JPH0518175U - Image sensor for panoramic electronic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A panoramic electronic camera that can easily take continuous panoramic photos with moving objects at low cost without the need for complicated shooting operations when performing panoramic shooting. An object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup device for a panoramic electronic camera that can be manufactured. [Structure] A plurality of image pickup chips are arranged in a row in a row in close contact with each other on a front surface of a package to form an image pickup element, and image signals can be independently read from each image pickup chip. Is mounted on the front surface of the package so that they are flush with each other and there is no image shift.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an image pickup device for a panoramic electronic camera which can be applied to both a video camera capable of panoramic shooting and a still video camera.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Conventionally, when performing panoramic shooting with a video camera, the required number of video cameras with the same performance were prepared, and the video cameras were arranged side by side in the same height for panoramic shooting. As another method, as shown in FIG. 3, a method of arranging the image pickup devices D3 such as CCDs in a line in a plane at the focal position of the wide-angle lens WL and taking a panoramic image is used. The image signal S of each image pickup device D3 is stored in the corresponding storage unit M.

When taking a panoramic shot with a still video camera, the camera is attached to a tripod so that the camera can be horizontally rotated on a pan head, and one shot is taken while visually confirming the range shown in the viewfinder. Every time I rotated the camera on the platform to take a panoramic image. Then, as another method, as in the case of panoramic photography by a video camera, as shown in FIG. 3, the image pickup devices D3 such as CCDs are arranged in a line in a plane at the focal position of the wide-angle lens WL and exposed simultaneously. The method of shooting was taken. Note that the image signals S of the individual image pickup devices D3 are stored in the corresponding storage units M, as in the case of the video camera.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 As described above, when taking a horizontal panorama shot with a video camera, it is necessary to prepare the required number of video cameras with the same performance and arrange the video cameras side by side at the same height for panorama shooting. It was Also, setting up multiple video cameras at the shooting site so that the panorama images taken by the video cameras become continuous panoramic images when viewed on a monitor TV is a very troublesome and difficult task. Met. Also, if this panorama shooting is to shoot a panoramic image that spreads in the vertical direction, the video cameras would be arranged in a line in the vertical direction, which would be impossible unless a large yagura was assembled.

Therefore, when performing horizontal panoramic photography, as shown in FIG. 3 above, as shown in FIG. 3, the image pickup devices D3 such as CCDs are arranged horizontally in a row at the focal position of the wide-angle lens WL. A method of taking a panorama with a video camera was considered. In the case of panoramic images in which the panoramic image is widened in the up and down directions, as shown in FIG. 4, the image pickup devices D4 having the pins in the horizontal direction are vertically arranged in a line in the vertical direction. I decided to shoot with my video camera. In this case, it is troublesome and difficult to prepare the required number of video cameras with the same performance as described above and install these video cameras side by side or vertically in the shooting location so as to form a continuous panoramic image. It is no longer necessary to carry out work. However, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a gap is formed between the image pickup chips C which read out the images on the adjacent image pickup devices D3 and D4 as electric image signals. This is a gap formed by arranging the image pickup devices D3 and D4 such as CCDs in a plane.

Therefore, the captured panoramic image is photographed with a portion corresponding to this gap as an unphotographed portion. In addition, since the image sensor is separate, it is difficult to adjust the focus and image when assembled in the camera, and the adjustment mechanism of the camera is complicated.

Also. In panorama shooting with a still video camera, it is inaccurate to rotate horizontally each time you take a picture while checking the range of the camera that is being viewed by the viewfinder with a tripod head as described above. It was difficult to make continuous panoramic images. Also, in the case of panoramic images that spread vertically in this panoramic shooting, the pan head is rotated in the vertical direction, which is inaccurate as in the horizontal direction, and it is difficult to make continuous panoramic images. Met. Furthermore, if there are moving objects in the panoramic copy, there is the inconvenience that multiple moving objects will be photographed in an overlapping manner.

Therefore, when performing panoramic shooting in the horizontal direction similarly to panoramic shooting by a video camera, as shown in FIG. 3 above, an image pickup device D3 such as CCD is planarly arranged at the focal position of the wide-angle lens WL. Then, a method of shooting with a horizontal still video camera arranged side by side in a row was considered. Further, in the case of panoramic image capturing in which the panoramic image is spread in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 4, the image pickup devices D4 having a horizontal pin are horizontally arranged in a line in the vertical direction. I decided to shoot with a vertical still video camera. In this case, as mentioned above, it is not necessary to use the tripod head to rotate the camera horizontally or vertically each time you take a picture while checking the range in the viewfinder with your eyes. , Ordinarily, if you press the release button once, a panoramic picture will be taken. In addition, moving object photography can now be done in the same way as normal photography. However, similarly to the case of the video camera, due to the gap between the image pickup chips C, the captured panoramic image has a portion corresponding to this gap taken as an unphotographed portion. In addition, because the image sensor is separate, it is difficult to adjust the focus and image when assembled in the camera, as in the case of a video camera, and the camera adjustment mechanism is complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

That is, an image pickup device for a panoramic electronic camera is provided, which can manufacture a panoramic electronic camera at a low cost that can easily capture a continuous panoramic image including a moving object without performing a complicated shooting operation. The purpose is to do.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The above-mentioned object is one image pickup element in which a plurality of image pickup chips are closely arranged in a line in a plane, and an image signal is independently read from each of the image pickup chips. This is achieved by an image pickup device for a panoramic electronic camera.

Further, the above-mentioned object is that the image pickup surfaces of the plurality of image pickup chips are attached to the package so as to be flush with each other, and further, the image signals individually read out from the plurality of image pickup chips are This is achieved by an image pickup element for a panoramic electronic camera, which is characterized in that a plurality of image pickup chips are attached to a package so as to obtain a continuous image signal.

[0013]

【Example】

 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an image pickup device for an electronic camera that captures a horizontal panoramic image, and FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an image pickup device for an electronic camera that captures a vertical panoramic image.

In FIG. 1, a plurality of image pickup chips C for reading out an image as an electric image signal are closely arranged in a row in a horizontal direction in a plane, and are attached to a front surface of a package of one image pickup element D1. ing. Pins P that drive the image pickup chip C and take out the read image signal are mounted above and below the package of the image pickup device D1. In this way, the image pickup device D1 to which the plurality of image pickup chips C are attached is incorporated in the electronic camera and adjusted so that the image pickup surface of the image pickup chip C comes to the image forming position of the wide-angle lens WL which is an image pickup lens.

The image pickup surface of each image pickup chip C of the image pickup device D1 is attached in advance to the package of the image pickup device D1 so that the image pickup surfaces of the image pickup chips C are flush with each other. In this way, when the image pickup device D1 is already mounted in the package so that the image pickup surfaces of the respective image pickup chips C are flush with each other, it means that when the image pickup device is incorporated into the camera to focus. Facilitate adjustment of. Because the depth of focus of the lens used in electronic cameras such as video cameras and still video cameras is very small, the adjustment for focusing the image sensor when the image sensor is built into the camera is very careful. It needs to be done carefully and accurately. If the image pickup surface of each image pickup chip C of the image pickup device D1 is attached to the package of the image pickup device D1 in advance so that the image pickup chips C of the image pickup device D1 are exactly in the same plane as described above, when the image pickup device D1 is incorporated into the camera, This is because, even if the number of image pickup chips is one, it suffices to adjust the focus as one image pickup chip, and one camera adjustment mechanism is enough. If the image pickup device is separate for each image pickup chip, it is necessary to individually perform focusing operations for the number of image pickup devices, and the adjustment mechanism for focusing is similarly imaged. You need as many chips.

Further, in each image pickup chip, the read coordinate position of the pixel forming the image pickup surface of the image pickup chip due to its structure, in short, the signal position of the pixel from the upper end of the image pickup surface of the image pickup chip is It has been decided. Therefore, if the image pickup chips arranged side by side in a row are displaced in the vertical direction, the signal positions of the read pixels will differ depending on the image pickup chips. This is, for example, when a single horizontal line is photographed by an image sensor with such an image pickup chip and is displayed on a monitor TV, the vertical line of the image pickup chip causes only a straight line to be displayed on the monitor TV. It will be shifted and projected as a stepped line. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust each image pickup chip from the beginning by adjusting the read signal of the image pickup chip and attach it to the package so that there is no image shift as described above. Thus, if each image pickup chip C of the image pickup device D1 is preliminarily attached to the package of the image pickup device D1 so that there is no image shift, when the image pickup device D1 is incorporated into the camera, a plurality of image pickup chips C In other words, the position, inclination, etc. of the image may be adjusted as one image pickup chip, and the adjustment mechanism may be one set. If the image pickup device is separate for each image pickup chip, each image pickup device must be adjusted to position the entire image, correct the tilt, etc. You need as many elements as you need. In this way, if the image pickup device is separate for each image pickup chip, the work to adjust the focus and the adjustment mechanism will be a big change, and the adjustment mechanism of the camera will be very complicated. It will be something like that. Therefore, it is very important for a panoramic electronic camera image pickup device to have the image pickup surface of each image pickup chip exactly on the same plane in advance and to mount the image pickup device on the package so that there is no image shift of each image pickup chip. That is.

The image pickup device D1 for a panoramic electronic camera thus manufactured is incorporated in an electronic camera, and the image pickup surface of each image pickup chip C of the image pickup device D1 incorporated in the electronic camera is attached to the image pickup surface. A panoramic image is formed by the wide-angle lens WL which is a photographing lens. Therefore, the panoramic image signal read from each image pickup chip C is a sharp image with no unphotographed portion, and the image signal S of continuous panorama images without image discrepancy is read out. Then, these image signals S are stored in the storage unit M corresponding to each image pickup chip, and then a panoramic image is displayed on the monitor TV corresponding to each storage unit, or the image signal S corresponds to each image pickup chip. A panoramic image will be displayed on the monitor TV.

As described above, FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of an image pickup device for an electronic camera which takes a vertical panoramic image.

In FIG. 2, a plurality of image pickup chips C for reading out an image as an electric image signal are closely arranged in a line in a vertical direction in a plane, and are attached to a front surface of a package of one image pickup element D2. ing. Pins P that drive the image pickup chip C and take out the read image signal are attached to the left and right of the package of the image pickup element D2.

The detailed description of the image sensor D2, which is the vertical panoramic image sensor, is omitted because it is the same as the description of the image sensor D1 of FIG. 1 that is the horizontal panoramic image sensor described above.

[0021]

[Effect of the device]

 With the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a low-cost panoramic electronic camera that can easily capture continuous panoramic images with moving objects without performing complicated shooting operations as in conventional panoramic shooting. An image sensor for a panoramic electronic camera will be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image pickup device for an electronic camera for taking a horizontal panoramic image according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image pickup device for an electronic camera for taking a vertical panoramic image according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional image pickup device for an electronic camera that captures a panoramic image in a horizontal direction.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional image pickup device for an electronic camera that captures a vertical panoramic image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 WL Wide-angle lens C Imaging chip D1, D2, D3, D4 Imaging device P pin S Image signal M Storage section

Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Sato 2970 Ishikawacho, Hachioji City, Tokyo Konica Stock Company

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A panorama, which is a single image pickup device in which a plurality of image pickup chips are closely arranged in a line in a plane, and image signals can be independently read from each of the image pickup chips. Image sensor for electronic cameras. 2. The image pickup device for a panoramic electronic camera according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup surfaces of the plurality of image pickup chips are attached to the package so as to be flush with each other. 3. The plurality of image pickup chips are attached to a package so that the image signals individually read out from the plurality of image pickup chips become signals of continuous images. An image pickup device for the panoramic electronic camera described.