JP2003143491A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an image with high quality which has less deviation of images between photographing regions. SOLUTION: An image pickup device has a first photographing region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion sections, a second photographing region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion sections, a first output section for outputting signals from the first photographing section, a second output section for outputting signals from the second photographing section, and a driving means for outputting a first driving signal for driving the first output section and a second driving signal for driving the second output section and for independently controlling the first and second driving signals.

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 for picking up a subject image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 11 (A) is a schematic view showing a structure of a CCD image pickup device which has been generally used. A light receiving portion including a plurality of photoelectric conversion portions, a light shielding portion in which a light shielding member is arranged on the upper surfaces of the plurality of photoelectric conversion element portions to prevent light from entering the photoelectric conversion portion, a horizontal transfer CCD, and a vertical transfer C (not shown).
It is composed of a CD and a charge-voltage conversion amplifier.

The driving method is that after transferring the charges generated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the vertical transfer path, the charge is sequentially transferred in units of one column in the horizontal direction to be read out from the horizontal transfer path indicated by the horizontal CCD in the figure, and the horizontal transfer is performed. The output from CCD is amp in the figure
It is done after the charge-voltage conversion at.

FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a structure in which photoelectric conversion outputs photographed at the same time are divided into two left and right horizontal CCDs and read out. The photoelectric transfer output is transferred in the horizontal CCD in units of one column in the horizontal direction as in the case of FIG. 6C, but the right half photoelectric conversion output is in the horizontal CCD-B and the left half photoelectric conversion output. Is different in that the horizontal CCD-A transfers the charges and further an individually prepared amplifier converts the charges.

In this structure, since the read driving can be performed in parallel by the two horizontal CCDs, the read driving of one frame can be performed in about half the driving time shown in FIG.

[0006]

In the configuration shown in FIG. 11B, since the left and right picked-up images are read out by the respective independent output systems, the step at the boundary surface becomes noticeable.

FIG. 2C shows the photoelectric conversion output of one row in the horizontal direction indicated by the two arrows in FIG. 1B in an easy-to-understand manner. The picture taken in (B) of the figure is a landscape on a sunny day, in which the sun, mountains, trees, and grass are shown.

The output A in FIG. 2C is the output from the light-shielding portion in FIG. 2B, and the output B is the imaging output of the portion corresponding to the sun. The difference (A) is a difference in output generated by being read by the left and right independent systems described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an image pickup apparatus capable of obtaining a picked-up image in which a density step at a boundary portion is inconspicuous.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a first imaging region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, a second imaging region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and the first imaging region. A first output section for outputting a signal from the region; and the second output section
A second output section for outputting a signal from the image pickup area, a first drive signal for driving the first output section, and a second drive signal for driving the second output section. Is provided, and an image pickup device is provided which has a drive unit capable of independently controlling the first drive signal and the second drive signal.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of the present invention, and is a block diagram briefly showing the structure and function of an image pickup section which is a part of a digital camera which is an image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 3 described later. , The relationship between the CCD image sensor and its peripheral functions is briefly shown.

The CCD image pickup device 90 is a Bayer array type CC
Although it is called D, it has two channels of output systems of the outputs of a plurality of photoelectric conversion units arranged in the same plane, and the imaging area is divided into two left and right while maintaining the simultaneity of accumulation. It can be divided into two regions and can be driven in parallel by corresponding channels.

The internal structure of the CCD image pickup device 90 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Both the block 80A and the block 80B surrounded by the one-dot broken line have the same internal structure.
1 and 82 are CDS (correlated double sampling circuit) / AG
C (auto gain controller), 83 and 84 are AD converters, 85 and 86 are vertical transfer drivers, and 87 and 88 are horizontal transfer drivers.

A portion 70 surrounded by a solid line is a timing generator TG which is a driving means. Inside the portion 70, there are two functional blocks having a same function, that is, a driving block BLK_A 71 and a driving block BLK_B 72. The operation contents can be set independently. The operation contents are set by the microcomputer PRS105 which is the control means of FIG. 3 described later.

Similarly, CDS / AGC81, CDS / AG
Set the drive contents individually for C82 by using the microcomputer PRS1.
Start from 05.

The function of the microcomputer PRS105 will be described with reference to FIG. 3, but in FIG. 1 the timing generator TG7 is used.
After setting the operation contents of 0, CDS / AGC 81, and CDS / AGC 82, output and control for performing a series of sequence operations from accumulation to image signal reading are performed toward the timing generator TG70.

The drive signal A from BLK_A 71 is supplied to each function forming the block 80A.

A driver group including a vertical transfer driver V_drv85 and a horizontal transfer driver H_drv87 receives the drive signal group A and outputs the drive signal group φA to drive the left screen of the CCD image pickup device 90 shown in FIG. The imaging output A, which is the output from the left screen, is the CDS
It is output to the original image processing unit 110 of FIG. 3 through the processing by the / AGC 81 and the AD converter 83.

Similarly, the block 80B outputs the drive signal group φB to drive the right screen of the CCD image pickup device 90. At this time, BLK_A71 and BLK_B72
From the respective horizontal transfer drive signals and CDS / AGC
The drive signals to 81 and the CDS / AGC 82 are output at the timings of the independent phases according to the set contents.

FIG. 2 is a diagram briefly showing a connection relationship between the internal structure of the CCD image pickup device 90 shown in FIG. 1 and its peripheral functions. The same functional blocks as in FIG. 1 are assigned the same numbers.

A portion 90 surrounded by a solid line is a CCD image pickup device, and 81 and 82 are known CDS / AGC, 8
Reference numerals 3 and 84 are known AD converters.

The CCD image pickup device 90 is called a known Bayer array type CCD. In the figure, a portion indicated by 91 is a photoelectric conversion element portion, and 92 is a vertical transfer CCD. Each photoelectric conversion element and the vertical CCD form a pair, and an imaging region is formed by arranging a plurality of these two-dimensional pairs,
The light beam from the subject area is used to capture an image. On the light-receiving surfaces of the plurality of image pickup elements forming these image pickup areas, R, G, and B primary color filters are G
The pixels are arranged in a line-sequential arrangement form and the pixels are arranged in a square lattice, which facilitates the calculation after the image is captured.

At this time, the charges generated in the photoelectric conversion portion 91A are transferred to the vertical transfer CCD 92A after being transferred to the vertical transfer CCD according to the drive signal from the vertical transfer driver V_drv85.
Data is sequentially transferred to the horizontal transfer CCD indicated by 93A and 93B in units of one column in the horizontal direction.

The output from the horizontal transfer CCD is made in accordance with the drive signal from the horizontal transfer driver H_drv 87, converted from electric charge to voltage by the charge-voltage conversion amplifier indicated by 95, and then processed by the CDS / AGC section indicated by 81. ,
After being converted into digital data by the AD converter indicated by 83, it is output to the original image processing unit 110 shown in FIG.

The charges generated in the photoelectric conversion unit 91B are transferred to the vertical transfer CCD 92B in accordance with the drive signal from the vertical transfer driver V_drv86, and then 9
4A and 94B are sequentially transferred to the horizontal transfer CCD in units of one column in the horizontal direction.

The output from the horizontal transfer CCD is made in accordance with the drive signal from the horizontal transfer driver H_drv88, converted from electric charge into voltage by the charge-voltage conversion amplifier indicated by 96, and then processed by the CDS / AGC section indicated by 82. ,
After being converted into digital data by the AD converter indicated by 84, it is output to the original image processing unit 110 shown in FIG.

That is, the image pickup data picked up at the same time is divided into left and right and outputted. It is equipped with a series of operations from accumulation to reading drive and its output channels separately for the left and right sides. The drive signals are controlled so that the transfer to the vertical transfer CCDs 92A and 92B is performed at the same time, and the phase setting of the read driving (horizontal transfer CCD, driving of the CDS / AGC) and the processing of the output signals thereof are performed according to the contents individually set on the left and right. To do.

The read drive phase will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.

At this time, the vertical transfer CCD, the horizontal transfer CCD, the photoelectric conversion element of the light receiving portion, and the photoelectric conversion element of the light shielding portion, which are the respective parts constituting the CCD image pickup element 90, are configured in a larger number. .

In particular, the photoelectric conversion element of the light-shielding portion is represented by one each at the right end and the left end in one horizontal direction, but in reality, it is composed of a plurality of elements.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the image processing apparatus of the digital camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the image processing apparatus includes a microcomputer PRS105 for controlling the entire main image processing, and a CC.
An original image processing unit 110, which is an operation unit that processes an image signal from the image capturing unit 101 including a D area sensor, an image processing unit 104 that receives an output from the original image processing unit, and performs processes such as white balance and color interpolation. The storage unit 104 includes a non-volatile storage member that stores the image data.

The microcomputer PRS105 has, for example, a CPU (central processing unit), RAM, ROM, and EEP inside.
It is a one-chip computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a microcomputer) in which a ROM (electrically erasable programmable ROM), an input / output port and the like are arranged.

The microcomputer PRS105 performs a series of operations based on the sequence program stored in the ROM. Since the main point of this case is in the area surrounded by the broken line, an arrow is added to clarify that this range is under the control of the microcomputer PRS105 in FIG. 3, but the other parts in FIG. It is under the control of PRS 105.

The image pickup unit 101 includes an image pickup device such as a CCD area sensor, a sensor drive unit for driving the image pickup device, and a CD.
It is provided with an S, AGC, and A / D conversion unit, performs analog processing suitable for the read photoelectric conversion output, and then converts it into a digital signal.

A light beam from a photographing region is imaged on an image pickup device through an optical system (not shown), and the image pickup device photoelectrically converts the light flux into an electric signal into a digital value and outputs it to the original image processing section 110. .

The original image processing unit 110 receives an image pickup signal output from the image pickup unit 101, and prepares for dark correction, extracts pixel data of a light shielding unit (optical black) and scratches for pixel scratch correction. After the position is detected, it is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 103.

The buffer memory 103 uses the image data for one screen read from the image sensor as one unit.
It has a capacity to store a plurality of such data.

The buffer memory 103 is, for example, the processing speed of the image processing 104 and the subsequent processing in the figure such as the processing capability of the storage device 130 of the photographer when an attempt is made to perform a plurality of shooting operations in a short time such as continuous shooting. It is provided as a consideration to prevent it from occurring or to minimize it due to the influence of the factor of 1., but it also stores the dark output of the image sensor used for correcting the dark current of the image data. ing.

The original image processing section 110 and the buffer memory 103 are controlled by a memory control 113.

The image data once stored in the buffer memory 103 is read by the original image processing unit 110 and constitutes the original image processing unit 114. The dark current correction unit 114, the flaw detection unit 115, the screen correlation extraction unit 112, the screen. Matching unit 11
6, the shading correction unit 117 and the scratch correction unit 118 perform signal processing. The switch 141 selectively switches between screen correlation extraction and signal processing for output to the image processing unit 104.

From the image pickup unit 101, as shown in FIG.
Since the left screen output from the converter 83 and the right screen output from the AD converter 84 are input at the same time, the OB clamp unit 111 performs a screen matching function such that digital image data of these two systems can be simultaneously processed in parallel. Part 116
Each block up to has.

Next, the operation of the digital camera shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

First, correction data used for dark current correction is taken in. That is, after the reset operation is performed so that the output of the photoelectric conversion unit becomes the initial value in a state where no light is incident on the image pickup unit 101, the charge accumulation operation is performed for a predetermined time. When the charge accumulation operation is completed,
The charges are read out and are input in parallel to the original image processing unit 104 as digital image data from the AD converters 83 and 84 shown in FIG.

In the OB clamp section 111, the dark current outputs of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements in the light shielding section shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 5B, that is, the horizontal transfer CC of FIG.
The photoelectric conversion output read by D94B is temporarily stored and the digital data used for clamping is determined by a known method.

Subsequently, a clamp process is performed with the photoelectric conversion output read by the horizontal transfer CCD 94A of FIG.

In the memory processing (103), the clamped photoelectric conversion output is stored in the memory 103 via the memory control unit 113. Then, the next one horizontal line is read again and the above-mentioned contents are repeated.

The clamp processing (111) is performed simultaneously and in parallel for the photoelectric conversion element outputs read by the horizontal transfer CCD 93A and the horizontal transfer CCD 93B shown in FIG. 2, but the subsequent data is handled when the data is stored in the memory. The memory control unit 113 controls and processes in the reverse order of the order of reading from the horizontal transfer CCD 93A so as to facilitate the above.

Readout of one horizontal line and OB
Clamp processing and memory processing are sequentially repeated, and L
By repeating this, the acquisition of the dark current correction data for one frame for the output of the photoelectric conversion element having the horizontal line number L is completed.

A dark current correction data storage area and a main image storage area are separately secured in the memory 103 in advance.

Subsequently, the main image data is loaded.

The capturing of the main image data is performed by the image pickup unit 101.
That the light is incident on the charge storage time, the charge accumulation time changes according to the incident brightness, and the three items of the data storage area of the memory unit are different from the above-described acquisition of the dark current correction data. , The OB clamp unit 111, the memory control unit 113, and the memory unit 103 are stored in the same manner as the above-described dark current correction data acquisition.

The acquisition of the main image data is completed with the above contents.

Subsequently, screen correlation extraction is performed in order to obtain a set value required when correcting the shift between the right screen and the left screen by outputting the drive signal of the timing generator TG90.

At this time, the switch 141 is switched so that the output of the data read from the memory for performing the screen correlation extraction is input to the screen correlation extraction diagram 112 after the dark current correction processing 114, and the main image data is output. Is input to the screen correlation extraction unit 112 after dark current correction.

Since the dark current correction data for one frame and the main image data are already stored in the memory 103,
The output of the corresponding photoelectric conversion element is read from the memory 103 to the dark current correction unit 114 via the memory control unit 113.

Under the control of the computer PRS105, the dark current correction unit 114 performs a process of performing arithmetic processing on the dark current correction data based on each accumulation time ratio so that the dark current correction data corresponds to the accumulation time of the main image data. The data obtained in step 3 is subtracted from the main image data to remove the dark current component contained in the output of each photoelectric conversion element forming the main image data, and image data having a good S / N characteristic is generated.

In the screen correlation extraction unit 112, when the image data of the areas of the correlation extraction unit A and the correlation extraction unit B shown in FIG. 5B are input, data processing is performed according to the explanation of FIG. The variables AVGA and AVGB described in the figure description, and further the correlation value are calculated.

The output of the screen correlation extraction unit is the microcomputer PR.
After being read in S105 and processed in accordance with the prepared processing content, the setting content of the output signal of the timing generator TG70 is reflected in the direction of correcting the deviation of the boundary portion.

The output signal setting contents of the timing generator TG70 may be reflected in the setting contents depending on the shooting contents each time, or the same setting may be used in any shooting, but any method may be used.

The case where the setting is performed for each photographing and the case where the same setting is performed for any photographing will be specifically described below.

When the setting is made for each photographing, a shading image (for example, a light source such as an LED is provided inside the shutter as the main image data described above before the photographing is performed,
Image data obtained by causing the light source to emit light with the shutter closed is taken in.

When the same setting is to be made in any photographing, the above-described operation is performed once before the factory shipment, and the subsequent photographing is performed with the set value obtained thereby.

Next, based on the obtained correlation value, the microcomputer PR
The timing generator TG 70 operates in accordance with the contents set in S105, whereby the operation of reading the main image data can be performed.

The switch 141 is the shading correction unit 1.
It is switched so that the data is output to the memory 17, and the main image data read from the memory 103 is read out via the memory control 113 and subjected to dark current correction, and then output to the shading correction unit 117.

The shading correction section 117 multiplies the main image data by a coefficient prepared in advance to correct the distortion of the image data caused by an optical factor. Here, after the shading correction unit 117, the image data output by the two systems of the AD converter 83 and the AD converter 84 of FIG. 2 are integrated into one system.

The processing order of each photoelectric conversion output forming the main image data is AD in the direction of output from the AD converter 84.
Each photoelectric conversion output from the converter 83 is reversed.

As described above, the inversion of each photoelectric conversion output from the AD converter 83 is performed by the memory control unit 113 after storing it in the memory 103 after the OB clamp unit 111.

The flaw correction section 118 detects and corrects, from the main image data, a portion where an appropriate photoelectric conversion output cannot be obtained due to the factor of the photoelectric conversion element section 91A of FIG. 2, for example. Since that part is different from the surrounding output,
When the difference is larger than the predetermined value, it is judged as a scratch,
Replace with the value calculated based on the surrounding output. Scratch correction unit 1
The original image data that has passed 18 is completed in the original image processing and is input to the image processing unit 104.

In the image processing unit 104, a series of image processing relating to so-called picture making, such as white balance, gamma correction, color interpolation, color correction, etc., is performed on the image data subjected to the original image processing, and the signal is output separately for each RGB color component. To do.

The amount of data output from the image processing unit 104 is increased to an integral multiple of the amount of data output from the original image processing unit 110 by performing color interpolation processing.

Here, according to the driving method of the image pickup device from the image pickup unit 101, the signals are sequentially output in a horizontal direction line by line in a Bayer array. Further, since the output from the original image processing unit 110 is also performed according to the Bayer array, the image processing unit 104 outputs the input content according to the Bayer array to RGB independent, that is,
The image data capacity is three times that of the input.

The relationship between the image data and the capacity at the time of shooting will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The output from the image processing unit 104 is signal processing for image size reduction including filter processing in the display processing unit 120 so as to have an optimum size to be displayed on the LCD display unit 122 provided in the camera. After that, it is stored in the display memory 121. Here, the RGB color components are stored for each color component, and the interface with the drive unit of the LCD display unit 122 provided in the camera is also performed in RGB. The output content is the same as the input, and is performed line by line.

The JPEG compression processing section 125 comprises a YUV conversion section and a JPEG encoding processing section. YUV
The conversion unit converts the image data input in RGB from the image processing unit 104 into a luminance component and a color difference component,
An image compression process is performed by the encoding processing unit.

The JPEG encoding processing unit performs image compression on the input image data by JPEG encoding processing. Here, DCT (discrete cosine transform) and Huffman transform are performed, and D is applied to a signal composed of luminance and color difference.
For CT processing, the function of converting from a raster scan to a zigzag scan with a luminance signal of 8 × 16 pixels and a color difference signal of 8 × 8 pixels as a minimum unit is also included in this portion.

The compressed data is stored in the storage device 1 in the subsequent stage.
Sequentially stored in 30. The above-described encoding process is repeated to perform one screen of image pickup data from the image pickup unit 101. Before and after the JPEG encoding process, the PRS 105 generates a header and a footer such as shooting date / time information in an arbitrary format, if necessary, and stores them in the storage device 130 together with the image data compressed by the encoding.

At this time, the image data of two mutually different image sizes is stored in the storage device 130 from the same image pickup data. The first image data is data that is not subjected to image reduction processing by the image reduction processing unit inside the image processing unit 104, and the second image data is that that has been subjected to image reduction processing by the image reduction processing unit inside the image processing unit 104. is there. The main purpose of generation is to treat the first image data as photographed image data, and to treat the second data as management information when editing or confirming photographed image data such as thumbnails.

The first image data and the second image data are managed as independent image files, but are associated with each other as described above.

The setting value of the compression ratio necessary for JPEG encoding and the conversion reference data necessary for that is set by the microcomputer PRS 105 when the shutter is pressed.

The storage device 130 is composed of a volatile storage member having a relatively high writing speed capable of storing a plurality of image data and a removable non-volatile storage member having a relatively slow writing speed. The output from section 110 is first stored in a volatile mechanical member.

After that, the data is sequentially stored in the non-volatile memory member in consideration of the interval between camera operations.

The non-volatile storage member can be attached to and detached from this system, and after the data is written from the volatile storage member for one or more screens in the state where it is attached to this system, it is removed from this system and The data stored in another system that can be read in the data format of the system can be played, edited, and stored.

FIG. 4 shows the observation state and the state of FIG.
2 shows the contents of the output image from the image pickup device included in the image pickup unit 101 and the output image after a series of signal processing is performed in the original image processing unit 110 and the image processing unit 104.

FIG. 9A shows a state where the finder is seen through the eyepiece of the camera. AFP1 to AFP3 show three distance measuring points, and the focus adjustment is performed at the distance measuring point AFP2. It represents.

At this time, the image pickup device included in the image pickup unit 101 of FIG. 1 is a K × L pixel as shown in FIG. 1B, and in FIG. Then, the image processing unit 104 performs a series of signal processing such as white balance, color correction, and color interpolation on each color of RGB, and outputs K × L pixels for each color of R, G, and B. Indicates that it is an image.

That is, the image output of the image pickup device composed of K × L pixels is subjected to signal processing in the original image processing section 110 and the image processing section 104, so that the image output has triple capacity.

In the figure (A), each display at the lower end shows the setting state of the camera such as the shutter speed and the focus adjustment of the focus adjustment. For the sake of explanation, the state where all the display parts are lit is shown. This is shown, but when the camera is in operation, lighting or extinguishing is independently performed according to the operation state, and not all the displays are lit as in the same figure.

When the focus detection points AFP1 to AFP3 are selected for focus adjustment, the outer quadrilateral and the inner quadrangle are selected by a not-shown optical system and illumination device in a short time that can be sufficiently confirmed by the photographer. The area surrounded by lights up in red.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the output before and after the correction performed by obtaining the output difference occurring at the boundary from a plurality of photoelectric conversion outputs near the boundary.

FIG. 9B is a simplified view of the CCD image pickup device designated by 90 in FIG.

Here, what was photographed is a landscape on a sunny day, and the sun, mountains, trees, and grass are photographed.

FIG. 13A shows the photoelectric conversion output of one column in the horizontal direction indicated by the two arrows in FIG. 13B in an easy-to-understand manner. The output A in FIG. 7A is the horizontal CCD in FIG.
The output from the light shielding portion read out by -A and the output B are the output from the light shielding portion read out by the horizontal CCD-B of FIG.

Correlation extracting units A and B shown in FIG. 9B are image pickup data areas used for obtaining a correction amount for correcting the difference A described above. A plurality of photoelectric conversion outputs of the same number are extracted from the boundaries of the imaging areas read by the horizontal CCD-A and the horizontal CCD-B, respectively, and a correlation value is obtained to generate a correction value.

An example of changing the setting contents of BLK_A71 and BLK_B72 of the timing generator TG70 shown in FIG. 1 is as follows.

Correlation read out by the horizontal CCD-B and the value AVGA obtained by averaging the data after dark current correction of a plurality of photoelectric conversion outputs in the area A of the correlation extraction part read out by the horizontal CCD-A. The difference from the average value AVGB of data after dark current correction of a plurality of photoelectric conversion outputs of the extraction unit B area is obtained as a correlation value, and based on the correlation value, the time difference shown in FIG. When the setting contents of the Ing Generator TG are changed between the left screen and the right screen, the same figure (A)
The difference A shown in is corrected, and the output waveform shown in FIG.

The relation between the extraction of the correlation value and the correction value is simply shown by a mathematical expression. If one horizontal line is focused, AVGA = “AS (1) + AS (2) + ... + A.
S (N) ”/ N, AVGB =“ BS (1) + BS (2)
+. ． ． + BS (N) ”/ N, correlation value = AVGB-AV
It becomes GA.

After the above contents are repeated L times and an average is calculated, BLK_A71 and BLK_ of the timing generator TG70 shown in FIG. 1 are set so as to minimize the average value.
By individually performing the setting contents of B72, the correlation extraction and the correction for the output of the photoelectric conversion in which the number of horizontal lines shown in FIG.

The method of determining the amount of change in phase is not limited to the above method, but may be statistical processing, for example.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the drive signal output from the timing generator TG70 of FIG. 1 and the configuration of the drive signal generating section therein will be briefly described.

The portion 70 surrounded by the solid line is the timing generator TG shown in FIG. 1, and the portions enclosed by the broken lines inside thereof are BLK_A71 and BLK_A, respectively.
72. The output of the reference clock unit is divided into BLK_A71 and BLK_A together with the output from the frequency dividing unit.
72. At this time, although not shown, the output from the reference clock unit is also supplied to the original image processing unit 110 shown in FIG. The drive signal from the timing generator TG70 is output to the blocks 80A and 80B.

The internal functional configurations of BLK_A71 and BLK_A72, which are the internal configuration of the timing generator TG70, are the same.

Focusing on BLK_A71, CDS / A
The signal CDS_1A and the signal CDS_2A, which are the basis of the drive signal to the GC81, are output after the phase and width of the output of the logic circuit A based on the reference clock and the output from the frequency divider. The signals H_1A and H_1B which are the basis of the horizontal transfer drive signal from the horizontal transfer CCD driver H_drv87.
Is output after phase adjustment of the output from the frequency divider. The signal ADCLK_A, which is the source of the drive signal to the AD converter 83, is output from the frequency divider after phase adjustment.

Vertical transfer CCD driver V_drv85,
The signals V1 to V4, CH1 to CH4, and SUB, which are the sources of the vertical transfer drive signal from 86 to the CCD image pickup device 90, do not have the function of adjusting the phase and width, and are CH-A of the CCD image pickup device 90. The left screen and the right screen that is CH-B are driven in the same phase. Horizontal transfer CCD driver H_
The signal sig_R, which is the source of the horizontal transfer drive signal from the drv 87, 88 to the CCD image sensor 90, is driven in the same phase on both the left screen CH-A and the right screen CH-B after adjusting the phase and width.

The signal of BLK_A71 has been described above. The internal functional configurations of BLK_A71 and BLK_A72, which are the internal configuration of the timing generator TG70, are the same, and the drive signal group A which is the output signal thereof.
The drive signal group B has the same configuration, but the adjustment of the phase and width of each signal is independent. CCD image sensor 9
0 indicates the left screen CH_A and the right screen CH_B to show the contents of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 shows block 80A from BLK_A71.
It is a figure which shows the phase relationship of the drive signal A to. Since the meanings of the signal contents and the phases are well known, their explanation is omitted. Here, the phase relationship of the drive signal output from the timing generator TG70 is clarified in the same figure. Signal ADCLK_
A1 and signal ADCLK_A2 indicate signals selected as the signal ADCLK_A. Either is selected by the setting from the microcomputer PRS101.

In FIG. 8, the contents when the phase and the width are changed will be described by taking the signal CDS_1A output to the CDS / AGC 81 as an example. The phase T_std indicates that both the phase adjustment and the width adjustment are “0”. Thus, the high level period is Δstd. The phase T_shift1 is obtained by adjusting the phase and shifting it in the direction Δd0 earlier than the phase T_std, and the high level period Δ0 is Δstd.
Is equal to The phase T_shift2 is obtained by adjusting the phase and shifting it in the direction Δd1 later than the phase T_std, and the high level period Δ1 is equal to Δstd.

The phase T_delaydown is obtained by adjusting the width and delaying the falling edge by Δd2 from the phase T_std, and its high level period Δ2 is equal to Δ0 + Δd2.

The phase T_delayrise is obtained by adjusting the width and delaying the rising edge by Δd3 from the phase T_std, and the high level period Δ3 is equal to Δ0-Δd3.

Further, the signal CDS_1A has a phase T_shift and a phase T_delaydown which are the above three settings.
The phase can be adjusted by combining n and the phase T_delayrise.

The abnormality is the content when the phase and width of the signal CDS_1A are changed by setting.
The same applies to DS_2A, signal CDS_1B, signal CDS_2B, and signal sig_R. The contents of the phase adjustment are the signal H_1A, the signal H_2A, the signal H_1B, and the signal H_.
The same applies to 2B, signal ADCLK_A, and signal ADCLK_B.

In FIG. 9, the drive signal of the CDS / AGC 81 of the imaging output A from the CH-A which is the left screen of the CCD image sensor 90 and the C of the imaging output B from the CH-B which is the right screen.
FIG. 7 shows the case where the phase adjustment with the drive signal of the DS / AGC 82 is performed. The reference clock and the signal sig_R are the same as those in FIG.

Phases CDS_1std and CDS_2s
td represents the phase when the phase adjustment is not changed.

The phase CDS_1A is the phase CDS_1std.
Is delayed by Δd1, and the high level period Δ1A is equal to Δ0A + Δd1. Phase CDS
_2A is a setting in which the fall of the phase CDS_2std is delayed by Δd2, and the high level period Δ2A is Δ0B.
Equal to + Δd2.

The phase CDS_1B is the phase CDS_1std.
Is shifted by Δd3, and its high level period Δ1B is equal to Δ0A. Phase CDS_2B is phase C
DS_2std is shifted by Δd4, and the trailing edge is shifted by Δd.
4 delayed setting, high level period Δ2B
Is equal to Δ0B + Δd4.

Therefore, the image pickup output A from CH-A, which is the left screen of the CCD image pickup element 90, is sent to the CDS / AGC 81.
The signal processing phase and the image processing output B from the CH-B, which is the right screen, are individually set for the signal processing phase and width by the CDS / AGC 82. It can operate.

In addition, BLK_A71 and BLK_A71 are similar to signal H_1A, signal H_2A and signal H_1B, and signal H_2B.
Similarly, the signals having the same function output from the K_B 72 can be independently set, and the signal processing operation is performed at the timing according to the set phase.

As described above, in the state where one CCD image pickup device can be driven separately for the left screen and the right screen,
A series of drive control for storage is performed in the same phase, and the CCD
The left screen and right screen drive control for reading after storage in the image sensor is performed individually with the set phase, and the drive control for the image output signal processing individually prepared for each image output is performed individually. Since it can be performed with the phase set to, it is possible to improve the deviation of the level of the image pickup signal, which is noticeable at the boundary surface between the left screen and the right screen.

Further, the image pickup device and the output signal processing (CD
Since the timing of the drive signal for (S / AGC processing) is varied, the time required for a series of processing from photographing to image display and storage can be shortened as compared with the case where the read image signal is processed by software. .

In particular, a great effect can be expected in shortening the shooting interval when operating the camera in the continuous shooting mode, and in coping with the future increase in the number of pixels.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the first embodiment, the CCD image sensor is capable of adjusting the phase of the drive waveform for each of the two left and right regions. The configuration of the CCD image pickup device at this time is briefly shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows the arrangement of CCD image pickup devices for easy comparison.

FIG. 10B shows a structure obtained by further developing the first embodiment and dividing the structure of the CCD image pickup device in the vertical direction. The individual functions are the same as those in FIG. 10A which is the first embodiment and have already been described in detail, so they are omitted here.
Each imaging output from the divided area is provided with four functions equivalent to the block 80A of FIG. 1, and the timing generator TG is also provided with four functions of BLK_A71 shown in FIG. It is designed to work in parallel.

Further, in FIG. 10C, even if the CCD image pickup device is divided into two parts in the vertical direction or four parts in the vertical and horizontal directions, the function corresponding to the divided area is not provided. It is prepared and works in parallel.

In the first and second embodiments described above, C
The CD type image sensor has been described, but the CMOS image
It may be an XY address type image sensor such as a di-sensor.

Further, not only the digital camera but also the optical signal other than the camera, the image signal obtained by being picked up by the photoelectric conversion section arranged two-dimensionally, such as other devices, is processed, and finally, for example, a monitor is displayed. Any device that outputs an image to an output device such as a printer or a printer can be applied.

[0130]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to obtain an image with high quality in which there is little image shift between the imaging regions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a part of a digital camera according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a state of looking through a viewfinder of the digital camera according to the first embodiment, an image captured at that time, and an image after image processing.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between first image data and second image data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship of clocks according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship of drive phases of a signal processing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between drive phases of a signal processing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship of drive phases of a signal processing unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an image sensor according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

70 Timing generator TG 81, 82 CDS / AGC 83, 84 AD converter 85,86 Vertical transfer driver 87, 88 Horizontal transfer driver 90 CCD image sensor 101 Imaging unit 105 Microcomputer PRS 110 Original image processing section 103 buffer memory 104 image processing unit 114 Dark current correction unit 112 Screen correlation extraction unit 116 Screen matching unit 125 JPEG compression unit 120 Display processing unit 121 Display-only memory 122 LCD driver and LCD display 130 storage device 141 Changeover switch

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 4M118 AA07 AA10 AB01 BA10 DA14                       DB01 DD09 FA06 FA44 GB09                       GC08 GC14                 5C024 AX01 BX01 CX06 CX27 CX32                       CX35 CX39 CY40 DX04 GY01                       GY05 GY06 GY15 GZ38 HX14                       HX15 HX23 HX51

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A first image pickup region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, a second image pickup region having a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and a first output unit which outputs a signal from the first image pickup region. A second output section for outputting a signal from the second imaging area; a first drive signal for driving the first output section; and a first drive signal for driving the second output section. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a driving unit that outputs two driving signals and that can independently control the first driving signal and the second driving signal. 2. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the drive means is capable of independently controlling the phase of the first drive signal and the phase of the second drive signal. Imaging device. 3. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the calculation unit calculates a correlation between the signal from the first output unit and the signal from the second output unit, and a calculation result. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a control unit that independently controls the first drive signal and the second drive signal. 4. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit, based on the calculation result, has a signal level of a signal from the first output section and a signal of a signal from the second output section. An image pickup apparatus characterized in that the first drive signal and the second drive signal are independently controlled so that a level shift is reduced. 5. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the first output unit sequentially reads signals from the plurality of photoelectric conversion units included in the first image pickup area. And a second common reading unit for sequentially reading signals from the plurality of photoelectric conversion units included in the second imaging region. An imaging device characterized by. 6. The image pickup device according to claim 5, wherein the first common read unit and the second common read unit are horizontal CCDs. 7. The image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein the first output section and the second output section each include a correlated double sampling circuit. apparatus. 8. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first output section and the second output section each include a gain amplifier.