Patent Document ID: 7813545
Application ID: 11513570
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for determining a backlit subject in an image received by a plurality of pixels of a semiconductor sensor array, the method comprising: generating a window over the image, the window comprising a plurality of sub-windows arranged in a grid pattern; performing a scene analysis on the window to determine a set of sub-windows that comprise the image and a location of the set of sub-windows within the grid pattern; comparing an average brightness of each of the set of sub-windows to an average brightness of the window; generating an indication that a first sub-window is dark when the average brightness of the first sub-window is a predetermined amount less than the average brightness of the window; checking the average brightness of the first sub-window that is central to the grid pattern; if the first sub-window is dark, checking the average brightness of a first adjacent set of sub-windows, each sub-window of the first adjacent set being adjacent to a different side of the first sub-window; if a first predetermined quantity of the first adjacent set of sub-windows is dark, checking the average brightness of a second adjacent set of sub-windows, each sub-window of the second adjacent set being adjacent to a different side of the first adjacent set of sub-windows; if a second predetermined quantity of the second adjacent set of sub-windows is dark, checking the average brightness of a third adjacent set of sub-windows, each sub-window of the third adjacent set being adjacent to a different side of the first adjacent set of sub-windows; and if a third predetermined quantity of each of the first, second, and third adjacent sets of sub-windows are dark, indicating the location of the backlit subject as being central to the grid pattern.