JP6673506B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device.

2. Description of the Related Art There is known an imaging apparatus which adds various image effects to a live view image and displays the image. (Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-155449 A

The process of adding various image effects to a live view image is complicated, and it has been difficult to create a live view image using the same creation method.

An imaging apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures a subject image and outputs an imaging signal, a first image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal output by the imaging unit, A second image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal and consumes less power than the first image processing circuit, and / or at least one of the first image processing circuit and the second image processing circuit An image generation unit that generates a display image to be displayed on a display unit based on image data output from the image processing unit, and a reading method of the imaging unit based on a type of image processing performed by the first image processing circuit. And a control unit that performs the control.
  An imaging device according to a second aspect of the present invention includes an imaging unit that captures a subject image and outputs an imaging signal, a first image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal output by the imaging unit, A second image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal and consumes less power than the first image processing circuit, and / or at least one of the first image processing circuit and the second image processing circuit An image generating unit that generates a display image to be displayed on a display unit based on the image data output from the image processing unit. When adding to the display image, the display image is generated based on the first image data output from the first image processing circuit.

  According to the present invention, a display image can be created by a creation method suitable for image processing.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a timing chart regarding a drive signal used for controlling an image sensor. It is a functional block diagram about ASIC. 5 is a flowchart relating to processing executed in the imaging device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of an imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic camera 200 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a photographing lens 7, an aperture 8, an aperture driving unit 9,
An image sensor 10, an analog signal processing circuit 11, an A / D conversion circuit 12, and an ASIC (Ap
application Specific Integrated Circuit 13
, Driver 16, timing generator (TG) 17, CPU 18, RAM1
9, a ROM 20, a display monitor 21, a main switch 22, a half-press switch 23, a full-press switch 24, a photometric device 25, and a recording medium 27.

The photographing lens 7 includes a plurality of lens groups including a zoom lens and a focusing lens, and forms a subject image on a light receiving surface of the image sensor 10. In FIG. 1, the photographic lens 7 is illustrated as a single lens for simplicity. The diaphragm 8 is formed from a plurality of diaphragm blades (not shown), and adjusts the amount of a light beam to be received by the image sensor 10. The aperture driving unit 9
The diaphragm blade (not shown) is driven based on the diaphragm value set by the CPU 18.

In the electronic camera 200 shown in FIG. 1, the taking lens 7 is formed integrally with the camera (
The digital camera has a photographic lens that cannot be removed. However, the configuration described below can also be applied to a camera system including a camera body and an interchangeable lens that is detachable from the camera body. In this case, of the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the taking lens 7, the aperture 8, and the aperture driving unit 9 are on the interchangeable lens side, and the other configurations are on the camera body side.

The imaging device 10 has imaging pixels and focus detection pixels on its imaging surface. The imaging pixels are arranged on the imaging surface of the imaging device 10 according to, for example, a Bayer arrangement. A subject image is formed on the imaging surface of the imaging element 10 by the imaging lens 7. Each pixel of the image sensor 10 is a CPU 1
Exposure is performed during the shutter speed set by 8 and signal charges corresponding to the brightness of the subject image are accumulated.

The image sensor 10 includes an internal oscillation device 10a. The internal oscillation device 10a generates a drive signal at a predetermined frame rate. The signal charges stored in the image sensor 10 are read out according to a drive signal output from the internal oscillating device 10 a or a driver 16 described later, and output to the analog signal processing circuit 11. The signal charges accumulated in the imaging pixels are used for generating a live view image, a recording image compressed in various compression formats, and the like.

The analog signal processing circuit 11 includes an AGC circuit, a CDS circuit, and the like, performs analog signal processing (gain control, noise removal, and the like) on the signal charges read from the image sensor 10, and outputs an image signal. The A / D conversion circuit 12 converts the image signal after analog signal processing by the analog signal processing circuit 11 into a digital signal, and outputs the digital signal to the ASIC 13.
The analog signal processing circuit 11 and the A / D conversion circuit 12 can be formed integrally with the imaging device 10.

The ASIC 13 uses the RAM 19 as a work area, performs image processing described later on the digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12, and outputs a live view image, a recording image compressed in various compression formats, and the like.

The timing generator 17 generates a timing signal under the control of the CPU 18. The timing signal is supplied to each of the analog signal processing circuit 11, the A / D conversion circuit 12, and the driver 16. The driver 16 generates a drive signal using the timing signal, and outputs the drive signal to the image sensor 10.

The CPU 18 is configured by a microcomputer or the like, and controls each unit of the electronic camera 200 by executing a control program stored in the ROM 20 using the RAM 19 as a work area. The RAM 19 is a working memory that temporarily stores data when the ASIC 13, the CPU 18, and the like execute processing of each unit. The ROM 20 is a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM or a flash memory, and stores a control program of the electronic camera 200, setting information, and the like. The display monitor 21 is, for example, a liquid crystal monitor, and displays a live view image, a menu screen, a recording image stored in a recording medium 27 described later, and the like. The display data displayed on the display monitor 21 is generated by the CPU 18.

The main switch 22 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the ON operation or the OFF operation to the CPU 18. The CPU 18 starts power supply from a power supply circuit (not shown) to each block when receiving an ON operation signal, and stops power supply from the power supply circuit to each block when receiving an OFF operation signal.

The half-press switch 23 and the full-press switch 24 are turned on / off in conjunction with the pressing operation of a release button (not shown), and each output an operation signal to the CPU 18. The half-press switch 23 outputs a half-press signal when a release button (not shown) is pressed down to about half of the normal stroke. The output of the half-press signal is released by releasing the half-stroke pressing operation of the half-press switch 23.

The full-press switch 24 outputs a full-press signal when a release button (not shown) is pressed down to a normal stroke. Then, when the full-stroke switch 24 is released from the depression operation of the normal stroke, the output of the full-push signal is released.

The photometric device 25 calculates the brightness of the subject when a half-press signal of the half-press switch 23 is input to the CPU 18. The recording medium 27 is composed of, for example, a data storage member such as a flash memory card, and stores a recording image and the like.

(Drive signal)
FIG. 2A is a timing chart related to a drive signal output from the internal oscillation device 10a. In FIG. 2A, the drive signal output from the internal oscillating device 10a temporarily falls from the H level to the L level every time the time corresponding to the predetermined frame rate elapses. Exposure of each pixel of the image sensor 10 is started when the drive signal output from the internal oscillation device 10a falls (for example, time T1, time T2), and ends after the set shutter speed has elapsed. This shutter speed is limited by the frame rate of the drive signal. If the set shutter speed is longer than the frame rate of the drive signal, the image sensor 1
Each pixel of 0 is exposed for a time corresponding to the frame rate.

On the other hand, FIG. 2B is a timing chart regarding a drive signal output from a driver 16 provided outside the image sensor 10. In FIG. 2B, the drive signal output from the driver 16 falls from the H level to the L level at the time T3, and rises from the L level to the H level at the time T4. When the drive signal falls (for example, at time T3), exposure of each pixel of the image sensor 10 is started. When the drive signal rises (for example, at time T4
), The exposure is completed and the reading of the signal charges is started. The time from the fall to the rise of the drive signal output from the driver 16 (for example, the period from time T3 to time T4) is the shutter speed. When the drive signal output from the driver 16 is used, the frame rate is variable by controlling the fall and rise of the pulse signal of the drive signal output from the driver 16. That is, unlike the drive signal output from the internal oscillation device 10a, the shutter speed is not limited by the frame rate of the drive signal, and the exposure time of the pixel and the signal readout from the pixel can be appropriately controlled.

(Signal charge reading method)
The electronic camera 200 has a plurality of reading methods for reading out signal charges accumulated in the image sensor 10. For example, the electronic camera 200 has a reading method such as an all-pixel reading method or a thinning-out reading method.

The all-pixel reading method is used, for example, when recording image data for a still image is recorded on the recording medium 27. In the all-pixel readout method, the driver 16 transmits
When a drive signal is input to the imaging device 10, signal charges are read from all the pixels of the image sensor 10 in accordance with the drive signal.

The thinning-out reading method is used, for example, when displaying a live view image on the display monitor 21. In the thinning-out reading method, the internal oscillating device 10a oscillates a driving signal at a predetermined frame rate, and thins out some pixels of the image sensor 10 according to the driving signal to read out signal charges. As a result, the data size of the image data to be subjected to image processing is reduced, and the processing load is reduced.

(Operation of ASIC 13)
The electronic camera 200 has a plurality of operation modes such as a shooting mode, a first live view display mode, and a second live view display mode. The ASIC 13 generates image data corresponding to each operation mode based on a digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12.
Note that the first live view display mode and the second live view display mode are collectively referred to as a live view display mode.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the ASIC 13. The ASIC 13 shown in FIG.
It has a first ASIC 131 and a second ASIC 132. The first ASIC 131 includes a first input unit 100, a first resize unit 101, a second resize unit 102, a first preprocessing unit 103, and a first
It has an output unit 104 and a second output unit 105.

The second ASIC 132 includes a second input unit 301, a third input unit 302, and a second pre-processing unit 303.
And an evaluation value processing unit 304, a second image processing unit 305, a resize processing unit 306, a first image processing unit 307, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) unit 308, a display unit 309, a compression unit 312, and a recording unit 313.

(Shooting mode)
When the full-press signal is output, the electronic camera 200 shifts to the shooting mode. When the electronic camera 200 is in the shooting mode, the reading method of the image sensor 10 is set to the all-pixel reading method. The signal charge of the image sensor 10 is read based on the drive signal output by the driver 16. These signal charges are converted into digital signals via the analog signal processing circuit 11 and the A / D conversion circuit 12 and output to the ASIC 13. The digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is taken into the first input unit 100 of the first ASIC 131.

In the photographing mode, the first input unit 100 outputs a digital signal captured from the A / D conversion circuit 12 to the first resizing unit 101. In the shooting mode, the first resizing unit 101 performs a resizing process on the digital signal for a recording image. First resize unit 101
Is output to the first output unit 104. The first output unit 104 outputs a digital signal to the second input unit 301 of the second ASIC 132.

The second input unit 301 of the second ASIC 132 acquires the output signal of the first output unit 104,
Output to the second pre-processing unit 303 and the evaluation value processing unit 304. The second pre-processing unit 303
Image pre-processing such as contour compensation and gamma correction is performed on the signal acquired by the input unit 301, and the processing result is stored in the RAM 19 as first captured image data 401.

The evaluation value processing unit 304 includes an evaluation value 402 that is used for adjustment of light-dark difference, white balance adjustment, and the like.
Is calculated, and the evaluation value 402 is stored in the RAM 19. The DSP unit 308 has a RAM
Based on the evaluation value 402 stored in the storage unit 19, parameters relating to the contrast adjustment and white balance adjustment in the first image processing unit 307 are set.

The first image processing unit 307 converts the first captured image 401 stored in the RAM 19
Based on the parameters output from the DSP unit 308, image processing such as white balance adjustment, exposure correction, and contrast adjustment (dynamic range expansion) is performed, and stored in the RAM 19 as a developed image 405. Brightness / darkness adjustment is image processing for suppressing overexposure in a highlight portion of the first captured image 401 and reducing underexposure in a shadow portion.
The processing is executed based on the parameters set by. The contrast adjustment process involves many processing steps and consumes more power than other image processes.

The developed image 405 is compressed by the compression unit 312 into a compressed image 406 of a predetermined compression format (for example, JPEG). The compressed compressed image 406 is recorded on the recording medium 27 in FIG. 1 by the recording unit 313 as a recording image.
A series of processes from the transition of the electronic camera 200 to the photographing mode to the recording of the recording image on the recording medium 27 is defined as a photographing process.

(1st live view display mode)
When the electronic camera 200 is in the first live view display mode, the reading method of the electronic camera 200 is set to the thinning reading method. The signal charge of the image sensor 10 is
0a is read out at a predetermined frame rate based on the output drive signal. These signal charges are converted into digital signals via the analog signal processing circuit 11 and the A / D conversion circuit 12 and output to the ASIC 13. The digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is taken into the first input unit 100 of the first ASIC 131.

In the first live view display mode, the first input unit 100 outputs the digital signal captured from the A / D conversion circuit 12 to the second resize unit 102. The second resizing unit 102 performs a resizing process for image processing on the digital signal. The digital signal subjected to the resizing processing by the second resizing unit 102 is a digital signal having smaller image data than the digital signal subjected to the resizing processing by the first resizing unit 101 described above. The digital signal subjected to the resizing processing by the second resizing section 102 is subjected to image preprocessing such as contour compensation and gamma correction by the first preprocessing section 103, and is output to the second output section 105.
The second output unit 105 outputs the signal after the image preprocessing to the third input unit 302 of the second ASIC 132.

The third input unit 302 of the second ASIC 132 acquires the output signal of the second output unit 105,
Output to the second image processing unit 305. The second image processing unit 305 performs at least the image processing except the contrast adjustment among the image processing performed by the first image processing unit 307 on the signal acquired by the second output unit 105 to thereby obtain the second captured image. The data 403 is generated, and the second captured image data 403 is stored in the RAM 19. The second image processing unit 305 does not perform the light-dark difference adjustment, and thus consumes less power than the first image processing unit 307.

The resize processing unit 306 performs resize processing on the second captured image data 403 again, generates a display image 404, and stores the display image 404 in the RAM 19. The display unit 309 outputs the display image 404 to the display monitor 21. By doing so, the internal oscillation device 10a
The display image 404 is displayed on the display monitor 21 as a live-view image at the frame rate of the drive signal output by the controller.

(2nd live view display mode)
In the second live view display mode, a live view image to which the same image effect as the image effect added to the developed image 405 generated in the shooting mode is added is displayed on the display monitor 21.
To be displayed. For example, an image effect based on an aperture value and a shutter speed used in the shooting mode, and an image effect based on exposure correction and contrast adjustment performed by the first image processing unit 307 of the second ASIC 132 in the shooting mode are added to the live view image. This allows the user to check the image effect added to the image obtained by shooting before shooting.

In the second live view display mode, the readout method of the image sensor 10 and the processing procedure in the ASIC 13 differ depending on which image effect is added to the live view image. For example, in the second live view display mode, when adding an image effect based on the shutter speed used in the shooting mode to the live view image, the electronic camera 200 sets the reading method of the image sensor 10 to the all-pixel reading method. That is, the signal charges are read from all the pixels of the image sensor 10 based on the drive signal (FIG. 2B) output from the driver 16. On the other hand, when adding an image effect other than the image effect based on the shutter speed to the live view image,
The reading method of the image sensor 10 is set to the thinning reading method. That is, signal charges are read from the image sensor 10 based on the drive signal (FIG. 2A) output from the internal oscillation device 10a. As described above, when the image effect due to the shutter speed is added to the live view image, when the readout of the signal charge from the imaging element 10 is performed based on the drive signal output from the internal oscillation device 10a, the shutter speed becomes equal to the drive signal. Frame rate. Therefore, by controlling the rising and falling timings of the drive signal output from the driver 16, it is possible to cope with the shutter speed used in the shooting mode.

The read signal charges are converted into digital signals via the analog signal processing circuit 11 and the A / D conversion circuit 12 and output to the ASIC 13. The digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is taken into the first input unit 100 of the first ASIC 131. In addition, when adding the image effect by the brightness difference adjustment to the live view image, the digital signal output from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is under exposure-controlled.

The output destination of the digital signal captured by the first input unit 100 of the first ASIC 131 from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is switched based on the image effect added to the live view image.
For example, when an image effect due to contrast adjustment is added to a live view image, the first input unit 10
0 outputs a digital signal to the first resizing unit 101. On the other hand, when adding an image effect other than the image effect by contrast adjustment to the live view image, the first input unit 100
The digital signal is output to the resizing unit 102. When adding the image effect by the contrast adjustment to the live view image, outputting the digital signal to the first resizing unit 101 similarly when the first input unit 100 is in the shooting mode is capable of performing contrast adjustment This is because the first image processing unit 307 is used. On the other hand, when adding an image effect other than the image effect by the contrast adjustment to the live view image, the digital signal is transmitted to the second resize unit 102 in the same manner as when the first input unit 100 is in the first live view display mode. The output is performed by the first image processing unit 30.
This is because the second image processing unit 305 having a smaller power consumption than that of No. 7 is used. In the case where a circuit for adjusting the contrast is provided in the second image processing unit 305 for adding the image effect by the contrast adjustment to the live view image, the number of steps for calculating the evaluation value is increased. The power consumption and the processing load when adding an image effect other than the image effect by contrast adjustment to the live view image increase.

When adding an image effect by contrast adjustment to a live view image, the first input unit 100
The digital signal fetched from the A / D conversion circuit 12 is output to the first resize unit 101. The first resizing unit 101 performs a resizing process on the digital signal output from the first input unit 100 so as to have a size for a display image whose image data is smaller than that for a recording image. The first resizing unit 101 outputs the digital signal after the resizing process to the first output unit 104. First
The output unit 104 outputs the resized digital signal to the second input unit 30 of the second ASIC 132.
Output to 1.

The second input unit 301 of the second ASIC 132 acquires the output signal of the first output unit 104,
Output to the second pre-processing unit 303 and the evaluation value processing unit 304. The second pre-processing unit 303
Image pre-processing such as contour compensation and gamma correction is performed on the signal acquired by the input unit 301, and the processing result is stored in the RAM 19 as first captured image data 401.

The evaluation value processing unit 304 calculates an evaluation value 402 to be used for adjusting the light-dark difference, and calculates the evaluation value 40
2 is stored in the RAM 19. The DSP unit 308 sets parameters related to the brightness difference adjustment in the first image processing unit 307 based on the evaluation value 402 stored in the RAM 19. The first image processing unit 307 adjusts the contrast of the first captured image 401 using the parameters, and stores the adjusted image as the developed image 405 in the RAM 19.

When adding an image effect by contrast adjustment to a live view image, the resize processing unit 306
Performs a resizing process on the developed image 405 to generate a display image 404. The display unit 309 outputs the display image 404 to the display monitor 21 as a live view image.

When adding an image effect other than the image effect by contrast adjustment to the live view image, the first input unit 100 converts the digital signal captured from the A / D conversion circuit 12 into a second resize unit 102.
Output to Thereafter, the display image 404 is generated in the same manner as in the first live view display mode.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing started by the CPU 18 when the main switch 22 is turned on and power is supplied to each unit of the electronic camera 200.

In step S600, CPU 18 determines whether or not the operation mode of electronic camera 200 is the live view display mode. When the operation mode of the electronic camera 200 is the first live view display mode or the second live view display mode, the determination in step S600 is affirmative. If a positive determination is made in step S600, the CPU 18 proceeds to step S60.
The process proceeds to step S620, and if a negative determination is made in step S600, the process proceeds to step S620.

In step S601, the CPU 18 determines whether the operation mode of the electronic camera 200 is the second live view display mode. If a positive determination is made in step S601, the CPU 18 advances the process to step S602. If a negative determination is made in step S601, that is, if the operation mode of the electronic camera 200 is the first live view display mode, the process proceeds to step S610. Proceed to

In step S602, the CPU 18 determines whether the image effect to be added to the live view image in the second live view display mode is an image effect based on the shutter speed. CP
U18 advances the process to step S603 when a positive determination is made in step S602, and advances the process to step S610 when a negative determination is made in step S602.

In step S603, the CPU 18 starts reading signal charges of the image sensor 10 using the all-pixel reading method. The signal charge read from the image sensor 10 is converted into a digital signal through an analog signal processing circuit 11 and an A / D conversion circuit 12, and the ASIC 1
3 is output.

In step S604, the CPU 18 causes the ASIC 13 to generate the display image 404.
In step S605, the CPU 18 causes the display monitor 21 to sequentially display live view images. The CPU 18 causes the ASIC 13 to output the display image 404 to the display monitor 21. The display image 404 is displayed on the display monitor 21 as a live view image.

In step S606, the CPU 18 determines whether a full-press signal of the full-press switch 24 has been input. When a positive determination is made in step S606, the CPU 18 advances the process to step S620, and when a negative determination is made in step S606, the process proceeds to step S600.
Return to

In step S610, the CPU 18 starts reading signal charges of the image sensor 10 using the thinning-out reading method. The signal charge read from the image sensor 10 is converted into a digital signal through an analog signal processing circuit 11 and an A / D conversion circuit 12, and the ASIC 1
3 is output.

In step S611, the CPU 18 determines whether or not the image effect to be added to the live view image in the second live view display mode is an image effect due to contrast adjustment. CPU18
The process proceeds to the step S612 if the determination in step S611 is affirmative, and the process proceeds to step S604 if the determination in step S611 is negative. When the operation mode of the electronic camera is the first live view display mode, the CPU 18 makes a negative determination in step S611, and advances the process to step S604.

In step S612, the CPU 18 causes the ASIC 13 to generate the display image 404 for adjusting the contrast. That is, the CPU 18 sends the developed image 4 to the ASIC 13.
05, and a display image 404 is generated using the developed image 405.

In step S620, the CPU 18 executes a photographing process. That is, the CPU 18 executes a series of processes from when the electronic camera 200 is shifted to the shooting mode to when the recording image is recorded on the storage medium 27.

In step S621, the CPU 18 determines whether to end the execution of the processing illustrated in FIG. The CPU 18 determines, for example, whether the main switch 20 has been turned off.
The CPU 18 ends the process of FIG. 4 when step S621 is affirmatively determined, and returns the process to step S600 when step S621 is negatively determined.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operation and effect can be obtained.
The electronic camera 200 includes an imaging device 10, an analog signal processing circuit 11, and an A / D conversion circuit 12.
And a digital signal relating to a subject image captured by the image sensor 10 is output. The electronic camera 200 further includes a first image processing unit 307 that performs image processing on the first captured image 401 based on the digital signal input to the first input unit 100 to generate a developed image 405; A second image processing unit 305 that performs image processing on the digital signal input to the unit 100 to generate a second captured image 403;
An ASIC 13 including a resizing processing unit 306 that generates a display image 404 displayed as a live view image based on at least one of the captured images 403. With such a configuration, the electronic camera 200 can create the display image 404 by a creation method suitable for image processing.
The first image processing unit 307 used for generating a recording image has a circuit for adjusting the contrast. On the other hand, the second image processing unit 305 used for generating a live view image to which an image effect by contrast adjustment is not added does not have a circuit for performing contrast adjustment. When the contrast adjustment is performed on an image, more steps such as calculation of an evaluation value are required than when the contrast adjustment is not performed on the image. Therefore, when the image processing is performed using the first image processing unit 307, the power consumption is larger than when the image processing is performed using the second image processing unit 305. To generate a live view image to which an image effect by contrast adjustment is added, an image processing unit having a circuit for performing contrast adjustment like the first image processing unit 307 is required. If a circuit for performing the adjustment is provided, the power consumption and the processing load when generating a live view image to which the image effect by the contrast adjustment is not added increase. In the electronic camera 200, when generating a live view image to which an image effect by contrast adjustment is added, the first image processing unit 307 having a circuit for performing contrast adjustment originally to generate a recording image is used. Performing the difference adjustment does not increase the power consumption and processing load when generating a live view image to which the image effect by the contrast adjustment is not added.

The embodiment described above can be modified and implemented as follows.
[Modification 1] Even when an image effect different from the image effect due to the shutter speed is added to the live view image, the signal charge may be read by a drive signal output from the driver 16.

[Modification 2]
In the above embodiment, the live view image is displayed on the display monitor 21 incorporated in the electronic camera 200, but may be displayed on an external display device. When displaying the live view image on an external display device, the ASIC 13 further includes a second display unit different from the display unit 309, and outputs a display image from the second display unit to the external display device. The second display outputs a display image at a frame rate suitable for an external display device. For example, when the screen resolution of the external display device is higher than that of the display monitor 21, the frame rate is reduced.

[Modification 3]
In the above-described embodiment, the ASIC 13 controls the developed image 40 in the live view display mode.
The display unit 309 displays one of the display image obtained by performing the resize processing on the display image 5 and the display image obtained by performing the resize processing on the second captured image data 403 from the display unit 309.
Output to However, the ASIC 13 simultaneously generates both a display image obtained by resizing the developed image 405 and a display image obtained by resizing the second captured image data 403, and simultaneously generates them. The information may be displayed on the display monitor 21 or the like. The two display images may be simultaneously displayed on different display devices, respectively, or may be displayed side by side on the display monitor 21. This makes it possible to compare a plurality of image effects and adjust a plurality of image effects by using a live view image to which contrast adjustment is applied and a live view image to which another image effect (for example, an image effect by an aperture) is added. It is possible to shoot while performing.

The image processing apparatus further includes a combining unit that combines the display image obtained by performing resizing processing on the developed image 405 with the ASIC 13 and the display image obtained by performing resizing processing on the second captured image data 403. May be output to the display monitor 21. By doing so, the ASIC 13 can create a live view image in which two images are superimposed.

The embodiments and the modified examples described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the present invention are not impaired. The embodiments and the modifications described above may be executed in combination as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

10 Image Sensor 10a Internal Oscillator 13 ASIC
16 Driver 17 Timing generator 20 ROM
21 display monitor 27 recording medium 313 recording unit 200 electronic camera

Claims (4)

An imaging unit that captures a subject image and outputs an imaging signal;
A first image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal output by the imaging unit;
A second image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal and consumes less power than the first image processing circuit;
An image generation unit that generates a display image to be displayed on a display unit based on image data output from at least one of the first image processing circuit and the second image processing circuit;
A control unit that controls a reading method of the imaging unit based on a type of image processing performed by the first image processing circuit;
An imaging device comprising: An imaging unit that captures a subject image and outputs an imaging signal;
A first image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal output by the imaging unit;
A second image processing circuit that performs image processing on the imaging signal and consumes less power than the first image processing circuit;
An image generation unit that generates a display image to be displayed on a display unit based on image data output from at least one of the first image processing circuit and the second image processing circuit,
The image generating unit is configured to, when adding an image effect due to contrast adjustment added to recording image data to the display image, perform the display based on the first image data output from the first image processing circuit. Imaging device that generates an image for use. The imaging device according to claim 2 ,
When the image effect by the contrast adjustment added to the recording image data is not added to the display image, the display image is generated based on the second image data output from the second image processing circuit. Imaging device. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,
An imaging apparatus further comprising a compression unit that compresses the first image data into the recording image data.

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