JPH04345264A - Device for fetching image - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve resolution. CONSTITUTION:The N-number (N is a positive integer) of a line sensor (shown as N=3 so as to indicate line sensors 1, 2 and 3) is shifted by the 11N of a picture element pitch P at a time so that a line sensor group is constituted and the picture is picked-up. Furthermore, the picture is reconstituted by a signal obtained by image pickup based on the interval n of the line sensors and a mechanical moving amount K so as to obtain the picture of high resolution. Here, the relation of n=kK is realized at the time of permitting k to be the integer.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image capture device that captures images using a line sensor.

0002

[Prior Art] In an image capture device using a conventional line sensor, one line sensor performs main scanning in the longitudinal direction of the line sensor, and sub-scanning is performed by mechanically moving the line sensor to capture an image. I was taking it in.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the prior art, the resolution in the sub-scanning direction can be improved by making the amount of displacement when mechanically moving the line sensor even smaller; Since the resolution is determined by the pixel pitch of the line sensor, it was not possible to improve the resolution.

The image capturing device of the present invention has been developed with attention to such problems, and its purpose is to:
An object of the present invention is to provide an image capture device with improved resolution by arranging N line sensors shifted in the main scanning direction by an interval of 1/N of the pixel pitch.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an image capturing device of the present invention is an image capturing device that captures an image using a line sensor, in which N line sensors are arranged at a pixel pitch. They are arranged so as to be shifted in the main scanning direction by an interval of 1/N.

[0006]

In other words, in the present invention, since N line sensors are arranged shifted in the main scanning direction by an interval of 1/N of the pixel pitch, the number of pixels is increased by N times, and the resolution is improved.

[0007]

[Example] First, the basic concept of the present invention will be described. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. A line sensor group is configured by shifting the line sensor group by 1/N and images are taken. Furthermore, an image is reconstructed based on the line sensor spacing n and the mechanical movement amount K from the signals obtained by imaging to obtain a high-resolution image. Here, when k is an integer, the relationship n=kK holds true.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for implementing a first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, 3
As an example, three line sensors (N=3) are used. As shown in FIG. 1, line sensors 1, 2, and 3 are arranged at intervals of ⅓ of the pixel pitch P and are driven by the same clock. The pitch between each line sensor is n, and line sensors 1, 2, and 3 are displaced K in the sub-scanning direction.
Move one step at a time and repeat imaging. At this time, if k is a positive integer, the relationship between n and K is n=kK. The signals obtained by each line sensor are transmitted to signal processing circuits 4, 5,
The signal is processed by A/D converters 7 and 8.
, 9, the line memory 10,
11 and 12.

FIG. 3 shows how the imaging progresses, focusing on the pixel positions of the line sensors 1, 2, and 3. Here, k=1 is used for ease of understanding. ○ marks are pixels of line sensor 1, △ marks are pixels of line sensor 2,
The × mark represents the pixel of the line sensor 3, and the subscripts are 1st and 2nd.
This represents the third imaging.

As shown in the figure, in the third and subsequent imaging, signals are obtained at intervals of 1/3 of the pixel pitch P of the line sensor. However, as can be seen from the figure, in the first imaging of the line sensor 1 stored in the line memory 10, there are no imaging signals in the line memories 11 and 12 corresponding to the same line. 3rd imaging of line memory 10, 2 of line memory 11
At the time when the second imaging and the first imaging of the line memory 12 is completed, 1 is shifted by 1/3 of the pixel pitch P.
You can get the line signal. Therefore, it is necessary to either not record the first two lines in line memory 10 and the first line in memory 11, or to skip the first two lines in memory 10 and the first line in memory 11 when reading. . The signals read from each memory are selected by the data selector 13, sequentially converted into analog signals by the D/A converter 14, and displayed on the display means 15. In the figure, the line memories 10, 11, and 12 only operate like buffer memories, but they may be external memories or mass storage. A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

In the figure, unlike the first embodiment, line sensors 21, 22, and 23 are provided with R, G, and B filters, respectively. Therefore, when an image is captured using the same operation as in the first embodiment, the pixels marked with ○ of the line sensor 1 shown in FIG.
The pixels marked with an x on the line sensor 3 will receive the B signal, and the stripe filter will have three times as many pixels as when using one line sensor. Therefore, R, G, and B signals are transmitted to each line sensor 21, 22,
23, the signal processing circuits 24, 25, 26
It is also possible to process the signal as it is and extract it as an RGB signal, or to use A/D converters 27 and 2, respectively.
8, 29, memory 30, 31, 32, D/A converter 33
, 34 and 35, the signal may be passed through the matrix circuit 36 and displayed as an NTSC signal by the display means 37.

Furthermore, as in the first embodiment, the line memories 30, 31, and 32 may be external memories or mass storage. It is also possible to configure filters of different shapes by adjusting the number of line sensors and the amount of movement in the sub-scanning direction. A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

In this embodiment, when aligning an object with a line sensor having the structure as shown in FIG. Increase the size according to the pitch P. Although the resolution is lower, since this is a temporary image for positioning, it is sufficient to confirm the position of the subject. As a result, the number of movements in the sub-scanning direction is reduced, and the number of main scans is reduced, so that the imaging time can be sped up.

[0014]

[Effect of the invention] N line sensors are arranged at 1/1 of the pixel pitch.
By capturing images with a shift of N and reconstructing the image from the spacing of the line sensors and the amount of movement in the sub-scanning direction, the number of pixels in the main-scanning direction is increased by N times, and resolution is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the basic concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for implementing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how an image is captured by the image capture device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for implementing a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2, 3... Line sensor, 4, 5, 6... Signal processing circuit, 7, 8, 9... A/D converter, 10, 11, 12... Line memory, 13... Data selector, 14... D/ A converter, 15...display means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image capturing device that captures images using line sensors, characterized in that N line sensors are arranged shifted in the main scanning direction by an interval of 1/N of a pixel pitch. Including device.