality of exposures by the image sensor in accordance with one or more criteria (the processor 14 may determine an image sensor 12 exposure setting to capture the images from different exposure settings based on given image capture techniques; Fig 1 and ¶ [0044]-[0049]).
Regarding Claim 4, Liu et al teach the method of claim 3 (as described above), wherein the one or more criteria are based at least in part on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) associated with the particular exposure (the image capture techniques to capture the HDR image includes analysis of the signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) associated with the scene characteristics (thereby influencing exposure ¶ [0044]-[0046]); Fig 1 and ¶ [0049]).
Regarding Claim 5, Liu et al teach the method of claim 3 (as described above), wherein the one or more criteria are based at least in part on a saturation level associated with the particular exposure (the image capture techniques to capture the HDR image includes analysis of the brightness (saturation ¶ [0104]-[0105]) associated with the scene characteristics (thereby influencing exposure ¶ [0044]-[0046]); Fig 1 and ¶ [0046], [0050]).
Regarding Claim 6, Liu et al teach the method of claim 3 (as described above), wherein the one or more criteria include a determination that, among at least a subset of the plurality of exposures having saturation levels that fail to meet a threshold saturation level, the SNR associated with the particular exposure exceeds other SNRs associated with other exposures of the subset (the brightness values are determined for the pixels with the majority of pixels 710, 714 not over exposed (saturated and above a threshold 704) or under exposed (dark 702) such that the majority of pixels fail to meet a threshold indicating over exposed (saturated) may have a signal to noise ratio greater than the dark region (¶ [0086]), which may be processed with a fusion control; Fig 7 and ¶ [0104]-[106], [0111]).
Regarding Claim 7, Liu et al teach the method of claim 1 (as described above), wherein the particular exposure is associated with one or more of a first exposure time, a first pixel size, or a first conversion gain (the exposure settings with a long exposure is associated with a long exposure time; Fig 1, 2 and ¶ [0044], [0072], [0075]), and
wherein at least one other exposure of the plurality of exposures is associated with one or more of a second exposure time that is different than the first exposure time, a second pixel size that is different than the first pixel size, or a second conversion gain that is different than the first conversion gain (a second exposure setting, a medium exposure setting, is associated with an exposure time between the long exposure and short exposure time; Fig 1, 2 and ¶ [0044], [0072], [0075]).
Regarding Claim 8, Liu et al teach an apparatus (computing device 10; Fig 1 and ¶ [0032]) comprising: a processing system (camera processor 14 and CPU 16; Fig 1 and ¶ [0032]) including one or more processors and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors (camera processor 14 and CPU 16 are coupled to memory 24, 30; Fig 1 and ¶ [0060]), the processing system configured to: perform steps identical to claim 1 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 9, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 8 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 2 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 10, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 8 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 3 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 11, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 10 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 4 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 12, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 10 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 5 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 13, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 10 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 6 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 14, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 8 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 7 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 15, Liu et al teach a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processing system to initiate, perform, or control operations (the system memory 30 stores program modules, instructions, data accessible by processors 14, 16 to perform functions; Fig 1 and ¶ [0060]-[0061]), the operations comprising: perform steps identical to claim 1 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 16, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 15 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 2 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 17, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 15 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 3 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 18, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 17 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 4 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 19, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 17 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 5 (as described above).
Regarding Claim 20, Liu et al teach the apparatus of claim 17 (as described above), with further limitations claimed identical to claim 6 (as described above).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang et al (US 2023/0199337) teach a system and method for HDR images including exposure settings, binning, demosaicing, upscaling and fusion processes; claims were also checked for double patenting, which are distinct from the current application.
Wang et al (US 2016/0037043) teach HDR image processing techniques including multiple exposure times to generate the image and process the image based on the individual pixel; claims were also checked for double patenting, which are distinct from the current application.
Duran et al (US 2023/0199309) teach a HDR image exposure process for automatic exposure functions in a video system including analysis of the pixel intensity to determine the exposure criteria.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATHLEEN M BROUGHTON whose telephone number is (571)270-7380. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Villecco can be reached at (571) 272-7319. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KATHLEEN M BROUGHTON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2661
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