Robust Multi-Image HDR Reconstruction for the Modulo Camera

TL;DR

This paper introduces a noise-robust algorithm for multi-image HDR reconstruction using the novel modulo camera, significantly improving artifact reduction and reliability over previous methods.

Contribution

The paper presents a new reconstruction algorithm that is robust to noise in modulo camera HDR imaging, addressing limitations of previous noise-sensitive methods.

Findings

Outperforms baseline methods on real data

Significantly reduces artifacts in noisy conditions

Theoretically analyzes the algorithm's correctness and limitations

Abstract

Photographing scenes with high dynamic range (HDR) poses great challenges to consumer cameras with their limited sensor bit depth. To address this, Zhao et al. recently proposed a novel sensor concept - the modulo camera - which captures the least significant bits of the recorded scene instead of going into saturation. Similar to conventional pipelines, HDR images can be reconstructed from multiple exposures, but significantly fewer images are needed than with a typical saturating sensor. While the concept is appealing, we show that the original reconstruction approach assumes noise-free measurements and quickly breaks down otherwise. To address this, we propose a novel reconstruction algorithm that is robust to image noise and produces significantly fewer artifacts. We theoretically analyze correctness as well as limitations, and show that our approach significantly outperforms the baseline on real data.