DIGITAL CAMERA PROVIDING HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES

A method for producing a high-dynamic-range image, comprising receiving a low-resolution image of the scene having a first resolution and captured at a first exposure level; receiving a high-resolution image of a scene having a second resolution and captured at a second exposure level different from the first exposure level, the second resolution being greater than the first resolution; forming a representative low-resolution image from the high-resolution image; forming a residual image corresponding to differences between the high-resolution image and the representative low-resolution image; forming a low-resolution high-dynamic range image by combining the low-resolution image and the representative low-resolution image; producing the high-dynamic-range image by combining the low-resolution high dynamic range image and the residual image; and storing the high-dynamic-range image in a processor accessible memory.