JPH07123421A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a high-resolution image signal corresponding to an image signal in a single color by performing the change of an optical LPF, the color correction of each picture element signal or making into non-interlace at the time of a high resolution mode. CONSTITUTION:While observing the indication of a display part 14, a photographer selects it by operating an operation part 15 whether normal natural image photographing or the high-resolution photographing of a single color object is performed. When a mono-color mode is selected, an optical LPF 2 is saved by driving a mechanism system driving circuit 3 under the control of a CPU 13, and the power source of each photographic circuit is turned on. Next, a mechanical shutter 1 to be also used as an iris is opened, the exposure of an imaging device 4 starts, and the shutter closes after it opens just for the exposure time decided by the output of a photometric means. Next, an output is read out of the element 4. The read signal is inputted through a processing circuit 7 and an A/D converter 8 to a controller 9, and that output is stored in memory 10. An image pickup signal is separated into single color signals in C1 and C2 by a processing circuit 11, switched at every 1H by a CPU 12, synchronized with an Mg signal and a G signal and corrected.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a conventional digital electronic camera.

In FIG. 24, reference numeral 200 is a digital electronic camera, and 201 is a recording medium such as a memory card. In the digital electronic camera 200, 1 is an aperture / shutter that has both an aperture function and a shutter function, 2 is an optical low-pass filter, and 3 is a drive circuit for each part of the mechanical system. Four
Is an image sensor that converts the reflected light from the subject into an electrical signal,
Reference numeral 6 denotes a timing signal generation circuit (hereinafter referred to as TG) that generates a timing signal necessary for operating the image sensor, and 5 an image sensor drive circuit that amplifies a signal from the timing signal generation circuit to a level at which the image signal can be driven. , 7 are CDS circuits and A / A for removing output noise of the image sensor 4.
A preprocessing circuit including a circuit for performing non-linear amplification before D conversion, 8 is an A / D converter, 11 is an imaging signal processing circuit, and 12
Is a signal processing control CPU for controlling the imaging signal processing circuit,
Reference numeral 13 is a CPU for controlling the mechanism and the operation unit, 14 is an operation display unit for displaying a display for assisting operation and showing the state of the camera, and 15
Is an operation unit for externally controlling the camera. 18
Is a recording medium I / F for connecting the digital electronic camera 200 and the recording medium 201.

Further, FIG. 25 shows the image pickup signal processing circuit 1 of FIG.
1 is a detailed description of FIG. 1, 101 is a color separation circuit for separating the output signal of the image sensor into signals for each color, 102 is a color matrix circuit for deriving R, G, B color signals from the color-separated signals, Reference numeral 103 denotes a WB correction circuit that corrects the R, G, and B signal levels according to the color of the light source that illuminates the subject.
104 is a color difference signal R- from the corrected R, G, B signals.
A color difference signal deriving circuit for deriving Y, B-Y, a low frequency luminance signal correction value deriving circuit 105 for deriving a signal for correcting the color component ratio of the luminance signal from the R, G, B signals which have been similarly corrected, and 106 A color modulation trap circuit that removes the color modulation signal that is superimposed on the image pickup signal, 107 is a horizontal aperture circuit that emphasizes the horizontal contour, 108 is a vertical aperture circuit that emphasizes the vertical contour, and 109 is each signal An adder for adding and 110 for a subtracter.

FIG. 27 shows an embodiment of the color filter array of the image pickup device 4, and FIG. 27 shows the operation timing of the image pickup device 4 and its output signal.

A conventional example will be described below with reference to FIGS. 24 and 25. First, the photographer controls the operation unit 15 so that the camera enters a photographing operation, and the control of the lens system (not shown) is controlled by the mechanical operation unit control CPU according to the intention of the photographer.
13 and the mechanical system drive circuit 3. At this time, the shooting conditions and the like are displayed on the operation unit 15 to inform the photographer of the condition of the camera. Further, the brightness of the subject is measured by a photometric circuit (not shown), and the aperture value of the shutter 1 also used as the aperture and the shutter speed are derived by the CPU 13 for controlling the mechanical operation unit. Based on the control value derived by the CPU for controlling the mechanical operation unit, the mechanical system drive circuit 3 drives the diaphragm / shutter. After being exposed in this way, the reflected light of the subject is incident on the image pickup device 4 via the unillustrated photographing lens and diaphragm shutter 2. At this time, a shutter that also serves as a diaphragm 1
Is provided to limit the amount of light incident on the image sensor 4 and to prevent the incident light from adversely affecting the signal charge during transfer when an interlaced readout CCD is used as the image sensor. The image pickup device 4 is operated by a drive signal obtained by amplifying the output of the timing signal generation circuit 6 by the image pickup device drive circuit 5. The operation of the circuit 6 is controlled by the signal processing control CPU 12. The output of the image sensor driven in this way is output to the preprocessing circuit 7. The preprocessing circuit 7 performs a CDS process for removing low-frequency noise included in the output of the image sensor and a process for making the image output non-linear in order to effectively use the D range of the A / D converter. The preprocessed image pickup signal output is converted into a digital signal in the A / D converter 8 and input to the image pickup signal processing circuit 11. The image pickup signal processing circuit 11 performs predetermined luminance signal processing and color signal processing described below, and further performs signal conversion processing into a predetermined format (not shown), and then records on the recording medium 20 via the recording medium I / F 18. To be done.

The image pickup signal processing circuit 11 receives an A / D converted image pickup device output signal.
g (magenta), G (green), Yl (yellow),
Using an image sensor of a color filter array in which Cy (cyan) is arranged on each pixel, for example, field 1 is an ODD field, field 2 is an EVEN field, and reading of both fields is interlaced for one row and two rows are simultaneously synchronized. When reading is performed, the image sensor output signal is a signal obtained by line-sequencing the dot-sequential signal of (Mg + Yl) and (G + Cy) and the dot-sequential signal of (G + Yl) and (Mg + Cy) in both fields. This state is shown in FIG. In FIG. 27, (1) is a vertical synchronizing signal, (3) is a transfer pulse of each pixel signal to the vertical shift register when an interline CCD is used, and (4) is a CCD output signal. In the image pickup signal processing circuit 11, first the color separation circuit 1
In 01, the image pickup signals are converted into color signals c1 ((Mg + Yl) and (G
+ Yl) line sequential signal), c2 ((G + Cy) and (Mg
+ Cy) line-sequential signal). The separated signals are converted into pure color signals R0, G0, B0 in the color matrix circuit 102 by line synchronization and matrix calculation, and are sent to the WB correction circuit 103. The WB correction circuit 103 corrects the color temperature of the light source light illuminating the subject according to the WB control signal sent from the signal processing control CPU 12. The color difference signal RY and BY are derived by the color difference signal deriving circuit 104 based on the corrected RGB signal. On the other hand, the low frequency luminance signal correction value deriving circuit 105 derives a correction signal YL for correcting the color component ratio forming the luminance signal in order to improve the reproducibility of the brightness of each color based on the RGB signal.

On the other hand, the image pickup signal from the A / D converter is also input to the color modulation amount trap circuit 106 to attenuate the modulated color signal superimposed on the luminance signal. From the output, the horizontal aperture circuit 107 and the vertical aperture circuit 1
The aperture signals respectively emphasized by 08 are derived and added to the through luminance signal by the adder 109.
The subtractor 110 subtracts the correction value YL from the added and derived signal Y0 to obtain the corrected luminance signal Y.

[0009]

However, the conventional digital electronic camera as described above has the following problems. (1) Since it is premised on capturing a color natural image, sufficient performance cannot be exhibited for a subject such as a character, an illustration, or a drawing that requires high resolution. (2) When a character is photographed, the edges are jagged or broken, so that the recognition error increases when the bitmap data of the character is applied to the recognition software. ((((3) When using a computer or other information device to create a deformed image such as an illustration based on a natural image, the input natural image tends to have unevenness in color and brightness. The work to remove the unevenness above becomes a great load.)))

[0010]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides (1) a mode for shooting a natural image and a monocolor high resolution for shooting a single color character or an illustration. It has a mode and both modes can be switched. (2) In the mono-color high resolution mode, at least one of the following three items is realized.

The optical low pass filter is retracted from the optical path, or the optical low pass characteristic is reduced.

The color level of each pixel of the image pickup device for the color of the object is obtained, and the level is corrected for each color component to make the signal levels uniform.

A non-interlaced type image sensor,
Alternatively, an interlace type image sensor and a mechanical shutter are used in combination to read all pixel information exposed during the same time.

[0014]

When the mono-color mode is selected by the above configuration (1), the image information near the Nyquist frequency of the spatial sampling due to the pixels lost in the natural image shooting mode is trapped by retracting the optical filter or changing the characteristics. It is possible to obtain a high-resolution image without having to.

Since the color level correction eliminates the modulation component due to the color component of the image sensor output signal, it is not necessary to add a band limiting filter such as a trap circuit for removing the color modulation component to the high band luminance signal processing system. After all, the image information in the high frequency band can be directly used as the high resolution luminance information without being lost.

Since the information of all the pixels of the image pickup element can be obtained without any time difference with the above structure, it is possible to obtain high resolution image information without being affected by camera shake or movement of the subject.

[0017]

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows an example of a system block of a digital camera of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the circuit 11. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the circuit 112.

FIG. 23 showing a conventional example of FIGS. 1 and 2.
And the elements having the same functions as those in FIG. 24 are given the same numbers. A recording medium 201 is, for example, a PCMCIA standard memory card or a hard disk. A bus controller 9 controls the bus line of the A / D converted signal under the control of the signal processing control CPU 12. Reference numeral 10 is a buffer memory for temporarily storing digital signals, and 19 is an expansion I for connecting the expansion unit 21 and the camera.
An / F (interface) 21 is an expansion unit that enables docking with a camera unit to realize a new function or to communicate with a host computer. Reference numeral 22 is a host computer for information equipment such as a personal computer and a workstation.

In FIG. 2, 111 is a multiplexer for selecting one output from two inputs, 112 is each color component correction circuit for level-correcting the A / D converted image sensor output for each pixel, and 113 and 114 are two channels. 2 input multiplexers 115, 116 are integrating circuits for deriving the average value of the signal.

In FIG. 3, 117 is a signal processing control C.
Demultiplexers for distributing data sent from the PU 12, 118, 119, 120, 121 circuits for temporarily storing correction amounts for respective color components such as shift registers, 122 for 4
A multiplexer 123 selects one output from the input, and a multiplier 123.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the color filter array of the image pickup device used in this embodiment, in which each color filter is arranged on each pixel. FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram of a memory area in which each color component of the image pickup signal is written in this embodiment, and FIG. 7 is each CPU 1
It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of 2 and 13.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

First, the photographer determines whether to perform normal natural image photographing at the time of photographing or high-resolution photographing (hereinafter referred to as a mono-color mode) for a monochromatic object which is a feature of the present invention. Selection is performed by operating the operation unit 15 while watching the display (FIG. 7 [1]). At this time, when the normal photographing is selected, the natural image pickup operation as described in the conventional example is performed ([2]).

On the other hand, when the mono color mode is selected, the mechanical system drive circuit 3 is driven by the control of the mechanical operation part control CPU 13 to retract the optical LPF 2 ([3]).
The power of each imaging circuit is turned on ([4]). Next, the diaphragm / mechanical shutter 1 is opened to start exposure of the image pickup device ([5]), and is opened for the exposure time determined by the output of the photometric means (not shown) and then closed ([6]). In FIG. 4, the operation is performed in field1. After the mechanical shutter 1 that also serves as the diaphragm is completely closed, the output is read from the image pickup device 4. At this time, for reading from the image sensor, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the rows of the ODD field are first sequentially read, and then the rows of the EVEN field are sequentially read. The signal read out as a result is OD first.
The output signal of the D field is a dot sequential signal of Mg and G. However, the order of Mg and G is switched every 1H (see FIG. 5).

The signal read from the image pickup device in this manner is processed by the preprocessing circuit 7 and the A / D converter 8 as in the conventional example.
Is input to the bus controller 9 via. The bus controller 9 transfers the image pickup output to the buffer memory 10, and according to the concept as shown in FIG. 6A, if 1H is stored, 1H is left from the next address area, and the next 1H is left in the subsequent address area. It will be stored on the memory map in a gradual manner as if it is stored.

As described above, the image pickup device signal is stored in the memory map and is also inputted to the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 and is a color signal C of a single color in the color separation circuit 101.
It is separated into two types of signals 1 and C2. In the ODD field, C1 becomes a line sequential signal of Mg signal and G signal. On the other hand, the C2 signal becomes a line sequential signal of the G signal and the Mg signal. Further, the C1 and C2 signals are input to the SW 113, switched by the signal processing control CPU 12 every 1H, and are synchronized with the Mg signal and the G signal, respectively. The synchronized Mg signal and G signal are CP for signal processing control.
SW114 whose output side is selected by U12
It is input to the integration circuits 115 and 116 via ([7]). In the integrator circuits 115 and 116, the respective color signals are averaged in one screen area or a part thereof (see FIG.
(See field 2), and its output is the signal processing control CP.
Input to U12 ([8]). Signal processing control circuit 12
Then, a correction amount for deriving the signal levels of Mg and G to be equal to a predetermined value (a signal level corresponding to, for example, 50% when the maximum level is 100%) is derived from the integration information of Mg and G. For example, if the integrated signal level of G is 25% of the maximum level, 6 dB is derived as the correction amount (

[9]).

Subsequently, the signal of the EVEN field is read, and the read signal is a dot sequential signal of Cy and Yl (see FIG. 5).

The signal read out from the image pickup device in this manner is similar to the Mg.G point sequential signal, and the preprocessing circuit 7, A
It is input to the bus controller 9 via the / D converter 8. The bus controller 9 transfers the image pickup output to the buffer memory 10 and, based on the concept as shown in FIG. 6 (2), stores 1H for each 1H in a blank address area on the memory map.

As described above, the image pickup device signal is stored in the memory map and is also input to the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 to be the C color signal of a single color in the color separation circuit 101.
It is separated into two types of signals 1 and C2. In the EVEN field, C1 becomes the Yl signal. On the other hand, the C2 signal becomes the Cy signal. Furthermore, the C1 and C2 signals are SW1
13 but input C1 and C2 in the EVEN field.
Since the signals are not line-sequential, the SW113 is not switched. Next, each color signal is a CP for signal processing control.
SW114 whose output side is selected by U12
Is input to the integration circuits 115 and 116 via ((1
0]). In the integrator circuits 115 and 116, the respective color signals are averaged in one screen area or a partial area thereof (see FIG.
field 3), and the output is input to the signal processing control CPU 12 ([11]). The signal processing control CPU 12 corrects the signal levels of Cy and Yl from the integration information of Yl and Cy to be equal to a predetermined value (for example, a signal level corresponding to 50% when the maximum level is 100%). Derive the quantity. For example, if the integrated signal level of Cy is 25% of the maximum level, 6 dB is derived as the correction amount ([12]).

The correction data derived as described above is input to each color component correction circuit 112 of the image pickup signal processing circuit 11. In the correction circuit 112, each color signal correction data is stored in a predetermined register 118 to 121 by the SW 117 controlled and switched by the CPU 12.

Each correction data is stored in the registers 118-1.
After being set to 21, the bus controller 9 reads data from the address area (a) of the memory and inputs the data to the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 (field 4 in FIG. 4).
In the image pickup signal processing unit, the image pickup signal is converted into each color component correction circuit 112.
Entered in. In the correction circuit 112, a signal is input to the multiplier 123, and the multiplication coefficient is assigned with the correction data stored in advance in the register corresponding to each color signal by the SW 122 that is switched under the control of the CPU 12. As a result, each color component of the image pickup signal S0 is corrected according to the average signal of each color derived by the integrating circuit, and if the image pickup target is a monochromatic subject, the signal levels of all pixels will be the same.

The signal YWB thus corrected is S
The recording medium I / F 18 selected as W signal and selected as W signal
Is recorded on the recording medium 20 via the
The information is transmitted to the expansion unit 21 and the host computer 22 via the, and information processing such as filing of video information and recognition of character information is performed. At this time, the reading speed from the memory and the processing speed of the imaging signal processing circuit are slowed according to the processing speed and the transfer speed of the recording medium or the expansion unit, so that the buffer memory is not required. (Fig. 4 field 4, Fig. 7 [1
2]).

Subsequently, the image data is read from the section (a) of the memory 10 and the same processing as that of the section (a) is performed. That is, the bus controller 9 reads the data from the address area (a) of the memory and inputs the data to the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 (field 5 in FIG. 4). In the image pickup signal processing unit, the image pickup signal is input to each color component correction circuit 112. In the correction circuit 112, a signal is input to the multiplier 123, and the multiplication coefficient is assigned the correction data stored in the register corresponding to each color signal by the SW 122 that is switched under the control of the CPU 12. As a result, each color component of the image pickup signal S0 is corrected according to the average signal of each color derived by the integrating circuit, and if the image pickup target is a monochromatic subject, the signal levels of all pixels will be the same.

The signal YWB thus corrected is S
The recording medium I / F 18 selected as W signal and selected as W signal
Is recorded on the recording medium 20 via the
The information is transmitted to the expansion unit 21 and the host computer 22 via the, and information processing such as filing of video information and recognition of character information is performed. At this time, the reading speed from the memory and the processing speed of the image pickup signal processing circuit are slowed according to the processing speed and the transfer speed of the recording medium or the extension unit, so that the buffer memory is not required. (Fig. 4 field 5, Fig. 7 [1
3]).

As described above, the mono color mode is set,
When the mode is selected, the crystal LPF is saved, and the signal in which the color component of each pixel is corrected is used as the luminance signal as it is, so that a high-resolution signal can be obtained, so that characters and drawings are imaged. In this case, very high quality image information can be obtained.

Further, since it is possible to deinterlace the signal interlaced and read by the image pickup device and send it to the information equipment in order from the top of the screen without an additional circuit, it is necessary for the information equipment side to have high resolution information such as character recognition at the same time. It is very effective when processing.

The color signal processing may be performed in the same manner as in the conventional example, and may be recorded on a recording medium or input to the information equipment side via an expansion card. However, in this case, since a false color is generated at the edge of the luminance signal, the signal of that portion is not used. Further, instead of recording all the color signals, only the integrated signal information may be recorded, or only the color signals in the area designated by the operation unit 15 may be recorded. In this case, it becomes effective in the subsequent information processing when a color is applied to a black-and-white image based on the color information based on the color information, and naturally the recording capacity is greatly reduced.

(Second Embodiment) In the above embodiment, the optical LP is used.
Although F is saved, the characteristics may be changed instead of being saved.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram showing the frequency response of the optical LPF, and (i) shows the optical LP in the normal operation mode.
It is F. On the other hand, in (ii), the trap point shifts to the high frequency side due to the characteristics of the optical LPF in the mono color mode, and more high frequency information is included in the signal component.

Further, in iii), the trap point is 1 /
Since the frequency is PH, the frequency of carrier generation of luminance is trapped, but the frequency of carrier generation of color is not trapped.

The change of the characteristics of the optical LPF is made by the operation unit 15.
Under the control of (1), a plurality of types of LPFs are moved and replaced by the mechanical operation unit control CPU 13 and the mechanical drive system.

By changing the characteristics of the optical LPF in this way, it is possible to obtain a high-band luminance signal in the mono-color mode and to appropriately suppress the occurrence of false color, and to reduce the resolution and false color in the mono-color mode. The balance of the degree of occurrence can be set appropriately.

(Third and Fourth Embodiments) FIGS. 9 and 10 are flow charts for explaining the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are third and fourth embodiments. It is a system block diagram of an Example. In FIG. 11, 23 is an imaging optical lens, 24 is an AF projector in FIG. 12, and 25 is A.
It is an F light receiver.

First, the operation of automatic focus adjustment by the output of the image pickup device will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 11. In FIG. 9, [1] to [7] are the same operations as those in FIG. 7 in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, after the optical LPF is retracted in [3], the mechanical / operation unit control C calculated in advance is first calculated.
On the basis of the focus shift correction amount due to the optical LPF withdrawal stored in the PU 13, the mechanical system drive circuit moves the optical lens 23 by the correction amount (FIG. 9 (1)). Next, power is turned on to each image pickup circuit (2), the mechanical shutter is opened, and exposure is started (3). After that, the same image pickup output reading as in the normal operation is performed (4), and automatic focus adjustment is performed based on the read signal (5). In (6), it is checked whether or not focus adjustment is completed. If NO, the process returns to (4) and the image pickup output is read to continue automatic focus adjustment. If YES, the mechanical shutter is once closed (7), and thereafter, the high-resolution imaging operation is performed as in the first embodiment.

Next, the active type automatic focus adjusting method will be described with reference to FIGS. Figure 10 [3]
After retracting the optical LPF, the coefficient of the AF lens movement amount calculation formula stored in the mechanical / operating unit control CPU is set to the optical path length of the optical system when the optical LPF is retracted as shown in (8). Change to a coefficient that takes into consideration. Subsequently, the light projector 24 and the light receiver 25 of FIG. 12 are operated to detect the distance between the subject and the camera (9). The mechanism / operation unit control CPU 13 calculates and calculates the lens movement amount from the detected distance information (10), and the mechanism drive circuit controls the movement of the lens (11). After that, similarly to the first embodiment, the mechanical shutter is opened to start exposure [5], and high-resolution shooting is performed.

As described above, by performing the focus adjustment again after the optical LPF is retracted in the mono-color mode, it is possible to perform high-resolution shooting in the optimum focus adjustment state.

In the above embodiment, the case where the optical LPF is retracted has been described. However, the same effect can be obtained by the same operation even when the characteristics of the optical LPF are changed.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the fifth embodiment of the present invention and is a part of an image pickup signal processing circuit. In FIG. 13, reference numeral 113 denotes a color modulation component trap circuit for removing a color modulation component superimposed on the image pickup signal, and 114.
Is a horizontal aperture circuit, 115 is a vertical aperture circuit, and 116 is an adder. 14 and 15 are diagrams showing characteristic examples of the filter circuit of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the operation of each color component correction circuit 112 in the mono color mode is the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in the first embodiment, each color component correction circuit 112
Was mainly composed of a multiplier, for example, instead of this multiplier, the CPU shifts the data by shifting the input by 1-n bits.
It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a predetermined combination is added under the control of 12. In this case, the precision of multiplication is lower when n is smaller than that when a normal multiplier is used.

The output thereof is corrected by the color modulation amount trap circuit 113 in the same way as the luminance signal in the normal mode.
The color modulation component that could not be completely corrected in 2 is removed, and each contour component is emphasized by the horizontal aperture circuit 114 and the vertical aperture circuit 115. However, the frequency characteristics of these circuits are different from those in the normal mode.

That is, as shown in FIG. 14, in the normal mode (i), the trap amount at the frequency of 1 / 2PH is considerably large, but the monocolor mode (ii) of this embodiment is used.
So the trap volume is getting smaller. As a result, the color modulation component that cannot be completely corrected by the correction circuit 112 can be removed by the trap circuit 113, and a high resolution signal can be obtained without significantly degrading the resolution because the trap amount is set to be small.

Further, FIG. 15 shows the horizontal aperture circuit 11
4 is a diagram showing an example of the characteristics of FIG. 4, the amount of emphasizing the characteristics of the horizontal aperture signal is smaller in the monocolor mode (ii) than in the normal mode (i). This is because the removal of the optical LPF does not cause the deterioration of the frequency characteristic, so that it is not necessary to strongly emphasize the contour, and the contour emphasis is prevented to prevent the deterioration of the image quality such as the phase shift of the signal and the ringing as much as possible. is there. Similarly for the vertical aperture, the amount of aperture is made smaller than in the normal mode.

(Sixth Embodiment) In the above embodiments, the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 constitutes an integrator for signal detection for correcting each color component. However, as shown in FIG. 116 and SW113 are removed from the first embodiment, and the color-separated signals c1 and c2 are directly processed by the CPU.
May be sent to 12. The signal processing control CPU 12 averages the transmitted color separation signals in order to integrate them. At that time, Mg and G are alternately output every 1H in the ODD field. All signals are sampled every 2H and added. That is, in the ODD field, Mg, c are always used as the c1 signal.
G is calculated as two signals, and c is calculated in the EVEN field.
Y1 is calculated as 1, and Cy is calculated as c2.

As a result, it is not necessary to change the order of the sampling signals in the calculation performed by the CPU 12, and the program can be simplified.

(Seventh Embodiment) FIGS. 17 and 18 are drawings for explaining the seventh embodiment of the present invention.
Is a display device that also has input means such as pen input. FIG. 17 shows a display example of the input / output display 26.

In this embodiment, first, a subject is imaged as a normal moving image before the high-resolution photographing operation is started, and the display is performed on the dual-purpose display 26. At this time, the normal image pickup operation is the same as in the conventional example, and the picked-up image is sent to the dual-purpose display 26 via the extended I / F 19.

On the other hand, the photographer designates the portion of the image displayed on the dual-purpose display which is desired to be photographed in the mono-color mode by input means such as pen input as shown in FIG. 17 (2). In FIG. 17, (1) is the display screen of the display at the time of normal shooting, where the upper left half is the red part and the lower right part is the blue part. On the other hand, when the photographer wants to perform high-resolution photographing in the mono-color mode, the position is input by enclosing the portion with the pen input device as in (2). When the designated range is input, the image pickup operation is switched to the monocolor mode, the image pickup signal output is stored in the memory, and at the same time, the output obtained by performing signal processing on the memory storage data is displayed on the display. The address of the designated range for the image signal thus frozen in the memory is sent from the input tablet / display 26 to the imaging signal processing circuit 11 and the signal processing control CPU 12 through the expansion I / F 19. Based on the sent address information, the CPU 12 sequentially reads only the data within the range from the buffer memory 10. In the case of FIG. 17B, first, the portion surrounded by the red portion is read out, and the operation shown in the first embodiment is performed within the range, so that high-resolution imaging within the range is possible. Next, the part surrounded by the blue part in FIG. 17 (2) is read out and the same operation as that of the first embodiment is performed on the signal in that part.

Even if the object is composed of two or more colors as shown in FIG. 17 by such a structure and operation, the photographer designates a part composed of a single color, and each of the first embodiment is independent. By performing the same operation as above, high-resolution shooting becomes possible.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17 (2), by marking an X on an arbitrary portion of the display with a pen input or the like, the address of the intersection is sent to the CPU 12 via the extended I / F. It is possible to record and display the high resolution information together with the color information by sending the color information and inputting it to the recording medium or the dual-purpose display 26 by obtaining only the color information of the portion by signal processing. In particular, in this case, the capacity of color information can be reduced, which is advantageous for recording and communication, and at the same time, since information such as color unevenness and false colors is removed, it is not necessary to correct it when processing information later. The information can be easily handled.

(Eighth Embodiment) FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a part of the block configuration of the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 in the eighth embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 301 and 302 denote each color separation signal.
A delay device for delaying by a clock, 303 and 304 are comparators for comparing the levels of two inputs, 305 is a NOR circuit for taking NOR of the outputs of the comparators, and 306 and 307 are delay devices for delaying each color separation signal. is there.

This embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the mono-color mode, when the operation of FIG. 7 is performed, the color separation outputs c1 and c2 are delayed by the delay device 301, respectively.
302, comparators 303 and 304, and delay devices 306 and 307
Sent to. In the delay devices 301 and 302, each color signal is delayed by one clock and output. Also, the same signal is output from the comparator 30.
3 and 304, that is, each color separation signal and the pixel signal of the immediately preceding pixel of the same color as that are sent to the comparators 303 and 304. The comparators 303 and 304 are configured to compare the levels of the two input signals, that is, the delayed signal and the undelayed signal, and output a high level if the difference between the two signals is within a predetermined range. Comparator 3 with NOR circuit 305
It is detected that one of the signals 03 and 304 is at the high level, and in that case, the detection signal is sent to the CPU 12.

The CPU 12 stores the address of the pixel corresponding to the time when the detection signal is output, and the integration circuit 1
The outputs of 15 and 116 are detected and stored, and after the detection, the integration circuit is reset to restart the integration operation. At this time, the outputs of the delay devices 306 and 307 are input to the integrating circuit, and the information before the color information changes is being integrated.

As a result of the above operation, the CPU 12 stores the division point for each color of the subject and the integral value of each pixel data for each color.

Next, when the signal of each pixel is read from the memory in FIG. 7 [14], up to the address of the color change point stored in the CPU 12, the color is calculated based on the data integrated before the change point. The correction circuit 112 performs the correction, and the change point is corrected by the integrated data from the change point to the next change point.

As a result, even in a subject divided into a plurality of color areas, the division points are automatically detected and optimum correction is made for each color, so that a high-resolution image for each subject can be obtained. It becomes possible to import.

Further, by extracting the color of an arbitrary point between the divided points, recording it, or sending it to the expansion unit, it becomes possible to efficiently collect the color information for each divided area.

In contrast to the above embodiment, when the color division points are close to each other, that portion is often a character or a line segment of a drawing, and is particularly likely to be a black character or a black line. In this case, the area may be treated as being excluded from the divided areas, and processing may be performed with a value equal to the correction value of the area before or after that area. Further, in such a case, each color separation signal may be compared with a predetermined signal level, and if it is detected that the level is lower than the predetermined level, it may be regarded as a black character / black line and color correction may not be performed.

(Ninth Embodiment) FIG. 20 is a view for explaining the ninth embodiment of the present invention, in which 308 and 309 are circuits for generating a reference value corresponding to a predetermined signal level.

In the above-described embodiments, all the image signals within the range are integrated, but in this embodiment, the reference value circuit 308,
The output of 309 and the level of each color signal are compared, and a detection signal is sent to the CPU 12 for a signal above a certain level,
The integrating circuit 15 averages only the detected signal portion. In this case, the setting of the integration period of the integration circuits 115 and 116 is controlled by the CPU 12.

(Tenth Embodiment) FIG. 21 shows the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a flow chart explaining the example of 0.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21, [1]-
The operation [14] is similar to that of the first embodiment. After closing the mechanical shutter in [6] and ending the exposure, it is confirmed whether or not the mode is the data collection mode for color correction (i), and if it is the above mode, the operations of [7] to [13] are performed and [3] is performed. Return. O if correction data has already been derived instead of the above collection mode
Signals are read out again from the image sensor in the order of DD / EVEN, pixel data are corrected based on the derived correction data, and recorded on the medium (ii) (iii).

As described above, each calculation is performed based on the image pickup signal, the correction value is once derived, and then the image is taken again to take a picture of a reference object in advance (for example, when shooting a plain paper, It is possible to zoom in and shoot the plain part of the document in advance), so that more accurate correction can be realized, and high-resolution shooting in mono color mode that does not have subjects that are not good at it becomes possible.

In addition, it is possible to eliminate the influence of shading, fixed noise, etc. by photographing a blank sheet in advance in such an operation routine and storing the data as reference data.

(Eleventh Embodiment) FIG. 22 is a block diagram of the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 of the eleventh embodiment.

In this embodiment, in the mono-color mode, the digital data output from the image sensor is directly processed by SW11.
1 to the recording unit or the extension unit.

In this case, the processing performed in the above embodiments is performed by the host computer or the extension unit. As the data necessary for that purpose, the signal as it is output from the image pickup device is sent through the recording unit or the expansion unit.

(Twelfth Embodiment) FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the image pickup signal processing circuit 11 of the twelfth embodiment.
Reference numeral 32 is a non-linear circuit.

In the above embodiment, the non-linear circuit (gamma processing, knee processing, etc.) for the luminance signal system in the normal mode and the corrected image pickup signal in the mono-color mode is not shown, but as shown in FIG. In the normal mode, the nonlinear circuit 131 is inserted after the adder 109.

On the other hand, in the signal processing circuit system in the mono color mode, a nonlinear circuit is set after each color component correction circuit 112.

By setting this position, the correction gain can be set without depending on the level of each pixel. For example, if a non-linear circuit is set in front of the correction circuit 112, the correction value of the correction circuit must be set for each level of each pixel due to the influence of the non-linear circuit, and the circuit becomes complicated and large-scale. I will end up.

Further, the characteristic of the non-linear circuit 132 is changed from the characteristic of the non-linear circuit 131 of the circuit system for normal photographing,
Non-linear characteristics suitable for a mono-color mode can be obtained.

For example, by setting the gamma of the non-linear circuit 132 to be larger than 1, it is possible to output a signal with higher contrast, which is effective when a character or a drawing is photographed.

[0084]

As described above, there are a natural image photographing mode and a mode for photographing a single color at a high resolution. In the high resolution mode, the optical LPF is changed, color correction for each pixel signal or non-correction is performed. By performing interlacing, it is possible to perform high-resolution shooting for a specific subject such as a character or drawing that requires a particular resolution.
As a result, the characters can be photographed, the result can be recognized and used as character information, and further, the information can be made into a filing and greatly utilized for information processing such as translation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a part of FIG. 1 in detail.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a part of FIG. 2 in detail.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a color filter array of an image sensor.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a data arrangement in storage in a memory according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a characteristic diagram of an optical LPF for explaining the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of third and fourth embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of third and fourth embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a characteristic diagram of each filter circuit of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a characteristic diagram of each filter circuit of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram for explaining a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a drawing showing a display for explaining the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram for explaining a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram for explaining an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram for explaining a ninth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a tenth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram for explaining an eleventh embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram for explaining a twelfth embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating in detail a part of a configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a color filter array of an image sensor for explaining a conventional example.

FIG. 27 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Shutter that also serves as aperture 2 Optical LPF 3 Mechanical system drive circuit 4 Imaging device 8 A / D converter 9 Bus controller 10 Buffer memory 11 Imaging signal processing circuit 12 Signal processing control CPU 13 Mechanical / operation control CPU 14 Operation display section 15 Operation Part 19 Expansion I / F 21 Expansion unit 101 Color separation circuit 102 Color matrix circuit 106 Color modulation trap circuit 107 Horizontal aperture circuit 108 Vertical aperture circuit 112 Each color component correction circuit 111, 113, 114 Switch 115, 116 Integration circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device for converting an optical image into an electric signal, a first image pickup mode for forming a color natural image signal using the electric signal outputted from the image pickup device, and an image pickup device outputted from the image pickup device. And a second imaging mode in which an electric signal is used to form a high-resolution image signal for an image within a single color, and in the second imaging mode, the space of the subject light incident on the imaging element An optical filter for retracting or changing an optical filter for limiting the frequency from the optical path is provided with an optical lens for forming an image of a subject light on an image sensor, and the optical filter is retracted or changed to change the optical path length of the imaging optical system. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a moving unit that moves a light source lens by a predetermined amount corresponding to a change in optical path length. 2. In the second image pickup mode, means for detecting a pixel output level for each color filter of the image pickup element according to a color of an object, and each pixel of the image pickup element according to the output level of the detection means. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising color-specific correction means for correcting the level for each type of color filter. 3. In the second image pickup mode, the frequency trap circuit for removing the modulated color signal superimposed on the output of the image pickup device is removed from the signal processing system, or the frequency characteristic of the frequency trap circuit is set to the first value. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the image pickup apparatus is different from the mode.