Patent Document ID: 9782056
Application ID: 14262402
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. An apparatus comprising: a first image capture sensor comprising a first image capture sensor surface; a second image capture sensor comprising a second image capture sensor surface, wherein the first image capture sensor surface is in a first plane, the second image capture sensor surface is in a second plane, and wherein the first and second planes are substantially parallel and are separated by a known distance, wherein at least one of the first and second image capture sensors comprises a color image capture sensor; a prism assembly, positioned to receive light, comprising: a distal face through which the received light enters the prism assembly; a beam splitter configured to reflect a first portion of the received light, and to transmit a second portion of the received light; and a surface configured to reflect, in a first direction, the first portion of the received light onto the first image capture sensor, wherein a first portion of the received light is a first percentage of the received light, and the second portion of the received light is a second percentage of the received light, wherein one hundred percent minus the first percentage is about the second percentage, and wherein the first and second percentages are not about equal, and the first percentage is smaller than the second percentage a reflective unit positioned to receive the second portion of the received light, the reflective unit being configured to direct, in the first direction, the second portion of the received light to the second image capture sensor, wherein a first optical path length from the distal face to the first image capture sensor surface is smaller than a second optical path length from the distal face to the second image capture sensor surface, wherein the first image capture sensor captures an image focused at a first object distance, and wherein the second image capture sensor captures an image focused at a second object distance; and a controller coupled to the first and second image capture sensors to receive first and second images, the controller being configured to automatically generate an in focus output image from the first and second images, the in focus output image having an extended depth of field, and the controller being configured to sample a first group of pixels in the first image, the controller being configured to sample a corresponding second group of pixels in the second image, and the controller being configured to select one of the first group of pixels and the second group of pixels for the output image.