JP2005167497A - Imaging device, method for acquiring image with high quality, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device or the like capable of obtaining an excellent image with less noise even when the luminance of an object is low. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging device is provided with: a CCD 2 comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged two-dimensionally wherein each of a plurality of the photoelectric conversion elements configures each pixel; and an object luminance measurement section 9 for measuring the luminance of the object, and a system controller 7 executes one of a first electric charge collection mode wherein electric charges are collected from a first prescribed number of the photoelectric conversion elements of the same kind in the CCD 2 in response to the luminance of the object measured by the object luminance measurement section 9 to obtain electric charges by one pixel and a second electric charge collection mode wherein electric charges are collected from a second prescribed number of the photoelectric conversion elements of the same kind in the CCD 2 to obtain electric charges by one pixel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device, a high-quality image acquisition method, and a program, and in particular, an imaging device capable of obtaining a good image with little noise even when the subject luminance is low, and a high-quality image acquisition method applied to the imaging device. And a program for causing a computer to execute the high-quality image acquisition method.

  In recent years, digital video cameras that record moving images on a video tape are commercially available that can record still images on a memory card. In moving image recording, the image size (number of pixels) is 720 × 480 (NTSC). However, in still image recording, for example, an image size of 1024 × 768 or more is common, thereby obtaining high resolution. In order to perform high-resolution still image recording, the image size (number of pixels) of an image sensor has been increasing in recent years.

As shown in FIG. 9, in order to perform still image recording, moving image shooting is performed using the fact that the image size 102 of an image sensor CCD (Charge Coupled Device) is larger than the image size 101 necessary for moving image shooting. Occasionally, so-called electrical camera shake correction is performed in which unnecessary upper and lower areas of the light receiving area of the CCD are thinned out at a high speed according to the amount of camera shake.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-14799

  By the way, when the subject brightness is low due to darkness or the like, the amount of charge per unit pixel of the CCD is small, so that the amount of noise such as dark current cannot be ignored relative to the signal level. There is a problem that / N (the signal level ratio to the noise level) is low and the image has a large noise feeling.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides an imaging apparatus, a high-quality image acquisition method, and a program capable of obtaining a good image with little noise even when the subject luminance is low. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the photoelectric conversion unit includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a planar shape, and each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements constitutes a pixel; A first charge collecting unit that collects charges from the first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and uses the charge as one pixel, and a second predetermined number of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit In accordance with the subject brightness measured by the second brightness collecting means for collecting charges from the photoelectric conversion elements of the second charge collecting means for taking charge for one pixel, the subject brightness measuring means for measuring the subject brightness, and the subject brightness measuring means, There is provided an imaging apparatus comprising an operation control unit that operates one of the first and second charge collection units.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the imaging apparatus, the first predetermined quantity is smaller than the second predetermined quantity, and the operation control means is measured by the subject luminance measurement means. When the subject luminance is higher than the predetermined luminance, the first charge collecting unit is operated. When the measured subject luminance is equal to or lower than the predetermined luminance, the second charge collecting unit is operated. It is characterized by that.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the photoelectric conversion unit includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, and each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements constitutes a pixel, and the photoelectric conversion Each of the plurality of charge holding elements arranged in the vertical direction, and each of the plurality of charge holding elements is provided for each pixel from the corresponding photoelectric conversion element of the photoelectric conversion unit. A plurality of vertical charge transfer units capable of receiving a charge and sequentially transferring the charge in the vertical direction for each of the charge holding elements, and a plurality of charge holding elements arranged in a horizontal direction, One end in the vertical direction of each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer units is connected to the holding element, and the charges transferred from the plurality of vertical charge transfer units are sequentially transferred in the horizontal direction for each of the charge holding elements. A charge from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the photoelectric conversion unit to one of the plurality of charge holding elements in each of the horizontal charge transfer unit and the plurality of vertical charge transfer units. A first transfer control means for transferring each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer sections, and one of the plurality of charge holding elements in each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer sections from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the photoelectric conversion section. Second transfer control means for transferring charges, subject brightness measurement means for measuring subject brightness, and subject brightness measured by the subject brightness measurement means, the first and second transfer control means. An image pickup apparatus is provided that includes operation control means for operating one of them.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, the present invention is applied to an imaging device including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a planar shape, and the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each include a photoelectric conversion unit that constitutes a pixel. In the high-quality image acquisition method, the first charge collecting step that collects charges from the first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and makes the charges for one pixel, and the same in the photoelectric conversion unit Charges are collected from a kind of second predetermined quantity of photoelectric conversion elements, and are measured by a second charge collecting step for collecting charges for one pixel, a subject brightness measuring step for measuring subject brightness, and a subject brightness measuring step. And an operation control step for executing one of the first and second charge collection steps according to the subject brightness.

  Furthermore, a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described high-quality image acquisition method is provided.

  According to the present invention, the photoelectric conversion unit includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a planar shape, and the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements respectively form pixels, and the first predetermined first of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit Charges are collected from a number of photoelectric conversion elements and collected from a first predetermined charge collecting means for obtaining charges for one pixel, and a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit, and collected for one pixel. A second charge collecting means for measuring the subject brightness and a subject brightness measuring means for measuring the subject brightness, and the first and second charge collecting means according to the subject brightness measured by the subject brightness measuring means. One of them.

  For example, when the first predetermined quantity is smaller than the second predetermined quantity and the subject luminance measured by the subject luminance measuring means is higher than the predetermined luminance, the first charge collecting means is operated. When the measured subject brightness is equal to or lower than the predetermined brightness, the second charge collecting means is operated.

  Thereby, even when the subject brightness is low, a good image with little noise can be obtained.

  Further, when the second charge collecting means is operated, an image with further reduced noise can be obtained by performing monochrome image processing.

  Further, when the second charge collecting means is operated, image blurring during the operation of the second charge collecting means is mitigated by reading all pixels of the photoelectric conversion unit without performing camera shake correction. can do.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In the figure, 1 is an optical lens, 2 is a CCD which is an image sensor, 3 is an AFE that performs analog / digital conversion of the output signal of the CCD 2, 4 is an image processing unit, 6 is a timing generation unit that controls the imaging timing of the CCD 2, and 7 is A system controller 9 for controlling the entire imaging apparatus, 9 is a subject luminance measurement unit. The timing generator 6 generates vertical transfer signals (V1A, V1B, V1C, V1D, V2, V3A, V3B, V3C, V3D, V4) and horizontal transfer signals of the CCD 2. The system controller 7 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores programs executed by the CPU, a RAM (Random Access Memory) used by the CPU for operations, an input / output device, and the like.

  The imaging light condensed by the optical lens 1 is imaged by the CCD 2, A / D converted into a digital signal by the AFE 3, subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 4, and recording processing by a recording processing unit (not shown).

  Based on the subject brightness (EV value) measured by the subject brightness measurement unit 9, the system controller 7 generates vertical transfer signals (V1A, V1B, V1C, V1D, V2, V3A, V3B, V3C) generated by the timing generation unit 6. , V3D, V4) is controlled to switch between a 2-pixel addition imaging mode and a 4-pixel addition imaging mode. This control will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of imaging mode determination processing executed by the system controller 7.

  First, the system controller 7 first sets the imaging mode to the normal two-pixel addition mode (S1). Next, the subject brightness measurement unit 9 measures the subject brightness value EV (S2). If it is determined that the measured EV value is greater than 0 and the subject is sufficiently bright (YES in S3), this determination process is terminated, and the imaging mode is set to the 2-pixel addition mode. If the measured EV value is 0 or less, the subject brightness is insufficient, so the imaging mode is set to the 4-pixel addition mode (S4).

  FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the CCD 2.

  In FIG. 3, reference numerals 11, 13, and 15 denote photodiodes in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in the vertical direction of FIG. 3, reference numerals 12, 14, and 16 denote vertical transfer registers, and reference numeral 17 denotes a horizontal transfer register. The CCD 2 is a CCD to which a primary color filter is added, and has a configuration in which an RG filter and a GB filter are added every other row, such that the photodiode 11 is an RG filter and the photodiode 13 is a GB filter. An image is captured at the timing when charges are transferred from the photodiodes 11, 13, 15 to the vertical transfer registers 12, 14, 16. A raster output signal is obtained from the horizontal transfer register 17 by shifting the vertical transfer registers 12, 14, 16 and the horizontal transfer register 17. That is, in the vertical transfer registers 12, 14, and 16, when charges are transferred from the corresponding photodiodes 11, 13, and 15 for each pixel, the charges are transferred downward along the pixel columns arranged in the vertical direction for each pixel. Are sequentially transferred (shifted). When the transferred charges reach the lower ends of the vertical transfer registers 12, 14, and 16, the charges are transferred to corresponding pixel positions of the horizontal transfer register 17 connected to the lower ends of the vertical transfer registers 12, 14, and 16. Each of the above charges is transferred. Also in the horizontal transfer register 17, charges are sequentially transferred (shifted) for each pixel in the horizontal direction along the pixel columns arranged in the horizontal direction in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the 2-pixel addition mode and the 4-pixel addition mode will be described by focusing on the RG filter row, but the same operation is performed for the GB filter row.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing charge transfer from the photodiode 11 to the vertical transfer register 12 in the 4-pixel addition mode, and FIG. 5 shows a vertical transfer signal (V1A) generated by the timing generator 6 in the 4-pixel addition mode. , V1B, V1C, V1D, V2, V3A, V3B, V3C, V3D, V4).

  FIG. 4 shows how charges are transferred from the photodiode 11 (A) to the corresponding vertical transfer register 12 (B). This is because the other photodiodes 13 and 15 and the vertical transfer register 14 are transferred. , 16 and the same operation.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the pixels in the vertical direction of the photodiode 11 are controlled in units of 8 pixels. The vertical transfer signals V1A and V2 are input to the R1 pixel of the photodiode 11, and similarly, the vertical transfer signals V3A and V4 are input to the G1 pixel, the vertical transfer signals V1B and V2 are input to the R2 pixel, and the vertical transfer signals are connected to the G2 pixel. The transfer signals V3B and V4 are the vertical transfer signals V1C and V2 for the R3 pixel, the vertical transfer signals V3C and V4 for the G3 pixel, the vertical transfer signals V1D and V2 for the R4 pixel, and the vertical transfer signal for the G4 pixel. V3D and V4 are input.

  The charge transfer will be described below. First, in the T1 period, the charge of the G1 pixel of the photodiode 11 is transferred (imaged) to the vertical transfer register 12 by the V3A signal. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the R1 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T2 period by the V1A signal. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the G2 charge is transferred to the photodiode 11 in the T3 interval by the V3B signal, and the G2 charge is added to the G1 charge. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the R2 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the period T4 by the V1B signal, and the R2 charge is added to the R1 charge. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the G3 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the period T5 by the V3C signal, and the charges of G1, G2, and G3 are added. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the R3 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the interval T6 by the V1C signal, and the charges of R1, R2, and R3 are added. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the G4 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T7 interval by the V3D signal, and the charges of G1, G2, G3, and G4 are added. Then, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the R4 charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T8 interval by the V1D signal, and the charges of R1, R2, R3, and R4 are added.

  As described above, in the 4-pixel addition mode, the charges of four neighboring pixels of the same type are added, thereby increasing the level of the output signal output from the CCD 2 and the S / N ratio at the time of shooting when the subject luminance is insufficient. It is possible to prevent the decrease.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing charge transfer from the photodiode 11 to the vertical transfer register 12 in the two-pixel addition mode, and FIG. 7 shows a vertical transfer signal (V1A) generated by the timing generator 6 in the two-pixel addition mode. , V1B, V1C, V1D, V2, V3A, V3B, V3C, V3D, V4).

  Also in the two-pixel addition mode, the vertical pixels of the photodiode 11 are controlled in units of eight pixels, and vertical transfer signals V1A and V2 are input to the R1 pixel of the photodiode 11, and similarly, the G1 pixel has the G1 pixel. The vertical transfer signals V3A and V4 are transferred vertically to the R2 pixel, the vertical transfer signals V1B and V4 are transferred to the G2 pixel, the vertical transfer signals V1C and V2 are transferred to the R3 pixel, and the vertical transfer signals are transferred to the G3 pixel. For the signals V3C and V4, the vertical transfer signals V1D and V2 are input to the R4 pixel, and the vertical transfer signals V3D and V4 are input to the G4 pixel.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the two-pixel addition mode, the timing generator 6 uses the V1A signal and the V1C signal, the V3A signal and the V3C signal, the V1B signal and the V1D signal, and the V3B signal and the V3D signal as timing signals of the same form. Occur. Thereby, 2-pixel addition is realizable.

  That is, the G1 charge and G3 charge of the photodiode 11 are transferred (imaged) to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T11 interval, and then shifted downward in the vertical transfer register 12, and then the R1 charge and R3 in the T12 interval. The charge is transferred to the vertical transfer register 12. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the G2 charge and the G4 charge are transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T13 period, and the G2 charge and the G4 charge are transferred to the G1 charge and the G3 charge transferred in the T11 period. The charges are added to give G1 + G2 and G3 + G4. Next, after shifting downward in the vertical transfer register 12, the R2 charge and the R4 charge are transferred to the vertical transfer register 12 in the T14 period, and the R2 charge and the R1 charge and R3 charge transferred in the T12 period are transferred to The R4 charges are added to give R1 + R2 and R3 + R4.

  As described above, in the two-pixel addition mode, charges of two neighboring pixels of the same type are added.

  As described above, two-pixel addition is usually performed, but when the subject brightness is low, such as in the dark, by adding four pixels, the charge amount per pixel is increased and a good image with less noise is obtained. be able to.

  When four pixels are added, the number of output pixels of the CCD 2 is halved (that is, the resolution is half = the frame rate is half) compared to when two pixels are added. Therefore, the image processing unit 4 performs frame rate conversion.

  In the 4-pixel addition mode, the image processing unit 4 may perform monochrome processing so that conspicuous color noise does not appear in the image.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment. Since the configuration of the second embodiment is basically the same as the configuration of the first embodiment, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, an operation SW 21, an angular velocity detector 22 that detects a shake of the apparatus main body, and an integrator 23 are newly added to the configuration of the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the system controller 7 selects either the two-pixel addition mode or the four-pixel addition mode according to the subject brightness output from the subject brightness measurement unit 9, but the second embodiment In this form, when the operator gives an operation instruction to the operation SW21, either the 2-pixel addition mode or the 4-pixel addition mode is selected.

  In the two-pixel addition mode, the angular velocity detector 22 detects an angular velocity that represents a shake of the apparatus body, and the integrator 23 integrates the angular velocity to calculate the amount of camera shake. The system controller 7 performs so-called camera shake correction in which the upper and lower areas of the light receiving surface of the CCD 2 are skipped at high speed and the area corresponding to the moving picture (NTSC) size is read and controlled according to the calculated camera shake amount.

  On the other hand, since it is assumed that the operator uses a tripod or the like when the subject brightness is low, camera shake correction is not performed in the 4-pixel addition mode, and therefore, all the pixels on the light receiving surface of the CCD 2 are read.

  Thereby, it is possible to improve the decrease in resolution in the 4-pixel addition mode.

In the second embodiment, either the 2-pixel addition mode or the 4-pixel addition mode is selected by an operation through the operation SW 21 by the operator, and camera shake correction is performed in the 2-pixel addition mode. In the 4-pixel addition mode, camera shake correction is not performed, but instead of this, the selection of either the 2-pixel addition mode or the 4-pixel addition mode can be performed on the subject brightness as in the first embodiment. The camera shake correction may be automatically performed in response thereto, and the camera shake correction may be performed in the 2-pixel addition mode, and the camera shake correction may not be performed in the 4-pixel addition mode.
[Other Embodiments]
The object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus. Is also achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium and program storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  The storage medium for supplying the program code is, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW. DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. Includes a case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by performing part or all of the actual processing.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the determination process of the imaging mode performed with a system controller. It is a block diagram of CCD. It is a figure which shows transfer of the charge from the photodiode in a 4-pixel addition mode to a vertical transfer register. It is a timing chart which shows the vertical transfer signal generated in a timing generation part in 4 pixel addition mode. It is a figure which shows transfer of the charge from the photodiode in a 2 pixel addition mode to a vertical transfer register. 6 is a timing chart showing a vertical transfer signal generated by a timing generation unit in the two-pixel addition mode. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows a moving image size and size CCD.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Optical lens 2 CCD (a photoelectric conversion part, a 1st charge collection means, a 2nd charge collection means)
3 AFE
4 Image processing unit 6 Timing generating unit (first charge collecting unit, second charge collecting unit)
7 System controller (first charge collecting means, second charge collecting means, operation control means)
9 Subject brightness measurement section (Subject brightness measurement means)

Claims (11)

A plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a planar shape, the photoelectric conversion elements each constituting a pixel, the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements;
First charge collecting means that collects charges from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and sets the charges as one pixel;
A second charge collecting means that collects charges from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and makes the charges for one pixel;
Subject luminance measuring means for measuring subject luminance;
An image pickup apparatus comprising: an operation control unit that operates one of the first and second charge collection units according to the subject luminance measured by the subject luminance measurement unit. The first predetermined quantity is less than the second predetermined quantity;
The operation control means operates the first charge collecting means when the subject brightness measured by the subject brightness measurement means is higher than a predetermined brightness, and the measured subject brightness is less than the predetermined brightness. 2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in some cases, the second charge collection unit is operated. Image processing means capable of selectively executing either color image processing or monochrome image processing;
The operation control means operates the second charge collecting means and causes the image processing means to execute monochrome image processing when the measured subject luminance is equal to or lower than the predetermined luminance. The imaging device according to claim 2. The first charge collecting means collects charges from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in a predetermined partial region of the photoelectric conversion unit, and sets the charge as one pixel,
3. The second charge collecting unit collects charges from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the entire region of the photoelectric conversion unit, and sets the charges as one pixel. Imaging device. A correction unit that performs shake correction on the image data in accordance with the shake of the imaging device;
When the subject luminance measured by the subject luminance measuring unit is higher than a predetermined luminance, the operation control unit operates the first charge collecting unit, operates the correction unit, and performs the measurement. 5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the subject luminance is equal to or lower than the predetermined luminance, the second charge collecting unit is operated and the correction unit is not operated. A plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, and the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each constitute a pixel;
Provided for each pixel column in the vertical direction of the photoelectric conversion unit, each consisting of a plurality of charge holding elements arranged in the vertical direction, the plurality of charge holding elements from the corresponding photoelectric conversion element of the photoelectric conversion unit A plurality of vertical charge transfer units capable of receiving charges for each pixel and sequentially transferring the charges in the vertical direction for each of the charge holding elements;
Each of the plurality of charge holding elements is arranged in a horizontal direction, and one end of each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer units in the vertical direction is connected to each of the plurality of charge holding elements. A horizontal charge transfer unit capable of sequentially transferring the transferred charges in the horizontal direction for each of the charge holding elements;
First transfer control means for transferring charges from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the photoelectric conversion section to one of the plurality of charge holding elements in each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer sections; ,
Second transfer control means for transferring charges from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the photoelectric conversion section to one of the plurality of charge holding elements in each of the plurality of vertical charge transfer sections; ,
Subject luminance measuring means for measuring subject luminance;
An image pickup apparatus comprising: operation control means for operating one of the first and second transfer control means in accordance with the subject brightness measured by the subject brightness measurement means. The first predetermined quantity is less than the second predetermined quantity;
The operation control unit operates the first transfer control unit when the subject luminance measured by the subject luminance measurement unit is higher than a predetermined luminance, and the measured subject luminance is less than the predetermined luminance. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in some cases, the second transfer control unit is operated. In a high-quality image acquisition method applied to an imaging device including a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a plane, and the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements each including a photoelectric conversion unit that constitutes a pixel,
A first charge collecting step for collecting charges from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit, and making the charges for one pixel;
A second charge collecting step for collecting charges from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and setting them as charges for one pixel;
Subject brightness measurement step for measuring subject brightness;
And a motion control step of executing one of the first and second charge collection steps according to the subject brightness measured in the subject brightness measurement step. The first predetermined quantity is less than the second predetermined quantity;
In the operation control step, when the subject brightness measured in the subject brightness measurement step is higher than a predetermined brightness, the first charge collection step is executed, and the measured subject brightness is less than or equal to the predetermined brightness. 9. The high quality image acquisition method according to claim 8, wherein if there is, the second charge collecting step is executed. To cause a computer to execute a high-quality image acquisition method that is applied to an imaging device that includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a plane, and each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements includes a photoelectric conversion unit that constitutes a pixel. In the program of
A first charge collecting step for collecting charges from a first predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit, and making the charges for one pixel;
A second charge collecting step for collecting charges from a second predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements of the same type in the photoelectric conversion unit and setting them as charges for one pixel;
Subject brightness measurement step for measuring subject brightness;
An operation control step for executing one of the first and second charge collection steps according to the subject brightness measured in the subject brightness measurement step. The first predetermined quantity is less than the second predetermined quantity;
In the operation control step, when the subject brightness measured in the subject brightness measurement step is higher than a predetermined brightness, the first charge collection step is executed, and the measured subject brightness is less than or equal to the predetermined brightness. The program according to claim 10, wherein if there is, the second charge collection step is executed.

Images