JPH0246084A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an imaging device, and more specifically to an imaging device equipped with three imaging means.

[Prior Art] Various imaging devices have been developed and commercialized for use with television signals, including Ni3C, PAL, and S.
Since it is designed for television systems such as BCAM, it does not have sufficient vertical resolution, that is, N
In the TSC system, the vertical resolution is approximately 480 lines, PAL,
In the StICAM method, there are approximately 560 lines.

On the other hand, with the spread of video-related technology, applications such as printing still images on paper from video signals are emerging.For example, when a resolution of 16 lines/, is required, the conventional NTS
When using a C-type imaging device, there is a problem in that it can only be realized with a size of about 3111 meters in height. Also, of course, if the size is forcibly enlarged, the roughness of the image becomes noticeable.

Also, electronic still cameras and 1/2-inch VTR-type integrated movie cameras are known as configurations that integrate an imaging device and an image recording device that records its video signal output. The imaging devices or video cameras used in these devices also output television-type video signals.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As described above, since conventional imaging devices output video signals that comply with television standards, they are insufficient in terms of vertical resolution, and in particular, it is not possible to obtain images of sufficient image quality. There is a problem.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an imaging device that can obtain an image signal with high resolution in the vertical direction.

[Means to solve the problem]

The imaging device according to the present invention includes a photographing optical system, a dividing means for dividing an optical image by the photographing optical system into three systems, and first and second luminance signal systems for photoelectrically converting the three optical images by the dividing means. an imaging means, a third imaging means for color signals, and a driving means for synchronously driving the first, second, and third imaging means, the first imaging means and the second imaging means is 1/1 in the vertical direction in an optically equivalent plane.
On the imaging surfaces of both image elements, shielding masks extending horizontally with a width of approximately 1/2 pixel in the vertical direction at a pitch of 1 pixel in the vertical direction are arranged. characterized by something.

[Effect]

By arranging the first imaging means and the second imaging means in the above-mentioned positional relationship and providing the above-mentioned shielding mask, the output of the first imaging means and the output of the second imaging means become complementary to each other, By using one output as the first field and the other output as the second field, a high-quality video signal can be obtained.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration block diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a camera-integrated image recording device. In FIG. 1, 10 is a photographing lens, 12° and 13 are half mirrors, 14A and 14B are image sensors that output standard NTSC video signals, 14C is an image sensor equipped with a color signal separation filter, 16A, 16B, 16C is a drive circuit that drives the image pickup elements 14A, 14B, and 16C, respectively.

The image sensors 14A, 14B, and 14C are half mirrors 1
2.13, they are arranged in mutually optically equivalent planes.

The optical positional relationship between the image sensors 14A and 14B will be explained. FIG. 2 shows image sensors 14A and 14B connected to a photographing lens 10
A front view seen from the side is shown. As shown in FIG. 2, the image sensors 14A and 14B are arranged vertically offset from each other by 1/2 of one pixel in the vertical direction, and horizontally relative to the photographing lens 10. are placed in exactly the same position.

The imaging surfaces of the imaging elements 14A and 14B have a width of 172 pixels in the vertical direction, as indicated by diagonal lines in FIG. It is covered with a shielding mask 58 with a regular pitch. By doing this, the 525-line frame image of the image sensor 14A and the 525-line frame image of the image sensor 14B have a mutually complementary relationship, and the overall image is 525 x 2.
= 1,050 scan lines.

In this embodiment, the same signal processing channel for recording is provided for the image sensors 14B and 14C, and a signal processing channel for color signals is provided for the image sensor 14C. That is, 18A.

18B is a process circuit, 18C is a color process circuit, 2O
A, 20B, 20G are emphasis circuits, 22A, 22
B. "22G is a clamp circuit, 24A.

24B and 24C are FM modulation circuits, 26A and 26B.

26C is a recording magnetic head selection switch, 28A, 2
8B, 28C; 30A, 30B, 30C are recording amplifiers consisting of gate amplifiers, and 32 is a multichannel head. The multi-channel head 32 includes six magnetic heads 32-1.32-2.32-3.32-4.32.
-5.32-6.

34 is a magnetic sheet as a magnetic recording medium, 36 is a center core, 38 is a motor that rotationally drives the magnetic sheet 34, 40 is a PG pin attached to an eccentric position of the center core 36, and 42 is a sensor that detects the PG pin 40. 44 is a PG detection circuit; 46 is a servo circuit that controls the rotational speed of the motor 38 to a predetermined value; 48 is a system controller that controls the entire system; 50 is a drive circuit 16;
A, 16B, 16C, clamp circuit 22A, 22B, 2
This is a clock generation circuit that supplies a clock serving as an operating reference to the 2C and servo circuit 46. 52 is a motor that moves the half mirror 13 to either the broken line position or the solid line position.

Next, the operation of FIG. 1 will be explained regarding the luminance signal. The object light transmitted through the Yang lens 10 is sent to the half mirror 1
2 and enters the half mirror 13, and each of the split lights by the half mirror 13 enters the image sensor 14.
A, enters 14B. Both image elements 14A and 14B are
Drive circuit 16A according to the clock from clock generation circuit 50.

It is synchronously driven by 16B. Therefore, the video signals output from both image elements 14A, 14B are synchronized with each other. The process circuits 18A and 18B perform gamma correction (Cr=0.45), add a composite synchronization signal, and generate an emphasis circuit 20A.

20B. The emphasis circuits 20A and 20B are subjected to known emphasis processing, and the clamp circuit 22
A and 22B are subjected to a known clamping process. Also,
The FM modulation circuits 24A and 24B perform FM modulation with a sync chip of 6 MHz and a white peak of 7.5 MHz, for example, in accordance with the still video formant (EIAJ).

The outputs of the FM modulation circuits 24A and 24B are connected to a switch 26A,
26B and recording amplifiers 28A and 30B.

Multichannel head 32 via 28B and 30B
is applied and recorded on the magnetic sheet 34.

Next, the color signal system will be explained. The image sensor 14C includes image sensors 14A and 14B by a half mirror 12.
The same subject image that is incident on is incident on . Drive circuit 16
The signal output from the image sensor 14C in accordance with the C drive signal is converted into a chroma signal by the color processing circuit 18c.

This chroma signal is subjected to known processing similar to that of the luminance signal in an emphasis circuit 20C, a clamp circuit 22C, and an FM modulation circuit 24C.

Switches 26A, 26B, and 26C are switched and controlled by system controller 48. Switch 26A, 2
6B is switched for each field. This allows I
The frame image signals of the most image elements 14A and 14B are magnetically recorded on the magnetic sheet 34.

Further, the switch 26C is controlled to be connected to the recording amplifier 28C side when magnetically recording the output of the image sensor 14A, and connected to the recording amplifier 30C side when magnetically recording the output of the image sensor 14B. Recording amplifier 28
A, 30A; 28B.

30B; 28C, 30C are system controller 48
The recording current is controlled to the operating state by a recording gate signal from the multichannel head 32, and a recording current is applied to the corresponding head of the multichannel head 32 for a predetermined period.

By recording the outputs of the image sensors 14A and 14B for luminance signals as described above, the image sensors 14A and 14B are
Compared to the case where A or 14B is used alone, twice the vertical resolution can be achieved.

Since the color signal does not significantly affect the vertical resolution, a conventional image sensor 14C is sufficient.

Furthermore, when the half mirror 13 is retracted to the position shown by the broken line by the motor 52, a two-panel color imaging device is constructed by the image pickup devices 14B and 14C, and the output is compatible with the conventional television system. I can get a signal. Furthermore, twice the amount of light enters the image sensor 14B, so a higher S/N can be expected.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, a signal with twice the resolution in the vertical direction can be obtained using a conventional television type imaging means. Since a conventional television system imaging means is sufficient, a high-quality camera can be realized at low cost.Also, it is possible to obtain a conventional television system video signal output, so it can be used for both high-definition and conventional purposes, making it extremely It's practical.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of an image recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing the vertical positional relationship between image sensors 14A and 14B. 10...Photographing lens 12-Half mirror 14A
, 14B, 14C...-imaging elements 26A, 26B. 26C...Switch 32...Multi-channel head 34-...Magnetic sheet 36...-Center core 40...PG pin 42--PG detection coil
48-System Controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] a photographing optical system, a dividing means for dividing an optical image formed by the photographing optical system into three systems, first and second imaging means for photoelectrically converting the three optical images formed by the dividing means, for a luminance signal, and for a color signal. and a driving means for synchronously driving the first, second, and third imaging means, and the first imaging means and the second imaging means are optically equivalent. They are arranged to be shifted by 1/2 pixel in the vertical direction, and on the imaging surfaces of both image sensors, they extend horizontally with a width of about 1/2 pixel in the vertical direction at a pitch of 1 pixel in the vertical direction. An imaging device characterized in that a shielding mask is arranged.