Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories

About: Sony Broadcast & Professional Research Laboratories is a company organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Signal & Layer (electronics). The organization has 38708 authors who have published 63864 publications receiving 865637 citations.

Generalized Assorted Pixel Camera: Postcapture Control of Resolution, Dynamic Range, and Spectrum

Abstract: We propose the concept of a generalized assorted pixel (GAP) camera, which enables the user to capture a single image of a scene and, after the fact, control the tradeoff between spatial resolution, dynamic range and spectral detail. The GAP camera uses a complex array (or mosaic) of color filters. A major problem with using such an array is that the captured image is severely under-sampled for at least some of the filter types. This leads to reconstructed images with strong aliasing. We make four contributions in this paper: 1) we present a comprehensive optimization method to arrive at the spatial and spectral layout of the color filter array of a GAP camera. 2) We develop a novel algorithm for reconstructing the under-sampled channels of the image while minimizing aliasing artifacts. 3) We demonstrate how the user can capture a single image and then control the tradeoff of spatial resolution to generate a variety of images, including monochrome, high dynamic range (HDR) monochrome, RGB, HDR RGB, and multispectral images. 4) Finally, the performance of our GAP camera has been verified using extensive simulations that use multispectral images of real world scenes. A large database of these multispectral images has been made available at http://wwwl.cs.columbia.edu/ CAVE/projects/gap_camera/ for use by the research community.

Dry etching method

Abstract: A dry etching method for etching an aluminum (Al) based layer for effectively combatting the after-corrosion in accordance with three aspects. In the first aspect, while a resist mask and chlorine based gas as known per se are used, S 2 F 2 is used during etching of the barrier metal layer. In this manner, residual chlorine in a carbonaceous polymer as a sidewall protection material or a resist mask is replaced by fluorine, whilst sulfur yielded from S 2 F 2 under conditions of discharge dissociation is deposited to provide for sidewall protection effects. In the second aspect, a SiO 2 mask and an S 2 Cl 2 etching gas are used. Since the sidewall protection material is solely sulfur yielded from S 2 Cl 2 , it becomes possible to avoid the effects of the residual chlorine. In the third aspect, an neutral Ar beam is irradiated at a suitable stage in the etching process for increasing the resistance of the SiO 2 mask against reducing compounds contained in an etching gas for the layer of the aluminum-based material. By irradiation of the neutral beam, a reduction-resistant layer is produced on the surface of the SiO 2 mask to render it possible to reduce the mask thickness without producing problems such as increased step differences on the wafer surface.

High dynamic range imaging: spatially varying pixel exposures

Abstract: While real scenes produce a wide range of brightness variations, vision systems use low dynamic range image detectors that typically provide 8 bits of brightness data at each pixel. The resulting low quality images greatly limit what vision can accomplish today. This paper proposes a very simple method for significantly enhancing the dynamic range of virtually any imaging system. The basic principle is to simultaneously sample the spatial and exposure dimensions of image irradiance. One of several ways to achieve this is by placing an optical mask adjacent to a conventional image detector array. The mask has a pattern with spatially varying transmittance, thereby giving adjacent pixels on the detector different exposures to the scene. The captured image is mapped to a high dynamic range image using an efficient image reconstruction algorithm. The end result is an imaging system that can measure a very wide range of scene radiance and produce a substantially larger number of brightness levels, with a slight reduction in spatial resolution. We conclude with several examples of high dynamic range images computed using spatially varying pixel exposures.

Home audio/video network with two level device control

Abstract: A method and system for providing seamless interoperability and integration of a plurality of devices in a network. When a new device is coupled to a home audio video network, the device is queried to obtain a description of first level functions supported by the device. A first level control module which implements the first level functions is generated for the device based upon the description. If the new device contains software for implementing second level functions, the software is retrieved from the device and a second level control module which implements the second level functions is generated using the software. The device is subsequently accessed via the control module in order to access the first level functions or the second level functions and provide seamless interoperability and integration of the device with the plurality of devices in the network.