JP2002135645A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a video camera capable of displaying pixel data on the whole monitor screen by improving sensitivity and the using ratio of a wafer area, by allowing a CCD imaging device to have a square shape and performing aspect ratio conversion processing, without scrapping pixel data obtained from the CCD image pickup device. SOLUTION: By changing a magnifying ratio of a video signal obtained from a CCD imaging device, depending on the position in a screen, the aspect ratio is matched with the aspect ratio of the monitor screen to display the pixel data on the whole monitor screen.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image pickup device (CCD)
(Charge Coupled device)) is a square and CC
The present invention relates to a camera that effectively utilizes any part of a signal obtained by a D imaging device without discarding it and converts the signal in accordance with an aspect ratio of a screen for monitoring an output signal from the camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional camera, particularly a video camera, the shape of a CCD image pickup device is a rectangle which matches the aspect ratio of a signal to be output from the camera or the aspect ratio of a screen for monitoring a photographed signal. Things are common.

On the other hand, if the CCD image sensor has a square shape, if a signal obtained from the CCD image sensor is displayed as it is on a screen having an aspect ratio of, for example, 4: 3, a horizontally long picture will result. Therefore, if a part is cut off from the signal obtained from the CCD image sensor so that the aspect ratio becomes 4: 3 and displayed on a screen, an image having the same aspect ratio as the captured image can be obtained. As described above, when the aspect ratio of the signal obtained from the CCD image pickup device differs from the aspect ratio of the signal to be output from the video camera or the screen for monitoring, the CC ratio is adjusted in accordance with the latter aspect ratio.
A method is used in which a part of a signal obtained from a D imaging device is cut out and used. As an example, comparing the aspect ratio of the image sensor and the aspect ratio of the signal to be output from the video camera, from the signal obtained from the image sensor,
A technique of cutting out a signal having an aspect ratio to be output from a video camera to match the aspect ratio to obtain an output signal is disclosed in W096 / 11548.

[0004]

Considering that the CCD image pickup device is formed on a circular wafer, the CCD image pickup device is desirably a square which is the largest inner circle of a circle. Further, it is desirable to use pixel information obtained from the CCD image pickup device without discarding it, and to incorporate both of them from the viewpoint of sensitivity and the number of effective pixels.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a square CC
It is possible to display on a monitor screen having a different aspect ratio from that of the CCD image pickup device without discarding a part of the video information obtained from the D image pickup device.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a CCD image sensor having a square shape and an aspect ratio conversion processing means for performing an aspect ratio conversion.
The aspect ratio conversion processing means uses the entire data of the photographing signal in the effective pixel area obtained by the CCD image pickup device to change the enlargement ratio between the center and the edge of the screen, and specifies the aspect ratio of the monitor screen in advance. The signal is corrected and output so as to obtain a signal having the adjusted aspect ratio.

As described above, when the aspect ratio of the CCD image sensor is different from the aspect ratio of the signal to be output by the video camera or the screen for monitoring, the pixel data of the effective pixel area obtained from the CCD image sensor is changed. A signal having a desired aspect ratio is obtained by correcting the signal without truncation.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital video camera which is a camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a camera processing unit, 2 is an image data processing unit, 3 is a CPU, 4 is an aspect ratio conversion processing unit, 5 is a display unit, and 6 is a user input terminal.

The camera processing unit 1 includes a lens, a square C
It consists of a CD (Charge Cupled Device) image sensor, A / D converter, digital camera signal processing circuit, etc., and performs photoelectric conversion of the optical image formed on the CCD image sensor through the lens and performs digital image processing. Outputs a digital video signal.

[0010] The image data processing section 2 writes the signal output from the camera processing section 1 to a recording medium such as an HDD or a DVD. When writing to the recording medium, it may be after processing such as conversion to compressed image data is performed. further,
The image data processing unit 3 receives an instruction from the CPU 5
Reads data recorded on the recording medium.

The CPU 3 issues an instruction for recording image data to the image data processing unit 2 and an instruction for reading image data to a recording medium in response to an instruction from the user input from the user input terminal 6.

The aspect ratio conversion processing unit 4 receives either an output signal from the camera processing unit 1 or an output signal from the image data processing unit 2 as an input signal in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 3, and receives the aspect ratio of the screen of the display unit 5. The input signal is corrected so as to match with, and output to the display unit 5.

Here, the correction processing performed on the input signal by the aspect ratio conversion processing section 4 will be specifically described.

Since the CCD image pickup device of the camera processing section 1 has a square shape, the aspect ratio of the video signal output from the effective pixel area is 1: 1. Has an aspect ratio of 1: 1. Assuming that the aspect ratio of the screen of the display unit 5 is, for example, 4: 3, when the signal input to the aspect ratio conversion processing unit 4 is directly displayed on the screen of the display unit 5, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the subject is displayed horizontally longer than it actually is. Then, if it is displayed on the screen so that the aspect ratio of the subject does not change, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), a screen with bands on the left and right or the upper and lower parts of the signal at the time of shooting will not be displayed, This method is not desirable if the effective use of the display screen and the utilization rate of the pixel data obtained by the CCD image pickup device are taken into consideration. Therefore, pixel data is displayed on the entire display screen without truncation by the following method. In most cases, the important information in the image data is in the center of the screen, and in addition, the viewer is more attentive to the center of the screen but less attentive toward the edges,
This phenomenon is used to change the magnification according to the position displayed on the screen.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram when the information at the edge of the screen is enlarged without changing the information at the center of the screen. Also,
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the horizontal position of the screen and the enlargement ratio, and shows how the enlargement ratio increases as the distance from the center of the screen increases. 6A and 6B show an example of an enlargement processing method, in which FIG. 6A shows an example in which two pixels are formed from one pixel and is enlarged twice, and FIG. , (C) shows an example in which three pixels are formed from one pixel and tripled. By doing so, the original data can be effectively used without being truncated, and the entire monitor screen can be effectively used. Here, the method shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 has been described as an example of changing the enlargement ratio depending on the position of the screen, but the enlargement method is not limited to this.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 to 6 are the same parts as in FIG. 1, 7 is an aspect ratio switching signal input terminal, and 8 is a video signal output terminal.

In the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 1, the aspect ratio conversion processing unit 4 adjusts the output signal from the camera processing unit 1 or the image data processing unit 2 to the screen aspect ratio of the display unit 5. In the example shown in FIG.

In the second embodiment, the aspect ratio conversion processing section 4 converts an output signal from the camera processing section 1 or the image data processing section 2 into an aspect ratio designated from an aspect ratio switching signal input terminal 7. To the correction process,
Output to the video signal output terminal 8.

When an external device is connected to the video signal output terminal 8, for example, an image is projected on the screen of the external device while the subject is being photographed, or data recorded on the recording medium of the image data processing unit 2 is read. It can be used for viewing on the screen of an external device for viewing. In this case, since the aspect ratio of the screen as the external device varies, the corrected aspect ratio is set from the aspect ratio switching signal input terminal 7 according to the external device. The aspect ratio conversion processing unit 4 includes an aspect ratio switching signal input terminal 7
In accordance with the instruction set from, signal correction is performed according to the aspect ratio of the external device screen.

In the present embodiment, a digital video camera has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to a digital video camera, but may have an analog configuration.

[0021]

According to the present invention, a method is employed in which a CCD image sensor is formed in a square shape and an image is projected on the entire monitor screen without discarding image data in an effective pixel area obtained from the CCD image sensor. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a CCD imaging device having a high sensitivity and a utilization rate of a circular wafer, and to realize a video camera having a high utilization rate of pixel data obtained by the CCD imaging device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a digital video camera according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which the same signal is displayed on screens having different aspect ratios.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of enlarging a video signal.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a digital video camera according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a horizontal position of a screen and an enlargement ratio.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing pixel information for representing an enlargement method.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Camera processing part, 2 ... Image data processing part, 3 ... CP
U, 4: Aspect ratio conversion processing unit, 5: display unit, 6: user input terminal.

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Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device having a square light-receiving surface, photoelectrically converting an optical image obtained from a square effective pixel area, and outputting a video signal having an aspect ratio of 1: 1. An aspect ratio conversion processing means for converting the output video signal having an aspect ratio of 1: 1 to a different aspect ratio other than the aspect ratio of 1: 1 and outputting the converted image signal. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein said aspect ratio conversion processing means has an aspect ratio of 4 to 3.
A camera characterized in that it is converted and output. 3. The camera according to claim 1, further comprising an aspect ratio switching unit that sets an aspect ratio, wherein the aspect ratio conversion processing unit outputs an aspect ratio of 1: 1 from the image sensor. A camera for converting the video signal into an aspect ratio set by the aspect ratio switching means. 4. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the aspect ratio conversion processing means increases the magnification at both ends of the screen without substantially changing the magnification at the center of the screen. Camera that converts aspect ratio to.