Saturday, October 02, 2021

One-pixel Camera from HDR Inventor

Steve Mann publishes Instructables article "One-pixel Camera for Teaching and Research on Comparametric Equations and HDR." It starts from a claim of a multi-frame HDR invention in 1996:

"Back in the 1980s and early 1990s I invented something called HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging that is now widely used in smartphones and cameras and augmented reality vision systems, etc.. My general philosophy was to regard the camera as an array of light meters. The idea is to turn a camera into a scientific measuring instrument."

2 comments:

  1. Orly Yadid-Pecht and my patent US 6,115,065 on HDR has a priority date of Nov 5 1995 whereas Mann's seems to be May 6, 1996. Orly came to JPL as a postdoc with some ideas about HDR from her work in Israel so I can't help but think that there was some earlier work on combining images for HDR aside from the patent record. I am also sure Mann's work was a coincident invention and perhaps more sophisticated in combining images. Our first synthesis of HDR at JPL just consisted of adding the long exposure and short exposure images.

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  2. I was half expecting someone did a diy version of single pixel imaging, sequencing hadamard patterns projected @ 30FPS using those bespoke B/W high res LCD panel for SLM printers, with some dandy python scripts to deconvolve synchronised ADC measurement with a PV cell, in place of a 35mm film in a SLR camera... Likely doable albeit not particular fast, but neverthless in the spirit of SPI, as in why take 40MP, then 10% JPEG it, but evidently it wasn't.

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