JP2017224905A - Imaging apparatus and imaging method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus generating a WDR image where the impact of motion blur is reduced.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus includes: imaging means for imaging a subject; image acquisition mode changeover means for changing over a time division image acquisition mode where a long time exposure frame and a short time exposure frame are acquired sequentially, and a space division image acquisition mode for acquiring a frame where a long time exposure pixel and a short time exposure pixel are mixed; and wide dynamic range processing means executing wide dynamic range processing for an image group acquired by the time division image acquisition mode, or an image group acquired by the space division image acquisition mode. In the imaging apparatus, a detection method of information used for changing over from the time division image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode, is different from a detection method of information used for changing over from the space division image acquisition mode to the time division image acquisition mode.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an imaging method.

  In a conventional imaging device, in a shooting scene that exceeds the dynamic range of the imaging device, there has been a problem that an image of a subject with high brightness is blown out or an image of a subject with low brightness is blacked out.

  Therefore, a WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) technique has been proposed in which two images, an image with a long exposure time and an image with a short exposure time, are combined to generate an image with a pseudo dynamic range. . The WDR technology can present an image with reduced whiteout and underexposure even when shooting a scene with a large dynamic range.

  On the other hand, if WDR processing is performed when there is motion in the imaging device or the subject, motion blur due to relative motion between the imaging device and the subject occurs in each of the two images with different exposure times, and synthesis is performed. There was a problem that the image quality of the image may deteriorate.

  As a technique for solving this problem, an image capturing apparatus or an image having a different exposure time in the same frame is used for WDR processing (inter-frame WDR) using a plurality of images having different exposure times according to the amount of movement of a subject. A technique for selecting a WDR process (intra-frame WDR) has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

  Similarly, a technique has been proposed in which an inter-frame WDR and an intra-frame WDR can be selected in accordance with the movement of an imaging device or subject (Patent Document 2).

JP 2014-146850 A JP 2010-239277 A

  With the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, it is possible to reduce the influence of motion blur in WDR processing.

  However, the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are based on the inter-frame WDR image acquisition mode (a mode for acquiring a single frame having a different exposure time for each region) and intra-frame WDR image acquisition. The difference in motion amount detection accuracy due to the difference in acquired images in the mode (a mode in which a plurality of frames having different exposure times is acquired) is not taken into consideration.

  In view of the above-described conventional problems, the present invention takes into consideration the difference in image acquisition modes for performing WDR processing, and an imaging device or an object corresponding to each image acquisition mode of intra-frame WDR and inter-frame WDR. An object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device that detects information corresponding to movement.

In order to achieve the above object, an imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes:
Imaging means for imaging a subject, time-division image acquisition mode for sequentially acquiring a long-exposure frame and a short-exposure frame, and a spatially-divided image for acquiring a frame in which long-exposure pixels and short-exposure pixels are mixed Image acquisition mode switching means for switching between acquisition modes, and wide dynamic range processing means for performing wide dynamic range processing on an image group acquired in time-division image acquisition mode or an image group acquired in space-division image acquisition mode And a method of detecting information used for switching from the time division image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode and from the space division image acquisition mode to the time division image acquisition mode are different. To do.

An imaging system according to the present invention includes:
An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention and an information processing apparatus that processes an image acquired by the image pickup apparatus are provided.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the imaging device which produces | generates the WDR image which reduced the influence of motion blur can be provided. In particular, by using different motion information for each image acquisition mode, it is possible to stably acquire motion information even when the motion is large.

Overall view of the system configuration of the imaging system Functional block diagram of imaging device Schematic diagram illustrating WDR processing in time-division image acquisition mode Schematic diagram illustrating WDR processing in the space-divided image acquisition mode Flow chart explaining basic WDR processing flow Schematic diagram explaining switching from time-division image acquisition mode to space-division image acquisition mode Schematic diagram explaining switching from space division image acquisition mode to time division image acquisition mode Flow chart explaining switching of image acquisition mode based on movement amount or blur amount Schematic diagram explaining the amount of movement or the relationship between blur and resolution

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

(Device configuration of the imaging system)
The configuration of the imaging system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  The imaging system includes an imaging device (monitoring camera or network camera) 101, an information processing device 102, and a display device 103. The imaging apparatus 101 and the information processing apparatus 102 are connected by a general-purpose I / F cable 104, a network 105, and a general-purpose I / F cable 106. The information processing apparatus 102 and the display apparatus 103 are connected by a general-purpose I / F cable 107.

  The imaging device 101 is a surveillance camera having a pan / tilt / zoom / rotation / focus function, or a network camera. The imaging apparatus 101 captures a moving image having a predetermined angle of view, and distributes various data including moving image data to the information processing apparatus 102 via the general-purpose I / F cable 104, the network 105, and the general-purpose I / F cable 106. To do. Various data includes imaging settings such as pan angle, tilt angle, rotation angle, zoom magnification, focus position, exposure, and white balance.

  The information processing apparatus 102 includes a general-purpose computer or workstation including hardware resources such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM, a storage device, an operation unit, and various I / Fs. The moving image data and various data distributed from the imaging device 101 are acquired, and the information is displayed on the display device 103. Also, control commands for controlling imaging settings such as pan angle, tilt angle, rotation angle, zoom magnification, focus position, exposure, white balance, and the like are transmitted to the imaging apparatus 101 to operate the imaging apparatus 101. Control.

  The display device 103 is a display that displays moving image data and various types of data as a result of processing by the information processing device 102, and a liquid crystal display or the like is used.

  The general-purpose I / F cables 104 and 106 are so-called LAN (Local Area Network) cables such as twisted pair cables and optical fiber cables that satisfy communication standards such as Gigabit Ethernet (registered trademark). Note that the general-purpose I / F cables 104 and 106 are not limited to a wired LAN but may be a wireless LAN.

  The network 105 is a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network) configured by routers, switches, cables, and the like.

  The imaging system of the present invention can constitute a client server system in which the imaging apparatus 101 is a server and the information processing apparatus 102 is a client. The imaging apparatus 101 can be connected to a plurality of information processing apparatuses 102, and the plurality of information processing apparatuses 102 can acquire moving image data of the imaging apparatus 101. In addition, by managing the transfer of the control right of the imaging apparatus 101, a plurality of information processing apparatuses 102 can control the imaging apparatus 101.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the imaging system is configured by three devices, that is, the imaging device 101, the information processing device 102, and the display device 103, but the configuration of the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, an information processing device integrated with a display device such as a notebook PC or a tablet terminal may be used. Further, the function of the information processing apparatus may be incorporated in the imaging apparatus.

(Functional configuration of imaging device)
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the imaging apparatus 101.

  The imaging apparatus 101 is roughly configured by a lens unit 201, an image processing unit 202, and a main control unit 203.

  The lens unit 201 generally includes an imaging unit 204 and an imaging lens 205.

  The imaging unit 204 includes an imaging sensor and an analog front end (AFE). The imaging sensor is a two-dimensional image sensor that changes a two-dimensional optical image into an electrical physical quantity by photoelectric conversion. For example, a CCD or a CMOS device is used. An electrical signal having a voltage value corresponding to the intensity of light is output from the imaging sensor. When color image data is desired as the captured image data, for example, a single-plate image sensor to which a Bayer array color filter is attached may be used. The AFE is a circuit that controls the operation of the image sensor and a circuit that converts an analog signal output from the image sensor into a digital signal.

  The AFE includes an H / V driver, a CDS (Correlated Double Sampling), an amplifier, an AD converter, and a timing generator. The H / V driver converts a vertical synchronization signal and a horizontal synchronization signal for driving the image sensor into potentials necessary for driving the sensor. CDS is a correlated double sampling circuit that removes fixed pattern noise. The amplifier is an analog amplifier that adjusts the gain of an analog signal from which noise has been removed by CDS. The AD converter converts an analog signal into a digital signal. When the output at the final stage of the imaging apparatus is 8 bits, the AD converter converts the analog signal into digital data quantized from about 10 bits to about 16 bits and outputs it in consideration of subsequent processing. The converted sensor output data is called RAW data. The RAW data is developed by the subsequent image processing unit 202. The timing generator generates a signal for adjusting the timing of the image sensor and the timing of the image processing unit 202 at the subsequent stage. When a CCD is used as an image sensor, the AFE is indispensable, but in the case of a CMOS image sensor capable of digital output, the function of the AFE can be included in the sensor.

  The imaging lens 205 includes a plurality of lens groups. When realizing a zoom function or a focus function, a drive unit such as a motor mechanism that moves a lens for each group is added.

  The image processing unit 202 includes a development processing unit 206, a WDR processing unit 207, and a communication unit 208.

  The development processing unit 206 includes a black correction unit, a demosaicing processing unit, a white balance adjustment unit, a filter processing unit, a gamma correction unit, and the like. The black correction unit, demosaicing processing unit, white balance adjustment unit, filter processing unit, and gamma correction unit are not shown. The black correction unit performs a process of subtracting the background (black correction data obtained at the time of light shielding) from the value of each pixel of the RAW data. The demosaicing processing unit performs processing for generating image data of each color of RGB from the RAW data in the Bayer array. The demosaicing processing unit calculates the value of each RGB color of the target pixel by interpolating the values of peripheral pixels (including pixels of the same color and other colors) in the RAW data. The demosaicing processing unit also executes defective pixel correction processing (interpolation processing). Note that when the image sensor does not have a color filter and single-color image data is obtained, the demosaicing process is not necessary, and the defective pixel correction process is executed. The white balance adjustment unit performs a process of reproducing a desired white color by adjusting the gain of each RGB color according to the color temperature of the imaging environment. The filter processing unit is a digital filter that realizes suppression of high-frequency components included in an image, noise removal, and resolution enhancement. The gamma correction unit performs processing to add the inverse characteristics of the gradation expression characteristics of general display devices to images, and gradation conversion that matches human visual characteristics by gradation compression and dark area processing in high-luminance areas. .

  The WDR processing unit 207 includes an image restoration processing unit and an image composition unit. The image restoration processing unit and the image composition unit are not shown. When the WDR process is executed by the imaging apparatus 101, a time division image acquisition mode or a space division image acquisition mode is executed as an image acquisition mode. The WDR processing unit 207 executes WDR processing corresponding to each image acquisition mode. In the time-division image acquisition mode, the frame data of the short exposure image and the frame data of the long exposure image are sequentially input. The image synthesizing unit of the WDR processing unit 207 executes a process of synthesizing these two frames of frame data to generate a WDR image. (In the time-division image acquisition mode, image restoration processing is not executed.) In the space-division image acquisition mode, frame data having a short exposure area and a long exposure area in a single frame is input. First, the image restoration processing unit of the WDR processing unit 207 generates short-time exposure frame data by interpolation processing using the short-time exposure area in the single frame, and similarly, the long-time exposure area in the single frame is generated. Long-time exposure frame data is generated by interpolation processing. In the image composition unit, the image composition unit executes a process of generating a WDR image by combining the frame data for the two frames. The WDR processing in the time division image acquisition mode and the WDR processing in the space division image acquisition mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively.

  The communication unit 208 includes a compression processing unit and a communication I / F. The image data generated by the development processing unit 206 is compressed, and the compressed image data is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 102 via the network 105. The compression processing unit executes a compression encoding process performed for the purpose of improving the efficiency of transmission of two-dimensional image data and reducing the capacity for storage. As a moving image compression method, H.264 is used. H.264 and H.264. Standardized encoding schemes such as H.265 are widely known. Further, as a still image compression technique, standardized encoding methods such as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and JPEG 2000 and JPEG XR improved and evolved from JPEG are widely known. The communication I / F is an interface for transmitting the compressed image data to the information processing apparatus 102 via the network 105.

  The main control unit 203 acquires various control commands transmitted from the information processing apparatus 102 via the communication unit 208, and analyzes the acquired control commands. A control command is transmitted to the imaging unit 204, the development processing unit 206, and the WDR processing unit 207 according to the analysis result. In addition, a response command to the control command is received from the imaging unit 204, the development processing unit 206, and the WDR processing unit 207, and the received response command is transmitted to the information processing apparatus 102 via the communication unit 208. The contents controlled by the main control unit 203 include image acquisition mode switching control. Image acquisition mode switching control will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Time-division image acquisition mode)
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating WDR processing in the time-division image acquisition mode.

  In the time division image acquisition mode, the frame data of the short exposure image and the frame data of the long exposure image are sequentially captured. A process of generating a WDR image by combining the frame data of these two frames is executed.

  In the time-division image acquisition mode, the WDR image output rate is lower than the image capture rate. There is a feature that a high-quality WDR image can be generated.

(Space division image acquisition mode)
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the WDR processing in the space division image acquisition mode.

  In the space division image acquisition mode, frame data having a short exposure area and a long exposure area in a single frame are sequentially captured. Then, short-time exposure frame data is generated by interpolation processing using the short-time exposure area in a single frame, and similarly long-time exposure frame data is generated by interpolation processing using the long-time exposure area in a single frame. Generate. A process of generating a WDR image by combining the frame data of these two frames is executed.

  In the short exposure area and the long exposure area in a single frame, for example, even lines correspond to long exposure areas and odd lines correspond to short exposure areas. There is no limitation on the method of dividing the short-time exposure region and the long-time exposure region, and checkered region division may be used.

  In the space division image acquisition mode, since the amount of information of the original image data before the synthesis process is small, the image quality of the WDR image may be deteriorated as compared with the WDR process in the time division image acquisition mode. On the other hand, the image capturing rate and the WDR image output rate can be made the same, and high-speed imaging can be performed as compared with the WDR processing in the time division image acquisition mode.

  In FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the original image data for executing the composition processing has been described as frame data for two frames of a short-time exposure image and a long-time exposure image. Frame data can be used. The original image data to be subjected to the synthesis process can use frame data for a plurality of frames having different brightnesses, such as frame data for a plurality of frames having different gains and frame data for a plurality of frames having different aperture states.

(WDR processing flow)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a basic WDR processing flow.

  FIG. 5A is a flowchart for explaining the WDR processing flow in the time-division image acquisition mode.

  In step S501, an image acquisition mode is set. The main control unit 203 transmits control commands to the imaging unit 204, the development processing unit 206, and the WDR processing unit 207, and executes parameter setting for acquiring image data in the time-division image acquisition mode in each unit. The imaging unit 204 has an operation setting for sequentially acquiring the short-exposure image data and the long-exposure image data, and the development processing unit 206 has a setting for executing a development process suitable for each image data.

  In step S502, the WDR processing unit 207 acquires short-time exposure image data.

In step S503, the WDR processing unit 207 acquires long-time exposure image data.
In step S504, the image composition unit of the WDR processing unit 207 executes a composition process of the short exposure image data and the long exposure image data to generate a WDR image.

  In step S505, the WDR image generated by the WDR processing unit 207 is transmitted to the communication unit 208.

  In step S506, it is determined whether or not to end the WDR process. If not, the process returns to S502 and the process flow is continued.

  FIG. 5B is a flowchart for explaining the WDR processing flow in the space division image acquisition mode.

  In step S507, an image acquisition mode is set. Description of the processing contents similar to S501 will be omitted.

  In step S508, the WDR processing unit 207 acquires exposure time mixed image data. The exposure time mixed image data is frame data having a short-time exposure region and a long-time exposure region in a single frame. The space-division image (1), the space-division image (2), and the space-division image ( This applies to 3).

  In step S509, the image recovery unit of the WDR processing unit 207 generates short-time exposure frame data by interpolation processing using the short-time exposure region in a single frame. Similarly, long exposure frame data is generated by interpolation processing using a long exposure region in a single frame.

  In step S510, the image composition unit of the WDR processing unit 207 executes the composition process of the short-exposure image data and long-exposure image data generated in S509 to generate a WDR image.

  In step S511, the WDR image generated by the WDR processing unit 207 is transmitted to the communication unit 208.

  In step S512, it is determined whether or not to end the WDR process. If not, the process returns to S508 to continue the processing flow.

(Change image acquisition mode)
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining switching from the time division image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode.

  In the time division image acquisition mode, the frame data of the short exposure image and the frame data of the long exposure image are sequentially captured. At the time of switching the image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode, switching to sequential imaging of frame data having a short exposure area and a long exposure area within a single frame is performed. Two pieces of short-time exposure image data are used to detect subject movement information that triggers switching of the image acquisition mode. In FIG. 6, subject motion information is detected from the amount of motion using the short exposure image (1) and the short exposure image (2). The switching flow of the image acquisition mode based on the amount of movement will be described with reference to FIG.

(Change image acquisition mode)
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating switching from the space division image acquisition mode to the time division image acquisition mode.

  In the space division image acquisition mode, frame data having a short exposure area and a long exposure area in a single frame are sequentially captured. At the time of switching the image acquisition mode to the time-division image acquisition mode, switching to sequential imaging of the frame data of the short exposure image and the frame data of the long exposure image is performed. Short-exposure image data is used to detect subject movement information that triggers switching of the image acquisition mode. The subject movement information is detected from the blur amount using the short exposure image (1) and the short exposure image (2). The flow for switching the image acquisition mode based on the shake amount will be described with reference to FIG.

(Point of invention)
The point of the present invention is that the amount of motion is used in the time-division image acquisition mode and the amount of blur is used in the space-division image acquisition mode for detection of subject motion information used for switching determination of the image acquisition mode. If the amount of change in the subject or imaging device increases, the amount of blurring (motion blur) increases, the edges become unclear and object recognition becomes difficult, and the movement distance in the frame becomes longer and matching of the same object The problem that the processing load increases is assumed. In order to solve these problems, the present invention uses a motion amount (motion vector) to detect subject motion information when the amount of change of the subject or the imaging device is small, and blurs to detect subject motion information when the amount of change is large. Use quantity (motion blur). In the present invention, the term “subject movement information” is used, which means information corresponding to the relative change amount of the subject or the imaging apparatus.

(Image acquisition mode switching flow)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining switching of the image acquisition mode based on the motion amount or the shake amount.

  FIG. 8A is a flowchart illustrating switching of the image acquisition mode based on the amount of motion in the time-division image acquisition mode.

  In step S801, two continuous short-time exposure image data are acquired. The image data corresponds to the short exposure image (1) and the short exposure image (2) shown in FIG.

  In step S802, subject motion information is detected from the motion amount using the two short-exposure image data. A local motion vector between two pieces of image data is extracted, and global motion information is calculated using these motion vectors. For the extraction of the motion vector, a gradient method using the fact that the luminance gradient is constant in a minute section or a block matching method for searching for the similarity of small areas between frames can be applied.

  In step S803, it is determined whether the motion information detected in S802 has exceeded a threshold value. The threshold value of the motion information will be described with reference to FIG. If the motion information exceeds the threshold value with the larger motion change amount, the process proceeds to S804. If the motion information does not exceed the threshold value, the process returns to S801 and the process is repeated.

  In step S804, the mode is switched to the space division image acquisition mode, and the process ends. This corresponds to switching from the time-division image acquisition mode described in FIG. 6 to the space-division image acquisition mode.

  FIG. 8B is a flowchart for explaining switching of the image acquisition mode according to the blur amount in the space division image acquisition mode.

  In step S805, short-exposure image data is acquired. The image data corresponds to the short exposure image (2) shown in FIG.

  In step S806, subject motion information is detected from the blur amount using the short-time exposure image data. The parameter value of the local blur kernel (motion blur kernel) in the image data is extracted, and global motion information is calculated using them.

  In step S807, it is determined whether the motion information detected in S806 has exceeded a threshold value. The threshold value of the motion information will be described with reference to FIG. If the motion information exceeds the threshold value for the smaller amount of motion change, the process proceeds to S808. If the motion information does not exceed the threshold value, the process returns to S805 and the process is repeated.

  In step S808, the mode is switched to the time-division image acquisition mode, and the process ends. This corresponds to switching from the space division image acquisition mode described in FIG. 7 to the time division image acquisition mode.

  Here, a supplementary description will be given of the motion information extraction method using the blur kernel (motion blur kernel) in S806 of FIG. The blur caused by the movement of the subject or the imaging apparatus can be expressed by the following expression.

f (x, y) is an original image, g (x, y) is a degraded image, h (x, y) is a PSF (Point Spread Function), and * is a convolution operation. When the movement of the subject or the imaging apparatus is complicated, the PSF shape also becomes a complicated shape. However, in the case of a short-time exposure image, the movement can be approximated to a simple constant velocity linear motion. At this time, the PSF shape can be determined by two parameters of the magnitude of motion and the direction of motion. The constant-velocity linear motion PSF has a Fourier transform of h (x, y) as H (x ′, y ′) and the magnitude of the motion as a.

Can be expressed. The direction of movement may be expressed by rotating h (x, y). In the present invention, the magnitude of this motion is estimated. As a simple method, first, assuming several PSFs (h (x, y)), each original image f (x, y) is estimated by deconvolution processing. For the deconvolution processing, a general-purpose method such as a Wiener filter or the Lucy-Richardson method can be applied in addition to a simple inverse filter in Fourier space. Next, an index indicating the image contrast of the original image f (x, y) is prepared as an evaluation function, and the image contrast is maximized (it is assumed that the motion blur is small as the image) PSF (h (x, y y)) may be selected. What is necessary is just to extract the parameter showing the magnitude | size of a motion of this PSF (h (x, y)).

  7 and 8, the example in which the blur amount of the short-exposure image data is used to detect the subject motion information has been described, but the blur amount of the long-exposure image data may be used. Further, in order to improve the accuracy of detecting the subject motion information, the blur amount of the short exposure image data and the long exposure image data may be used instead of a single image data.

(Relationship between subject movement information and resolution)
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between the movement change amount (subject movement information) and the resolution. The horizontal axis is the movement change amount (subject movement information), and the vertical axis is the sense of resolution. The relationship between the amount of change in motion (subject motion information) and the sense of resolution due to the difference in image acquisition mode is shown.

  A solid line is a WDR image in the space division image acquisition mode, and a dotted line is a WDR image in the time division image acquisition mode. When the amount of motion change is small, that is, when the amount of motion or blur is small, the WDR image in the time-division image acquisition mode has higher resolution than the WDR image in the space-division image acquisition mode. Is shown. Similarly, when the amount of change in motion is large, that is, when the amount of motion or blur is large, the resolution of the WDR image in the space division image acquisition mode is better than that of the WDR image in the time division image acquisition mode. Is high.

  The threshold value for switching the image acquisition mode is set so that a WDR image with a high resolution can be obtained. The threshold value of the motion change amount (subject motion information) may be determined experimentally by comparing the resolution of the WDR image obtained by time-division image acquisition and the WDR image obtained by space-division image acquisition. The resolution of the WDR image may be determined by the image contrast. The image contrast is calculated from the image data, and any algorithm may be used for the calculation. For example, algorithms such as contrast and normalized square intensity sum, statistical algorithms such as autocorrelation and normalized variance, differential algorithms such as Brenner differentiation and Volath-5, and algorithms using histograms such as entropy can be used.

  In FIG. 9, the relationship between the motion change amount detected from the motion amount and the resolution, and the relationship between the motion change amount detected from the blur amount and the resolution are described in the same schematic diagram, but these are the same. There is no need. That is, the image acquisition mode switching threshold is different between the switching from the time division image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode and the switching from the space division image acquisition mode to the time division image acquisition mode. The switching may have a hysteresis characteristic.

  The embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9 can provide an imaging apparatus that generates a WDR image in which the influence of motion blur is reduced.

(Other examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

101 imaging device, 102 information processing device, 103 display device,
104 General-purpose I / F cable, 105 network,
106 General-purpose I / F cable, 107 I / F cable,
201 lens unit, 202 image processing unit, 203 main control unit,
204 imaging unit, 205 imaging lens, 206 development processing unit,
207 WDR processing unit, 208 communication unit

Claims (7)

Imaging means for imaging a subject;
Image acquisition mode that switches between time-division image acquisition mode that acquires long-exposure frames and short-exposure frames sequentially, and space-division image acquisition mode that acquires frames in which long-exposure pixels and short-exposure pixels are mixed Switching means;
Wide dynamic range processing means for performing wide dynamic range processing on the image group acquired in the time division image acquisition mode or the image group acquired in the space division image acquisition mode;
In an imaging apparatus comprising:
An image pickup apparatus characterized in that a method for detecting information used for switching from a time-division image acquisition mode to a space-division image acquisition mode and a method for switching from the space-division image acquisition mode to the time-division image acquisition mode are different. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information detected in the time-division image acquisition mode is detected from a motion amount calculated from a plurality of short-time exposure images. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information detected in the space division image acquisition mode is detected from a blur amount calculated from a short-time exposure image and a long-time exposure image. To switch the image acquisition mode from the time division image acquisition mode to the space division image acquisition mode, the information detected from the amount of motion between the image data is used, and the image acquisition from the space division image acquisition mode to the time division image acquisition mode is performed. The imaging apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information detected from a blur amount is used for switching the mode. 5. The image acquisition mode switching means determines the information used as a threshold value for switching an image acquisition mode based on a resolution of a wide dynamic range image. 6. The imaging device described. The imaging apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the resolution of the wide dynamic range image is an image contrast. An imaging system comprising: the imaging apparatus according to claim 1; and an information processing apparatus that processes an image acquired by the imaging apparatus.