JP3082971B2 - Video camera, imaging method using the same, operation method thereof, and image processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera (including a movie video camera, a still video camera, a movie / still video camera, etc.), an operation method of the video camera, and an image processing apparatus and method. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A video camera incorporates a solid-state electronic imaging device such as a CCD for generating a video signal representing a captured subject image. Since the dynamic range of a solid-state electronic imaging device is relatively narrow, it is difficult to capture both bright and dark portions with proper exposure when the difference in brightness between the bright and dark portions is large. For example, if exposure is adjusted to a dark part, a bright part will become white, and if exposure is adjusted to a bright part, the dark part will be blackened.

For example, when the background is very bright and the main subject at the center is dark, as in the case of shooting in the backlight, or when the main subject is in the room and the outside scenery is reflected through the window in shooting indoors with a window. is there. In exposure of such a scene, if the exposure is adjusted so that the main subject (often a person) is properly exposed, the amount of incident light exceeds the dynamic range of the solid-state electronic imaging device for a bright background portion. Is saturated, so that a bright background is not photographed, and the image in that part simply becomes white (overexposure).

[0004] Therefore, in general, a contrivance has been made to increase the brightness of the main subject by emitting a strobe light (daytime synchro flash photography). However, a flash device is required for daytime synchro-flash photography, which increases the size of the camera and the operation thereof. Also, when the dark part is far away, or when it extends from a short distance to a long distance, daytime synchro strobe photography is not necessarily effective.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to obtain an appropriate image signal for a subject having a large difference in brightness between a bright region and a dark region without necessarily emitting strobe light.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a video camera. Here, a video camera is a movie video camera or a still video camera.
Includes cameras and movie / still video cameras.

[0007] The video camera according to the present invention is comprehensively defined as follows.

That is, this video camera captures an image of a subject with two different exposure amounts, and outputs image signals representing two images having different exposure amounts, respectively. A high-brightness area having a relatively high brightness in an image represented by a first image signal representing an image with a large amount of exposure and having an area or length equal to or more than a predetermined value, or an image signal output from the imaging unit. Means for determining a low-brightness region having a relatively low brightness in an image represented by a second image signal representing an image with a small amount of exposure and having an area or length equal to or greater than a predetermined value; An image signal representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination means and the high-luminance area in the second image signal. Synthesizes the image signal representing the frequency,
Alternatively, an image signal representing an area other than the low luminance area determined by the determination means in the second image signal and an image signal representing an area corresponding to the low luminance area in the first image signal. Means.

Here, the image signal is used as including both an analog video signal and digital image data.

In one embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively low luminance and an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively high luminance in the field of view of the camera. And a means for deciding an appropriate exposure amount. The subject is photographed twice with the determined two types of exposure amounts by the imaging means.

In another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, the imaging means includes a beam splitter means for splitting incident light in accordance with a predetermined exposure ratio, and the beam splitter means. It has two solid-state electronic imaging devices that respectively receive the two divided incident lights and output image signals. According to this embodiment, two image signals having different exposure amounts can be obtained by one photographing.

In a preferred embodiment particularly for a movie / still video camera, the image pickup means includes a solid-state electronic image pickup device for outputting an image signal representing an incident light image, and a constant exposure time. There is provided means for driving the solid-state electronic imaging device and driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so as to have an exposure time shorter than the fixed exposure time in response to a composite image creation command. As a result, an image signal for a still image can be obtained at a desired time while capturing a moving image.

The present invention does not preclude photographing by strobe light emission. Two image signals having different exposure amounts can be obtained also by strobe light emission.

In one embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, stroboscopic light emission is performed twice for strobe light emission with an appropriate light exposure amount for two regions at different distances in the field of view of the camera. Means are further provided.

As described above, in various embodiments, it is possible to obtain image signals respectively representing two images photographed with different exposure amounts.

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

In a preferred embodiment, the determination means stores an area designation signal representing the determined area.
Storage means. The synthesizing means selects one of the first and second image signals synchronously read from the first and second storage means in accordance with an area designation signal read from the third storage means. And switching means for outputting.

In one embodiment, the determining means includes a comparing means for comparing the first image signal or the second image signal with a predetermined threshold level.

In another embodiment, the judging means comprises:
The apparatus includes means for low-pass filtering the first image signal or the second image signal and comparing means for comparing the low-pass filtered image signal with a predetermined threshold level. As a result, small bright spots and the like on the image are excluded from the target of image synthesis.

[0022]

In a preferred embodiment, the synthesizing means partially replaces the first image signal with the second image signal, or partially replaces the second image signal with the first image signal. Means for generating a signal representing a weighted average value of the two image signals in the vicinity of a boundary (a boundary between the first image signal and the second image signal) generated at that time is included. As a result, the boundary of the image to be synthesized becomes smooth, and a natural feeling can be realized.

In another embodiment, the synthesizing means includes means for low-pass filtering the image signal near a boundary between the first image signal and the second image signal. This also eliminates the unnaturalness of the boundary of the synthesized image.

Next, an embodiment for creating a synthetic image signal in an analog manner will be described.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the combined image signal creating means includes a first image representing an image having a large amount of exposure.
And a comparator for comparing the analog video signal with a predetermined threshold level and generating an output signal when the level of the first analog video signal exceeds the threshold level; And a second analog video signal representing an image with a small amount of exposure given in synchronism with the analog video signal.
And a multiplexer for selecting and outputting the analog video signal of the above, and selecting and outputting the second analog video signal when the output signal of the comparator is given, wherein the time width of the output signal of the comparator is a predetermined value. A time width detection circuit that applies the output signal to the multiplexer when the output width is equal to or greater than the reference width; and a delay circuit that delays the first and second analog video signals by a time corresponding to the reference width and applies the delay time to the multiplexer. ing.

Preferably, a low-pass filter for removing a high-frequency component of the first analog video signal is further provided, and an output of the low-pass filter is provided to the comparator.

[0028]

The video camera according to the present invention is individually defined as follows.

[0030]

According to the first aspect, a video camera according to the present invention suitable for realizing a still video camera can be applied to two objects which are present in two regions within the field of view of the camera and have different distances. On the other hand, a strobe light emitting means for executing twice a strobe light emission of a light emission amount each having an appropriate exposure amount, an object is imaged twice in synchronism with the strobe light emission by the above-mentioned strobe light emitting means, and an image obtained by this imaging is represented. Imaging means for outputting a video signal, A / D conversion means for converting the video signal output from the imaging means into corresponding digital image data, a first digital signal representing one of the A / D converted images; First storage means for storing image data, A / D
The second storage means for storing the second digital image data representing the other converted image, and the luminance of the image represented by the first image data stored in the first storage means is relatively high. Means for extracting an area, and, in the first image data, the image data of the high-brightness area extracted by the extraction means, corresponding to the second image data stored in the second storage means. An image synthesizing means for creating synthetic image data by replacing the image data with the image data of the area is provided.

[0032]

According to the second aspect, the video camera according to the present invention, which is capable of real-time processing of a video signal and is particularly suitable for realizing a movie video camera, uses an exposure light having a predetermined exposure amount. Beam splitter means for splitting according to the ratio of the two, respectively receiving two incident lights split by the beam splitter means,
Two solid-state electronic image sensors that output analog image signals according to the amount of received light, a first analog image signal output from the solid-state electronic image sensor with a large amount of exposure, and a predetermined threshold level are compared. A comparator for generating an output signal when the level of one analog video signal exceeds the threshold level; the first analog video signal; and a solid-state electronic imaging device provided with a small amount of exposure in synchronization with the first analog video signal The second analog video signal output from the element is input, the first analog video signal is always selected and output, and the second analog video signal is supplied when the output signal of the comparator is given. A time width detection circuit for providing the output signal to the multiplexer when the time width of the output signal of the comparator is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference width. Said first and second analog video signal by the time delay corresponding to the reference width and a delay circuit for applying respectively to the multiplexer each time.

In a preferred embodiment, an automatic gain control amplifier circuit for adjusting the level of the second analog video signal is provided.

According to a third aspect, a video camera according to the present invention suitable for realizing a movie / still video camera includes a solid-state electronic image pickup device and outputs a video signal representing a subject image at a constant period. Imaging means, a shutter release button for inputting a request for imaging of a composite still image, and normally driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so that the exposure time is constant, in response to an input from the shutter release button Means for driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so that the exposure time is shorter than the constant exposure time;
A high-brightness area having relatively high brightness in an image represented by a first image signal representing an image with a large amount of exposure among video signals output from the solid-state electronic imaging device and having an area or length equal to or more than a predetermined value Or, among the video signals output from the solid-state electronic image pickup device, the luminance of an image represented by a second image signal representing an image with a small amount of exposure is relatively low and has an area or length equal to or more than a predetermined value. Means for determining a luminance area, an image signal representing the area other than the high luminance area determined by the determination means in the first image signal, and an image signal representing an area corresponding to the high luminance area in the second image signal. Or the image signal representing the area other than the low luminance area determined by the determination means in the second image signal and the first image And a means for recording the said combining means for combining the image signals representing a region corresponding to the low luminance area, and sequential tape image signal synthesized by said synthesizing means in No..

According to a fourth aspect, a video camera according to the present invention, which is also suitable for realizing a movie / still video camera, includes a solid-state electronic image element and a video signal representing a subject image at a constant period. , A shutter release button for inputting a request for capturing a synthesized still image, and a drive for driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so that the exposure time is always constant.
When there is an input from the button, the fixed exposure time is set for the first image immediately after that, and the exposure time shorter than the fixed exposure time is set for the subsequent image of the second image. Means for driving the solid-state image pickup device, A / D conversion means for converting a video signal output from the solid-state image pickup device into digital image data corresponding thereto, and A / D-converted first image The luminance in the image represented by the image data of the A / D-converted second image is relatively high, and the luminance in the image represented by the A / D converted image data is relatively high. Means for judging a low-luminance area having an area or length greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and the judging means for the first image data Synthesizes the image data representing the area corresponding to the high luminance region in the image data and the second image data representing a non-constant and high luminance region,
A synthesizing means for synthesizing image data representing an area other than the low luminance area determined by the determination means in the second image data and image data representing an area corresponding to the low luminance area in the first image data; A first modulating a video signal output from the solid-state electronic imaging device;
, A second modulating means for performing PCM modulation of synthesized image data obtained from the image synthesizing means, and a signal output from the first modulating means on a video track of a magnetic tape, the second modulating means. There is provided a means for recording a signal output from the means on a PCM track of the magnetic tape by a predetermined length.

According to a fifth aspect, a video camera according to the present invention, which is suitable for realizing a movie video camera and a movie / still video camera, includes a solid-state electronic image pickup device and has an image signal representing a subject image. , A motion detecting unit that determines whether or not the subject has moved by a predetermined amount or more based on an image signal obtained from the image capturing unit, and a condition that no motion is detected by the motion detecting unit. Means for controlling the amount of exposure so that the imaging means captures an image of a subject with three different amounts of exposure, and an image signal representing an image having a large amount of exposure, and an image signal representing an area having a relatively high luminance in the image. Means is provided for creating a composite image signal by replacing the image signal with an image signal representing a corresponding area in an image with a small amount of exposure.

[0038] In a preferred embodiment, the video camera determines, in the image signal representing the image with a large amount of exposure, whether or not the size of a region having a relatively high luminance in the image is equal to or larger than a predetermined area. The apparatus further includes a high-luminance area detecting means. The exposure amount control means can perform imaging with two different exposure amounts on condition that no motion is detected by the motion detection means and a high luminance area is detected by the high luminance area detection means. The exposure amount is controlled so that

As described above, according to the video camera of the present invention, only appropriately exposed portions of two image signals photographed at two different exposure amounts are extracted and synthesized, so that synthesis is performed. In the image represented by the obtained image signal, even if the image of the subject has a very large difference in luminance between the two portions, no overexposure or underexposure occurs and an extremely excellent image is obtained. Even when strobe light is used, both the near and far parts are expressed with the same level of luminance. In particular, since the high-brightness area or the low-brightness area to be synthesized is an area having an area or a length equal to or greater than a predetermined value, small bright spots and the like are excluded from image synthesis. Since the high-brightness area and the low-brightness area which do not have the area or the length equal to or larger than the predetermined value are intentionally excluded from the target of image synthesis, only the area that is really necessary is the target of image synthesis. Since image synthesis is not performed unnecessarily, a sharp synthesized image can be obtained.

[0040]

[0041]

[0042]

[0043]

The present invention further provides a method of operating a video camera. This operation method uses a video camera equipped with a solid-state electronic imaging device that outputs a video signal representing a captured subject image, and a means for adjusting the amount of exposure in the solid-state electronic imaging device. First exposure is performed by setting an appropriate exposure amount for a relatively low area, a first image signal is obtained, and then an appropriate exposure amount is set for an area having a relatively high luminance. A second image capturing is performed to obtain a second image signal, and a high-luminance area having a relatively high luminance in an image represented by the first image signal and having an area or length equal to or more than a predetermined value; Alternatively, a low-luminance region having a relatively low luminance and an area or length greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the image represented by the second image signal is determined, and the low-luminance region is determined by the determination means in the first image signal. The image signal representing the area other than the high-luminance area and the image signal representing the area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the second image signal, or are determined by the determination means in the second image signal. And synthesizing an image signal representing an area other than the low luminance area and an image signal representing an area corresponding to the low luminance area in the first image signal.

In one embodiment of this operation method, a video signal output from the solid-state electronic imaging device by the two shootings or digital image data obtained by A / D conversion of the video signal is stored in a recording medium. Record separately. In another embodiment, an appropriate exposure is determined for an area having a relatively high luminance and an appropriate exposure is determined for an area having a relatively low luminance in the field of view of the camera. By photographing the subject twice with the two types of exposure amounts thus obtained, two image signals having different exposure amounts are obtained.

The operation method of another embodiment is suitable for a movie video camera, which drives a solid-state electronic image pickup device so that the exposure time is always constant, and responds to a composite image creation command. By driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so that the exposure time is shorter than the fixed exposure time, two image signals having different exposure amounts are obtained.

In the above, preferably, the movement of the subject image is detected based on the image signal obtained from the solid-state electronic image pickup device, and when the movement of the subject image is a predetermined amount or more, the exposure for the predetermined exposure time is continued. As a result, it is possible to avoid synthesizing images that are mutually displaced due to the movement of the subject.

The operation method for strobe light emission photography is as follows. A strobe light emission of an amount of light emission appropriate for each of two areas at different distances within the field of view of the camera is performed.
By executing this operation twice, two image signals having different exposure amounts are obtained.

According to the operation method of the video camera according to the present invention, the subject is photographed with two different exposure amounts, and only the appropriately exposed portions of the image signal obtained by the photographing are extracted and synthesized. Therefore, in the image represented by the synthesized image signal, even if the image of the subject has a very large difference in luminance between the two portions, no overexposure or underexposure occurs and an extremely excellent image can be obtained. Even when strobe light is used, both the near and far parts are expressed with the same level of luminance.

The present invention further provides an image processing apparatus and method.

The image processing apparatus according to the present invention has a first storage means for storing first image data representing an image with a high exposure amount, and a second storage means for storing second image data representing an image with a low exposure amount. The storage means, a high-brightness area having a relatively high luminance in the image represented by the first image data and having an area or length equal to or greater than a predetermined value, or a luminance in the image represented by the second image data is relatively high. Means for judging a low-luminance area having an area or length equal to or larger than a predetermined value, and image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area judged by the judging means in the first image data; And the image data representing the area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the image data of the second image data. And a synthesizing means for synthesizing the image data representing a region corresponding to the low luminance region in the image data and the first image data representing a region other than the low luminance area determined Te.

The image processing method according to the present invention provides image data respectively representing two images having different exposure amounts obtained by imaging a subject with two different exposure amounts, and provides a first image representing an image having a large exposure amount. The luminance in the image represented by the image data is relatively high and the luminance in the image represented by the second image data representing the image having a small amount of exposure, or a high luminance region having an area or length equal to or larger than a predetermined value is relatively high. And a low-brightness area having an area or length equal to or larger than a predetermined value is determined.
Combining the image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination means in the image data with the image signal representing the area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the second image data, or And combining image data representing an area other than the low-luminance area determined by the above-described determination processing in the first image data with image data representing an area corresponding to the low-luminance area in the first image data.

According to the image processing method of the present invention, first image data representing an image with a high exposure amount is stored in a first storage means, and second image data representing an image with a low exposure amount is stored in a second storage unit. A high-brightness area having a relatively high luminance in the image represented by the first image data and having an area or length equal to or greater than a predetermined value, or a luminance in the image represented by the second image data. A low-luminance area having a relatively low area or length equal to or greater than a predetermined value is determined, and image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination processing in the first image data and the second luminance data are determined. And the image data representing the area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the image data of the second image data. It is intended for combining the image data representing a region corresponding to the low luminance region in the image data and the first image data representing a region other than the low luminance region.

Some preferred embodiments of the image processing apparatus and method are the same as the embodiments of the image synthesizing process in the video camera described above, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

According to the image processing apparatus and method of the present invention, when two image signals obtained by photographing with two different exposure amounts are given, only those appropriately exposed portions are extracted. Since these are combined, the image represented by the combined image signal has no overexposure or underexposure even for an object having a very large luminance difference between the two portions, and is very excellent. An image is obtained.

Other features of the present invention will become apparent in the description of the embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0057]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The basic concept of an image fitting process according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a scene that fits within the field of view of a camera when shooting in a room with a window.

The image SL of the room RM (symbol SL is also used to represent a part or area of this image) is relatively dark.
The outside scenery can be seen through the window WN, and the image SH of this scenery (this symbol SH is also used to represent a part or area of this image) is relatively bright. Generally speaking, the average brightness of the image SH seen through the window WN is about 5 to 10 times the average brightness of the image SL of the room RM. The dynamic range of an image sensor such as an image pickup tube or a CCD is two to three times higher than the average luminance of a relatively bright part.
It can handle only about twice as many scenes. That is, if the luminance difference is two to three times or more, the sensor saturates for a bright part when a dark part is properly exposed (overexposure occurs during reproduction), and when a bright part is properly exposed, a dark part is darkened. The image hardly appears, and the ratio of the noise component in the video signal becomes extremely high.

FIG. 2 shows a histogram of the photoelectric conversion characteristics and luminance of the image sensor.

The solid line SL1 shows the photoelectric conversion characteristic of the image sensor when the relatively dark image SL is properly exposed, and the solid line SL2 shows the relatively dark image SL taken under the photoelectric conversion characteristic SL1. 9 shows a frequency distribution of luminance.

On the other hand, the broken line SH1 shows the photoelectric conversion characteristics of the image sensor when the relatively bright image SH is properly exposed, and the broken line SH2 shows the relatively imaged under the photoelectric conversion characteristics SH1. The frequency distribution of the brightness of the bright image SH is shown.

As is apparent from this figure, the relatively bright image SH is completely included in the saturation region of the photoelectric conversion characteristic SL1, and the output representing the relatively dark image SL under the photoelectric conversion characteristic SH1. The signal level is concentrated very low.

FIG. 3A shows an image photographed with an exposure amount appropriate for the brightness of the room RM (the exposure amount is relatively large). Since the image SLa of the room RM is properly exposed, a good image is obtained. On the other hand, the scenery image SHA that appears through the window WN is white.

FIG. 3B shows an image taken with an appropriate exposure amount (the exposure amount is relatively small) with respect to the image SHb in the window WN. The image SHb of the scenery seen through the window WN is good, but the image SLb of the room RM is considerably dark.

According to the present invention, an image of a saturated area in an image with a relatively large exposure amount (the image need not necessarily be saturated, but may be an area relatively brighter than other parts). The image is fitted by being replaced with the image of the corresponding area in the image having a relatively small exposure amount. That is, the image SHa of the window WN in FIG. 3A is replaced with the image SHb of the window WN shown in FIG. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 1, both the room RM and the window WN become good images, and an image close to the scene seen by human eyes can be obtained. FIG. 4 shows a histogram of the image fitted and synthesized in this manner. The two luminance distributions SL2 and SH2 are fairly close.

An image in a relatively dark area in an image with a relatively small exposure may be replaced with an image in a corresponding area in an image with a relatively large exposure. For example, the image SLb of the room RM in FIG.
(A) is replaced by the image SLa of the room RM shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a still video camera (electronic still camera) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The image pickup optical system includes an image pickup lens 11, a diaphragm 12, a shutter 13, and a solid-state electronic image pickup device (image sensor).
The CCD 14 is included. The exposure control circuit 10 includes a CPU. The circuit 10 includes an aperture 12 and a shutter.
13 and the CCD 14 to control the charge clearing, signal reading, and the like.

In this embodiment, the preliminary photographing (preliminary exposure) and the
The main shooting (main exposure) is performed twice.

The preliminary photographing is for determining an appropriate exposure amount in the two main photographings. The exposure control circuit 10 determines an exposure amount (aperture value and shutter speed) for preliminary photographing based on the level of the output signal of the photometric sensor 27. As shown in FIG. 1, the photographing subject has a dark part and a bright part. The output signal of the photometric sensor 27 indicates such average luminance of the subject. The operations of the aperture 12 and the shutter 13 are respectively controlled by the aperture value and the shutter speed for preliminary photographing determined based on the average luminance of the subject. The video signal output from the CCD 14 by this preliminary photographing is amplified by the preamplifier 15 and further
The data is converted into digital image data by the D converter 19 and supplied to the exposure control circuit 10.

The exposure control circuit 10 determines an exposure amount for two main shootings based on digital image data representing a subject image obtained by the preliminary shooting. The subject has a dark part and a bright part as described above. One main shooting is performed with an appropriate exposure for a dark part, and the other main shooting is performed with an appropriate exposure for a bright part.

In FIG. 6, a region indicated by a chain line PH indicates a light measuring range of the light measuring sensor 27. It is assumed that the photometric sensor 27 is not saturated even by a bright portion of the subject. Assuming that a large number of sample points PS are virtually set within the photometric range PH of the photometric sensor 27 and the data at each point is S _i (i = 1 to n), the output of the photometric sensor 27 is given by the following equation.

[0074]

(Equation 1)

The subject includes a dark portion (region) SL and a bright portion (region) SH. In a video signal representing a subject image obtained in preliminary photographing, a dark area S
The portion representing L is not saturated, but the portion representing the bright area SH is considered to be saturated.
Image data obtained by the preliminary photographing is sampled at the same sample point PS as described above. Let the sampled data be S _j (j = 1 to n). The number of sample data included in the dark portion SL of the subject image is m, and the number of sample data included in the bright portion SH is h (n
= M + h).

Using the sample data S _i obtained from the output signal of the photometric sensor 27, the following equation is established.

[0077]

(Equation 2)

If the first term of the numerator on the right side in the equation (2) is replaced with the sample data _Sj of the image data obtained by the preliminary photographing, the equation (2) becomes as follows.

[0079]

(Equation 3)

The first and second terms on the right side of equation (3) are respectively
(4) and Equation (5).

[0081]

(Equation 4)

[0082]

(Equation 5)

The value represented by equation (4) can be calculated using image data obtained by preliminary photographing. That is, the image data is sampled at the sample point PS, and the obtained sample data _Sj is compared with an appropriate threshold value TH. Threshold value TH
The average value of the sample data S _{j having} a value less than
This is the value represented by (4). The threshold value TH is set to a value slightly lower than the saturation level. Bright area S
Since the sample data included in H has reached the saturation level, the sample data is excluded by comparison processing between the sample data and the threshold value TH, and an average value of the sample data belonging to the dark area SL is obtained. The exposure amount (aperture value and shutter speed) for the main photographing of the relatively dark area SL is determined based on the value of the equation (4) calculated in this manner.

As described above, the image S of the relatively bright area
The video signal representing H does not necessarily have to be saturated. Also in this case, by appropriately setting the threshold value TH, the image data of the bright area SH and the dark area S
L image data.

The value on the left side of equation (3) (ie, the value of equation (1))
Is known by the level of the output signal of the photometric sensor 27. The first term on the right side of Equation (3) (Equation (4)
Is calculated as described above. Therefore,
The value of the second term on the right side of equation (3) (that is, equation (5)) can be easily obtained. Since the value of equation (5) represents the average luminance of the relatively bright area SH, the exposure amount (aperture value and shutter speed) for the main photographing of the relatively bright area SH is determined based on this value. Is done.

[0086] sample based on the output signal of the sample data S _i and CCD14 based on the output signal of the photometric sensor 27
The data S _j is not always equal. Therefore, in general, the above-described operation will be performed using an appropriate constant α and setting S _i = αS _j .

If the photometry area of the photometry sensor is divided into a plurality of small areas, and the divided photometry for obtaining the average luminance of each of the small areas is performed, the above-described preliminary photographing is not necessarily required. That is, the photometric average luminance of each small area is compared with an appropriate threshold value, and the photometric average luminance of a relatively dark portion of the subject image and the photometric average luminance of a bright portion are classified according to the comparison result. . The exposure of the relatively dark part is based on the average of the photometric average luminance for the relatively dark part, and the exposure of the relatively bright part is based on the average of the photometric average luminance for the relatively bright part. It is determined. Generally, a relatively dark part and a relatively bright part of the subject image do not always correspond to the small photometric area of the photometric sensor, but a remarkable luminance difference exists between the dark part and the bright part. Therefore, by using an appropriate threshold value, the photometric luminance data of the photometric small area almost corresponding to the relatively dark part and the photometric luminance data of the small photometric area substantially corresponding to the relatively bright part are obtained. It is possible to classify.

There are various methods for determining the aperture value and the shutter speed, such as aperture priority and shutter speed priority. The aperture value and shutter speed may be determined in any manner. At least, the performance and accuracy of the aperture 12, the performance and accuracy of the shutter 13, and the like may be considered. When the electronic shutter function of the CCD 14 is used, as will be described later, an allowable exposure time (for example, 1V = 1/60)
Within; V is the vertical scanning period).

In any case, as described above, an appropriate exposure amount (first
Is determined, and an appropriate exposure amount (second exposure amount; a value smaller than the first exposure amount) for the relatively bright portion SH is determined. Aperture using
The shutter 12 and the shutter 13 are controlled, and the first main shooting is performed. The video signal output from the CCD 14 in the first main shooting is amplified by the amplifier 15 and then subjected to preprocessing such as γ correction in the preprocessing circuit 16, and further to the A / D converter 17.
Is converted into digital image data and temporarily stored in the first frame memory 21 via the changeover switch 18. Subsequently, the aperture 12 and the shutter 13 are controlled using the second exposure amount, and the second main shooting is performed. The video signal output from the CCD 14 in the second main shooting is similarly amplified, preprocessed, A / D converted, converted into digital image data, and transferred to the second frame memory 22 via the changeover switch 18. It is memorized. The changeover switch 18 is for the exposure control circuit 10
The switching is controlled by. It goes without saying that the main photographing based on the second exposure amount may be performed before the main photographing based on the first exposure amount.

The control of the shutter speed in the actual photographing is performed by CC
It may be realized by an electronic shutter function using D14. An electronic shutter is, as is well known, a CCD
Exposure starts by discharging (clearing) 14 unnecessary charges.
The exposure ends when the signal charges stored in the CCD 14 are read. In this case, the maximum value of the exposure time (the time from the discharge of the unnecessary charges to the reading of the signal charges) is 1
If the aperture value is determined to be within / 60 = 1V, 2/60
= 2V, two main shootings are completed. When the electronic shutter function is used, two frames of image data having different exposure amounts can be obtained in a shorter time than when the exposure time is controlled using the mechanical shutter 13.

A memory for storing a key signal in addition to the two frame memories 21 and 22 in order to perform the above-described inset synthesizing process using the two frames of image data obtained as described above. 23, a CPU 20, and a multiplexer 24 are provided.

The CPU 20 compares the image data for each pixel stored in the first frame memory 21 with a predetermined threshold value TH (the threshold value for discriminating the level of the image data obtained by the preliminary photographing described above). Image data with a value equal to or greater than the threshold value, which can be the same value or a different value, in any case, as long as it can distinguish a relatively bright or saturated area from other areas. Belongs to a relatively bright area SH, and data 1 (1 bit) is written as a key signal at the same position on the memory 23 as the position of the pixel represented by the image data. For image data less than the threshold value, 0 is written at the position of that pixel in the memory 23. The memory 23 has a capacity capable of storing a key signal for one frame (or one field) (a key signal is one bit per pixel).

In this way, the key signal memory 23 has
Whether the image data stored in the frame memories 21 and 22 relates to pixels belonging to a relatively dark area SL of the subject image (key signal data = 0), or a relatively bright area S
Whether it relates to a pixel belonging to H (key signal data = 1)
Is written.

The multiplexer 24 is controlled by the key signal data set in the key signal memory 23. When the key signal data is 0, the multiplexer 24 selects and outputs the image data read from the frame memory 21. When the key signal data is 1, the multiplexer 24 selects and outputs the image data read from the frame memory 22.

When the setting of the key signal data in the key signal memory 23 is completed, the image data in the frame memories 21 and 22 and the key signal data in the key signal memory 23 are synchronized (that is, data relating to the same pixel is simultaneously transmitted). ) Is read out and supplied to the multiplexer 24. As described above, the multiplexer 24 outputs a frame signal according to the key signal data.
One of the image data read from the memory 21 or 22 is selectively output. The image data output from the multiplexer 24 is an inlaid composite image in which image data in a saturated (relatively bright) area in an image with a large amount of exposure is replaced by image data in a corresponding area in an image with a small amount of exposure. Is represented.

The image data output from the multiplexer 24 is converted into an analog video signal by the D / A converter 25 and output. When the analog video signal is applied to a display device such as a CRT, an image that has been fitted and synthesized is displayed. The video signal can be FM-modulated and recorded on a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk or a magnetic tape. Alternatively, the output image data of the multiplexer 24 is separated into luminance data and color data (Y / C separation) by the image data processing circuit 26, the data is compressed and encoded, and then a memory card (with a built-in semiconductor memory) doing,
(Also referred to as a memory cartridge or the like). Needless to say, the above-described image data inset synthesis processing need not be performed by the still video camera. In this case, the image data in the frame memories 21 and 22 are separately processed, and then stored in separate areas in the memory card. The inset synthesis of the image data will be performed by a separately provided image processing device.

A key signal may be created using image data of a small exposure amount stored in the frame memory 22. In this case, a value small enough to exclude a relatively dark portion is adopted as the threshold value. If the image data is equal to or larger than the threshold value, 1 is set as the key signal data in the memory 23, and otherwise, 0 is set in the memory 23. By doing so, image data representing an image synthesized by replacing image data of a relatively dark area in an image with a low exposure amount with image data of a corresponding area in an image with a high exposure amount is output to the multiplexer. Output from 24.

The still video camera shown in FIG. By utilizing the strobe light emission of the strobe device 28, it is possible to obtain image data suitable for fitting synthesis even if the object to be photographed is not necessarily distinguished between a bright part and a dark part.

For example, it is assumed that two objects having the same degree or a small difference in luminance are located at relatively close and far positions. If the amount of strobe light emission is adjusted so that an object at a close position is properly exposed, an object at a distant position will be underexposed. Conversely, if the amount of strobe light emission is adjusted so that an object at a distant position is properly exposed, a video signal obtained for an object at a near position is saturated.

According to this embodiment, the first photographing is performed with the amount of strobe light emission capable of obtaining an exposure suitable for photographing an object located at a relatively distant position. The second is the amount of strobe light that can be properly exposed.
The second shooting is performed. In this manner, image data for two frames is obtained, and the inset synthesis of the image data is performed in exactly the same manner as described above.

If the luminance difference between the distant position and the close position is large, it is needless to say that the strobe light emission amount is adjusted in consideration of the luminance difference. In any case,
The strobe light emission amount may be controlled so that the average luminance difference between the obtained two frames of image data is relatively small (within two to three times).

A relatively bright area SH in the subject image
There are various methods for discriminating between the image data and the relatively dark area SL other than the above-described processing of simply comparing the image data with the threshold value TH. Hereinafter, other identification methods will be described. Only a method of extracting a relatively bright region in an image with a large amount of exposure will be described. This is because it is possible to extract a relatively dark area in an image with a small amount of exposure by exactly the same method.

For simplicity, VII-VI in FIG.
Consider a video signal along a horizontal scan line represented by the I line.

FIG. 7A shows an example of a video signal along the horizontal scanning line. The video signal in the relatively bright area SH is saturated. In the relatively dark area SL, there is a small bright spot (for example, a piece of glass, a part of metal, etc. shines due to reflection of light). Due to this bright spot, a sharp pulse-like waveform BR is generated in the video signal. Assume that it is appearing.

When such a video signal passes through a low-pass filter (hereinafter abbreviated as LPF), the symbol br in FIG.
As shown by, the steep pulse-like waveform becomes gentle and its height decreases. If this video signal is level-discriminated using a threshold value TH set to a level higher than the peak value of the waveform br, only a bright area SH is extracted. In this way, small bright spots partially present in the dark area SL are ignored, and execution of inset synthesis in such a small area is prevented beforehand.

As described above, the relatively bright area does not necessarily have to be saturated. It can be easily understood from FIG. 7B that a bright region that is not saturated can be extracted by appropriately setting the threshold level TH (the peak value of the bright portion SH is lower than the saturation level). Should be considered low).

Techniques for filtering digital data are well known. The above discussion also applies to the processing in the CPU 20 for processing the digital image data stored in the frame memory 21 (or 22) to determine the areas SH and SL in the still video camera shown in FIG. The CPU 20 performs low-pass filtering on the digital image data, and compares the filtered image data with data representing a threshold value.

FIG. 8 shows another determination method. FIG.
FIG. 7A shows the same video signal as that shown in FIG. In this video signal, a front edge (leading edge) indicating a steep rising and a trailing edge (trailing edge) indicating a steep falling are detected. The width (or time) t1, t2, etc. from the leading edge to the trailing edge is measured. The widths t1, t2, and the like are compared with an appropriate reference width W (see FIG. 8B). Only a portion having a width larger than the reference width W is determined to be a relatively bright region (see FIG. 8C). According to this method as well, small bright spots existing in a relatively dark area can be excluded from the target area for the inlay synthesis.

It goes without saying that this method can also be executed in an analog or digital manner. In the case of executing in an analog manner, a monostable multivibrator having a stabilization time corresponding to the reference width W can be used. The monostable multivibrator is triggered (set) by the leading edge of the video signal and is reset by the trailing edge. If an output is generated from the monostable multivibrator after being set and before being reset (if the time corresponding to the width W has elapsed after being set), that portion is determined to be a bright region. Digitally,
It may be determined whether the length from the front edge to the rear edge is greater than the width W.

In the method shown in FIG. 7, there is a possibility that the boundary of the bright region is slightly shifted due to the phase delay inevitably generated in the filtering. On the other hand, the method shown in FIG. 8 has the advantage that the boundary between the bright area and the dark area can be accurately determined without shifting.

Although the detection of the boundary of the region appearing in the video signal on the horizontal scanning line (the boundary extending in the vertical scanning direction of the image) has been described, the same method as described above is used for the detection of the boundary extending in the horizontal direction of the image. can do. Especially when digital image data is digitally processed, filtering and detection of the width in the vertical direction are easy. In addition, by executing the method shown in FIG. 8 two-dimensionally, it is possible to exclude the bright spots having a certain area or less from the object of the inset synthesis and to perform the inset synthesis only on a bright region exceeding the certain area.

FIG. 9 shows another example of the inset synthesizing process.
Particularly, a circuit configuration for realizing a method of smoothly continuing the vicinity of the boundary between two areas to be fitted is shown. The circuit shown in FIG. 9 is replaced by the multiplexer 24 in FIG.

Image data (for example, 8 bits) read from frame memory 21 is applied to multipliers 30a, 31a, 32a,
The signals are multiplied by 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 by 33a and 34a, respectively, and applied to a multiplexer (selection switch) 37a. The image data read from the frame memory 22 is multiplied by 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0 by multipliers 30b, 31b, 32b, 33b and 34b, respectively, to be a multiplexer.
37b. Multiplexers 37a and 37b are controlled by key signal data (3 bit data in this embodiment) provided from key signal memory 23. Multiplexer 37a is a multiplier 30a, 31a, 32a, 33a or 34a
Is selected, the multiplexer 37b switches the multiplier 30b,
Select 31b, 32b, 33b or 34b.

The outputs of the multiplexers 37a and 37b are added to each other by an adder 35, further divided by 4 by a divider 36, and output as synthesized image data (for example, again having 8 bits).

For one pixel on the detected boundary between the relatively dark area SL and the light area SH, multiplexers 37a and 37b are connected to multipliers 32a and 32b, respectively.
Select Thus, on the boundary line, the arithmetic average of the image data of the frame memory 21 and the image data of the frame memory 22 becomes the composite image data.

For one pixel adjacent to the boundary on the side of the region SL darker than the boundary, the multiplexers 37a and 37b select the multipliers 33a and 33b, respectively. Thus, in this pixel, the average (weighted average) of the value tripled to the image data in the frame memory 21 and the value tripled to the image data in the frame memory 22 becomes the composite image data.

For all pixels inside the area SL darker than the above-mentioned pixel adjacent to the boundary line, the multiplexers 37a and 37b are connected to the multipliers 34a and 34b, respectively.
Select b. As a result, the image data in the frame memory 21 is output as composite image data.

In one pixel adjacent to the boundary on the side of the region SH which is brighter than the boundary, the multiplexer 37a and the
37b selects multipliers 31a and 31b, respectively. Thereby, in this pixel, the average (weighted average) of the value multiplied by 1 for the image data of the frame memory 21 and the value multiplied by 3 for the image data of the frame memory 22 becomes the composite image data.

For all pixels inside the area SH, which is brighter than the pixel adjacent to the boundary line, the multiplexers 37a and 37b are connected to the multipliers 30a and 37b, respectively.
Select 30b. As a result, the image data in the frame memory 22 is output as composite image data.

The key signal data stored in the key signal memory 23 is located on the boundary line, next to the boundary line, or more distant than the boundary line so as to control the multiplexers 37a and 37b as described above. The data is created as 3-bit data by the CPU 20 depending on which area the data belongs to.

As described above, in the vicinity of the boundary between the regions SL and SH, the composite image data is created by the weighted average (weighted according to the position) of the two types of image data to be fitted. Image data smoothly continues near the boundary. As a result, when the composite image is reproduced, the boundary between the two regions becomes natural, and the occurrence of the pseudo contour is prevented beforehand.

In the above description, the weighting for the weighted average is changed one pixel at a time, but it goes without saying that the weighting may be changed for a plurality of pixels.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment in which an image inset and synthesis process is performed on an analog video signal in real time. The circuit of this embodiment can be applied not only to a still video camera but also to a movie video camera.

The image pickup optical system includes an image pickup lens 41, a diaphragm 42, a beam splitter 43, and two CCDs 44 and 45. An optical image representing a subject passes through a lens 41 and an aperture 42 and is split by a beam splitter 43 to form two CCDs 44.
And image on 45. As described above, the ratio between the average luminance of the relatively dark area SL and the average luminance of the relatively bright area SH is 1 to 5 in shooting in a room with a window.
~ 10 or so. In this embodiment, the beam splitter 43
Is set to 5: 1. The light having the amount of 5/6 of the amount of the incident light passes through the beam splitter 43 and is C
It is incident on CD44. Light of 1/6 of the amount of incident light is reflected by the beam splitter 43 and enters the CCD 45.

The video signal output from the CCD 44 is amplified by a preamplifier 46 and then applied to a delay circuit 54 and input to an exposure control circuit 49. The video signal output from the CCD 45 is amplified by a preamplifier 47 and then applied to an automatic gain control amplification circuit (hereinafter referred to as AGC) 48 and input to an exposure control circuit 49. The exposure control circuit 49 controls the aperture 42 via the driver 50 and adjusts the gain of the AGC 48.

For controlling the amount of exposure, an output video signal of the CCD 44 having a large amount of exposure is used. The exposure control circuit 49 includes an amplifier 46.
Based on the level of the video signal given from the camera so that the relatively dark area SL of the subject image is properly exposed.
Adjust 42. The shutter speed (exposure time) is fixed, and is maintained at, for example, 1/60 seconds (or 1/30 seconds). That is, no mechanical shutter is provided, and the exposure time is defined by clearing unnecessary charges of the CCDs 44 and 45 and reading out signal charges.

In this embodiment, the subject image is continuously photographed. For example, a video signal for one field (or one frame) is sent from the CCDs 44 and 45 every 1/60 second (or 1/30 second). Has been output.

The exposure amount is adjusted so that the relatively dark area SL of the subject image formed on the CCD 44 is properly exposed, and the division ratio of the beam splitter 43 is set to 5: 1. From this, it can be expected that the exposure amount is relatively appropriate even for the relatively bright area SH formed on the CCD 45. When the image of the relatively dark region SL and the image of the bright region SH are combined, the images are appropriately matched (for example, the image of the relatively bright region SH is compared with the image of the combined image in the combined image). An AGC 48 is provided to prevent the occurrence of a situation where the image becomes darker than the image of the dark area SL). The exposure control circuit 49 detects the peak level of the video signal of the previous field (or previous frame) given from the amplifier 47, and this peak level is kept constant also in the video signal of the next field (or frame). The gain of the AGC 48 is adjusted as described above. In this way, every field (or one frame) (every 1/60 second,
The gain of the AGC 48 is adjusted (every 1/30 second), and the brightness of the brightest part of the image in the relatively bright area SH is always kept almost constant.

The output of the amplifier 46, which is a video signal having a large amount of exposure, passes through the LPF 51, and only the low-frequency component is supplied to the comparator 52. The comparator 52 has a threshold voltage V
_TH is set. The comparator 52 generates an output when the level of the input video signal exceeds the threshold voltage _VTH . The output of the comparator 52 is input to a pulse width detection circuit 53. The pulse width detection circuit 53 includes a monostable multivibrator or the like as described above. When the pulse width of the output signal of the comparator 52 exceeds the reference width W, the pulse width detection circuit 53 converts the output signal to a time corresponding to the reference width W. Output after delay. The output signal of the pulse width detection circuit 53 is supplied to the multiplexer 56 as a control signal thereof.

A delay time equal to the time corresponding to the reference width W (or a time obtained by adding a delay time due to the operation of the LPF 51 to this time) is set in the delay circuits 54 and 55. The output video signal of the amplifier 46 and the output video signal of the AGC 48 are delayed by these delay circuits 54 and 55 by the delay time and input to the multiplexer 56.

The multiplexer 56 normally selects and outputs the output video signal of the delay circuit 54. When the output signal is given from the pulse width detection circuit 53, the multiplexer 56 selects and outputs the output video signal of the delay circuit 55. As a result, inlay synthesis of images based on the above-described principle is performed. The video signal output from the multiplexer 56 is subjected to γ correction and the like in a video signal processing circuit 57.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the inlay synthesizing process. Here, as shown in FIG. 12 (A) or (B), an example will be described in which the background is very bright and the central main subject (person) is relatively dark.

As shown in FIG. 12 (A), the frame memory 21 is photographed with a properly set exposure amount (relatively large exposure amount) for a relatively dark portion (main subject) SL. (Referred to as first image data) representing a particular image. In the image shown in FIG. 12 (A), the image data is saturated in a relatively bright portion (background) SH, and overexposure occurs. Frame memory 22 contains
Data representing an image as shown in FIG. 12B photographed with an appropriately set exposure amount (relatively small exposure amount) for a relatively bright portion SH (this is referred to as second image data). Is stored. In the image shown in FIG. 12 (B), the image of the relatively dark portion SL is dark as a whole, has a very small difference in luminance, and has a blackish feeling. Such first and second image data can be obtained by exposing twice as in the embodiment shown in FIG.
As in the embodiment shown in FIG.

A mask pattern and edge pattern creating section 63 creates data representing a mask pattern and data representing an edge pattern based on the first image data in the frame memory 21. mask·
The pattern masks a relatively bright area SH (shown by hatching in FIG. 12C), as shown in FIG. 12C. The mask pattern data is composed of one bit per pixel, and the mask portion is represented by, for example, 1 and other portions are represented by 0. mask·
The pattern data is stored in the mask pattern memory 61. The edge pattern represents the edge of the mask pattern (the boundary between the relatively bright area SH and the dark area SL), as shown in FIG.
It has a width of about a pixel. Data representing such an edge pattern is also composed of one bit per pixel, and the edge portion is represented by data 1. The edge pattern data is stored in the edge pattern memory 62. The details of the process of creating the mask pattern data and the edge pattern data will be described later.

The second image data in the frame memory 22 is provided to the nonlinear processing section 64. In this embodiment, the non-linear processing unit 64 performs a level compression process, an enhancement process, and a level shift process. The level compression process compresses the number of bits of the second image data into a reproducible number of bits (the number of bits may increase due to enhancement processing or level shift processing), and is shown in FIG. 13 (A). Bit number conversion is performed using a look-up table (LUT) having such non-linear characteristics.
The enhancement process is a process of multiplying the image data by an enhancement rate as shown in FIG. 13B, thereby enhancing the high-frequency components of the image. Although the luminance change of the image becomes gentle by the above-mentioned level compression processing, the edges in the image are emphasized by this high-frequency emphasis processing. level·
The shift processing brightens (or darkens) the entire image, and is realized by uniformly adding (or subtracting) a predetermined value to the image data. It is not necessary that all such level compression, enhancement and level shifting be performed, but any one or two.
May be performed.

The first image data in the frame memory 21 and the second image data read from the frame memory 22 and subjected to the non-linear processing in the processing section 64 are supplied to the multiplexer 65. The multiplexer 65 is controlled by mask pattern data of the mask pattern memory 61. The first image data, the second image data, and the mask pattern data are supplied to the multiplexer 65 synchronously, that is, these data relating to the same pixel constituting the image are simultaneously supplied. The multiplexer 65 selects the first image data when the mask pattern data is 0, and selects and outputs the second image data when the mask pattern data is 1. Accordingly, the image data representing the relatively dark portion SL in the first image data and the relatively bright portion SH in the second image data are obtained.
And the image data is embedded and synthesized.

The output image data of the multiplexer 65 is provided to the blending unit 66. The blend unit 66 is realized by a kind of LPF. Blend unit 66 is edge pattern memory
The low-pass filtering process is performed on the input image data at the edge portion where the data given from 62 is 1, thereby making the luminance change at the edge portion gentle. Thus, when the inlaid composite image is reproduced, the boundary between the two regions SL and SH has a natural feeling.

The output image data of the blend unit 66 is subjected to γ correction by the γ correction unit 67, and then output as composite image data.

The above processing can be partially or entirely executed by a hardware circuit, or can be executed by software processing by a computer.

FIG. 14 shows a procedure for creating mask pattern data. After the first image data is low-pass filtered by the LPF 71, the first image data is compared with the first threshold level TH1 in the comparator 72. The image data is at the first threshold level T
When the value is larger than H1, 1-bit data 1 is output from the comparator 72, and the mask pattern
Data. By this processing, the relatively bright portion S
Mask data 1 is set for H.

The comparing section 73, the edge detecting section 74, the comparing section 75, and the AND gate 76 are for extracting a high luminance point at the edge. The first image data is compared with a second threshold level TH2 higher than the first threshold level TH1 in the comparing section 73, and the first image data exceeds the second threshold level TH2. Data 1 is output from the comparison unit 73 when The first image data is also supplied to the edge detection unit 74, and the differential value is calculated. This differential value is given to the comparing section 75. The comparator 75 outputs data 1 if the differential value exceeds the third threshold value TH3. The outputs of the comparators 73 and 75 are added to the mask pattern data at the OR gate 77 via the AND gate 76. In this way, the mask pattern data for the high luminance point at the edge becomes 1. As a result, it becomes possible to finely perform the inset synthesis at the edge portion.

FIG. 15 shows an edge pattern data creation processing procedure. The mask obtained as described above
The pattern data is supplied to the edge detection unit 78, and the edge is detected. Data representing the detected edge is supplied to the dilution unit 79, and is expanded so that the edge width becomes 2 to 3 pixels. The data representing the edge whose width has been widened in this way becomes edge pattern data. In FIG. 15, the mask pattern and the pattern generated by the processing of the units 78 and 79 are drawn at the corresponding positions.

In FIGS. 14 and 15, it goes without saying that the mask pattern creation and the edge pattern creation can be realized by a dedicated hardware circuit or by digital processing by a computer.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 16 relates to a movie / still video camera.

This movie / still video camera normally operates in the movie mode. That is, the imaging lens
The subject image formed on the CCD 83 through the aperture 81 and the aperture 82 is converted into a video signal representing the image by the CCD 83 and output. This video signal is subjected to processing such as automatic gain control amplification, white balance adjustment, and γ correction in a video signal processing circuit 84, and further, is FM-modulated in an FM modulation circuit 85. The FM-modulated video signal is supplied to a magnetic head 87 via a recording amplifier 86, and is magnetically recorded on a video track TRV of a magnetic tape 80 for each field as shown in FIG.

Normally, the aperture 82 is adjusted by an automatic exposure control circuit (not shown) so that the exposure matches the main subject (person, etc.) in the field of view of the camera. The exposure time of the CCD 83 is controlled by the CCD drive circuit 88 and is maintained at a fixed time (for example, 1/60 second). Therefore, when the average luminance of the background is very high compared to the average luminance of the main subject, the photodiode of the CCD 83 saturates for the background image. When the video signal recorded on the video tape 80 is reproduced, the background will be white.

Even in such a situation, the movie / still video camera of this embodiment can record a video signal representing an image in which both the main subject and the background are properly exposed.

When the user of the camera wants to leave the subject image in the field of view as a still image, the user presses the shutter release button 89. The shutter release signal from the shutter release button 89 is given to the CCD drive circuit 88. When the shutter release signal is input, the CCD drive circuit 88 performs exposure in the next field of the field being exposed at that time (the video signal of this field is recorded on the video track TR1 of the magnetic tape 80). The timing for discharging the unnecessary charges in the CCD 83 is adjusted so that the exposure time becomes about 1/4 of the exposure time in the movie mode. The aperture value of the aperture 82 does not change (the control by the automatic exposure control circuit is continuously executed). The video signal obtained from the CCD 83 by being exposed in a short time in this manner is a video signal next to the previous video track TR1.
2 is recorded. In the video signal of the video track TR2, the background is almost appropriately exposed, but the main subject is underexposed and blackened.

It is needless to say that the reduction ratio of the exposure time is not limited to 1/4, but may be 1/3, 1/5 or the like. Also, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the background is appropriately exposed based on the sampling data of the video signal of the previous field (corresponding to the above-mentioned preliminary photographing) and the photometric data. The exposure time can also be determined.

The video signals of two fields (video track TR1) recorded on the magnetic tape 80 in this manner.
And the video signal recorded in the TR2) are combined in a signal processing circuit provided in the playback device according to the above-described inlay combination technique, and are given to a display device or a printer as a representation of one image.

FIG. 17 shows a circuit for performing inlay synthesis provided in a display device or a reproduction device of a printer. The video track T of the magnetic tape 80 by the reproducing device
The video signal reproduced from R1 is converted into digital image data by an A / D converter 90 and then stored in a buffer memory 91. Similarly, the video signal reproduced from the video track TR2 is converted into digital image data and stored in the buffer memory 92.

The determination control circuit 93 determines whether or not the saturated image data has a certain area or more in the image data stored in the buffer memory 91. If there is no saturated image data, or if it is about a very small area, the image data in the buffer memory 91 is passed through the switching circuit 94 as it is or the D / A converter 96
Is converted into an analog video signal and output. This image data or video signal is used for displaying or printing out an image.

When the image data is saturated over a certain area or more, the judgment control circuit 93 controls the buffer memory
91 is connected to the synthesis circuit 95. Then, the image data is read out from both buffer memories 91 and 92 in synchronization with each other and applied to the synthesizing circuit 95. The area in which the inlay synthesis is performed is specified by the determination control circuit 93. In the synthesizing circuit 95, the inlay synthesizing process is performed according to the inlay synthesizing technique described in detail above. The synthesized image data is output as it is or after being converted into an analog video signal, and is used for displaying or printing out the image.

An image may be displayed by using the image data in the buffer memory 91, and the displayed image may be used to determine whether or not a human is to perform inset synthesis. Also,
Instead of recording video signals for two fields with different exposure amounts on a magnetic tape, video signals for two frames with different exposure amounts can be recorded on a magnetic tape. Further, it goes without saying that some functions of the circuit shown in FIG. 18 can be realized by processing by software.

FIG. 19 shows still another embodiment. The basic idea of this embodiment is to detect whether there is any motion in the image in addition to whether there is a high-luminance (saturated) region having a certain area or more in the captured image. is there. Then, only when there is a high-brightness area with a certain area or more and there is no movement of a certain degree or more, the inset synthesis of the two images is performed.

Through the imaging lens 101 and the aperture 102, C
The subject image formed on the CD 103 is converted into a video signal by the CCD 103, converted into digital image data by the A / D converter 104, and given to the image data processing circuit 105. The image data processing circuit 105 has at least two buffer memories (field memory or frame memory). As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 16, the exposure time of the CCD 103 is usually constant (for example, 1/60).
Second or 1/30 second), the aperture 102 is an exposure control circuit so that the main subject is properly exposed based on the photometric data.
Controlled by 109.

The two buffer memories of the image data processing circuit 105 have a fixed time (for example, 1/60 seconds or 1/60 seconds).
Every 30 seconds), image data representing a field image or a frame image captured by the CCD 103 is alternately stored. The motion detection circuit 106 uses the image data of the two buffer memories to detect the motion of the imaging subject according to a known technique such as a field correlation or a frame correlation, and when the detected motion is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold value. A motion detection signal. The high-brightness area detection circuit 107, based on the image data of one of the two buffer memories (preferably the latest image data), as in the determination control circuit 93 shown in FIG. Image data is extracted, and it is determined whether or not the image data has spread over a predetermined area. If there is a high luminance area having a predetermined area or more, a high luminance area detection signal is generated.

When the motion detection signal is not output from the motion detection circuit 106 and the high-luminance area detection signal is output from the high-luminance area detection circuit 107, a synthesis command is generated from the AND gate 108, and the exposure control circuit 109 And the synthesizing circuit 110. The exposure control circuit 109 responds to this synthesis command.
Sets the exposure time of the electronic shutter in the CCD 103 to about 1/2 to 1/4 of the above-mentioned fixed time. Image data obtained by shooting by exposure for this exposure time is stored in one of the buffer memories (preferably a memory in which older image data is stored). Thereafter, the synthesizing circuit 110 performs the above-described inset synthesis using the image data in the two buffer memories, and outputs the synthesized image data.

When a motion is detected or a high luminance area is not detected, the latest image data in the buffer memory is output through the synthesizing circuit 110 as it is.

The above concept can be applied to a still video camera, a movie video camera, and a movie / still video camera.

In a still video camera, the configuration shown in FIG. 19 will be employed as it is. The above operation is preferably started when the shutter release button is pressed. The synthesized image data is compressed and stored in memory
The data is recorded on a card, converted into an analog video signal by a D / A converter, and output, or the analog video signal is FM-modulated and recorded on a magnetic recording medium.

When applied to a movie video camera, as long as no motion is detected and a high-luminance area is detected, the CCD 103 is kept for a certain time (1/60 second or 1/30 second).
Second) and 1/2 to 1/4 thereof.
Since the two buffer memories store the image data with a large amount of exposure and the image data with a small amount of exposure alternately,
In each case, composition can be performed using the image data in both memories. The composite image data is converted into an analog video signal, FM-modulated, and recorded on a magnetic tape. Or figure
As shown in FIG. 10, two CCDs are provided, and the synthesizing process is performed without changing the analog video signal. Digital image data is used only in the motion detection processing and the high luminance area detection processing.

When applied to a movie / still video camera, an analog video signal is always FM-modulated and recorded on a magnetic tape as shown in FIG. When the shutter release button is pressed, the circuit shown in FIG. 19 operates to obtain one field or one frame of composite image data, which is converted into an analog video signal, and then converted to an analog video signal. Either recorded on the appropriate video track or, as described below,
M is recorded.

However, it is not always necessary for the camera to perform the image synthesizing process. Image data with a small exposure amount may be recorded on a magnetic tape as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

In this way, the inlay synthesis is performed only on an image having no or little motion.

It is needless to say that it may be determined whether or not to perform the synthesizing process only by detecting the motion, or it may be determined whether or not the synthesizing process is necessary only by detecting the high luminance area. It goes without saying that some functions of the circuit shown in FIG. 19 can also be realized by software.

FIG. 20 shows the last embodiment, in which the present invention is applied to a movie / still video camera. 20, the same components as those shown in FIG. 16 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be avoided.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 21, the tracks provided diagonally on the magnetic tape 130 are the video track TRV and the PCM track TRP (PCM = Pulse Co
de Modulation (pulse code modulation), and a movie / still video camera capable of recording signals separately on these tracks TRV and TRP by two magnetic heads 87A and 87B is used. Such a movie / still video camera is disclosed in JP-A-63-9378. In this publication, PCM truck TRP
Is recorded with PCM still image data. Video signals are recorded on one horizontal scanning line per PCM track.

In this embodiment, image data representing a synthesized still image is recorded on the PCM track TRP.
When recording of the FM-modulated video signal on the video track TRV is completed by one magnetic head 87A, PCM on the next PCM track TRP is performed by the other magnetic head 87B.
A record is made. The magnetic heads 87A and 87B repeatedly exchange recording on the video track TRV and recording on the PCM track TRP. The switching circuit 128 includes an FM modulation video signal supplied from the FM modulation circuit 85 and a PCM encoder described later.
The operation is performed such that the PCM signal of the composite still image given from the reference numeral 127 is alternately switched and applied to the magnetic heads 87A and 87B.

In the normal movie mode, no PCM image signal is output from the PCM encoder 127, so that only the FM modulated video signal output from the FM modulation circuit 85 is recorded on the video track TRV. PCM truck TRP
No video signal is recorded.

When the shutter release button 89 is pressed, the video signal of one field (or one frame) immediately after that is converted into digital image data (first image data) by the A / D converter 120, and the switch After passing through 123, the data is stored in the buffer memory 121. This video signal is also FM-modulated and recorded on the video track TR1 on the magnetic tape 130.

For imaging of one field (or one frame) following that, the CCD 83 is driven by the CCD driving circuit 88.
Exposure time of the electronic shutter in of the exposure time in the movie mode (1/60 second or 1/30 second)
/ 4. A video signal imaged under such a small exposure amount is FM-modulated, recorded on the next video track TR2 of the magnetic tape, and A / D-converted.
The data is converted into digital image data (second image data) by the converter 120 and stored in the buffer memory 122 via the changeover switch 123 (the changeover switch is being changed at this time).

After this, the camera returns to the normal movie mode again.

The first image data with a large exposure amount stored in the buffer memory 121 and the second image data with a small exposure amount stored in the buffer memory 122 are combined with each other by a synthesizing circuit.
At 124, the data is fitted and synthesized by the method described above, and is temporarily stored in the frame memory 125. flame·
The combined image data stored in the memory 125 is compressed by a compression circuit 126.
After being subjected to compression processing in step (1), the signal is supplied to a PCM encoder 127, and is subjected to PCM modulation and input to a switching circuit 128.
Then, as described above, the data is recorded little by little on the PCM track TRP. The data compression circuit 126 is not always necessary.

As described above, the synthesized still image data is divided and recorded on the PCM track of the magnetic tape by a predetermined amount.

Instead of changing the exposure time in the CCD 83, as described in connection with the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the amount of exposure is changed by making the strobe light emission amount different in two-field (or two-frame) image shooting. It goes without saying that different first and second image data can be obtained.

The image data may not be synthesized in the camera, but the second image data before synthesis (and the first image data if necessary) may be PCM-recorded on the PCM track.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a scene in the field of view of a camera.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a histogram of photoelectric conversion characteristics and luminance of an image sensor.

FIG. 3A shows an image taken with a relatively large exposure, and FIG. 3B shows an image taken with a small exposure.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a luminance histogram of a synthesized image.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a still video camera.

FIG. 6 shows sample points of image data.

FIG. 7A is a waveform diagram showing an example of a video signal, and FIG.
It is a waveform diagram which shows the video signal after passing through PF.

FIGS. 8A to 8C are waveform diagrams showing a process for detecting a bright area having a certain width or more.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of a circuit for calculating a weighted average of image data at a boundary between a bright region and a dark region.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an embodiment for performing inlay synthesis of a video signal in real time.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the fitting process.

FIG. 12 (A) shows an image taken with a large amount of exposure,
(B) shows an image taken with a small exposure amount, (C) shows a mask pattern, and (D) shows an edge pattern.

13A is a graph showing characteristics of an LUT for level compression, and FIG. 13B is a graph showing characteristics of an enhancement process.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a circuit for creating a mask pattern.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a circuit for creating an edge pattern.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a movie / still video camera.

FIG. 17 shows a video track on a magnetic tape.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an image composition circuit.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing another embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an embodiment in which composite image data is recorded by PCM.

FIG. 21 shows a video track and a PCM track on a magnetic tape.

[Explanation of symbols]

SL relatively dark area SH relatively bright area 10, 49, 109 Exposure control circuit 11, 41 Imaging lens 12, 42 Aperture 13 Shutter 14, 44, 45, 83, 103 CCD 18, 94 Switching circuit 20 CPU 21, 22, 91, 92, 121, 122, 125 Image memory 23 Key signal memory 24, 37a, 37b, 56, 65 Multiplexer 27 Photometric element 28 Strobe device 30a, 30b, 31a, 31b, 32a, 32b, 33a, 33b, 34
a, 34b Multiplier 35 Adder 36 Divider 43 Beam splitter 48 AGC 51, 71 LPF 52, 72, 73, 75 Comparator 53 Pulse width detection circuit 54, 55 Delay circuit 61 Mask pattern memory 62 Edge Pattern memory 63 Mask pattern and edge pattern creation unit 64 Non-linear processing unit 66 Blending unit 74, 78 Edge detection circuit 79 Dilution unit 80, 130 Magnetic tape 88 CCD drive circuit 89 Shutter release button 85 FM modulation circuit 87, 87A, 87B Magnetic head 93 Judgment control unit 95, 110, 124 Synthesis circuit 106 Motion detection circuit 107 High brightness area detection circuit 127 PCM encoder

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Makoto Tsujita 2-26-30 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masafumi Inaya 2-26-30 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Masuki 1-6-6 Matsuzakadaira, Yamato-cho, Kurokawa-gun, Miyagi Prefecture Fujifilm Micro Devices Co., Ltd. In-house (56) References JP-A-62-108678 (JP, A) JP-A-57-39673 (JP, A) JP-A-2-65384 (JP, A) JP-A-2-125573 (JP, A) JP-A-3-13075 (JP, A) JP-A-4-318978 (JP JP, A) JP-A-5-22669 (JP, A)

Claims (39)

(57) [Claims] 1. An object is imaged with two different exposure amounts,
Imaging means for outputting image signals respectively representing two images having different exposure amounts; of the image signals output from the imaging means, the luminance of an image represented by a first image signal representing an image having a large exposure amount is relatively high; A high-brightness area having an area or length that is higher than or equal to a predetermined value or a second image representing an image with a small amount of exposure among image signals output from the imaging means.
Means for determining a low-brightness region having a relatively low brightness and an area or length greater than or equal to a predetermined value in an image represented by the image signal of (i), and high brightness determined by the determination means in the first image signal Area other than area
Synthesizes the image signal representing the region corresponding to the high luminance region in the image signal and the second image signal representing the frequency, or other than the low luminance area determined by said determining means in said second image signal video cameras with a synthesizing means for synthesizing the image signal representing the region corresponding to the low luminance region in the image signal and the first image signal representing the region. And means for determining an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively low luminance and an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively high luminance in the field of view of the camera. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the imaging means captures the subject twice with each of the two determined exposure amounts. 3. The image pickup means receives beam splitter means for splitting incident light according to a predetermined exposure ratio, and receives two incident lights split by the beam splitter means, respectively. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising: two solid-state electronic image sensors that output image signals. 4. The solid-state image pickup device outputs an image signal representing an incident light image, and the solid-state image pickup device drives the solid-state image pickup device so that the exposure time is always constant. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising: means for driving the solid-state electronic image sensor so as to have an exposure time shorter than the fixed exposure time in response. 5. A third storage means for storing an area designation signal representing an area determined by said determination means, wherein said synthesizing means reads out from said first and second storage means in synchronism with each other. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising switching means for selecting and outputting one of the first and second image signals in accordance with an area designation signal read from the third storage means. 6. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein said judging means includes a comparing means for comparing said first image signal or said second image signal with a predetermined threshold level. 7. The means for low pass filtering the first image signal or the second image signal, and determining the low pass filtered image signal with a predetermined threshold level. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising comparison means for comparing. 8. A boundary generated when the synthesizing unit partially replaces the first image signal with the second image signal or partially replaces the second image signal with the first image signal. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising means for producing a signal representing a weighted average of the two image signals in the vicinity. 9. A boundary generated when the combining means partially replaces the first image signal with the second image signal or partially replaces the second image signal with the first image signal. 2. A video camera as claimed in claim 1, including means for low pass filtering the image signal in the vicinity. 10. The first analog video signal, wherein the imaging means outputs a first analog video signal representing an image with a high exposure and a second analog video signal representing an image with a low exposure. Signal and predetermined threshold
A comparator for comparing the level with the first analog video signal and generating an output when the level of the first analog video signal exceeds the threshold level; the first analog video signal and an exposure given in synchronization with the first analog video signal A second analog video signal representing an image having a small amount is input, the first analog video signal is always selected and output, and the second analog video signal is output when the output of the comparator is given. A multiplexer for selecting and outputting a signal, a time width detecting circuit for providing the output signal to the multiplexer when the time width of the output signal of the comparator is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference width, and the first and second analog video signals 2. The video camera according to claim 1, further comprising: a delay circuit that delays the time by a time corresponding to the reference width and applies the delay to each of the multiplexers. 11. The video camera according to claim 10, further comprising a low-pass filter that removes a high-frequency component of the first analog video signal, wherein an output of the low-pass filter is provided to the comparator. . 12. The video as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a strobe light emitting means for executing two times of strobe light emission of a light emission amount appropriate for each of two regions having different distances in the field of view of the camera. ·camera. 13. It into two regions within the camera field of view
There, respectively, the distance is different two respective for the subject becomes appropriate exposure amount of light emission of the strobe light emitting means for performing flash emission twice, twice a subject in synchronization with the strobe light emission by the electronic flash light emitting means Imaging means for taking an image and outputting a video signal representing an image obtained by the imaging, A / D conversion means for converting the video signal output from the imaging means into corresponding digital image data, A / D First storage means for storing first digital image data representing one of the converted images; second storage means for storing second digital image data representing the other A / D-converted image; Means for extracting a region having a relatively high luminance in an image represented by the first image data stored in the first storage means; In one of the image data, the image data of the high brightness region extracted by the extraction means, said stored in said second storage means second
A still video camera comprising: image synthesizing means for generating synthetic image data by replacing the image data with image data of a corresponding area of the image data. 14. A beam splitter means for splitting incident light in accordance with a predetermined exposure amount ratio, receiving two incident lights split by the beam splitter means, respectively, and obtaining an analog signal corresponding to the received light amount. Two solid-state electronic imaging devices for outputting video signals, comparing the first analog video signal output from the solid-state electronic imaging device with a large amount of exposure with a predetermined threshold level, A comparator for generating an output signal when the level exceeds the threshold level; a first analog video signal and a second analog video signal output in synchronism with the first analog video signal and having a small exposure amount; 2, the first analog video signal is always selected and output, and the output of the comparator
Multiplexer for selecting and outputting the second analog video signal when the signal is given, the time width duration of the output signal of the comparator provides said output signal to said multiplexer when the above predetermined reference width A video signal comprising: a detection circuit; and a delay circuit for delaying the first and second analog video signals by a time corresponding to the reference width and applying the time to the multiplexer.
camera. 15. An automatic gain control amplifier circuit for adjusting a level of the second analog video signal is provided.
15. The video camera according to claim 14. 16. An image pickup means including a solid-state electronic image pickup device, for outputting a video signal representing a subject image at a constant period, a shutter release button for inputting a request for imaging a combined still image, and the exposure time is always constant. Means for driving the solid-state electronic image sensor to drive the solid-state image sensor so that the exposure time is shorter than the fixed exposure time in response to an input from the shutter release button. A high-brightness area in which the luminance of the image represented by the first image signal representing the image with a large exposure amount among the video signals output from the electronic imaging element is relatively high and has an area or length equal to or more than a predetermined value; The luminance of an image represented by a second image signal representing an image with a small amount of exposure among video signals output from the solid-state electronic image sensor is relatively low. Means for determining a low-luminance area having an area or length which is lower than or equal to a predetermined value or more, an image signal representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination means in the first image signal and the second image signal Or an image signal representing an area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the first image signal or the image signal representing an area other than the low-luminance area determined by the determination means in the second image signal. A video camera comprising: synthesizing means for synthesizing an image signal representing an area corresponding to a low-luminance area; and means for sequentially recording the image signal synthesized by the synthesizing means on a magnetic tape. 17. An image pickup means including a solid-state electronic image pickup device, for outputting a video signal representing a subject image at a constant period, a shutter release button for inputting a request for image pickup of a composite still image, and a constant exposure time at all times. As described above, when the solid-state electronic image pickup device is driven and an input is made from the shutter release button, the imaging of the first image immediately after the shutter release button becomes the constant exposure time, and the subsequent second exposure is performed. Means for driving the solid-state electronic imaging device so as to obtain an exposure time shorter than the fixed exposure time for capturing one image, and converting a video signal output from the solid-state electronic imaging device into digital image data corresponding to the means. A / D conversion means for converting the image represented by the A / D-converted first image data to have a relatively high luminance and an area larger than a predetermined value. Or a high-luminance area having a length, or a low-luminance area having a relatively low luminance in an image represented by the A / D-converted image data of the second image and having an area or length not less than a predetermined value. And an image signal representing an area other than the high luminance area determined by the determination means in the first image data and an image signal representing an area corresponding to the high luminance area in the second image data. Compositing, or composing image data representing an area other than the low luminance area determined by the determination means in the second image data and image data representing an area corresponding to the low luminance area in the first image data. Synthesizing means, first modulating means for modulating a video signal output from the solid-state electronic imaging device, and a synthesized image obtained from the image synthesizing means. PCM data
The second modulating means for modulating and the signal output from the first modulating means are placed on a video track of a magnetic tape, and the signals outputted from the second modulating means are placed on a PCM track of the magnetic tape by a predetermined length. A video camera with means for recording each. 18. An image pickup device including a solid-state electronic image pickup device, for outputting an image signal representing a subject image, and motion detection for judging whether or not the subject has moved by a predetermined amount or more based on an image signal obtained from the image pickup device. Means, means for controlling the amount of exposure so that the imaging means captures an image of a subject with two different exposures on the condition that no movement is detected by the movement detection means, and an image signal representing an image with a large amount of exposure Means for generating a composite image signal by replacing an image signal representing a region having a relatively high luminance in the image with an image signal representing a corresponding region in the image having a small amount of exposure. . 19. An image signal representing an image with a large amount of exposure, further comprising a high-luminance area detecting means for determining whether a size of a relatively high-luminance area in the image is equal to or larger than a predetermined area, The exposure amount control means enables imaging with two different exposure amounts on condition that no motion is detected by the motion detection means and a high luminance area is detected by the high luminance area detection means. 19. The video camera according to claim 18, wherein the amount of exposure is controlled. 20. A video camera having a solid-state electronic image pickup device for outputting a video signal representing a photographed subject image and a means for adjusting the amount of exposure in the solid-state electronic image pickup device. The first exposure is performed by setting an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively low
Then, an appropriate exposure amount is set for an area having a relatively high luminance in the field of view of the camera, and a second photographing is performed to obtain a second image signal. Or a high-brightness area having an area or length greater than or equal to a predetermined value, or an image represented by the second image signal, having a relatively low luminance and a predetermined value. The low brightness area having the above area or length is determined, and the first
Combining an image signal representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination means in the image signal and an image signal representing an area corresponding to the high-luminance area in the second image signal, or An operation method of a video camera, comprising: combining an image signal representing a region other than the low luminance region determined by the determination means in a signal with an image signal representing a region corresponding to the low luminance region in the first image signal. 21. An image signal output from the solid-state electronic image pickup device by the two photographing operations or this image signal
21. The video camera operating method according to claim 20, wherein the digital image data obtained by the / D conversion is separately recorded on a recording medium. 22. An appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively high luminance and an appropriate exposure amount for an area having a relatively low luminance within the field of view of the camera. 21. The video camera operating method according to claim 20, wherein two image signals having different exposure amounts are obtained by photographing the subject twice with different exposure amounts. 23. A solid-state electronic imaging device is driven so that the exposure time is always constant, and the solid-state electronic imaging device is driven so as to have an exposure time shorter than the fixed exposure time in response to a composite image creation command. 21. The video camera operating method according to claim 20, wherein two image signals having different exposure amounts are obtained by performing the operation. 24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the movement of the subject image is detected based on an image signal obtained from the solid-state electronic imaging device, and when the movement of the subject image is equal to or more than a predetermined amount, the exposure for the predetermined exposure time is continued. Operating method of the described video camera. 25. The image signal according to claim 20, wherein two image signals are obtained by executing two times of strobe light emission of a light emission amount which becomes an appropriate exposure amount for each of two regions having different distances in the field of view of the camera. How the video camera works. 26. A first storage means for storing first image data representing an image with a high exposure amount, a second storage means for storing second image data representing an image with a low exposure amount, Or a high-brightness area having an area or length greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the image represented by the image data, or the luminance in the image represented by the second image data is relatively low and greater than or equal to the predetermined value. Means for determining a low-luminance area having the area or length of the first image data, image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination means in the first image data, and the high-luminance area in the second image data. Combining with the image data representing the area corresponding to the luminance area, or combining the second image data with the low luminance area other than the low luminance area determined by the determination means. Image processing apparatus including a synthesizing means for synthesizing the image data representing a region corresponding to the low luminance region in the image data and the first image data representing a region of the. 27. A third storage means for storing area designation data representing an area determined by said determination means, wherein said synthesizing means reads out from said first and second storage means synchronously. 27. The image processing apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising switching means for selecting and outputting one of the first and second image data in accordance with the area designation data read from the third storage means. 28. The image processing apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said judging means includes a comparing means for comparing said first image data or second image data with predetermined threshold level data. apparatus. 29. The determination means according to claim 1, wherein the first image data or the second image data is row-
27. The image processing apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising: means for performing pass filtering; and comparing means for comparing the low pass filtered image data with predetermined threshold level data. 30. A boundary generated when the synthesizing means partially replaces the first image data with the second image data or partially replaces the second image data with the first image data. 27. The image processing apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising means for generating a signal representing a weighted average value of both image data in the vicinity. 31. A boundary generated when the combining means partially replaces the first image signal with the second image signal or partially replaces the second image signal with the first image signal. 27. The image processing apparatus according to claim 26, further comprising means for low-pass filtering the image signal in the vicinity. 32. A first analog video signal representing an image with a large amount of exposure is compared with a predetermined threshold level, and the level of the first analog video signal exceeds the threshold level. A comparator for generating an output signal when the first analog video signal and a second analog video signal provided in synchronism with the first analog video signal and having a small amount of exposure are input; selects and outputs the signal, the second multiplexer for selecting and outputting the analog video signal, the time width of the output signal of the comparator is greater than or equal to a predetermined reference width when the output signal of the comparator is given In the case of (1), the time width detecting device for providing the output signal to the multiplexer, and the first and second analog video signals are delayed by a time corresponding to the reference width to generate the output signal. The image processing apparatus provided with a delay circuit for applying respectively to the mux. 33. The image processing apparatus according to claim 32, further comprising a low-pass filter that removes a high-frequency component of the first analog video signal, wherein an output of the low-pass filter is provided to the comparator. . 34. An image represented by first image data representing an image having a large amount of exposure, wherein image data respectively representing two images having a different amount of exposure obtained by imaging a subject with two different amounts of exposure are provided. Is relatively high and the luminance of the image represented by the second image data representing the image with a small amount of exposure is relatively low and not less than the predetermined value. A low-luminance area having an area or a length of the first image data, and image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination processing in the first image data and the high-luminance area in the second image data Is synthesized with image data representing an area corresponding to
An image processing method comprising: combining image data representing an area other than the low-luminance area determined by the above-described determination processing in the image data with image data representing an area corresponding to the low-luminance area in the first image data. 35. First image data representing an image with a high exposure amount is stored in a first storage means, and second image data representing an image with a low exposure amount is stored in a second storage means. A high-brightness area in which the brightness of the image represented by the first image data is relatively high and has an area or length equal to or larger than a predetermined value, or a brightness in the image represented by the second image data is relatively low and predetermined. A low-luminance area having an area or a length greater than or equal to the value is determined, and image data representing an area other than the high-luminance area determined by the determination processing in the first image data and the high-luminance area in the second image data are determined. Combining with image data representing an area corresponding to the luminance area, or
An image processing method comprising: combining image data representing an area other than the low-luminance area determined by the above-described determination processing in the image data with image data representing an area corresponding to the low-luminance area in the first image data. 36. An area designation data representing the determined area is stored in a third storage means, and the first and second image data from the first and second storage means are stored in the third storage means. Means for reading area designation data in synchronization with each other, and reading out one of the first and second image data synchronously read from the first and second storage means from the third storage means. 36. The image processing method according to claim 35, wherein the composite image data is obtained by selecting according to the area designation data. 37. Low-pass filtering the first image data or the second image data, and comparing the low-pass filtered image data with predetermined threshold level data. 36. The image processing method according to claim 35, wherein the determination of the area is performed. 38. The method according to claim 38, wherein the first image data is partially replaced with the second image data, or the second image data is partially replaced with the first image data. 36. The image processing method according to claim 35, wherein data representing a weighted average of both image data is created in the vicinity of the generated boundary. 39. The method according to claim 39, wherein the first image data is partially replaced with the second image data, or the second image data is partially replaced with the first image data. 36. The image processing method according to claim 35, wherein the image data is low-pass filtered in the vicinity of the generated boundary.