JPH04210041A - Endoscope image camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the missing of a photographic image and degrading of picture quality through matching of a shutter opening-closing timing with a scan timing by providing a control circuit which forms a shutter operation signal synchronizing a scanning cycle of a monitor to perform a control of opening or closing a photographing shutter by the above shutter operation signal. CONSTITUTION:An RGB video signal, synchronous signal (SYNC) and the like are outputted to a monitor 2 from a body processor 1 and an image within an object to be observed is displayed in color on a screen 3 of the monitor 2. An operating section 12 is provided with an operation lever 13 for directional control of the tip of an endoscope, an air/water feeding button 14, a water absorbing button 15, a VTR button 16 and a hard copying button 17. When the hard copying button 17 is depressed, a shutter operation signal is inputted into a control circuit 8 within an image camera 4 through the body processor 1. A shutter operation signal 203 is outputted to a shutter drive 7 from the control circuit 8 to perform an operation of opening or closing a shutter. Thus, the shutter 6 can be opened only during a 1-field scanning period, thereby enabling the taking of a picture of better quality without closing the shutter in the course of scanning.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[00011

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to photographing control of an endoscopic image photographing apparatus that uses a camera to photograph an endoscopic image displayed on a monitor. [0002] [0002] [0002] An endoscopic image capturing device (for example, a hard copy) is used as a series of devices in an endoscope system, and an electronic endoscope device is an electronic endoscope device that is inserted into a subject. A solid-state image sensor, such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Dev), is installed at the tip of the endoscope.
The video signal obtained by this COD is supplied to the processor l in the main body shown in FIG. In this main body processor 1, predetermined image processing is performed on the video signal, and processed RGB signals, synchronization signals, etc. are supplied as video signals to a CRT monitor 2.
As a result, an image of the inside of the body to be observed is displayed on the screen 3 of the monitor 2. [0003] Then, an image photographing device (camera) 4 is arranged at a position where the screen 3 of the monitor 2 can be photographed, and when photographing, the image displayed on the screen 3 is temporarily frozen. In this state, the camera shutter of the image capturing device 4 is released. Therefore, images captured by the electronic endoscope can be stored on film and preserved as photographs when necessary. [0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in conventional endoscopic image capturing devices, the shutter speed of the device (camera) is automatically set depending on the brightness of the screen 3 of the monitor 2. There was a problem in that the scanning period did not match the scanning period of the monitor 2, and good photographs could not necessarily be taken. That is, one screen is displayed on the monitor 2 by scanning every frame in synchronization with the synchronization signal, but as shown in screen 3 in FIG. Scanning line 102 starting from
If this is the case, the image in the area A shown in the figure will be imprinted as a blank image. Also, if the above A area is missing in the second field scan in interlaced scanning,
The image quality of that part of the photograph will deteriorate. [00051] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide an endoscopic image capturing device in which the opening/closing timing of the shirt flap is adjusted to the scanning timing, thereby preventing the lack of photographic images and the deterioration of the image quality. There is a particular thing. [0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an endoscopic image photographing device for photographing an image projected on a monitor by an endoscope on film.
A blanking detection section detects vertical blanking of scanning from the screen on the monitor, and the output signal of this blanking detection section and the shutter operation signal output from the endoscope body are input, and these signals are used to detect the scanning of the monitor. The present invention is characterized in that a control circuit is provided to form a shutter operation signal synchronized with a period, and the opening and closing of the photographing shutter is controlled by the shutter operation signal. [0007]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, when the shutter button on the operation section of the endoscope is pressed, a shutter operation signal is input to the image capturing device, but the blanking detection section detects vertical blanking of the screen. A blanking signal, which is the detected value, is input to the image photographing device, and a shutter operation signal synchronized with the scanning cycle is output by this blanking signal and a shutter operation signal. Therefore, the shutter of the camera is always opened until all scanning of one field (or one frame) is completed, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of missing areas on the screen. [0008]

[Embodiment 1] Fig. 1 shows an electronic endoscope system using an endoscopic image capturing device according to an embodiment, in which RGB video signals and synchronization signals ( SYNC) etc. are output to the monitor 2, and the image inside the object to be observed is displayed in color on the screen 3 of the monitor 2. The image photographing device (camera) 4 is provided with a photographing lens 5, and a shutter 6 is disposed behind the photographing lens 5. The shutter 6 is equipped with a shutter drive 7 for opening and closing the shutter, and a shutter drive 7 for shutter operation. A control circuit 8 that outputs a signal is connected. Further, a photometric lens 9 is provided above the photographic lens 5, and a blanking detection section 10 for detecting vertical blanking is connected to this photometric lens 9, and this can be replaced by a conventional photometric device. . As shown in FIG. 2, this blanking detection section 9 detects the occurrence state of vertical blanking B, but this vertical blanking B becomes dark for about 0.5 to 0.6 ms. Therefore, a blanking signal is output by detecting a momentary dimming of the screen brightness. This blanking signal is supplied to the control circuit 8,
Further, a shutter operation signal 201 output from the electronic endoscope to the main body processor 1 is input to the control circuit 8 . [00091 FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the operating section of the electronic endoscope, in which the insertion section 11a, which has a built-in CCD at its tip and is inserted into the body to be observed, is connected to the connection section 11b, which is connected to the main body. An operating section 12 is provided in the section, and the operating section 12 includes an operating lever 13 for controlling the direction of the tip of the endoscope, an air/water supply button 14, a water absorption button 15, a VTR button 16, and a hard copy (photographing) button. 17 are provided. Therefore, when the hard copy button 17 is pressed, the shutter operation signal is input to the control circuit 8 in the image photographing device 4 via the main body processor 1. [00101 The embodiment has the above configuration, and its operation will be explained below based on FIG. 4. By pressing the VTR button 16 shown in FIG.
will be displayed. After this, if you press the hard copy button 17 once, the screen displayed on the monitor 2 will be frozen and you will be able to take a photo.If you press the hard copy button 17 again, the image shown in Figure (a) will appear. The shutter operation signal 201 shown in is output to the main body processor 1, and the main body processor 1 receives this shutter operation signal 201.
is output to the control circuit 8 of the image capturing device 4. On the other hand, the blanking detection unit 10 detects the brightness of the screen 3 through the photometric lens 9, and detects the occurrence state of vertical blanking B, which becomes instantaneously dark, and the blanking signal 2 shown in FIG.
02 is output. Then, the control circuit 8 generates a shutter operation signal 203 that is synchronized with the blanking signal 202 after the shutter operation signal 201 is input, and this shutter operation signal 203 has a period that is the same as one field scanning period. It becomes a signal. [0011] The above-mentioned shirt assist signal 203 is output from the control circuit 8 to the shutter drive 7, and the shutter drive 7 performs the shirt opening and closing operations based on this shutter operation signal 203, and only for one field scanning period. Shutter 6 is opened. Therefore, the shutter does not close during scanning, and it is possible to take photographs of good image quality. The opening and closing of the shutter described above is performed in synchronization with a vertical blanking signal corresponding to one field operation period, but since it is not synchronized with the vertical blanking signal, it is performed during one frame scanning period or one field per frame. It is possible to match the scanning period with additional scanning period or other scanning time. In this case, the photographing conditions on the camera side and the display state on the monitor are adjusted so that a good photograph is formed at a shutter speed of a predetermined scanning period. [0012] In the above embodiments, an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic endoscope has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to other endoscope apparatuses that display images on a monitor. [0013] [Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention,
Blanking on the monitor screen is detected, and this blanking signal and the shutter operation signal output from the endoscope body form a shutter operation signal synchronized with the monitor's scanning cycle. Since the opening and closing of the shutter is controlled, there is an advantage that it is possible to take good photographs without missing images or deteriorating image quality due to mismatch between shutter timing and screen scanning timing.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an electronic endoscope system using an endoscopic image capturing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing blanking positions on the screen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an endoscope operation section.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing operation signal waveforms of the example device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional electronic endoscope system.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating scanning of a screen displayed on a monitor and the range to be photographed.

[Explanation of symbols]

1... main processor, 2...Monitor, 4... Image capturing device, 5...Shutter, 7...Shutter drive, 8... Control circuit, 9...Photometering lens, 10...Blanking detection section.

[Figure 1]

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An endoscopic image capturing device that captures an image projected on a monitor by an endoscope on film, comprising: a blanking detection unit that detects vertical blanking of scanning from a screen on the monitor; A control circuit is provided that inputs the output signal of the ranking detection unit and the shutter operation signal output from the endoscope body, and uses these signals to form a shutter operation signal synchronized with the scan cycle of the monitor. An endoscopic image capturing device characterized by controlling opening and closing of a shutter.