JP3396038B2 - Image capture device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image capturing device for capturing a desired image with high resolution.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an image scanner to which a line sensor is applied is used for capturing a high resolution image. However, although the above-mentioned image scanner is capable of high-resolution imaging, it has a drawback that it takes a long time to capture. Therefore, an image can be captured at high speed by using a two-dimensional image sensor.

High-definition television (HDTV; High Def)
An image pickup device having 2 million pixels or more is required to capture an image having a resolution equal to or higher than that of an inition television. Therefore, an image pickup device having 2 million pixels is currently being developed. On the other hand, when capturing an image with an image capturing device as shown in FIG. 9, it is necessary to recognize the range in which the image should be captured.

[0004]

However, when the image pickup device having 2 million pixels is used, an expensive HDTV monitor is required even when the image pickup device is used only for confirming the capturing range. Then, in an image pickup device having more than 2 million pixels, there is almost no suitable display system, which is limited.

In order to solve such a drawback, it is possible to thin out data through an IC memory and output it to a low-resolution display system. However, in order to store pixel information of all image pickup elements in the memory. It takes time, and naturally it takes a lot of time to display it on the monitor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a low resolution image for confirming a range in an image capturing apparatus using a two-dimensional image pickup device having 2 million pixels or more. An object is to provide an image capturing device capable of outputting in real time to a display system.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the image capturing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention has a low resolution.
Whenever a display system image capture device that outputs an image, a color filter is disposed in front and can be randomly accessed on
The number of pixels exceeds the number of pixels of the low resolution display system.
And two-dimensional image pickup device that, thinning read from the two-dimensional image sensor
Applies the projected pixel signal to the low resolution display system
Is the same as the color arrangement order of the color filters above.
Pixel readout means for obtaining signals of pixels in the same color array order,
The signal read by the pixel reading means is converted into the low-resolution signal.
Output means for outputting to the display system of the image degree . Furthermore, the image acquisition according to the second aspect of the present invention
In the embedded device, the color filter is a mosaic filter.
The pixel reading means is configured by the two-dimensional image sensor.
Pixel signals read out by thinning out are
The color arrangement order is the same as that of
It In addition, in the image capturing device according to the third aspect of the present invention,
The above color filter is a stripe filter, and
The pixel reading means thins out the two-dimensional image pickup device.
The read pixel signal is read by the stripe filter.
The color arrangement order is the same as the color arrangement order.

[0008]

That is, the image capturing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention outputs an image to a low resolution display system.
, A color filter is placed in front of it and a random
The accessible 2D image sensor is a low-resolution display system image.
It has more pixels than the prime number. And pixel reading
Read-out is performed by thinning out from this two-dimensional image pickup device.
The projected pixel signal is suitable for a low-resolution display system
The number of pixels and the same color as the color arrangement order of the above color filter
The signals of the pixels in the arrangement order are used, and this signal is output by the output means.
Signal is output to the low resolution display system. Furthermore, this
In the image capturing device according to the second aspect of the invention,
Is a mosaic filter, and the pixel reading means
Image read out from the two-dimensional image sensor by
The raw signal is the same as the color arrangement order of the mosaic filter above.
The color arrangement order is used. Also, according to the third aspect of the present invention.
In the image capturing device, the color filter is a stripe filter.
The two-dimensional image by the pixel reading means.
The signals of the pixels thinned out from the image sensor are
The color arrangement order is the same as that of the trip filter.
It

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the image capturing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image capturing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image capturing device of the present invention comprises a charge modulation device (hereinafter abbreviated as CMD) 1, analog processing circuits 2 and 6, and an analog / digital converter (hereinafter
A / D converter) 3, digital processing circuits 4, 10,
Digital / analog converter (hereinafter abbreviated as D / A converter) 5, amplifier (hereinafter abbreviated as AMP) 7, monitor 8,
The interface 11, the printer 12, the system controller 13, and the CMD driver 14 are included.

Here, the normal CMD has a vertical shift register 17 and a horizontal shift register 1 as shown in FIG.
The structure is such that the electric charge is converted from the light receiving portion selected in 8 through the output buffer 19 into current and voltage and is read out of the element. In such a configuration, a shift register is used for selecting the light receiving portion. Can only scan sequentially,
Since random access is not possible, this embodiment uses the CMD1 having the configuration shown in FIG.

The CMD1 has a vertical selection line 20a based on address designation by a vertical line designation circuit 22.
To 20d, and then the horizontal line designation circuit 23 selects the vertical line 21a based on the horizontal addressing.
21d to 21d are selected, and the designated pixel data is current-voltage converted by the output buffer 19 and output. In this way, the address is specified by the CMD driver 14. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining selection of pixels for outputting with the number of pixels suitable for a low-resolution monitor, taking a mosaic filter as an example.

The figure shows an example of thinning out vertically and horizontally to 1/4, and the range surrounded by the thick frame 50 is set as one pixel, and the pixels surrounded by circles in the figure are output as representative values. In this way, by thinning out pixels and sequentially reading out pixels in a circled portion, it is possible to output with the number of pixels suitable for a low resolution monitor. In addition, the pixel to be selected operates so as to be selected from each color as shown by a portion surrounded by a circle in the figure for colorization. FIG. 7 shows a specific example of thinning out to 1/3 in the vertical and horizontal directions in the pixel reset operation.

In the figure, the pixels to be read are surrounded by circles, and the pixels to be thinned out are indicated by crosses. After reading the circled portion of the first line, resetting is performed simultaneously from the first line to the third line including the lines that are not read.

After that, the pixels in the circled portion of the fourth line are sequentially read out, and then resetting is simultaneously performed from the fourth line to the sixth line. The reason why the pixels that are not read out are reset is that excess charges are not accumulated in the pixels, and the influence of the false signal due to the excess charges is reduced. In the image capturing device having such a configuration, the CMD 1 is driven by the CMD driver 14 by the above-described operation, the captured image is processed by the analog processing circuit 2 such as LPF clamp, and the A / D converter 3 is used. Converts digital signals.

One of the digital signals is input to the digital signal processing circuit 4, and the other is input to the memory 9. The digital signal processing circuit 4 is converted into an output system suitable for the monitor 8.

For example, the monitor 8 is an NTSC (National T
elevision system committee) signal, the digital NTSC encoder operates. After that, the D / A converter 5 converts the analog signal. After that, processing such as LPF is performed in the analog signal processing circuit 6 and output to the monitor 8 via the AMP 7.

When the reading of the signal from the monitor 8 in the CMD1 is completed, the exposure for reading all the pixels is started. Then, after the exposure, the image signal is read and the signal is sent to the A / D converter 3 via the analog signal processing circuit.

The signal from the A / D converter 3 is stored in the memory 9
To record. After recording, the digital signal processing circuit 10 is read at a data rate suitable for the output system.
Then, processing such as contour enhancement is performed, and the result is output to the printer 12 via the interface 11. This output is not limited to a printer, but may be a recording device such as a mass storage, and in that case, the circuit configuration is the same. In the above device, the output to the monitor 8 and the recording to the memory 9 cannot be performed simultaneously because the amount of data and the read time from the image sensor are different.

The data output system is switched by the system controller 13, the control line 13a controls the output to the monitor 8, and the control line 13b controls the memory 9.

When an image is output to the monitor 8 while the image is being recorded in the memory 9, a memory 16 is provided inside the digital section 15 as shown in FIG. A still image can be output to the monitor 8.

In the present embodiment, one pixel of the image in the thick frame 50 in FIG. 5 is output, but in FIG.
As shown in, the S / N is improved by adding and outputting the same color in the thick frame 60.

Since the signal current increases when pixels are added and read out, it is necessary to change the current-voltage characteristics of the output buffer 19 in FIG. 4 so that the output buffer 19 does not saturate.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example in which a digital section is not provided in a signal processing system for outputting to a monitor as a second embodiment. The same contents as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the output of the analog processing circuit 2 is selected by the analog switch 25 on the monitor 8 side.
The system switch 13 controls the analog switch 25. After that, the analog processing circuit 6 performs processing such as an encoder and outputs it to the monitor 8 via the amplifier 7. As described above, in this embodiment, since the digital signal is output to the monitor 8, the digital section is not used.
There is an advantage that the consumption is lower than that of the embodiment.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to these and can be improved and changed. For example, any element other than CMD that can be randomly accessed can be applied to the present invention.

Further, although the mosaic filter has been described as an example in the embodiment, it can be applied to a stripe filter or a three-chip camera by thinning out pixels and outputting.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an image capturing device capable of easily confirming the position of a subject even with an image pickup device having a pixel number far exceeding the resolution of a monitor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an improved example of a digital unit 15 in the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a CMD1 used in a normal image capturing device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a CMD1 used by the image capturing apparatus of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining selection of pixels in the present embodiment by taking a mosaic filter as an example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a specific example for improving S / N in pixel selection according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a pixel reset operation according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image capturing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image capturing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CMD, 2 ... Analog signal processing circuit, 3 ... A / D converter, 4 ... Digital signal processing circuit, 5 ... D / A converter,
6 ... Analog signal processing circuit, 7 ... Amplifier, 8 ... Monitor,
9 ... Memory, 10 ... Digital signal processing circuit, 11 ... Interface, 12 ... Printer, 13 ... System controller, 14 ... CMD driver.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image for outputting an image on a low resolution display system.
Capture device with color filter on the front and random access
The number of pixels exceeds the number of pixels of the above low resolution display system.
And two-dimensional imaging element, the signal of pixels thinning read from the two-dimensional image sensor
Is the number of pixels adapted to the low resolution display system and
Pixels with the same color arrangement order as the color arrangement order of the above color filter
A low-resolution pixel read-out unit that outputs a signal and a signal read out by the pixel read-out unit.
An image capturing device, comprising: an output unit that outputs the image to a display system . 2. The color filter is a mosaic filter.
Yes, the pixel reading means thins out the two-dimensional image sensor.
Read out the pixel signals and use the mosaic filter
A contract characterized by having the same color arrangement order as the color arrangement order
The image capturing device according to claim 1. 3. The color filter is a stripe filter.
And the pixel reading means thins out from the two-dimensional image sensor.
The signal of the read pixel is read by the stripe filter
The color arrangement order is the same as the color arrangement order of
The image capturing device according to claim 1.