Very high resolution image acquisition through image reconstruction from lower resolution images taken with multiple cameras

Some research institutes are elaborating plans to develop very high definition (VHD) visual media beyond the HDTV. Although a CCD camera with two million pixels has been developed for HDTV, the spatial resolution should be increased further to acquire VHD images. Reducing the pixel size is the most straightforward way to increase the spatial resolution, which makes a CCD imager much more sensitive to shot noise. To keep shot noise invisible on a monitor, there needs to be a limitation in the pixel size reduction. The current CCD technology has almost reached this limit. Therefore, a new approach is required to enhance the spatial resolution further beyond this limit. The authors present a new method for acquiring VHD images by processing and integrating multiple images taken simultaneously with different cameras.<>