Patent ID: 7435962

Claim:
An imaging system comprising: an infrared flash configured to generate a flash of infrared light; an image sensor including an imaging array and a color filter array, said imaging array including first and second photosensitive elements, said color filter array including color and infrared pass filters, said color filter array being positioned over said imaging array such that each of said color pass filters is positioned over one of said first photosensitive elements and each of said infrared pass filters is positioned over one of said second photosensitive elements, said first photosensitive elements generating first image signals with infrared light components in response to light received through said color pass filters, said second photosensitive elements generating second image signals in response to light received through said infrared pass filters; and a processor operatively connected to said image sensor to receive said first and second image signals from said first and second photosensitive elements, said processor being configured to selectively process said first and second image signals to remove said infrared components from the first image signals to produce an infrared filtered digital image when said infrared flash is not used, said processor being configured to selectively process said first and second image signals to produce a digital image without said infrared components removed when said infrared flash is used.