Wide-Angle Coverage in Dash Cam Systems

Reducing complexity of camera systems in vehicles by using multiple cameras with optimized view angles. The cameras are mounted in a housing with one camera facing obliquely rearward and another facing forward or laterally. This allows capturing rear views without blind spots and forward/lateral views simultaneously using fewer cameras. The system can also have additional cameras with intermediate view angles. The images are displayed on a monitor, with the rear camera providing a standard rear view and the front/lateral camera providing supplemental views. External object recognition is performed on the forward/lateral view and visual effects are shown based on the recognition results. This avoids the need for multiple cameras with overlapping views.

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A vehicle-mounted camera system with greater depth of field, no perspective distortion, and high definition compared to conventional camera systems. The system has a camera body with an inclined orientation. The image acquisition unit and imaging lens are installed at opposite ends of the inclined body. The camera body is mounted on the side of the vehicle. This configuration provides a wider field of view without wasting pixels or perspective distortion compared to tilting the camera. The system avoids perspective distortion and provides full image clarity across the field of view since the imaging lens and acquisition unit are also inclined.

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Camera assembly for vehicles that provides wider vertical field of view to image objects above the vehicle. The camera has an offset lens axis relative to the image sensor center. This allows the lens to capture more vertical pixels on the sensor due to the offset, effectively widening the vertical field of view compared to a centered lens. This enables the camera to see objects like tall road signs above the vehicle without needing a taller vehicle hood.

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An imaging system for vehicles that provides a wide field of view while maintaining high resolution for critical areas. The system uses a single camera with an asymmetric imaging surface and optical system. The imaging surface has two regions - one with higher resolution than the other. The resolution of the center region is lower than the outer region. This allows capturing a wider field of view without increasing camera size. The lower resolution center region is offset horizontally and vertically from the view angle center. This provides a wider field of view while preserving critical resolution for important areas.

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A vehicle-mounted camera that can capture both far and near views of the surroundings in a single camera for applications like rearview mirrors and parking assistance. The camera has a lens and an imaging device with a rectangular sensor. The sensor has two positions along the in-plane direction perpendicular to the lens axis. The optical axis passes through the first position. The second position is at the center. This allows the camera to capture a wide field of view with good resolution for far objects using the first position, and a close-in view with sufficient resolution for near objects using the second position.

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Compact camera module for vehicle windshield mounting that captures a wide angle view. The camera module includes a wide angle lens and a hood to block light outside the imaging target range. The hood design allows imaging the external environment while preventing bright light interference. The hood has an open top and side walls that extend from around the lens towards the windshield. The height of the side walls is set to avoid blocking the full angle of view.

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Wide-angle lens for vehicle cameras that enables high quality imaging and stability over a range of temperatures. The lens has a unique configuration of glass lenses that avoids the use of plastic. The lens configuration has two lens groups with negative and positive powered glass lenses in each group. The lenses are designed to maintain a stable optical path length across temperature changes.

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Automatically adjusting the field of view of a camera on a moving vehicle to optimize image capture based on the environment. The method involves monitoring the vehicle's location and identifying when it enters an area where a wider field of view is needed, such as an intersection. The camera then transitions to a mode with a larger field of view to capture more surroundings. The field of view can be reduced again once the vehicle exits the area. This adaptive adjustment improves safety by providing better visibility when needed in high-risk locations.

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A camera module for vehicles that can capture 360° views around the vehicle using multiple lenses mounted at different angles. The module has a movable image sensor that can be positioned to match each lens's view. This allows capturing 360° images using a single sensor instead of multiple fixed cameras. The sensor movement is guided by a mechanism inside the module. The images are processed by an external unit. This provides a compact and versatile camera system for vehicle surround view and blind spot monitoring applications.

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Camera module for vehicles to image the external environment for applications like advanced driving assistance. The camera uses a wide angle lens to capture a large field of view, but improves compactness and prevents interference with the driver's view. The lens has an asymmetric shape with a larger upper half to aim more upward. This way, it captures more overhead traffic signals without blocking the driver's view.

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Adjustable video camera device for vehicles that can capture a wide field of view in front of the vehicle while allowing the camera sensor board to be mounted parallel to the vehicle. The camera module is mounted on a secondary segment of the motherboard that can pivot relative to the main segment. This allows the camera to be angled to capture a wide view while keeping the main motherboard parallel to the vehicle.

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Compact vehicle camera module to avoid interference with driver view that can image a wide angle outside view without increasing size. The camera has a unique lens, imager and circuit board configuration to enhance imaging, thermal management and electromagnetic compatibility.

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A system to improve driver visibility by capturing and displaying a specific region of interest from a wide-angle camera mounted on a vehicle. The system allows adjustment of the displayed region based on vehicle maneuvers to compensate for blind spots. The wide-angle camera captures an external view around the vehicle. An image processing device selects a local region as the development range and displays it. When the vehicle turns, the processing device adjusts the development range to follow the turn and displays the updated view. This provides dynamic, turn-compensated monitoring of blind spots around the vehicle.

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Dual camera system for vehicles that provides both around view and black box recording without distortion. The system has separate lenses for around view and black box recording. A motor rotates the camera between the lenses based on vehicle conditions. This allows using a single camera to capture either an undistorted wide-angle around view image or a non-distorted black box image, depending on the situation.

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Driver assistance system for vehicles with cameras that have varying resolution across the image angle to balance image coverage and processing efficiency. The cameras have a fixed lens and variable resolution over the image angle. The center resolution is constant, then decreases as the angle increases, then returns to constant at the edge. This allows capturing a wide field of view with the camera while still maintaining sufficient resolution in the center. This reduced resolution in the outer areas simplifies processing by reducing the amount of data to analyze. The center resolution is essentially constant for easy interpretation. The transition area has reduced resolution to match the center. This ensures relevant details are still captured. The outer resolution is constant for simplicity. This provides a balanced tradeoff between coverage and processing by tailoring the resolution to the importance of each image area.

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Producing a larger image of a vehicle's surroundings by stitching together multiple partial images captured at different camera positions. The method involves recording a first partial image from a camera in one position, then capturing at least a second partial image from the same camera in a different position. The partial images, each covering the full camera field of view, are combined to form a larger composite image showing a wider area than any individual partial image. This provides a more informative view of the vehicle surroundings, particularly for parking assistance, by joining overlapping sections from multiple perspectives.

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A dash cam that can simultaneously record both the exterior and interior of a vehicle. The dash cam has two cameras, one facing outward through the windshield and another facing inward to capture the interior cabin. This allows capturing of both external driving footage and interior passenger activity. The dash cam also has impact detection to automatically lock important files in the event of a sudden collision.

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Vehicle body peripheral imaging device that allows wider viewing of the surroundings compared to conventional cameras. The device uses a camera and a reflector within its viewing range. The camera directly captures the area and the reflector reflects light to the camera to indirectly capture another part. This combines direct and indirect images to provide a wider view around the vehicle body. The reflector can be a convex mirror to widen the indirect view. The camera and reflector positions can be adjusted for optimal coverage. The device can be mounted anywhere on the vehicle body. It can have lighting to illuminate the area being imaged. The device can have image processing to combine and correct the direct and indirect views. The output can be displayed on a monitor inside the vehicle to provide a driver's-eye view.

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Correcting distortion of images captured by wide-angle cameras in vehicles by adjusting the viewpoint of a virtual camera based on various camera models to preserve more short-distance image information. The method involves extracting camera parameters, calculating tilt and yaw angles for each area, generating a correction model, adjusting the virtual camera view, and converting the original image to the adjusted view. This allows correcting distortion while maintaining a wider field of view compared to just changing the physical camera position.

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