Patent Document ID: 20160267695
Application ID: 15069777
Patent Status: 0

Claim One:
1. A method of fusing images, the method comprising: encoding first image data of a pixel in a first image to a value between 0 and 1; determining, by a graphics processing unit (GPU), a first quality measure of the first image data, wherein a value of the first quality measure ranges between 0 and 1; encoding second image data of a like pixel in a second image to a value between 0 and 1, wherein the first image and the second image have different exposures and are captured by a digital image capture device of the same scene from the same location of capture, and wherein the pixel and the like pixel map to an identical coordinate location within their respective images; determining, by the GPU, a second quality measure for the second image data, wherein a value of the second quality measure ranges between 0 and 1; globally encoding, by the GPU, the first quality measure and the second quality measure, based on a number of images to be fused, to achieve a first globally encoded quality measure and a second globally encoded quality measure, wherein a sum of the first globally encoded quality measure and the second globally encoded quality measure is between 0 and 1; performing, by a pixel shader of the GPU, a weighted blending of the first image data with the second image data, based on the first globally encoded quality measure and the second globally encoded quality measure, to achieve fused image data for a third pixel at the identical coordinate location in a fused image; and outputting, by the pixel shader, the fused image data for inclusion in the fused image to provide the fused image with improved exposure compared to either the first image or the second image.