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SonyPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Sony patents camera tech that fixes timing errors in fast sensors

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Sony describes a device that combines a standard camera sensor with a specialized sensor that only reports changes in light. The system calculates how much light hits the special sensor to adjust for delays in the data, ensuring the timing of detected events is accurate.

Why it mattersThis improves the precision of high-speed cameras, which could benefit applications like autonomous driving or sports analysis where millisecond timing matters.

In the filing’s own words

The present disclosure relates to a light detection device, a light detection method, and a program that can reduce latency caused by an event signal detection sensor. The present disclosure calculates, on the basis of a gradation signal detected by a CMOS image sensor provided in a vicinity of an event signal detection sensor configured to output event data representing occurrence of an event that is a change in an electric signal, the event being detected in an event detection pixel configured to generate the electric signal by performing photoelectric conversion, a plurality of the event detection pixels being disposed on a two-dimensional plane, a received light amount of the event detection pixel, and corrects, on the basis of the received light amount of the event detection pixel, information related to latency in the event data. The present disclosure can be applied to a hybrid EVS sensor.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A light detection device comprising: an event detecting section configured to output event data representing occurrence of an event that is a change in an electric signal, the event being detected in an event detection pixel configured to generate the electric signal by performing photoelectric conversion, a plurality of the event detection pixels being disposed on a two-dimensional plane; a received light amount calculation section configured to calculate a received light amount of the event detection pixel; and a latency correction section configured to correct information related to latency in the event data on the basis of the received light amount of the event detection pixel calculated by the received light amount calculation section.

Facts

Company
Sony (SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION)
Official title
LIGHT DETECTION DEVICE, LIGHT DETECTION METHOD, AND PROGRAM
Publication number
US20260303988A1
Application number
19480245
Filed
Apr 22, 2024
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

H04N 25/47 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/707 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.