Patent ID: 11936997
Assignee: JVCKENWOOD CORPORATION
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC H

Claim 4:
5. An image processing method comprising:
an imaging data acquisition step of acquiring imaging data from an infrared imaging device configured to capture a thermal image of an outside of a mobile body;
a saturated region detection step of detecting that a saturated region is present in the imaging data;
a dynamic range control step of setting, in accordance with a result of the detection of the saturated region, a dynamic range to a first temperature range where a temperature on an upper limit side is saturated due to a temperature of another vehicle, or a second temperature range where a temperature at least on an upper limit side is higher than that in the first temperature range and remains unsaturated regardless of a temperature of the other vehicle, the dynamic range being a temperature range detected by the infrared imaging device; and
a shutter control step of controlling opening and closing of a shutter for protecting the infrared imaging device based on the result of the detection of the saturated region and the setting of the dynamic range, wherein
in the dynamic range control step, the setting of the dynamic range is changed from the first temperature range to the second temperature range when the dynamic range is set to the first temperature range and the saturated region is detected in the saturated region detection step, and the setting of the dynamic range is changed from the second temperature range to the first temperature range when the dynamic range is set to the second temperature range and the saturated region is dot detected in the saturated region detection step, and
in the shutter control step, the shutter is closed when the saturated region detection unit detects the saturated region in a state in which the dynamic range is set to the second temperature range.