System and method for generating a digital image

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for generating a digital image. The method comprises receiving a shutter release command and causing a camera module to sample a first image of a photographic scene based on a first set of sampling parameters in response to the shutter release command. Next, the first image within an image set is stored and a camera module is caused to sample a second image of the photographic scene based on a second set of sampling parameters in response to the shutter release command. Additionally, the second image within the image set is stored, and a strobe intensity value is specified based on a measured exposure for images in the image set. Lastly, a strobe unit is configured based on the strobe intensity value, and in response to configuring the strobe unit, the camera module is caused to sample a final image.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An image capture device, comprising:
 an imaging hardware pipeline, wherein the imaging hardware pipeline comprises:
 an image sensor that is operable to capture image data; and 
 one or more hardware blocks that are operable to process the image data to contribute to formation of an image; 
 wherein the imaging hardware pipeline generates one or more hardware-generated statistics; 
   one or more processors; and   one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the image capture device to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:
 obtaining the one or more hardware-generated statistics generated by the imaging hardware pipeline; 
 analyzing the one or more hardware-generated statistics to determine one or more metrics for the image data or the image; and 
 determining a downstream operation of the image capture device relative to the image based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics, wherein the downstream operation of the image capture device relative to the image comprises a post-processing operation that is performed by the image capture device on the image subsequent to formation of the image by the imaging hardware pipeline. 
   
     
     
         2 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more hardware-generated statistics generated by the imaging hardware pipeline comprise one or more of:
 an intensity histogram;   a count of under-exposed pixels;   a count of over-exposed pixels;   an intensity-weighted sum of pixel intensity;   a first white balance based on a red color channel;   a second white balance based on a blue color channel;   a third white balance based on a green color channel;   a sum of color intensities based on a combination of at least two of the red color channel, the blue color channel, or the green color channel; or   spatial color statistics.   
     
     
         3 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein analyzing the one or more hardware-generated statistics to determine one or more metrics for the image data or the image comprises determining a relevancy for the image relative to at least one previously captured image based at least in part on the one or more hardware-generated statistics. 
     
     
         4 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , wherein determining the downstream operation of the image capture device relative to the image based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics comprises determining, based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics, whether to store the image in a non-volatile memory or volatile memory. 
     
     
         5 . The image capture device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining, based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics, whether to capture additional images that depict a same scene as the image.   
     
     
         6 . A computing system, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more non-transitory computer-readable media that store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the image capture device to perform operations, wherein the operations comprise:   obtaining one or more hardware-generated statistics generated by an imaging hardware pipeline, wherein the imaging hardware pipeline comprises an image sensor that is operable to capture image data and one or more hardware blocks that are operable to process the image data to contribute to formation of an image;   analyzing the one or more hardware-generated statistics to determine one or more metrics for the image data or the image; and   determining a downstream operation of the computing system relative to the image based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics, wherein the downstream operation of the image capture device relative to the image comprises a post-processing operation that is performed by the image capture device on the image subsequent to formation of the image by the imaging hardware pipeline.   
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method, the method comprising:
 obtaining, by one or more computing devices, one or more hardware-generated statistics generated by an imaging hardware pipeline, wherein the imaging hardware pipeline comprises an image sensor that is operable to capture image data and one or more hardware blocks that are operable to process the image data to contribute to formation of an image;   analyzing, by the one or more computing devices, the one or more hardware-generated statistics to determine one or more metrics for the image data or the image; and   determining, by the one or more computing devices, a downstream operation relative to the image based at least in part on the one or more metrics determined from the hardware-generated statistics, wherein the downstream operation of the image capture device relative to the image comprises a post-processing operation that is performed by the image capture device on the image subsequent to formation of the image by the imaging hardware pipeline.