BUNDLING NIGHT VISION AND OTHER DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS (DAS) USING NEAR INFRA RED (NIR) ILLUMINATION AND A ROLLING SHUTTER

A system (16) mountable in a motor vehicle includes a camera (12) and a processor (14) configured to receive image data from the camera (12). The camera (12) includes a rolling shutter (6) configured to capture the image data during a frame period and to scan and to read the image data into multiple image frames (204, 206). A near infra-red illuminator (4) may be configured to provide a near infra-red illumination cone in the field of view of the camera (12). The near infrared illumination oscillates with an illumination period. A synchronization mechanism may be configured to synchronize the illumination period to the frame period of the rolling shutter (6). The frame period may be selected so that the synchronization mechanism provides a spatial profile of the near infra-red illumination cone which may be substantially aligned vertically to a specific region,e.g.near the center of the image frame (204, 206).