Patent ID: 7173741

Claim:
A method for using an image sensor array having one or more bad pixels out of a plurality of pixels, the method comprising: (a) performing a first pass on first data values, each first data value being associated with one of the plurality of pixels in the image sensor array, the first pass comprising: (1) identifying the one or more bad pixels; and (2) storing information about the one or more bad pixels in a memory, wherein the first pass further includes checking whether the memory is sufficient for storing the information about the one or more bad pixels and when the memory is insufficient, marking the memory associated with the pixel with a memory overflow mark so that the subsequent pass will resume the first pass upon identifying the pixel associated with the memory overflow mark; and (b) performing one or more subsequent passes on subsequent data values, each subsequent data value being associated with one of the plurality of pixels in the image sensor array, the one or more subsequent passes comprising: (1) re-evaluating the one or more bad pixels previously identified based on the information stored in the memory; and (2) modifying the information stored in the memory if the re-evaluation identifies a change associated with the one or more bad pixels previously identified.