Patent ID: 8125536

Claim:
An image capture system comprising: an image sensor including one or more photo sensitive pixels that can be individually non-destructively interrogated for a parameter value indicative of the cumulative amount of light to which the individual pixel has been exposed; control logic and readout circuitry, whereby the pixels can be interrogated for their respective parameter values at a plurality of differing time values while being continuously exposed for a time interval without being reset, and to determine whether the parameter value exceeds a limit value; and memory, wherein for each of the pixels is maintained a corresponding value of the parameter and an indication of the time value to which the recorded value of the parameter corresponds, wherein the control logic and readout circuitry overwrite the recorded value of the parameter with a later acquired value of the parameter if the later acquired value does not exceed the limit value and otherwise maintains the parameter value unless reset and determines the value of the parameter corresponding to the cumulative amount of light for the entire time interval based on the recorded value of the parameter.