ADAPTIVE EXPOSURE IMAGE INPUT SYSTEM FOR OBTAINING HIGH-QUALITY COLOR INFORMATION

The color image processing based on the color information is not concerned with the accuracy of the color information in the original image. The color representation transformation and the processing algorithm assume that the accuracy of the input image is sufficiently high. This paper considers the input of the RGB color image, and discusses the image input system, emphasizing the accuracy of the color information. Here, each pixel is inputted with sufficient intensity without saturation, independently of the brightness of the object, by the multistep exposure control. The obtained image is called the adaptive exposure color image since each pixel is inputted with an adequate exposure. This paper discusses also the exposure control using the variable electronic shutter function of the CCD camera, the pixel selection/storage algorithm for the time-series images with different exposure times, and the reduction of the input time by reducing the number of exposures.