JPH05252452A - Video camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image pickup signal corresponding to the existing screen and a wire screen by providing plural signal output parts in an image pickup element, and controlling the selection by a changeover switch. CONSTITUTION:An image of an object to be photographed, which is made incident from an optical lens 1 is subjected to photoelectric conversion by a CCD image pickup element 2 for a wide screen. In the case a monitor 8 is the wide screen, an output signal of the element 2 is outputted to a signal output part 3, and in the case the monitor 8 is the existing screen, the output signal of the element 2 is outputted to a signal output part 4. In this case, it is possible to set to a video signal of a system in which a ratio of length in the horizontal direction and length in the vertical direction is a/b or c/d. Also, in the output parts 3, 4, a relation which corresponds to the (a) and (c), and of (a)>(c) exists. Moreover, a signal selected from a changeover switch 5 of the signal output party is subjected to holding by a sample-and-hold circuit 6, and thereafter, processed by a video signal processing circuit 7, and outputted in size conforming to the monitor 8. In such a way, an image pickup signal corresponding to the existing screen and the wide screen is obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera, and more particularly to a video camera having a CCD image pickup device for a wide screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Wide screen (aspect ratio of 1
A video camera having a CCD image pickup device corresponding to a monitor of 6: 9) is considered. CCD like this
In the video camera using the image pickup device, the entire surface of the CCD image pickup device is used, so that it is possible to monitor on a wide screen.

Further, in the case of outputting an image pickup signal corresponding to a current screen having an aspect ratio of 4: 3 in such a video camera, the following method can be considered. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the first method uses only the area 51a (aspect ratio: 4: 3) of the CCD image pickup element 51 near the optical axis which is incident from the optical lens 50. By using only the region 51a, as shown in FIG. 5, the image pickup signal 51b of only the portion having the aspect ratio of 4: 3 is used, whereby the aspect ratio is 4: 3.
3 image pickup signals can be obtained. The second method is, as shown in FIG. 6, a CCD for wide screen.
The entire surface of the image sensor 51 is used. in this case,
The output signal of the CCD image pickup device 51 is once stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a memory. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the portion of the image pickup signal of the CCD image pickup element required for the current screen is read by a high-frequency clock, the unnecessary data portion 52 is removed, and the necessary data portion is removed. The image pickup signal 53 is read at an appropriate clock.

[0004]

As described above, when the wide-screen CCD image pickup device is used for the current screen, the first method described above effectively uses the central portion of the optical lens. It is not possible to do so, which is an optical disadvantage. That is, in the peripheral part of the image,
Problems such as defocusing, distortion, uneven light intensity, and chromatic aberration occur. A possible solution to these problems is to use an anamorphic lens, but this puts a burden on the optical design. Also,
When the entire surface of the CCD image pickup device 51 is used as in the second method, it is necessary to speed up the horizontal transfer clock in order to remove unnecessary data. Therefore, a clock with a higher frequency than that of a normal clock is required, and it becomes necessary to take measures against unwanted radiation.
Furthermore, since a memory or the like is required, this causes a cost increase.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image pickup signal corresponding to the current screen and widescreen in a video camera having a CCD image pickup device for widescreen, without causing the above problems. Is to provide a good video camera.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a video signal of the first system in which a ratio of a horizontal length and a vertical length is a / b, and a horizontal length and a vertical length. In a video camera capable of setting a video signal of the second system having a length ratio of c / b, the relationship between a and c is a> c
And a selection for selecting an image sensor having a first signal output section corresponding to a and a second signal output section corresponding to c, and a first signal output section or a second signal output section of the image sensor. The video camera is characterized by comprising means and control means for controlling selection of the selection means.

[0007]

The user output switch controls the signal output switch. For example, when the current screen is used as the monitor, the signal output section changeover switch selects the signal output section for the current screen. As a result, the CCD image pickup device for wide screen can output an image pickup signal suitable for the current screen.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a video camera to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a circuit block diagram of a video camera to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a subject image incident from the optical lens 1 is photoelectrically converted by a wide-screen CCD image pickup device 2 having an aspect ratio of 16: 9. When the monitor is a wide screen, the output signal of the CCD image pickup device 2 is supplied to the signal output unit 3. When the monitor is the current screen, the output signal of the CCD image pickup device 2 is supplied to the signal output unit 4. One of the signal output unit 3 and the signal output unit 4 is selected by the signal output unit changeover switch 5.

The signal output from the signal output section changeover switch 5 is sampled and held by the sample and hold circuit 6 and then subjected to predetermined signal processing by the video signal processing circuit 7. The video output signal of the video signal processing circuit 7 is output in a size suitable for the size of the television monitor 8.

As the television monitor 8, a wide screen may be set in addition to the current screen. The current / wide screen is switched by the user switch 9. When the current screen is used, the user changeover switch 9 is turned on, and when the wide screen is used, the user changeover switch 9 is turned off. The on / off operation of the user changeover switch 9 may be reversed.

When a wide-screen monitor is used, the user turns off the user changeover switch 9, and a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer).
Reference numeral 10 supplies a control signal to the signal output section changeover switch 5, the video signal processing circuit 7, and the timing generation circuit 11. As a result, the signal output unit 3 is selected by the signal output unit changeover switch 5. The timing generation circuit 11 also supplies a timing pulse to the CCD image sensor 2, the sample hold circuit 6, and the video signal processing circuit 7.
As a result, the horizontal transfer clock supplied from the timing generation circuit 11 to the CCD image pickup device 2 is 1.33 times faster than in the case of the current screen. Note that C
Since the CD image sensor 2 is for wide screen,
All the areas are used, and the portion of the optical lens 1 having good optical performance is fully utilized. In this way, the widescreen video signal is supplied to the widescreen monitor.

On the other hand, when the monitor of the current screen is used, the user turns on the user changeover switch 9, and the microcomputer (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) 10 includes a signal output section changeover switch 5 and a video signal processing circuit. 7 and the timing generation circuit 11 are supplied with control signals. As a result, the signal output unit 4 is selected by the signal output unit changeover switch 5. The timing generation circuit 11 also supplies a timing pulse to the CCD image sensor 2, the sample hold circuit 6, and the video signal processing circuit 7. As a result, the speed of the horizontal transfer clock supplied from the timing generation circuit 11 to the CCD image pickup device 2 is that for the conventional current screen. In this way
The CCD image pickup device 2 is used as a CCD image pickup device having a size suitable for a monitor (aspect ratio is 4: 3). In this case, only the central portion (aspect ratio 4: 3) of the CCD image pickup device 2 is used. CC
Since only the central portion of the D image pickup element 2 is used, the central portion of the optical lens 1 is located on the straight line with the center of the CCD image pickup element 2. Therefore, the portion of the optical lens 1 having good optical performance is fully utilized. In this way, the video signal for the current screen can be provided if the current screen is used as a monitor.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operating principle of the CCD image pickup device 2 described above. In FIG. 2, when the CCD image pickup device 2 is used for a wide screen, CC
The signal extracted from the entire area of the D image pickup device 2 is supplied to the signal output unit 3 via the output unit 12. Also, CC
When the D image pickup device 2 is used for a current screen, the signal extracted from only the central region 2a (aspect ratio of 4: 3) of the CCD image pickup device 2 is output from the output unit 1.
3 is supplied to the signal output unit 4.

FIG. 3 shows a waveform diagram of the image pickup signal output from the signal output units 3 and 4. An image pickup signal for one horizontal scanning period (hereinafter referred to as 1H) taken out from the signal output unit 3 is shown in FIG. 3A, and an image pickup signal for 1H taken out from the signal output unit 4 is shown in FIG. 3B. As can be understood from FIGS. 3A and 3B, it is possible to extract the image signals for both the wide screen and the current screen from the CCD image sensor 2 for the wide screen.

[0015]

According to the present invention, by providing two signal output units from the CCD image pickup device, it becomes possible to obtain the image pickup signals for the current screen and the wide screen. In this case, since the center portion of the optical lens having good optical performance can be effectively used, the image pickup signal is not affected by optical distortion or the like. Also, the horizontal clock for the current screen can use the current one. Therefore, it is not necessary to take measures against unnecessary radiation generated by using the high frequency clock. Further, even when the CCD image pickup device for the current screen is used, the center of the CCD image pickup device for the wide screen can be used as the center of the optical system. Therefore, the optical system need only be designed for a wide screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a video camera to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation principle of a CCD image pickup device 2.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram of image pickup signals output from two signal output units provided in the CCD image pickup device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a first example of a case where an image pickup signal corresponding to a current screen is output by a widescreen CCD image pickup device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation of a CCD image pickup device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a second example in the case where an image pickup signal corresponding to the current screen is output by a CCD image pickup device for wide screen.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation of a CCD image pickup device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Optical Lens 2 CCD Image Sensor 3, 4 Signal Output Section 5 Signal Output Section Changeover Switch 9 User Changeover Switch 12, 13 Output Section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A video signal of the first system having a horizontal length / vertical length ratio of a / b, and a horizontal length / vertical length ratio of c / b. In the video camera capable of setting the second type video signal, the relation between the a and the c is a> c, which corresponds to the first signal output unit corresponding to the a and the c. An image pickup device having a second signal output unit, a selection unit for selecting the first signal output unit or the second signal output unit of the image pickup device, and control for controlling selection of the selection unit. A video camera characterized by comprising means and means.