[Outreachy Status Log] Scaler implementation

The implementation of the scaler node (which increases the size of the received image by a multiplier) is done and available in my github account: https://github.com/helen-fornazier/opw-staging

The debayer filter (from the previous Outreachy Status Log post) is also available there.

The scaler still doesn't work if the received image is in bayer format, I'll let this to a future patch.

The next patch will allow changes in the pad format by user space as the frame size and enumerate the supported pixel formats by the ioctls. I already have a sketch of this code but I need to test it a little more.

[Outreachy Status Log] Debayer implementation

What is a bayer format

The sensor of a camera is composed my many color sensors, each of this color sensors just capture a single color. Thus a sensor may be composed with many color sensors in the order Red and Green in the odd lines and Green and Blue in the even lines for example:

|Red Sensor.....| Green Sensor.|Red Sensor.....| Green Sensor.|

|Green Sensor..| Blue Sensor...|Green Sensor..| Blue Sensor...|

|Red Sensor.....| Green Sensor.|Red Sensor.....| Green Sensor.|

|Green Sensor..| Blue Sensor...|Green Sensor..| Blue Sensor...|

We say it's a RGGB bayer format. We could have any combinations of these color sensors as GRBG (for Green and Read in the odd lines and Blue and Green in the even lines), BGGR, GBRG, GRBG, etc.

Usually our eye are more sensible to green, that is why we are te double of green sensors compared to the other color components.

Here is a Bayer format image, 64x64 RGGB:

If you look closely you can notice that in the odd lines we have only Red and Green and in the even lines we have Green and Blue.

Thus, the camera process the results of each color sensor to build the image we are used to. And we will simulate this filter in out VIMC (Virtual media controler, yes, it was rename from VMC to VIMC).

Simple debayer algorithm

To get each color component of each pixel we will calculate the mean of the color components around a given color sensor, i.e. a Blue color sensor is inside a 3x3 square (or mean window):

R G R
G B G
R G R

The Red component will be the mean of all four Red components in this square, the Green component will be the man of all four Green component in this square and the Blue is the value read from the Blue sensor being evaluated.

The mean window can be any SxS size, where S is an odd value to allow the pixel being evaluated to be in the center of the square.

Results

Debayer, windows size 3x3, image size 64x64

Debayer, windows size 5x5, image size 64x64

Debayer, windows size 11x11, image size 64x64

Code structure - the pix map table

In the implementation I have a table which describes the order:

With this table I am able to write a generic code to all the bayer orders.

I am still cleaning up this code, it will be available in my github soon