JP2000261712A - Device for correcting image movement - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To specify an abnormal part and to transmit it to the outside in the case of the occurrence of an abnormal state by deciding an abnormal operation of a movement correcting means from an output of a shaking correction signal generating means and detection results of a position detecting means and displaying an abnormal state detected there. SOLUTION: A correcting lens 1 corrects image movement caused by the shaking image pickup device provided with an image movement correcting device by moving an optical axis, and a movement detecting part 2 detects the shaking of the image pickup device. A shaking correction signal generating part 3 generates a signal for correcting movement from detection results of the part 2, and a driving circuit 4 drives the lens 1 on the basis of an output of the part 3. A position detecting part 5 detects the position of the lens 1, an abnormal operation deciding part 6 decides the operational abnormality of the lens 1 from the outputs of the parts 3 and 5, and a displaying part 7 displays its abnormal state when its operation is decided as abnormal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image motion compensator used for correcting camera shake of an image pickup apparatus and the like, and more particularly, to an improvement in performance thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, consumer video cameras (hereinafter referred to as "video movies") have been reduced in size and weight, and optical zooms have been increased in magnification. For the consumer, video movies have become one of the most common home appliances. However, on the other hand, the miniaturization, weight reduction, high magnification of optical zoom, and the spread of video movies to consumers who are not familiar with shooting have caused problems such as instability of the screen due to camera shake during shooting. Also generated. Therefore,
In order to solve this problem, many video movies equipped with an image motion compensator have been developed and commercialized.

As an image motion compensating device of an image pickup apparatus, for example, an image pickup unit having an image pickup optical system and a solid-state image pickup device is supported by a gimbal mechanism, and this is driven based on motion information of the image pickup apparatus itself obtained from an angular velocity sensor. A method of correcting image motion by controlling ("Development of image blur prevention technology for video cameras" Television Society Technical Report Vo
l.11, No.28, pp19-24 (1987)).

In the above method, the imaging unit of the imaging device is rotatably supported at the center of gravity of the imaging device by a gimbal mechanism, and based on movement information in two directions, pitching and yawing, of the imaging device obtained from an angular velocity sensor. The attitude of the imaging unit is controlled by an actuator constituted by a magnet, thereby stabilizing the captured image.

[0005] As another example, a method of correcting a motion of an image by providing a variable apex angle prism in front of an image pickup optical system and similarly driving and controlling the same based on information from an angular velocity sensor ("optical type"). There is a camera shake correction system “Technical Report of the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan, Vol. 17, No. 5, pp. 15-20 (1993)).

In the above method, two glass plates are connected by a bellows made of a special film, and a variable apex angle prism filled with a liquid having a high refractive index is provided in front of a solid-state image sensor. Pitching obtained from an angular velocity sensor,
By tilting the two glass plates of the variable apex angle prism in the horizontal and vertical directions based on information on the movement of the imaging device in the two directions of yawing, the optical axis of the incident light is bent, and the movement of the captured image is changed. It is to stabilize.

As another example, a frame for reading only a part of the image on the solid-state image sensor as an output image is provided, and the frame is moved by changing the drive timing of the solid-state image sensor. There is a method of correcting the movement of an image by using the method.

The above-mentioned method uses a solid-state image pickup device having a larger number of pixels than a standard solid-state image pickup device conforming to a broadcasting system, and captures information on the movement of the image pickup device in two directions of pitching and yawing obtained from an angular velocity sensor. Based on the focal length of the lens, the amount of movement of the image on the solid-state image sensor is converted, the drive timing of the solid-state image sensor is controlled based on the conversion result, and the image from the solid-state image sensor is moved according to the movement of the captured image. By changing the readout position (frame), the movement of the photographed image is stabilized.

[0009]

As described above, it is well known that various systems have been proposed and put into practical use for an image motion compensator, but some problems still remain. Is left. As one of them, it is difficult to identify an abnormal part from outside in a miniaturized video movie.For example, a failure or disconnection of the drive circuit of the motion compensation means causes a failure and a normal correction operation cannot be performed. In this case, a method for specifying an abnormal portion when the normal motion detection cannot be performed due to a failure of the motion detection means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an image motion compensating apparatus having an external transmission means for identifying an abnormal portion when an abnormality occurs.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an imaging device provided with the present device, and a photographed image generated due to the motion of the imaging device. Motion correction means for correcting the motion of the motion, a vibration correction signal generation means for controlling the motion correction means based on the output of the motion detection means, a position detection means for detecting the position of the motion correction means, the vibration correction signal An abnormal operation judging means for judging an abnormal operation of the motion correcting means from an output of the generating means and a detection result of the position detecting means, and a display means for displaying an abnormal state detected by the abnormal operation judging means It is.

With such a configuration, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image motion compensating apparatus having a means for transmitting information to the outside that can identify an abnormal portion when an abnormality occurs.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an image pickup device provided with the present device, and a motion detecting means for detecting a photographed image generated by the motion of the image pickup device. Motion correction means for correcting motion, shake correction signal generation means for controlling the motion correction means based on the output of the movement detection means, position detection means for detecting the position of the motion correction means, and generation of the shake correction signal An abnormal operation judging means for judging an abnormal operation of the motion correcting means from an output of the means and a detection result of the position detecting means, and a display means for displaying an abnormal state detected by the abnormal operation judging means. There is an effect that, when an abnormality occurs, an abnormal portion can be specified to the motion correcting means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an image pickup apparatus provided with the present apparatus, and correcting a motion of a photographed image caused by the motion of the image pickup apparatus. A motion correction unit, a shake correction signal generation unit that controls the motion correction unit based on an output of the motion detection unit, and a level of an output signal of the motion detection unit that is determined to be abnormal if the level is less than a predetermined value. A determination unit that determines that there is an abnormality; and a display unit that displays an abnormal state determined by the determination unit. When an abnormality occurs, the abnormality location can be identified to the motion detection unit. It has the action of:

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an image pickup apparatus provided with the present apparatus, and correcting a motion of a photographed image caused by the motion of the image pickup apparatus. A movement correction unit, a shake correction signal generation unit that controls the movement correction unit based on an output of the movement detection unit, a position detection unit that detects a position of the movement correction unit, and an output of the shake correction signal generation unit. An abnormal operation determining means for determining an abnormal operation of the motion correcting means from a detection result of the position detecting means, and a level of an output signal of the motion detecting means is determined. Determination means, and display means capable of displaying the abnormal state detected by the abnormal operation determination means and the abnormal state determined by the determination means. When abnormality in the positive section or movement detector has occurred, it is possible to display each of the abnormal condition, an effect that it is possible to identify the abnormal point.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image motion compensating apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a correction lens that is a correction unit that corrects an image movement caused by a shake of an imaging apparatus including the image movement correction apparatus according to the present embodiment by moving an optical axis, and 2 denotes a shake of the imaging apparatus. The motion detection unit 3 is a motion detection unit that detects motion, and the shake correction signal generation unit 3 is a shake correction signal generation unit that generates a signal for correcting motion from the detection result of the motion detection unit 2. A drive circuit, which is a drive unit for driving the correction lens 1 based on the output of the correction signal generation unit 3, a position detection unit 5, which is a position detection unit for detecting the position of the correction lens 1, and a vibration correction signal generation unit 6, An abnormal operation judging unit, which is an abnormal operation judging unit for judging an abnormal operation of the correction lens 1 from the output of the unit 3 and the output of the position detecting unit 5, the abnormal operation judging unit 6 determines that the operation of the correction lens 1 is abnormal. When judged In a display unit which is a display means for displaying the abnormal state, a video camera equipped with the present apparatus may be configured to display an abnormal state on a liquid crystal display screen provided in a viewfinder, or by turning on an LED. Means for simply notifying may be considered.

The operation of the image motion compensating apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the processing flowchart shown in FIG. Although the image motion compensator has the same structure in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, the content is the same, so that only one direction will be described here for simplification of description.

First, when the image pickup apparatus provided with the present apparatus is shaken due to hand shake of the user or the like, step 201 is executed.
The motion detection signal from the motion detection unit 2 is taken into the shake correction signal generation unit 3 by. The shake correction signal generator 3 generates a shake correction signal (step 202), drives the drive circuit 4 based on the shake correction signal, and drives the correction lens 1 in the optical axis direction or in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis (step 203). ).

In step 204, the position of the correction lens 1 is detected by the position detector 5. Based on the output of the shake correction signal generator 3 and the output of the position detector 5, the abnormal operation determiner 6 determines whether or not the correction lens 1 is located at the position specified by the shake correction signal generator 3 (step 205). If the correction lens 1 is not located at the correct position, it is determined that there is an abnormality in the correction lens 1, and an abnormality is displayed on the display unit 7 in step 206. At this time, when detecting the position of the correction lens 1, the correction lens 1
May be determined to be abnormal when the position is not at the position as instructed for more than a predetermined time.

If no abnormality is detected in step 205, the process returns to step 201 and the motion detection section 2 starts to detect motion again.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the abnormal operation determination unit 6 determines the correction lens based on the correction command from the shake correction signal generation unit 3 and the position information of the correction lens 1 detected by the position detection unit 5. 1 is detected, and when an abnormality occurs, it can be displayed on the display unit 7;
It can inform the user.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an image motion compensating apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a correction lens that is a correction unit that corrects a motion of an image caused by a shake of the imaging apparatus by moving the image in the optical axis or a direction perpendicular to the optical axis. A motion detector,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a shake correction signal generation unit which is a shake correction signal generation unit for generating a signal for correcting a movement from the output of the movement detection unit 2, and 4 drives the correction lens 1 based on the output of the shake correction signal generation unit 3. A driving circuit 6 is an abnormal operation judging unit that detects an abnormal operation of the correction lens 1 based on a correction command from the shake correction signal generation unit 3 and position information of the correction lens 1 detected by the position detection unit 5. A certain abnormal operation determination unit 8 is a level determination unit that is a level determination unit that determines an operation abnormality based on a detection signal from the motion detection unit 2, and 7 is a level determination unit 8 that determines that the operation of the motion detection unit 2 is abnormal. A display unit that is a display unit that displays the abnormality when the abnormality is performed or when the abnormal operation determination unit 6 determines the abnormality,
The display is changed according to the abnormality determination from the abnormal operation determination unit 6 and the abnormality determination from the motion detection unit 2, so that the abnormal location can be clearly specified.

The operation of the image motion compensating apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below with reference to the flowchart of the processing shown in FIG. Note that the abnormality determination method in the abnormal operation determination unit 6 has already been described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, the operation of the level determination unit 8 for detecting an abnormality will be described.

First, when a predetermined shake occurs due to a hand shake or the like of the user in the image pickup apparatus provided with the present apparatus, the movement detecting section 2 detects the movement (step 201) and corrects the movement detection signal by the shake correction. The signal is taken into the signal generator 3. The shake correction signal generator 3 generates a shake correction signal for correcting the movement based on the signal from the movement detector 2 (step 202), and the drive circuit 4 drives the correction lens 1 by the shake correction signal. (Step 203).

Here, when the operation of the motion detecting section 2 becomes inoperative due to some abnormality, the level judging section 8 judges an abnormality of the motion detecting output from the output of the motion detecting section 2 (step 405). If the output of the motion detection unit 2 is determined to be abnormal, an abnormal display is performed on the display unit 7 in step 206.

The motion detecting section 2 outputs a constant signal as long as the power is supplied to the apparatus even when the apparatus does not shake, and the motion detecting section 2 operates due to a failure or the like. In a state in which the operation is not performed, the aforementioned signal is not output. When the level of this signal falls below a predetermined value, the level determination unit 8 determines that an abnormality has occurred, and outputs a signal of abnormality detection to the display unit 7. Therefore, when an abnormality occurs in the motion detection unit 2, it is possible to specify an abnormal location and notify the user of the abnormality.

When an abnormality occurs in the drive circuit 4 or the position detecting section 5, as described in the first embodiment, the abnormal operation judging section 6 judges the abnormal state, and the display section 7 indicates the fact. indicate.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when an abnormality occurs in the correction lens 1, the fact is displayed on the display unit 7 by an abnormality detection signal from the abnormal operation determination unit 6.
When an abnormality occurs in the motion detection unit 2, the level determination unit 8
In the above, the configuration is such that an abnormality is determined and the fact is displayed on the display unit 7, so that the abnormal part can be easily specified.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, an abnormality is detected by detecting an abnormal operation of the motion compensating means from the output of the motion signal processing means and the output of the abnormal operation judging means and outputting it to the display means. In this case, an excellent effect that the user can be surely notified can be obtained.

According to the present invention, when an abnormality is detected by detecting the output abnormality of the motion detecting means from the output of the motion signal processing means and the output of the level judging means and outputting it to the display means, the abnormal part is detected. This provides an excellent effect that it can be specified and can be reliably notified to the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an image motion correcting apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the overall processing flow according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an image motion correcting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the overall processing flow according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 correction lens 2 motion detection unit 3 shake correction signal generation unit 4 drive circuit 5 position detection unit 6 abnormal operation determination unit 7 display unit 8 level determination unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] A motion detection unit configured to detect a motion of an imaging device including the device, a motion correction unit configured to correct a motion of a captured image generated due to the motion of the imaging device; A shake correction signal generating means for controlling the motion correcting means based on the output, a position detecting means for detecting a position of the motion correcting means, and an output from the shake correcting signal generating means and a detection result of the position detecting means. An image motion correcting apparatus comprising: an abnormal operation determining unit that determines an abnormal operation of the motion correcting unit; and a display unit that displays an abnormal state detected by the abnormal operation determining unit. 2. A motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an imaging device provided with the present device, a motion correcting device for correcting a motion of a captured image generated due to the motion of the imaging device, and A shake correction signal generator for controlling the motion corrector based on the output, a determiner for determining a level of an output signal of the motion detector, and determining that the level is abnormal when the level is less than a predetermined value; Display means for displaying an abnormal state determined by the means. 3. A motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an imaging device provided with the present device, a motion correcting means for correcting a motion of a captured image generated due to the motion of the imaging device, and A shake correction signal generating means for controlling the motion correcting means based on the output, a position detecting means for detecting a position of the motion correcting means, and an output from the shake correcting signal generating means and a detection result of the position detecting means. An abnormal operation determining unit that determines an abnormal operation of the motion correcting unit; a determining unit that determines a level of an output signal of the motion detecting unit and determines that the level is less than a predetermined value when the level is less than a predetermined value; An image motion compensator comprising: a display unit capable of displaying an abnormal state detected by the unit and an abnormal state determined by the determining unit.