Patent ID: 7582857

Claim:
A sensor for real-time extraction of polarimetric information at a focal imaging plane, comprising: an imaging sensor including an array of photo pixels that receive and record intensity values of a target image; a micropolarizer array mounted between the imaging sensor and said target image, said micropolarizer array comprising no more than two different polarization filters that are offset at approximately a 45 degree angle with respect to each other and arranged to cover respective pixels of said imaging sensor; and a processing unit that receives two polarization-filtered output signals from said imaging sensor and intensity values from said imaging sensor of recorded intensity values of said target image that have not been polarized by any polarization filter, calculates substantially in real time using said two polarization-filtered output signals and intensity values the polarization state of an electric field vector of light impinging on said focal imaging plane, and scales the polarization-filtered output signals of individual pixels of said imaging sensor based on said polarization state.