JP3179529B2 - Video camera - 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 having automatic functions such as a special photographing function, automatic white balance, and automatic exposure control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid spread of video movies integrated with video cameras and VTRs, the user layers have been diversified, and video software works have been created by individuals. For this reason, various functions for freely expressing images have been required. As an example of such a function, a report of the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan, Vol. 14, No.
16 (1990) pp. 1-6.
There is a professional AE system using a variable electronic shutter. With this system, you can select the depth of field like a single-lens reflex camera, so you can focus on just the subject and blur the background to create a portlet effect, or increase the depth to get closer to the subject For example, focusing on a distant subject can be realized.

On the other hand, for a general user layer, a video camera which is easy to operate and easy to use and which can take a beautiful image has been demanded. For this reason, Television Society Report Vol. 14, No. 16 (199
0) As described in pages 13 to 18 and the proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Institute of Television Engineers of Japan (1990), pages 21 to 23, etc., the auto white balance, the auto format, etc.
In many cases, various automatic functions such as scum are mounted on a video camera.

[0004]

However, in the professional AE, the functions that can be realized are limited to blurring the background or the like.
Further, the degree of freedom in selecting an aperture value and a shutter speed largely depends on the illuminance around the subject, and there is a problem that the function cannot be sufficiently exhibited at a low illuminance.

As for the above-mentioned automatic functions such as white balance, although some performance has been obtained,
It has been difficult to obtain the same level of performance as when manually adjusted by a veteran user according to the subject being photographed and the surrounding conditions. In order to improve the performance of automatic functions to such a level, it is necessary for the camera itself to understand what the subject is to some extent, such as when a person takes a picture, but conventionally, such a camera has No functions are provided.

A first object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to express a video such as a portlet for blurring the background of the subject or correcting the color of the subject to make the subject look beautiful. New features, regardless of conditions such as illuminance,
It is to provide a video camera which can be realized.

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

In order to achieve the first object, according to the present invention, when an output signal of an image sensor is processed by a signal processing circuit and converted into a video signal, an output of the signal processing circuit is output. individually controlled according to the extracted output of the extraction means data - extraction means, the signal processing parameters of said specific object portion and other portions in the signal processing circuits for extracting a specific object portion from the video signal And control means.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012]

The video signal output from the signal processing circuit is supplied to the extracting means, and a signal representing a specific subject such as a person (hereinafter referred to as a specific subject signal) is detected from the video signal. The control means controls parameters such as frequency characteristics, amplification degree, hue, etc. of the video signal in the signal processing circuit. According to the output of the extraction means, the specific subject portion in the video signal and other portions are not included. Controls the processing parameters of the signal processing circuit so as to give different frequency characteristics, amplification degrees, hues, and the like. As a result, it is possible to realize functions such as a portlet effect for raising the subject and a correction of the flesh color of the person without affecting the background color.

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video camera according to the present invention, wherein 1 is an image sensor, 2 is a signal processing circuit,
Is a subject extraction circuit, 4 is a control circuit, 5 is a drive circuit, 6 is an iris, and 7 is a lens.

In FIG. 1, light that has passed through a lens 7 and an iris 6 is photoelectrically converted by an image pickup device 1, whereby an electric signal is output from the image pickup device 1. This electric signal is supplied to the signal processing circuit 2 and subjected to processing such as gamma processing to obtain a video signal. This video signal is output to the outside and supplied to the subject extracting circuit 3. The subject extracting circuit 3 is for extracting a predetermined target subject (specific subject), extracts a part (specific subject signal) representing the specific subject from the supplied video signal, and controls the control circuit. 4

The control circuit 4 controls the gain, black level, frequency characteristics, hue, etc. of the video signal in the signal processing circuit 2 and controls the drive circuit 5 and the iris 6 according to the specific subject signal. Works like that. With such control, a function of blurring a portion other than the target subject on the screen, a function of blurring the target specific subject, a function of emphasizing the target specific subject, and a color of the target specific subject are also converted. The same function as that of changing the signal level of the target specific subject can be obtained regardless of conditions such as illuminance.Automatically, by correcting the white balance with the target specific subject on the screen The performance of the white balance function has been improved,
Further, the drive circuit 5 controls the electronic shutter according to the target specific subject, and the iris 6 controls the aperture, so that the optimal depth of field is automatically set.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the signal processing circuit 2 and the control circuit 4 in FIG. 1, wherein 8 is a separation circuit, 9 is a color signal processing circuit, 10 is a vertical aperture correction circuit, and 11 is Horizontal aperture correction circuit, 12 is an amplifier,
Reference numeral 13 denotes an encoder circuit, reference numerals 14 and 15 denote adders, and reference numeral 16 denotes a microcomputer. Parts corresponding to those in FIG.

In FIG. 2, a signal processing circuit 2 includes a separation circuit 8, a color signal processing circuit 9, a vertical aperture correction circuit 10,
The control circuit 4 includes a horizontal aperture correction circuit 11, an amplifier 12, and an encoder circuit 13. The control circuit 4 includes an adder 14, an adder 15, and a microcomputer 16.

In the signal processing circuit 2, the output signal of the image pickup device 1 is supplied to the separation circuit 8 , and the luminance signals Y and R are output.
(Red) signal, G (green) signal, and B (blue) signal. The luminance signal Y vertical aperture correction circuit 10, Ru is supplied to the adder 14 of the horizontal aperture correction circuit 11 and the control circuit 4. In the vertical aperture correction circuit 10, a vertical aperture correction signal is formed from the supplied luminance signal Y,
It is supplied to the adder 15 . Further, in the horizontal aperture correction circuit 11, a horizontal aperture correction signal is formed from the supplied luminance signal Y, and is supplied to the adder 14 . In the adder 14, the microcomputer 16 controls the addition ratio between the luminance signal Y and the horizontal aperture correction signal. In the adder 15, the microcomputer 16 similarly controls the output luminance signal Y of the adder 14 and the vertical aperture correction signal. The addition ratio is controlled. In this way, the luminance signal Y subjected to horizontal and vertical aperture correction is output from the adder 15, amplified by the amplifier 12, and supplied to the encoder circuit 13. Also,
The R (red) signal, the G (green) signal, and the B (blue) signal output from the separation circuit 8 are supplied to a color signal processing circuit 9, where color difference signals RY and BY are formed and an encoder circuit 13 is formed. Supplied to The encoder circuit 13 forms a color video signal from the luminance signal Y and the color difference signals RY and BY and outputs the color video signal to the outside.

On the other hand, the luminance signal Y amplified by the amplifier 12
And the color difference signals RY, B output from the color signal processing circuit 9
−Y is also supplied to the subject extraction circuit 3. In the subject extracting circuit 3, a specific subject signal representing a specific subject in the luminance signal Y and the color difference signals RY and BY is obtained from the level of the luminance signal Y and the level ratio of the color difference signals RY and BY. Is extracted and sent to the microcomputer 16 of the control circuit 4. The microcomputer 16 controls the addition ratio of each of the adders 14 and 15 according to the specific subject signal.

As described above, since the aperture correction amount of the luminance signal Y can be partially changed according to the specific subject, the function of blurring a portion other than the target specific subject on the screen or the target specific subject can be achieved. Function and the like can be realized irrespective of conditions such as illuminance.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention. Reference numerals 17 to 19 denote variable gain amplifiers, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. Is omitted. In the figure, a signal processing circuit 2
Denotes a separation circuit 8, a color signal processing circuit 9, and an encoder circuit 1.
The control circuit 4 comprises a microcomputer 16 and variable gain amplifiers 17-19. The luminance signal Y output from the separation circuit 8 is subjected to gain control by the variable gain amplifier 17 and then supplied to the encoder circuit 13, where the color difference signals RY and BY output from the color signal processing circuit 9 are respectively After the gain is controlled by the variable gain amplifiers 18 and 19, it is supplied to the encoder circuit 13.

On the other hand, the luminance signal Y output from the separation circuit 8 and the color difference signals RY output from the color signal
BY is supplied to the subject extracting circuit 3, and a specific subject signal is extracted in the same manner as in the embodiment shown in FIG. The specific subject signal is supplied to the microcomputer 16 of the control circuit 4, and the microcomputer 16 controls the gains of the variable gain amplifiers 17 to 19 according to the specific subject signal.

Thus, the luminance signal Y and the color difference signal R-
The signal amount of Y, BY is controlled according to the specific subject signal, the function of converting the color of the specific target subject on the screen, the function of changing the signal level of the specific target subject, and the same purpose A function of changing the signal level of a portion other than the specific subject, a function of emphasizing the target specific subject, and the like can be realized irrespective of conditions such as illuminance.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, wherein reference numeral 20 denotes a black level setting circuit, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. Is omitted. 3, the signal processing circuit 2 has the same configuration as the signal processing circuit 2 in FIG. 3, but the control circuit 4 uses a black level setting circuit 20 instead of the variable gain amplifier 17 in the control circuit 4 in FIG. Is used. The luminance signal Y output from the separation circuit 8 is
In the black level setting circuit 20, the microcomputer 16 controls the black level according to the specific subject signal from the subject extracting circuit 3 and supplies the black level to the encoder circuit 13. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

As a result, the black level of the luminance signal Y and the signal amounts of the color difference signals RY and BY are controlled in accordance with the specific subject signal. In addition to the effects obtained in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Further, the function of fading the target specific subject on the screen in white can be realized irrespective of conditions such as illuminance.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, wherein 21 and 22 are delay circuits, 23 is a band separation circuit, and 24 to 30 are multipliers and 31 to 31.
Reference numeral 33 denotes an adder, and portions corresponding to the above-described drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, the signal processing circuit 2 includes a separation circuit 8, a color signal processing circuit 9, an encoder circuit 13, and delay circuits 21 and 22, and a control circuit 4 includes a microcomputer 16, a band separation circuit 23, and multipliers 24 to 24. 30 and adders 31 to 3
It consists of three.

The luminance signal Y output from the separation circuit 8 is supplied to the band separation circuit 23 of the control circuit 4, and the color difference signals RY and BY output from the color signal processing circuit 9 are output from the delay circuit 21, The multiplier 28 of the control circuit 4
30. In the band separation circuit 23, the luminance signal Y is separated into a low-frequency luminance signal YL and a high-frequency luminance signal YH, which are supplied to multipliers 24 and 25, respectively. The multiplier 24 multiplies the low-frequency luminance signal YL by a coefficient (1−φy) output from the microcomputer 16.
The coefficient φh output from 6 is multiplied by the high-frequency luminance signal YH. The coefficient φy and the signal Yse are supplied from the microcomputer 16.
t are output, and these are multiplied by the multiplier 26. The output signals of the multipliers 24, 25 and 26 are added by the adder 31 and supplied to the encoder circuit 13.

On the other hand, in the multiplier 28, the coefficient (1-φry) output from the microcomputer 16 is multiplied by the color difference signal RY, and in the multiplier 30 the coefficient (1-φby) output from the microcomputer 16 is multiplied. ) Is multiplied by the color difference signal BY. Further, the coefficient φry and the signal R-Yset are supplied from the microcomputer 16.
Are output and multiplied by the multiplier 27.
A coefficient φby and a signal BYset are output from the microcomputer 16 and multiplied by the multiplier 29. Multiplier 2
7 and 28 are added by an adder 32,
The output signals 9 and 30 are added by the adder 33 and supplied to the encoder circuit 13 respectively.

As described above, the signal amounts of the low-frequency luminance signal YL and the high-frequency luminance signal YH vary depending on the coefficient (1−φy) and φh, respectively, and the color difference signal RY and the color difference signal B−
The signal amount changes with Y depending on the coefficients (1−φry) and (1−φby), respectively. The microcomputer 16 determines these coefficients (1) according to the specific subject signal from the subject extraction circuit 3.
-Φy), φh, (1-φry), (1-φby)
Control. Therefore, the signal amounts of the low-frequency luminance signal YL, the high-frequency luminance signal YH, the color difference signal RY, and the color difference signal BY change according to the specific subject signal.
Further, since the output signals of the multipliers 24 to 26 are added in the adder 31, the addition ratio of the low frequency luminance signal YL, the high frequency luminance signal YH and the signal Yset is controlled according to the specific subject signal. The adder 32 adds the output signals of the multipliers 27 and 28, and the adder 33 adds the output signals of the multipliers 29 and 30, so that the addition of the color difference signal RY and the signal R-Yset is performed. Ratio, color difference signal BY
And the signal B-Yset are respectively controlled in accordance with the specific subject signal.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the low-frequency luminance signal YL and the high-frequency luminance signal YH according to the specific subject signal.
By changing the addition ratio of the target specific subject and the other parts, the frequency characteristics can be changed, and by changing the addition ratio of the low frequency luminance signal YL, the high frequency luminance signal YH, and the signal Yset, The signal amount can be made different between the target specific subject and the other portions, and the addition ratio between the color difference signals RY and R-Yset, and the addition ratio between the color difference signals BY and BY-Yset Can be changed to make the color of the target specific subject different from that of the other portions. As a result, the function of blurring a portion other than the target specific subject on the screen, the function of blurring the target specific subject, the function of emphasizing the target specific subject, the color of the target specific subject, , A function to change the color from the part other than the specific subject, a function to change the signal level of the target specific subject, and a function to fade the target specific subject to white, etc., regardless of the conditions such as illuminance. Can be realized.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention. Reference numeral 34 denotes a motor, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. . In the figure, a subject extracting circuit 3 extracts a specific subject signal representing a specific subject such as a person from a video signal from the signal processing circuit 2 and uses the high frequency component to field a focus voltage corresponding to the degree of focusing. It is calculated every time. The control circuit 4 controls the motor 34 in accordance with the calculated focus voltage, moves the lens 7 in a direction in which the focus voltage increases, and stops the lens 7 at a position where the focus voltage becomes maximum.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the high-frequency component of the video signal is detected only from the extracted specific subject portion and the focusing control on the specific subject is performed, the focusing accuracy of the autofocus is performed. Will be further improved.

In this embodiment, the lens 7 may be a zoom lens, and the motor 34 may drive the zoom lens. However, the extraction circuit 3 detects a specific subject such as a person's face, and supplies information such as its position and size to the control circuit 4. In the control circuit,
Zoom so that the size of the specific subject is almost constant.
Control the system magnification. According to this, according to the extracted specific subject information, even if the specific subject approaches or moves away during shooting, it is possible to automatically control the size of the specific subject on the screen so that the size of the specific subject is substantially constant, so that the stability is stable. Will be able to shoot.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention. Reference numeral 35 denotes an object recognizing circuit, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. Omitted. In the figure, an extraction circuit 3 extracts a feature of a specific subject from a luminance signal and a chrominance signal supplied from a signal processing circuit 2. The features to be extracted include, in addition to the position on the screen, the level of the luminance signal and the hue, saturation, and motion vector extracted from the color signal. Further, features such as the shape of the specific subject are calculated from these features. The object recognizing circuit 35 uses these characteristics to recognize what the specific object is. The specific subject to be recognized includes, for example, the sky, trees, and the like, in addition to the most common person as the subject of the video camera. The control circuit 4 controls the white balance adjustment, the electronic shutter, the iris, the zoom magnification, and the like according to the conditions such as the specific subject, the color temperature, and the illuminance obtained by the subject recognition circuit 35.

The extraction circuit 3 detects a feature vector from the input image and transfers it to the subject recognition circuit 35. Recognition means 35
Is constituted by, for example, a microcomputer, and determines a specific subject by analyzing an input feature vector. Regarding a method of recognizing an object using a feature vector extracted from an image, many algorithms have been proposed, for example, Artificial Intelligence Handbook, Ohmsha, 1990, pp. 312-400. What is necessary is just to perform recognition using it.

The white balance adjustment based on the recognition result of the specific subject in this embodiment will be described. The control circuit 4 controls the signal processing circuit 2 so as to perform an optimum process according to the extracted subject. Here, the control circuit 4 has the configuration shown in FIG.
In step 5, for example, when a person is recognized as a specific subject, white balance correction is performed by setting a color signal gain so that the skin color does not turn pale. In the dusk scene, the white balance correction is set weaker. As described above, the data of the white balance adjustment according to the specific subject or the scene is obtained.
The data, that is, the amplifier gain, is supplied from the microcomputer 16 (FIG. 3) based on the output of the subject extraction circuit 3.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention. Reference numeral 36 denotes an output circuit, and portions corresponding to those in FIG. I do. In the figure, a video signal output from a signal processing circuit 2 is supplied to an object extracting means 3 and also to an output circuit 36. Subject recognition circuit 35
Is the size and shape of the specific subject extracted by the extraction means 3;
The specific subject is recognized from the position, movement, color, and the like, and the recognition result is supplied to the output circuit 36. The output circuit 36 superimposes the recognition result on the video signal from the signal processing circuit 2 as a signal in the form of words, voices, characters, video, codes, etc., and outputs it to the outside. Of course, the output circuit 36 can also output only the recognition result as a similar signal format to the outside. Such a recognition result output to the outside can be recorded on a recording medium together with the video signal or alone, and the recorded recognition result can be used as a search function when editing the recording medium. Can also.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention. The same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to those in FIG. 8, and duplicate description will be omitted. In the figure, the control circuit 4 performs not only the extraction result of the object extraction circuit 3 but also the recognition result of the object recognition circuit 35, the signal processing circuit 2, the object extraction means 3, the object recognition circuit 35, and the output circuit 36. Control. That is, the control circuit 4 determines whether the extraction result of the subject extraction circuit 3
By recognizing what the extracted specific subject is from the recognition result of No. 5, it is possible to determine whether the extracted specific subject is the target specific subject, and thereby to set the extraction condition of the subject extracting means 3 again. It becomes possible. Therefore, the extraction accuracy of the target specific subject can be improved.

Also, in this embodiment, the function of recognizing what the target specific subject is and blurring the portion other than the specific subject on the screen, the function of blurring the target specific subject portion, and the purpose A function to blur the part other than the specific subject and the specific subject part with an arbitrary intensity, a function to emphasize the target specific subject, a function to change the color of the target specific subject, etc.
In accordance with the recognized result, the selection can be automatically performed by the control circuit 4, and the output of the extraction result can be automatically set.

Next, a specific example of the subject extracting circuit 3 in each of the embodiments described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.
explain. However, 3a is a white correction circuit, 3b is an axis conversion circuit, 3c is a switching circuit, 3d is a multiplier, 3e is comparison means,
Reference numeral 3f denotes an AND gate, and portions corresponding to the above-described drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

In FIG. 10, the subject extracting circuit 3 includes a white correction circuit 3a, an axis conversion circuit 3b, a switching circuit 3c, a multiplier 3d, a comparing means 3e, and an AND gate 3f. The luminance signal Y supplied from the signal processing circuit 2 (for example, FIG. 2) is supplied to the comparing means 3e, and the color difference signal R-
Y and BY are supplied to the white correction circuit 3a. The white correction circuit 3a corrects the color difference signals RY and BY by controlling the white shift amount from the microcomputer 16 of the control circuit 4, and performs optimal white correction on any color signal. White correction circuit 3
The color difference signals RY and BY output from a are axis-converted by the axis conversion circuit 3b according to the axis conversion amount from the microcomputer 16. Here, the color difference signal R output from the white correction circuit 3a
-Y and BY are Cr and Cb, respectively, and the color difference signals RY and BY output from the axis conversion circuit 3b are Cx and Cy, respectively.
Then, Cx and Cy are represented by the following equations. Cx (θ) = Cr · sin (θ) + Cb · cos (θ) (1) Cy (θ) = Cr · cos (θ) −Cb · sin (θ) (2) Θ changes according to the amount of axis conversion from the microcomputer 16.

The color difference signal C output from the axis conversion circuit 3b
x, Cy are supplied to the comparing means 3e, and the color difference signals Cx, Cx
y and the luminance signal Y are compared with a comparison condition from the microcomputer 16. The comparison condition is Y1 for the luminance signal Y, C1 for the color difference signals Cx and Cy, or the luminance signal Y.
, And the color difference signals Cx and Cy can be automatically set according to the specific subject, such as C2, or can be set arbitrarily from the outside. The comparing means 3e outputs signals when the luminance signal Y and the color difference signals Cx and Cy satisfy the comparison conditions, respectively. These output signals are supplied to the AND gate 3f, whereby the luminance signal Y, the color difference signal Cx, A signal indicating a period in which Cy satisfies the respective comparison conditions is obtained at the same time, and this is a target specific subject signal.

The color difference signals Cx and Cy output from the axis conversion circuit 3b are also supplied to the switching circuit 3c. The switching circuit 3c switches the extraction condition in the subject extraction circuit 3 according to whether the target specific subject is chromatic or achromatic. When the specific subject is chromatic, the switching circuit 3c is controlled by the microcomputer 16. The color difference signals Cx and Cy output from the axis conversion circuit 3b are selected, and when the specific subject is achromatic, a signal of a fixed amount 1 is selected. The output signal of the switching circuit 3c is supplied to the multiplier 3d,
Is multiplied by a multiplier tanΔ controlled by According to the multiplier tanΔ, when the specific subject is a chromatic color, a fan-shaped portion indicated by oblique lines in FIG. 11 is an extraction region, and when the specific subject is achromatic, a small region near the center in FIG. It becomes an extraction area. Angle Δ and color saturation (color density) representing the hue (hue) extraction range in this sector
Is the multiplier tanΔ in the multiplier 3d and the comparison means 3
From the above, it is possible to cope with the extraction of both chromatic and achromatic specific subjects.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention, wherein 3a is an extraction circuit for processing / processing, 3b is an extraction circuit for recognition, 35a is a recognition circuit, and 35b is an encoding circuit. This is a circuit, and the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to FIG.

In the figure, a subject extracting circuit 3 performs processing and processing for processing and processing a specific subject signal so that it can be processed by a control circuit 4 and recognition for processing and processing a specific subject signal with a subject recognizing circuit 35. The object recognition circuit 35 includes a recognition circuit 35a for recognizing the object and an encoding circuit 35b for encoding the recognition result. In the subject extraction circuit 3, the output signal of the processing / processing extraction circuit 3a is supplied to the control circuit 4, and the output signal of the recognition extraction circuit 3b is supplied to the subject recognition circuit 35.
In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 can be obtained.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 13 corresponds to FIGS.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the output circuit 36 is a recognition result output circuit 3 for outputting the recognition result from the object recognition circuit 35.
6a and an adder 36b for adding the recognition result from the recognition result output circuit 36a and the video signal from the signal processing circuit 2 so that the recognition result from the recognition result output circuit 36a is also supplied to the control circuit 4. It was made. In this embodiment, the same effect as that of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 12 can be obtained.

[0050]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the specific subject can be extracted and the image quality control of the specific subject and the other parts can be individually performed, regardless of the conditions such as the illuminance, the portray of the background of the specific subject and the color of the specific subject can be obtained. For example, various image quality adjustment functions such as correcting a specific subject to make it look beautiful, etc., can be easily realized.

[0051]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a signal processing circuit and a control circuit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a subject extraction circuit.

11 is a diagram showing an extraction operation of the subject extraction circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the video camera according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image sensor 2 Signal processing circuit 3 Extraction circuit 4 Control circuit 5 Drive circuit 6 Iris 7 Lens 8 Separation circuit 9 Color signal processing circuit 13 Encoder 14, 15 Multiplier 16 Microcomputer 17-19 Variable gain amplifier 20 Black level setting circuit 21, Reference Signs List 22 delay circuit 23 band separation circuit 24-30 multiplier 31-33 adder 34 motor 35 subject recognition circuit 36 output circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mayuko Yamamoto 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd. Image Media Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Takuya Imade, Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Reference numeral 292, Hitachi, Ltd. Image Media Research Laboratory (56) References JP-A-2-149079 (JP, A) JP-A-60-136480 (JP, A) JP-A-1-225927 (JP, A) JP-A-1-180188 (JP, A) JP-A-3-80676 (JP, A) JP-A-3-187580 (JP, A) JP-A-64-91190 (JP, A) (58) .Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/222-5/257 H04N 9/04

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A video camera in which an output signal of an image sensor is processed by a signal processing circuit to obtain a video signal, wherein a specific subject signal representing a specific subject is extracted from the output video signal of the signal processing circuit. means and the signal processing parameters of the signal processing circuit in the said specific object portion and other portions of the video signal in response to the extraction output of the extraction means - the provision and control means for individually controlling the motor A video camera characterized by the following. 2. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein a signal processing parameter of the signal processing circuit controlled by the control means is a sharpness or a frequency characteristic of the video signal. 3. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein a signal processing parameter of the signal processing circuit controlled by the control means is a signal level of the video signal. 4. The video camera according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing parameters of the signal processing circuit controlled by the control means are saturation and hue of a color signal in the video signal.