JPH08186753A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a new camera system which is compact and capable of using camera different in the number of picture element, etc., and plural cameras by combining them by connecting a camera head to a camera control through the simple common interface composed of only a video signal line and a power source line and performing a signal processing. CONSTITUTION: In a camera head part 1, an image pickup element 104, a timing pulse generation circuit 101 and a photoelectric conversion quantity control means 107, etc., and the minimum circuits for driving the image pickup element 104 are provided. From the camera control part 2 provided with a video signal processing part 109, the camera head part 1 is controlled by the control signal superposed on a video signal. Therefore, the control of the camera head can be performed by a camera control by four wirings of a video signal line, a GND ling, +VDD and -VDD while the image pickup device has a minimum set of devices for driving the image pickup element in the camera head.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid-state image pickup device, and more particularly to an image pickup device in which an image pickup element section and a signal processing section are extended by a cable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The conventional technology is "CCD Micro-
Miniature Color Camera "IE
EE Trans. , CE-33, 2, p. 85 (19
87), a housing part including a signal processing part (hereinafter referred to as a camera control).

And a housing portion (hereinafter referred to as a camera head) including an image pickup element are always used as a set.

[0004]

In the prior art of the present invention, no camera heads using image pickup devices having different numbers of pixels could be connected. In addition, it has been impossible to connect a plurality of camera heads to a camera control unit to switch images or combine images. Further, the cable between the camera head and the camera control requires a plurality of image sensor drive pulse supply lines in addition to the video signal line and the power line.

An object of the present invention is to connect a camera head and a camera control via a simple common interface composed of only a video signal line and a power supply line and perform signal processing, thereby making the device compact and having a small number of pixels. It is to provide a new camera system that can be used by combining different cameras or multiple cameras.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-described object is to provide a video signal processing unit by accommodating a minimum circuit for driving an image pickup device such as an image pickup device, a timing pulse generation circuit, and a photoelectric conversion amount control means in a camera head unit. This is achieved by controlling the camera head section by the control signal superimposed on the video signal from the camera control section in which

[0007]

The camera control unit controls the vertical blanking period of the video signal to be about 20H (H: horizontal scanning period = about 63.5).
(μs) or horizontal blanking period (about 10 μs), communication is performed by communication data superimposed on the video signal,
Controls the camera head section. This allows the video signal line,
It is possible to realize a simple imaging device in which the camera control unit can control one or a plurality of camera heads connected by a common interface configured by a power line.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image pickup apparatus in which a camera head 1 is connected to a camera control 2 via a connection cable 3. 100 is a data interface circuit, 101 is a timing pulse generation circuit, 102 is a lens, 103 is an aperture, and 104 is Image sensor, 105 CDS circuit, 106 and 108 data input / output circuit, 107 aperture control circuit,
109 is a signal processing circuit, 110 is a microcomputer, and 111 and 112 are power supply circuits.

The subject image formed on the light receiving surface of the image pickup element 104 by the lens 102 is photoelectrically converted, read by the drive pulse generated by the timing pulse generation circuit 101, and noise is removed by the CDS circuit 105. , To the camera control 2 via the camera connection cable 3. The signal processing circuit 109 outputs a video signal obtained by performing luminance signal processing, color signal processing, gamma correction processing, and the like on the input signal. The power supply circuits 111 and 112 generate and supply necessary power to each block. Here, microcomputer 1
Reference numeral 10 denotes not only control of the signal processing circuit 109, but also control of the timing pulse generation circuit 101 and aperture control circuit 107.
Control. The data interface circuit 100 and the microcomputer 110 communicate with each other by communication data superimposed on the video signal during the vertical blanking period. After that, the data interface circuit 100 uses the received communication data for the timing pulse generation circuit 101 and the aperture control circuit 10.
7 and control.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Data interface circuit 1 built in the camera head
00 and the microcomputer 110, by using the communication data superimposed on the video signal, the video signal line, GND line, +
The camera head 1 can be controlled by the camera control 2 with four wirings of VDD and -VDD, and an imaging device having a minimum device for driving the imaging element 104 can be realized in the camera head 1. Here, the aperture control circuit 107
The same effect can be obtained by controlling the electronic shutter of the image sensor 104 in addition to controlling the diaphragm 103.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, 200 and 201 are examples of the internal configuration of the data input / output circuit 106, 200 is a signal adder, 201 is a resistor, and 202 to 205 are internal configurations of the timing pulse generation circuit 101 and the data interface circuit 100. 202 is a drive pulse generation circuit for the image sensor, 203 is a synchronization pulse generation circuit, and 204
Is an interface circuit and 205 is a comparator. Further, 206 to 208 are examples of the internal configuration of the data input / output circuit 108, 206 is a current source, 207 is a sync separation circuit,
Reference numeral 208 denotes a communication data separation circuit, and other parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and duplicate description will be omitted. Further, FIG. 3 is a timing chart of each block in the present imaging device, (a) shows the output of the CDS circuit 105,
(B) is an output of the synchronous pulse generation circuit 203, (c) is an output of the interface circuit 204, (d) is a signal adder 200
Output, (e) output of sync separation circuit 207, (f) output of communication data separation circuit 208, (g) input of control terminal of current source 206, (h) voltage value of resistor 201, (i) This is the output of the comparator 205.

From camera head 1 to camera control 2
Communication data transfer to the CD during the vertical blanking period
The video signal (a) output from the S circuit 105 is generated by superimposing the sync signal (b) generated by the sync pulse generation circuit 202 and the camera head communication data (c) generated by the interface circuit 204. Composite signal (d)
Is separated into a sync pulse (e) and communication data (f) by the camera control 2 and input to the microcomputer 110. Further, in the communication data transfer from the camera control 2 to the camera head 1, the current source 206 draws a current by the control signal (g) from the microcomputer 110, and the comparator 205 determines the voltage drop (h) of the resistor 201 due to this. Then, the communication data (i) is separated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by using the time-division bidirectional data superposition signal in the vertical blanking period for the microcomputer data communication between the camera head 1 and the camera control 2, the video signal line , GND
Camera head 1 with 4 wires, + VDD, -VDD
Can be controlled by the camera control 2, and an imaging device having a minimum device for driving the imaging device 104 in the camera head 1 can be realized. Further, in this embodiment,
By incorporating the data interface circuit 100 into the timing pulse generation circuit 101, a more compact imaging device can be realized.

Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 301 is a signal line selection switch,
The other parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. This embodiment is an image pickup apparatus in which a plurality of camera heads 1 are selected and controlled by a single camera control 2. The microcomputer 110 performs control by giving each camera head 1 to N a unique identification number. You can control only the camera head you want. The data communication between the camera head 1 and the camera control 2 at this time is the same as that of the embodiment described in FIGS. 1 to 3, and according to this embodiment, the video signal line, the GND line, + VDD, −.
It is possible to control a plurality of camera heads 1 with a single camera control 2 by four wires of VDD, and further, an imaging device having a minimum device for driving an imaging element is realized in each camera head 1. it can.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7.
Will be explained. In FIG. 5, 401 and 403 are buffers, 402 and 404 are comparators, and 405 to 410 are resistors. Other parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. Further, FIG. 6 is a timing chart of each block in the present image pickup apparatus. (A) is an output of the data superimposing circuit 106, (b) is a buffer 403 input, (c) is a buffer 401 input,
7D is a waveform of the inputs of the comparators 402 and 403, and FIG. 7 is a truth table in data transfer between the camera head 1 and the camera control 2.

In this embodiment, the horizontal blanking period of the video signal is used for data communication between the camera head 1 and the camera control 2. This will be described below with reference to the timing chart of FIG. The microcomputer 110 output (b) is added to the signal (a) in which the sync signal generated by the sync pulse generation circuit 202 is superimposed on the video signal output from the CDS circuit 105.
And the output (c) of the interface circuit 204 is added via the buffers 401 and 403 (d). The voltage value during data addition in the horizontal blanking period at this time is shown in FIG.
As shown in (d) and FIG. 7, Low, Mid, and Hig
There are three types of h, and the comparator 402 indicates the truth value of FIG.
The buffer 403 is obtained from the voltage relationship between the transfer data and the reception data
It becomes possible to obtain the data transferred by. At the same time, the comparator 404 obtains the data transferred by the buffer 401.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the bidirectional data superimposition signal in the horizontal blanking period is used for the microcomputer data communication between the camera head 1 and the camera control 2, so that the video signal line and the GND are connected. Line, + V
Control of the camera head 1 can be performed by the camera control 2 with four wires of DD and -VDD, and the camera head 1 can be realized as an imaging device having a minimum device for driving the imaging element 104.

In this embodiment, for microcomputer data communication,
Although the data transfer superposed on the video signal is used, it is obvious that the same effect can be obtained by superposing on the power supply line or by using a dedicated communication line.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the communication data superimposed on the video signal is used for the communication between the data interface circuit built in the camera head and the microcomputer. Line, + VDD,
The camera head can be controlled by the camera control with four wires of −VDD, and the camera head 1 can be realized as an imaging device having a minimum device for driving the imaging device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart in each block of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart in each block according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a truth table in each block according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Camera head, 2 ... Camera control, 3 ... Connection cable, 100 ... Data interface circuit, 101 ... Timing pulse generation circuit, 102 ... Lens, 103 ... Aperture, 104 ... Image sensor, 105 ... CDS circuit, 106 ... Data input Output circuit, 107 ... Aperture control circuit, 108 ... Data input / output circuit, 109 ... Signal processing circuit, 110 ... Microcomputer, 111 ... Power supply circuit, 112 ... Power supply circuit, 200 ... Signal adder, 201 ... Resistor, 202 ... Drive Pulse generation circuit, 203 ... Synchronous pulse generation circuit, 204 ... Interface circuit, 205 ... Comparator, 206 ... Current source, 207 ... Synchronous separation circuit, 208 ... Communication data separation circuit, 301 ... Signal line selection switch, 401 ... Buffer, 402 ... Comparator, 403 ... Buffer, 404 ... Comparator 405-410 ... resistor.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Chiba 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Ltd. Inside the Hitachi Media Visual Media Research Center (72) Inventor Tamiya Imade 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Bachi Stock Company, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first image pickup device, a timing pulse generating circuit for driving the image pickup device, a means for controlling an exposure amount of the image pickup device, and a means for outputting a video output signal from the image pickup device in a dot-sequential manner. An image pickup apparatus having a structure in which a signal processing unit for processing a video output signal of the image pickup device is housed in a second housing different from the first housing, and the housing is physically separated from each other. The housing and the second housing are provided with an information transmission means which is shared with the power supply line or the video signal line in a time division manner, and the first housing is controlled by the control signal from the second housing using the information transmission means. An imaging device characterized by the above. 2. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein information is transmitted to each device in the first housing including the image pickup element via an interface section provided in the timing pulse generation circuit. An imaging device characterized by. 3. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the first housings are connected to one signal processing unit, and a plurality of the second housings switch a plurality of housings to perform signal processing. An imaging device characterized by the above. 4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a data superimposing circuit that superimposes communication data during a blanking period of a video signal output from the first housing, the first housing and the second housing. An image pickup device characterized in that the communication data superimposed by the data superimposing circuit is used for the information transmitting means of the housing.