This relates generally to imaging devices, and more particularly, to imaging sensor pixels that include more than one photosensitive region and that are capable of high dynamic range functionalities.
Image sensors are commonly used in electronic devices such as cellular telephones, cameras, and computers to capture images. In a typical arrangement, an image sensor includes an array of image pixels arranged in pixel rows and pixel columns. Circuitry may be coupled to each pixel column for reading out image signals from the image pixels.
Typical image pixels contain a photodiode for generating charge in response to incident light. Conventional imaging systems may have images with artifacts associated with low dynamic range. Scenes with bright and dark portions may produce artifacts in conventional image sensors, as portions of the low dynamic range images may be over exposed or under exposed. Image sensors may therefore be equipped with high dynamic range (HDR) functionality, where multiple images are captured with an image sensor with different exposure times. The images are later combined into a high dynamic range image, but this can introduce motion artifacts, especially in dynamic scenes with non-static objects.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide imaging devices with improved image sensor pixels.