Patent ID: 8471895

Claim:
A three-dimensional imaging system, comprising: an illumination subsystem configured to emit a light pulse with a divergence sufficient to irradiate a scene having a wide field of view; a sensor subsystem configured to receive over a wide field of view portions of the light pulse reflected or scattered by the scene, the sensor subsystem comprising: a modulator configured to modulate as a function of time an intensity of the received light pulse portions to form modulated received light pulse portions; and means for generating a first image corresponding to the received light pulse portions and a second image corresponding to the modulated received light pulse portions; and a processor subsystem configured to obtain a three-dimensional image based on the first and second images; wherein at least one of the first and second images contains a region of maximum intensity, wherein the means for generating comprises a sensor array having a saturation limit, and wherein the system is configured to enhance a dynamic range of the three-dimensional image by increasing an energy of the light pulse above the saturation limit of the sensor array.