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True Color Night Vision Video Systems in Intelligent Vehicles

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Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology

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Definition of the Subject and Its Importance

Vision-based driver assistance aims to increase traffic safety at night by enhancing human night vision in situations where visibility is limited or challenging to the human visual system. The night vision cameras described sense the near-infrared radiation of the car’s own headlights to extend the range of forward vision, while, at the same time, discriminating traffic-relevant colors of signal lights and signage. Adaptive wide-dynamic-range image sensor technology ensures that scene detail in both deep shadow and bright highlight is captured even in situations where the human eye may be blinded or too slow to adapt to sudden changes in brightness. The information from the near-infrared and visible spectrum is combined into natural-looking color images and communicated to the driver via on-board visual displays to enable recognition of the traffic situation.

Introduction

Since the late 1990s, there has been research into driver assistance...

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Abbreviations

Automotive night vision:

A technical system to enhance human night vision in situations where visibility is limited or challenging to the human visual system, for example in situations where the range of distances illuminated by headlights is shorter than the safe braking distance or in situations where the human eye may be too slow to adapt to sudden changes in brightness. It requires an effective human–machine interface, for example, a visual display to make available to the driver real-time additional visual information.

CMOS image sensor:

An active-pixel image sensor (APS) consisting of an integrated circuit with an array of light-sensitive cells (pixels) and manufactured using complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Each pixel combines a photodetector with an active amplifier that may perform additional functions such as controlling the pixel response to light and extending the pixel’s dynamic range.

Driver assistance system (DAS):

A technical system to assist the driver in the task of driving, especially in situations where the human sensory system (visual, auditory) or human attention might fail to recognize a dangerous situation, or when the human response time in the perceptual-motor task of recognizing a dangerous situation then using vehicle controls to take corrective action may be too slow to avoid an accident.

Dynamic range:

Dynamic range is the ratio between the largest and smallest possible signal values of a changeable quantity such as light. For image sensors and cameras, dynamic range refers to input radiance or luminance signals and is defined as the ratio between the maximum and minimum signals where a camera can simultaneously capture detail carried by small signal variations.

Electromagnetic spectrum, visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR):

The human eye can detect the visible (VIS) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum ranging from wavelengths of about 380 to 730 nm. Infrared is electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than visual, with NIR denoting the shortest wavelengths of the IR-spectrum between 700 and 1,400 nm.

Wide dynamic range (WDR):

Also referred to as high dynamic range (HDR), it covers a family of techniques to extend the dynamic range of image sensors beyond that of an image sensor with a linear relationship between input radiance and digital output signal.

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  1. 100 Cove Way #903, Quincy, MA, 02169, USA

    Dr. Dirk Hertel

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  1. Dr. Dirk Hertel
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Correspondence to Dirk Hertel .

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  1. RAMTECH LIMITED, Larkspur, CA, USA

    Robert A. Meyers

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Hertel, D. (2012). True Color Night Vision Video Systems in Intelligent Vehicles . In: Meyers, R.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0851-3_777

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