Proposals for the Development of High-Sensitivity Surveillance Cameras

Abstract

The article proposes an algorithm for estimating the sensitivity of video cameras to the signal-to-noise ratio based on the analysis of the spectral density distribution of signal power and noise in real video images. The algorithm is being tested on a large number of real visible range images obtained at different times of the year and at different times of the day. A good correspondence of the obtained signal-to-noise values to the illumination level of the scene is shown in comparison with other algorithms. The hardware implementation of the algorithm directly in the video camera will allow you to automatically turn on the sensitivity mode when the signal-to-noise level drops below a certain threshold when the illumination of the scene decreases. As a mode of increased sensitivity, a method based on hardware binning with restoration of spatial resolution is proposed. To ensure the restoration of spatial resolution, binning in neighboring video frames is carried out with a diagonal shift of at least one pixel of the photosensitive matrix of the video camera. In this case, a space-time grid of pixels is formed, interspersed with zero rows and columns, in the form of a checkerboard, which is then subjected to three-dimensional interpolation filtering. According to the experimental results, depending on the frequency of binning, the signal-to-noise ratio increases by 10--15 dB. The pixel size of the video frames is fully restored, and the spatial resolution is restored to 80% of the original with 2 × 2 binning and at least 40 % with 4 × 4 binning

Please cite this article in English as:

Drynkin V.N., Pavlov Yu.V., Tsareva T.I. Proposals for the development of high-sensitivity surveillance cameras. Herald of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Series Instrument Engineering, 2025, no. 1 (150), pp. 18--33 (in Russ.). EDN: XWVLFD

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