Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Camera with tunable filter and active illumination
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Application No.: US15987852Application Date: 2018-05-23
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Publication No.: US10477173B1Publication Date: 2019-11-12
- Inventor: Sergio Ortiz Egea , Onur Can Akkaya , Cyrus Soli Bamji
- Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
- Applicant Address: US WA Redmond
- Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
- Current Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
- Current Assignee Address: US WA Redmond
- Agency: Alleman Hall Creasman & Tuttle LLP
- Main IPC: H04N5/232
- IPC: H04N5/232 ; G02F1/137 ; H04N9/68 ; H04N5/225 ; H04N5/33 ; G06T7/521 ; G02F1/1335

Abstract:
A camera includes an optical filter for a sensor array of the camera. The optical filter includes a plurality of liquid crystal layers switchable between a reflection state and a transmission state. Each liquid crystal layer is configured to block spectral light in a different spectral light sub-band and transmit spectral light outside of the spectral light sub-band in the reflection state, and to transmit spectral light in the spectral light sub-band in the transmission state. An active illuminator of the camera is configured to emit active light in a selected spectral light sub-band. One or more of the plurality of liquid crystal layers is switched from the transmission state to the reflection state to tune the optical filter to block spectral light in all but the selected spectral light sub-band. The sensors of the sensor array are addressed to measure spectral light in the selected spectral light sub-band.
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