A Tone Mapping algorithm suited for analog-signal real-time image processing

This work presents a Tone Mapping Operator (TMO) which adjusts the High Dynamic Range (HDR) of image sensor data to the limited dynamic range of conventional displays with analog signal processing. It is based on Photographic Tone Reproduction (PTR) and suitable for analog circuit design in a CMOS image sensor in order to reduce the hardware cost and operation time for real-time image processing. For this reason, the characteristic advantage and calculation limitation of analog technology are considered in the TMO algorithm proposal. Furthermore, the appropriate modelling is built and simulated in Verilog-A. The function of the algorithm is feasible for analog processing. The frequency of the analog TMO is upper 52MHz while it consumes 55mW. The simulation results of test images are compared with the digital global TMO and the proposed analog TMO provides a reasonable similar dynamic range compression.