Patent ID: 8723924
Filing Date: 2014-05-13
Classification: G01S,H04N

Abstract:
1. Method of recording 3D images of a scene based on a time-of-flight principle, comprising illuminating a scene by emitting light carrying an intensity modulation; imaging the scene onto a pixel array using an optical system; detecting, in each pixel, intensity-modulated light reflected from the scene onto said pixel, said intensity-modulated light detected in the pixel having an amplitude and a phase; determining, for each pixel, an amplitude value and a phase value of the amplitude and the phase, respectively , of said intensity-modulated light detected in the pixel determining, for each pixel, a distance value based on the phase value of said intensity-modulated light detected in the pixel; wherein determining said distance values comprises a phase-sensitive de-convolution of said scene imaged onto said pixel array such as to compensate for phase errors induced by light spreading in said optical system, wherein said phase-sensitive de-convolution of said scene imaged onto said pixel array comprises wherein, for each pixel, said distance value is calculated based upon the values of the array elements of said de-convoluted first and second arrays associated to the pixel, and wherein the de-convolution of said first and second arrays is effected by withdrawing from each array element of said first array a certain fraction of an averaged value of the values of the array elements of said first array and from each array element of said second array a corresponding fraction of an averaged value of the values of the array elements of said second array.