Yoav Y. Schechner: Research

Spectral and Dynamic Range Modulation Imaging

In this project, we are interested in the capture of high dynamic range and multispectral images of complex scenes. Our approach is to capture multiple frames of the scene while the imaging parameters are modulated continuously; images are taken at different exposures or through different wavelength bands.

A major problem associated with such a continuous modulation approach is the need for perfect synchronization between image acquisition and modulation control. In the past, this problem has been addressed by using sophisticated servo-control mechanisms. In this work, we show that the process of modulation imaging can be made much simpler by using vision algorithms to automatically relate each acquired frame to its corresponding modulation level.

This correspondence is determined solely from the acquired image sequence and does not require measurement or control of the modulation. The image acquisition and the modulation work continuously, in parallel, and independently. We refer to this approach as computational synchronization. It makes the imaging process simple and easy to implement. We have developed a prototype modulation imaging system that uses computational synchronization and we have used it to acquire high dynamic range and multispectral images.