Max-Viz, Inc., the industry leader in providing multi-spectral Enhanced Vision Imaging systems for civil aviation, has been awarded U.S. Patent # 7,558,436 for Image Dynamic Range Control solving a very difficult problem with image washout in infrared systems.

To illustrate the problem this patent solves, Max-Viz president and CEO Elliott Troutman explained, "Imagine driving down the road at night and your eyes have become accustomed to the dark. If you look into the headlight of an oncoming car, you lose your night vision and have a hard time seeing details after the car has passed. If you follow your high school driving instructor's advice, you would shift your primary gaze to the dark side of the road until the oncoming car passes thereby enabling you to maintain much of your night vision.

Like the un-coached driver, infrared sensors do not know how to shift their gaze (area of interest) to avoid washing out details in the scene before them. For instance, in a takeoff situation, a warm runway is the primary image on the screen, but on rotation the primary image suddenly shifts to the sky. In the image presented by the sensor, the now dominant, cold sky takes over and the warm ground washes out. If an emergency required the pilot to see detail on the ground, that ability is lost."

Max-Viz' Dynamic Range Control allows the sensor to keep an "eye" on the entire scene, and uses advanced processing to avoid wash outs when the temperature of scene changes dramatically. DRC independently manages the low and high spatial frequencies (details) in the image.  The results are:

Gray levels are stable (avoids flickering in the display due to changes in the scene).

High-resolution detail is optimized for every object in the scene.

Saturation and blooming are eliminated.

Sky-glow is eliminated and the horizon remains sharp.

Max-Viz EVS turns night into day. In addition to Image Dynamic Range Control, other advanced signal processing applications include elimination of GPS errors in Synthetic Vision Displays, providing precise alignment of the Synthetic Vision display to the real world and injection of transient obstructions (runway incursions) into the SVS image for higher levels of situational awareness and safety.