JP2007097098A - Electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic camera for displaying through-images without intermission of display in photographing. <P>SOLUTION: During through-image display process for displaying through-image data for display to LCD 13 via an image processing circuit 10 by photographing an imaging object with any of a couple of imaging devices 1, 2, when a photographing start signal is received for photographing a still image data for recording, an image signal for generating the still image data for recording is output to the image processing circuit 10 by photographing the imaging object with any of a couple of imaging devices 1, 2 and the through image data for display is displayed on LCD 13 via the image processing circuit 10 by photographing the imaging object with the other imaging device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic camera.

As an image sensor, an electronic camera including a CCD sensor for recording a still image and a CMOS sensor for displaying a through image is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In this electronic camera, normally, a subject image is continuously captured using the through image display CMOS sensor image data to generate a through image to be displayed as a moving image and displayed on the monitor LCD. When is pressed halfway, the CMOS sensor is switched to the still image recording CCD sensor. Then, the image data is thinned out and read out from the CCD sensor, and a through image is generated and displayed on the LCD. Next, when the shutter button is fully pressed, the image data of all pixels is read from the CCD sensor to generate a still image and record it on the recording medium.

Prior art documents related to the invention of this application include the following.
JP 2004-023452 A

  However, in the conventional electronic camera described above, image data for recording a still image and image data for displaying a through image cannot be read simultaneously from the CCD sensor when recording a still image. The image data for image display cannot be obtained, and the through image display on the monitor LCD is interrupted or the update of the image is interrupted, resulting in a decrease in the frame rate. There is a problem that framing cannot be determined.

  Recording is performed when through image display processing is performed in which a subject image is captured by one of the two image sensors and display through image data is displayed on the display means via the image processing means. When an imaging start signal for capturing still image data for image acquisition is received, an image signal for creating a still image data for recording by capturing a subject image with one of the two image sensors is processed. In addition to outputting to the means, a subject image is picked up by the other image pickup device, and the display through image data is displayed on the display means through the image processing means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the framing for the next shooting while preventing the subject from being lost even during shooting.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic camera according to an embodiment. An electronic camera according to an embodiment includes an image sensor 1 for recording a still image and an image sensor 2 for displaying a through image as image sensors. These image sensors 1 and 2 can be any type of sensor that can be used as an image sensor, such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor.

  The number of pixels of the image sensors 1 and 2 may be the number of pixels corresponding to each application. That is, the image sensor 1 for recording a still image has high pixels to obtain a high-quality still image, and the image sensor 2 for displaying a through image may have at least the number of pixels that can generate a through image. The sensors 1 and 2 are preferably the same size, but the image sensor 2 for displaying a through image is made smaller and a dedicated optical system is provided to provide the same angle of view as the image sensor 1 for recording a still image. May be obtained.

  In FIG. 1, subject light incident from the photographing lens 3 is optically branched in two directions by a half mirror 4, and subject images are formed on two image sensors 1 and 2, respectively. The subject light may be branched using a prism or the like instead of the half mirror 4. The image sensors 1 and 2 are provided with separate drive circuits 5 and 6, respectively, and charge accumulation and image data reading are performed by a control signal from the timing generator 7. The image sensors 1 and 2 are provided with separate A / D converters 8 and 9, respectively, and convert the read image data into digital image data.

  The image processing circuit 10 includes a still image recording processing unit 10a and a through image display processing unit 10b. The image processing circuit 10 processes the image data captured by the image sensors 1 and 2 to record the still image data for display and the through image for display (view image). ) Generate data. The image recording unit 11 records still image data on a built-in memory or a removable recording medium such as a CF card or an SD card. The LCD driver 12 displays the through image (color image) generated by the through image display processing unit 10 b on the display LCD 13.

  The control circuit 14 includes a CPU and controls the timing generator 7, A / D converters 8 and 9, the image processing circuit 10 and the LCD driver 12, and executes a control program which will be described later to perform imaging, image display, image recording, AF ( Various control of the camera such as automatic focus adjustment) and AE (automatic exposure control) is performed. The control circuit 14 includes a full-press switch 15 that is turned on when a shutter button (not shown) is fully pressed, a half-press switch that is turned on when the shutter button is half-pressed, and an indicator lamp 17 for notifying that imaging is in progress. Etc. are connected.

  In this embodiment, after the imaging start signal, that is, the shutter release full-press switch 15 is turned on, the still image recording image sensor 1 captures a still image for recording, and the still image recording image sensor 1 records it. Image sensor 1 in a period until reading of still image data for reading is completed (simply referred to as “imaging period” in this specification) and other periods (simply referred to as “non-imaging period” in this specification). 2 is switched. In the “non-imaging period”, the driving circuit 5 drives the still image recording image sensor 1 to read through image data from the image sensor 1, that is, thinned image data, and the through image display processing unit 10b reads the image. Processing is performed, and a through image is displayed on the LCD 13 by the LCD driver 12.

  On the other hand, during the “imaging period”, the drive circuit 5 drives the still image recording image sensor 1 to read out image data of the recording still image, that is, image data that is not thinned out, from the image sensor 1, and a still image recording processing unit The image is processed by 10a and recorded on the recording medium of the image recording unit 11.

  In general, when reading still image data for recording from an image sensor, since image data of all pixels is read, it takes time as the number of pixels increases, and in the case of an image sensor with several million pixels, the readout time is at least several seconds or more. It takes. On the other hand, when reading through image data for display from an image sensor, the image data of all pixels is not read out, pixels are thinned out by a predetermined method, and image data is read out from a small number of pixels. Even in the case of a sensor, for example, a display through image can be read out in 1/30 seconds (in the case of a frame rate of 1/30 seconds).

  Further, as described above, still image recording image data and through image display image data cannot be read simultaneously from the still image recording image sensor 1. That is, during the “imaging period”, it is impossible to read through image display image data thinned out from the still image recording image sensor 1.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, in the “imaging period” in which imaging and data reading are performed using the still image recording image sensor 1, the image sensor 2 for driving the through image display is driven by the drive circuit 6. 2, the image data for through image display is read out, the image processing is performed by the through image display processing unit 10 b, and the image data is displayed on the LCD 13 by the LCD driver 12.

  In this embodiment, the number of pixels of the through-image display image sensor 2 is set to an optimum number of pixels for through-image display, so that the image data for through-image display from the through-image display image sensor 2 is read out. At this time, it is not necessary to perform a thinning process.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing when the electronic camera is powered on. FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the image sensors 1 and 2 when the power is turned on. The operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to these drawings.

  When the power is turned on by a power switch (not shown) of the electronic camera, the control circuit 14 starts the processing shown in FIG. In step 1, the still image recording image sensor 1 is driven to read through image data for display from the image sensor 1. In the subsequent step 2, the through image data for display is A / D converted by the A / D converter 8, image processing is performed by the through image display processing unit 10b, and the through image is displayed on the LCD 13 by the LCD driver 12.

  In step 3, the release half-press operation is confirmed by the half-press switch 16. When the release half-press operation is not performed, the process returns to step 1 and the above-described processing is repeated. When the release half-pressing operation is performed, the process proceeds to step 4 where automatic focus adjustment (AF) and automatic exposure control (AE) are performed based on the through image data read from the still image recording image sensor 1. Since details of AF and AE are not directly related to the present invention, the description thereof is omitted.

  In step 5, it is confirmed that the release half-pressing operation is continued. If the release half-pressing operation is not performed, the process returns to step 1 to repeat the above-described processing. On the other hand, when the release half-press operation is continued, the process proceeds to step 6 and the release full-press operation is confirmed by the full-press switch 15. If the release full-press operation has not been performed, the process returns to step 5 to check whether the release half-press operation has been performed.

  When the release full-pressing operation is performed, the processes of Step 7 and Steps 8 to 9 are executed in parallel. When the shutter release is fully pressed and the “imaging period” is started, the indicator lamp 17 is turned on. In step 7, the still image recording image sensor 1 is driven to perform exposure (charge accumulation), and recording still image data (image data without thinning) is read from the image sensor 1. At the same time, in step 8, the through image display image sensor 2 is driven to perform exposure (charge accumulation), and display through image data is read from the image sensor 2. In step 9, the through image data for display is A / D converted by the A / D converter 9, the image processing is performed by the through image display processing unit 10 b, and the through image is displayed on the LCD 13 by the LCD driver 12.

  In FIG. 3, until the release full-pressing operation is performed at time t1, as shown in FIG. 3A, the still image recording image sensor 1 is driven and the through image (thinned image) data is read out. . The through image data is converted into digital image data, and then subjected to image processing by the through image display processing unit 10b and displayed as a through image on the LCD 13 via the LCD driver 12. Until the release full-pressing operation is performed at time t1, the through image display image sensor 2 is in a drive stop state as shown in FIG.

  When the release full-pressing operation is performed at time t1, as shown in FIG. 5A, the still image recording image sensor 1 that has generated a through image until that time exposes a recording still image instead of the through image. (Charge accumulation) and reading of the image data are started. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the through-image display image sensor 2 that has been in the drive stop state is driven, and exposure of the through image (charge accumulation) and reading of the image data are started.

  In step 10, it is confirmed whether or not reading of still image data for recording from the still image recording image sensor 1 is completed. When reading of still image data for recording is completed, the processing in steps 11 and 12 is performed in parallel. . The recording still image data read from the still image recording image sensor 1 in step 11 is A / D converted, processed by the still image recording processing unit 10a, and recorded on the recording medium of the image recording unit 11. At the same time, the driving of the through image display image sensor 2 is stopped in step 12. When reading of still image data for recording from the still image recording image sensor 1 is completed, the indicator lamp 17 is turned off.

  Thereafter, returning to step 1, the still image recording image sensor 1 is driven to resume the exposure of the display through image and the reading of the image data, and display the through image on the LCD 13 as described above.

  In FIG. 3, when reading of still image data for recording from the still image recording image sensor 1 is completed at time t2, the still image recording image sensor 1 is driven to read through image data as shown in FIG. And the driving of the through image display image sensor 2 is stopped as shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the subject image is picked up by one of the two image pickup devices 1 and 2 and the through image data for display is displayed on the LCD 13 via the image processing circuit 10. When an imaging start signal for capturing still image data for recording is received during the through image display process for displaying the image, the subject image is captured by one of the two imaging elements 1 and 2. An image signal for capturing and generating still image data for recording is output to the image processing circuit 10, and a subject image is captured by the other image sensor and displayed on the LCD 13 via the image processing circuit 10. Since the through image display can be continued without interruption during shooting, the framing for the next shooting is determined while preventing the subject from being lost. Rukoto can.

  In addition, according to the embodiment, when the output of the image signal for creating the recording still image data is completed, the through image display process (non-imaging period) is resumed. A high-pixel sensor is used as the image sensor to capture images, and a low-power-consumption sensor is used as the image sensor to capture through-images for display, thereby recording high-quality still images and through images with low power consumption. The display can be made compatible.

  Furthermore, according to the embodiment, since the indicator lamp 17 is turned on and informed during the operation of the imaging period, the photographer can recognize that the camera is performing the imaging operation.

<< Modification of Embodiment >>
In the embodiment described above, reading of through image data from the still image recording image sensor 1 is restarted from the point in time when reading of the recording still image data from the still image recording image sensor 1 is completed, and a through image is also obtained. An example of stopping the display image sensor 2 was shown. However, immediately after the still image recording image sensor 1 switches from the recording still image to the display through image, the operation of the still image recording image sensor 1 is not stable, and the through image data may be disturbed.

  In order to solve this problem, in this modified example, as shown in FIG. 4, from the point in time when reading of still image data for recording from the still image recording image sensor 1 is completed, the image sensor 1 for still image recording immediately starts. A predetermined frame period until the operation of the still image recording image sensor 1 is stabilized immediately after switching from the recording still image to the display through image without reading the display through image and displaying it on the LCD 13 (this embodiment) In this case, the through image data read from the still image recording image sensor 1 is discarded only for a period of 2 frames, and the through image data after a predetermined frame period has elapsed is displayed on the LCD 13. During the predetermined frame period, in order to avoid interruption of the through image display on the LCD 13, the drive stop of the through image display image sensor 2 is postponed until the predetermined frame period ends.

  According to this modification, after the reading of the recording still image data is completed and the recording still image is switched from the recording still image to the display through image, the through frame is passed until a predetermined frame period (here, two frame periods) elapses. The process of reading out and displaying the through image from the image display image sensor 2 is continued, and after the predetermined frame period, the driving of the through image display image sensor 2 is stopped and the through image data from the still image recording image sensor 1 is stopped. Since the image is read and displayed, even if the operation of the still image recording image sensor 1 immediately after switching from the recording still image to the display through image becomes unstable, the displayed through image is disturbed. The through image is stabilized during a series of operations from the non-imaging state to the imaging state and returning to the non-imaging state again. It can Shimesuru.

<< Other Modifications of One Embodiment of the Invention >>
In the above-described embodiment and its modification, the still image recording image sensor 1 starts capturing a still image for recording from the time when the shutter release is fully pressed, and at the same time, the through image display image sensor 2 is used. Although the through-image capturing is started, the through-image capturing by the through-image display image sensor 2 may be started from the time when the shutter release is half-pressed. In this case, imaging by the still image recording image sensor 1 is started from the time when the shutter release is fully pressed.

  In the above-described embodiment and its modification, the indicator lamp 17 is lit during the “imaging period”, but instead of the indicator lamp 17 being lit, the through image display of the LCD 13 is displayed during the “imaging period”. May be switched from color display to monochrome display, or an icon, text, or the like for notifying that it is the “imaging period” may be displayed on the LCD 13 together with the through image. As a result, the photographer can recognize that the camera is performing an imaging operation.

It is a figure which shows the structure of one embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of one Embodiment. It is a timing chart which shows the switching operation of an image sensor. It is a timing chart which shows switching operation of the image sensor of a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image sensor for still image recording 2 Image sensor for through image display 3 Shooting lens 4 Half mirror 5, 6 Drive circuit 7 Timing generator 8, 9 AD converter 10 Image processing circuit 11 Image recording part 12 LCD driver 13 LCD
14 Control circuit 15 Full push switch 16 Half push switch 17 Indicator

Claims (6)

Two image sensors for capturing a subject image and outputting an image signal;
Image processing means for processing the image signal and outputting image data;
Recording means for recording still image data for recording in the image data;
Display means for displaying through image data for display in the image data;
When through image display processing is performed in which either one of the two image sensors is used to capture a subject image and display through image data for display is displayed on the display unit via the image processing unit. In addition, when an imaging start signal for capturing recording still image data is received, an image for creating a recording still image data by capturing a subject image with one of the two imaging elements. And a control unit that outputs a signal to the image processing unit and that captures a subject image by the other image sensor and displays the display through image data on the display unit via the image processing unit. Electronic camera. The electronic camera according to claim 1,
The imaging start signal is a shutter release full press signal,
The electronic camera is characterized in that the control means restarts the through image display processing when the output of an image signal for creating recording still image data is completed. The electronic camera according to claim 1,
The imaging start signal is a shutter release full press signal,
An electronic camera characterized in that the control means restarts the through image display processing when a predetermined frame period has elapsed after the output of an image signal for creating still image data for recording has been completed. The electronic camera according to claim 2 or claim 3,
When the through image processing is performed by one of the image sensors, the control unit receives a shutter release half-press signal, and captures a subject image by the other image sensor and passes the image processing unit through the image processing unit. When half-press through image processing for displaying the display through image data on the display means is started and the full press signal is received, the subject image is captured by the image sensor that has captured the display through image data in the through image processing. And outputting an image signal for creating recording still image data to the image processing means. The electronic camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Annunciating means notifies the image processing means while taking an image signal for creating a recording still image data by capturing a subject image by one of the two imaging elements. An electronic camera characterized by The electronic camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
While the image signal for creating the still image data for recording by capturing the subject image by one of the two image sensors is output to the image processing means, the image is displayed on the display means. An electronic camera characterized in that the through image data for display is displayed in monochrome, and the display through image data is displayed in color on the display means during other periods.

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