Patent ID: 7430011

Claim:
An image sensor formed on an integrated circuit comprising: an array of pixels, said array of pixels including a plurality of bright pixels and a plurality of dark pixels; a dark exposure control circuit for controlling the exposure time of said plurality of dark pixels, said dark exposure control circuit increasing the exposure time of said dark pixels if a number of said dark pixels that are darker than a dark pixel too dark (DPTD) threshold exceeds a predetermined threshold D 2 ; and a bright exposure control circuit for controlling the exposure time of said plurality of bright pixels, said bright exposure control circuit decreasing the exposure time of said bright pixels if a number of said bright pixels that are brighter than a bright pixel too bright (BPTB) threshold exceeds a predetermined threshold B 1 , wherein said bright exposure control circuit is further capable of increasing the exposure time of said bright pixels if the number of said bright pixels that are darker than a bright pixel too dark (BPTD) threshold exceeds a predetermined threshold D 1 , wherein said dark exposure control circuit and said bright exposure control circuit are independent from each other, wherein the predetermined threshold D 2 is less than the predetermined threshold D 1 .