Patent ID: 8068153

Claim:
A method of forming a full-color output image using a color filter array image having a plurality of color channels and a panchromatic channel, comprising one or more processors for providing the following: a) capturing the color filter array image using a color filter array image sensor, the color filter array image having the plurality of color channels and the panchromatic channel, wherein the panchromatic channel is captured using a different exposure time than at least one of the plurality of color channels of the color filter array image; b) computing an interpolated color image and an interpolated panchromatic image from the color filter array image; c) computing a chrominance image from the interpolated color image, wherein computing the chrominance image includes computing a synthetic panchromatic image from the interpolated color image, and modifying the chrominance image as a function of the synthetic panchromatic image and the interpolated panchromatic image; and d) forming the full-color output image using the interpolated panchromatic image and the chrominance image.