A Low-Noise Fluttering Shutter Camera Handling Accelerated Motion

Abstract

We address the problem of motion blur removal using a computational camera with a fluttering shutter. While there are several prototype flutter shutter cameras, and many scenarios in which motion blur is problematic, there are few real-world uses of flutter shutter cameras due to two important limitations. The first is that the shutter mechanisms used to date - primarily Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) elements or electronic shutters - increase noise due to reduced light efficiency or multiple readouts, respectively. Secondly, the class of motions to which the flutter shutter is applicable has been limited to linear, constant velocity motion. We address the first limitation by developing a prototype flutter shutter camera with a reflective element providing high light efficiency and a single-read imaging system. In addition to improved noise performance, this method of exposure modulation imposes fewer limitations on the shutter sequence, allowing us to extend the flutter shutter technique to cases with constant (non-zero) acceleration. We demonstrate both the noise reduction and improved reconstructions in the case of an accelerating camera.