High Dynamic Range Imaging at the Quantum Limit with Single Photon Avalanche Diode-Based Image Sensors

Dutton, Neale A. W.; Abbas, Tarek Al; Gyöngy, István; Rocca, Francescopaolo Mattioli Della; Henderson, Robert K.

doi:10.3390/s18041166

Cited by 36 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(40 reference statements)

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“…The QIS we use in this paper is clock-driven, so it is comparable to the SPAD used in [47]. However, [47] simply sums multiple frames to reconstruct an HDR image which is not optimal. The HDR reconstruction method we present here can be applied to the SPAD with some modifications of the parameters such as read noise, dark current, and bit-depth.…”

Section: Single-photon Avalanche Diodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

HDR Imaging With Quanta Image Sensors: Theoretical Limits and Optimal Reconstruction

Gnanasambandam

Chan

2020

IEEE Trans. Comput. Imaging

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High dynamic range (HDR) imaging is one of the biggest achievements in modern photography. Traditional solutions to HDR imaging are designed for and applied to CMOS image sensors (CIS). However, the mainstream onemicron CIS cameras today generally have a high read noise and low frame-rate. Consequently, these sensors have limited acquisition speed, making the cameras slow in the HDR mode. In this paper, we propose a new computational photography technique for HDR imaging. Recognizing the limitations of CIS, we use the Quanta Image Sensors (QIS) to trade spatial-temporal resolution with bit-depth. QIS are single-photon image sensors that have comparable pixel pitch to CIS but substantially lower dark current and read noise. We provide a complete theoretical characterization of the sensor in the context of HDR imaging, by proving the fundamental limits in the dynamic range that QIS can offer and its trade-offs with noise and speed. In addition, we derive an optimal reconstruction algorithm for single-bit and multi-bit QIS. Our algorithm is theoretically optimal for all linear reconstruction schemes based on exposure bracketing. Experimental results confirm the validity of the theory and algorithm, based on synthetic and real QIS data.

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Section: Single-photon Avalanche Diodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

HDR Imaging With Quanta Image Sensors: Theoretical Limits and Optimal Reconstruction

Gnanasambandam

Chan

2020

IEEE Trans. Comput. Imaging

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“…With this method, the sensor can work in a maximum dynamic range (120 dB) to obtain good quality HDR images. In [ 19 ], Dutton et al exploited the high dynamic range of the single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) that is scalable to megapixel arrays. In [ 20 ], Martinez et al proposed a method to optimize the LinLog CMOS sensor and increase its yield for HDR scenes.et al In CMOS image sensors, all components are required to be included and work in a very small camera system.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending and Matching a High Dynamic Range Image from a Single Image

Tran

Lin

2020

Sensors

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Extending the dynamic range can present much richer contrasts and physical information from the traditional low dynamic range (LDR) images. To tackle this, we propose a method to generate a high dynamic range image from a single LDR image. In addition, a technique for the matching between the histogram of a high dynamic range (HDR) image and the original image is introduced. To evaluate the results, we utilize the dynamic range for independent image quality assessment. It recognizes the difference in subtle brightness, which is a significant role in the assessment of novel lighting, rendering, and imaging algorithms. The results show that the picture quality is improved, and the contrast is adjusted. The performance comparison with other methods is carried out using the predicted visibility (HDR-VDP-2). Compared to the results obtained from other techniques, our extended HDR images can present a wider dynamic range with a large difference between light and dark areas.

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“…A range of pixel technologies are currently available with single-photon sensitivity, for instance electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD), photo-cathode-based intensified CCD (ICCD), and intensified complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (ICMOS). These technologies, however, present some limitations; EMCCDs require a cooling system, ICCDs are costly, and all these technologies can tune the gain to offer either high single-photon sensitivity or HDR but not both [10]. Another pixel paradigm achieving single-photon detection capability is the quanta image sensor (QIS), which avoids the need to use avalanche multiplication.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in practice, the minimum detectable count is determined by the dark count rate (DCR), and the maximum count is limited by the SPAD dead time, which depends on the implemented quenching mechanism [18]. The SPAD pulse counting mechanism is implemented with three different methods: using digital counters, analog counters, or 1-bit memories [10]. Digital counters are area-consuming and, thus, require a very advanced technology node or three-dimensional (3D) stacking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Dynamic Range Imaging with TDC-Based CMOS SPAD Arrays

et al. 2019

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This paper investigates the use of image sensors based on complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) in high dynamic range (HDR) imaging by combining photon counts and timestamps. The proposed method is validated experimentally with an SPAD detector based on a per-pixel time-to-digital converter (TDC) architecture. The detector, featuring 32 × 32 pixels with 44.64-µm pitch, 19.48% fill factor, and time-resolving capability of ~295-ps, was fabricated in a 150-nm CMOS standard technology. At high photon flux densities, the pixel output is saturated when operating in photon-counting mode, thus limiting the DR of this imager. This limitation can be overcome by exploiting the distribution of photon arrival times in each pixel, which shows an exponential behavior with a decay rate dependent on the photon flux level. By fitting the histogram curve with the exponential decay function, the extracted time constant is used to estimate the photon count. This approach achieves 138.7-dB dynamic range within 30-ms of integration time, and can be further extended by using a timestamping mechanism with a higher resolution.

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High Dynamic Range Imaging at the Quantum Limit with Single Photon Avalanche Diode-Based Image Sensors

Cited by 36 publications

References 23 publications

HDR Imaging With Quanta Image Sensors: Theoretical Limits and Optimal Reconstruction

HDR Imaging With Quanta Image Sensors: Theoretical Limits and Optimal Reconstruction

Extending and Matching a High Dynamic Range Image from a Single Image

High Dynamic Range Imaging with TDC-Based CMOS SPAD Arrays

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