Abstract
High dynamic range (HDR) imaging has recently been applied to video systems, including the next-generation ultrahigh definition television (UHDTV) format. This format requires a camera with a dynamic range of over 15 f-stops and an S/N ratio that is the same as that of HDTV systems. However, current UHDTV cameras cannot satisfy these conditions. Thus, we propose a four-chip capturing method that combines three-chip and single-chip systems. A prism divides incident light into two rays. Most of the incident light is directed to the three-chip capturing block; the remainder is directed to a single-chip capturing block. High quality HDR video can then be obtained by synthesizing the images obtained from the two systems. In this paper, we describe the proposed image synthesis method and discuss the results of a simulation used to verify its effectiveness.
