JPH05328205A - Video signal processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply and exactly obtain plural pictures to form a picture with an optional aspect ratio. CONSTITUTION:A 1st picture A1 is picked up and recorded on a recording medium. Then a still video camera is turned in the horizontal direction and a 2nd picture A2 is displayed on a liquid crystal display(LCD) section. The picture of a joint B1 located at a right end of the 1st picture A1 is superimposed on a joint B2 located at a left end of a 2nd picture A2 while its polarity is inverted. When the picture of the joints B1, B2 is the same, the color of the joint B2 of the 2nd picture A2 is gray uniformly on the LCD display section. Thus, a photographer confirms it that ends of the 1st and 2nd pictures A1, A2 are mutually exactly jointed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video signal processing device, and more particularly to a video signal processing device suitable for forming an image having an arbitrary aspect ratio from a plurality of images.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image having an aspect ratio different from a normal one, for example, a horizontally wide image can be formed by overlapping edges of two images having an aspect ratio corresponding to that of a normal television receiver. A configuration for easily obtaining a plurality of images is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-262276. With this configuration, the already recorded still image is the first
The image that is about to be captured is displayed on the second viewfinder while being displayed on the second viewfinder. Then, the images of the second viewfinder are framed and photographed so that the edges of the images of the first and second viewfinders are continuous with each other, so that it is easy to form a wide image. Multiple images can be obtained.

[0003]

By the way, since the framing of the image of the second viewfinder as described above is performed by visual observation, the connection point of the two images may be displaced, resulting in a wide image. There is a problem in that the accuracy of forming an image is poor.

The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a video signal processing device capable of accurately connecting the ends of a plurality of images.

[0005]

A video signal processing device according to the present invention comprises means for inverting a polarity of a part of a first video signal to form a connection signal, and a first video signal for a second video signal. Means for forming a display video signal by adding the connection signal to the portion corresponding to the video signal.

[0006]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 shows a method of photographing a plurality of images (hereinafter referred to as panoramic photography) by which a so-called panoramic size image is easily obtained by a still video camera to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

First, a first image A1 is photographed and recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk. Next, the still video camera is rotationally displaced in the horizontal direction, so that the second image A2 is displayed on the liquid crystal (LCD) display unit. At the left end of the second image A2, a connecting portion B2 extending vertically in a strip shape is formed, and the connecting portion B2 has a first connecting portion B2.
The image of the connecting portion B1 extending in the vertical direction in a strip shape at the right end of the image A1 is subjected to the processing described below to be superimposed. That is, when the images of the connection parts B1 and B2 are the same, the connection part B of the second image A2 is displayed on the LCD display part.
2 becomes a solid gray color and uniform. This gives the photographer
It can be confirmed that the ends of the first and second images A1 and A2 are accurately connected to each other. Therefore, if the video signal of the second image A2 is recorded on the magnetic disk in this state, it becomes easy to print the first and second images A1 and A2 and connect them to each other later.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a video signal corresponding to the image of FIG. Note that this video signal is a luminance signal component. Parts corresponding to the image in FIG. 1 are indicated by reference numerals indicating the image, and reference numerals indicating signals whose polarities are inverted are indicated by dashes. In the figure, 1H indicates one horizontal scanning period.

The signal a is the luminance signal component of the first image A1. The signal b is a signal obtained by extracting only the connecting portion B1 of the first image A1 and inverting the polarity thereof. The signal c is the luminance signal component of the second image A2. The signal d is obtained by offsetting the output timing of the signal b up to the portion corresponding to the connection portion B2 of the second image A2. The signal e is obtained by adding the signal d to the signal c. The signal e is a luminance signal component of the image displayed on the LCD display unit.

If the connecting portions B1 and B2 are the same image, the portion (reference numeral B3) in which the signals c and d are added in the signal e has the same brightness level. Therefore, in the LCD display section, in displaying the second image A2, the connection section B2
Is gray and uniform. On the other hand, the connection part B
If the images 1 and B2 are different from each other, the portions where the signals c and d are added do not have the same luminance level.
The connection portion B2 of No. 2 is solid gray and not uniform.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the video signal processing apparatus of this embodiment. This video signal processing device has an imaging system 10, an inverted signal processing system 20, a reproduction system 30, a recording system 40, a display system 50, an MPU 60 and a DSP (digital signal processing circuit) 70. The MPU 60 is a microcomputer that controls the entire imaging device, and a key switch 61 is connected to the MPU 60. By operating various keys provided on the key switch 61, a corresponding signal is supplied to the MPU 60. The MPU 60 sets the mode of the entire image pickup device based on the signal from the key switch 61, and performs the operation control necessary for realizing the set mode for each circuit block of the image pickup device.

In the image pickup system 10, a light beam incident through an optical system (not shown) is applied to the light receiving portion of the CCD 11. The CCD 11 is driven by the drive block 12 controlled by the MPU 60 and outputs a video signal. This video signal is input to a CDS (correlated double sampling circuit) 13 to remove reset noise, and then input to an AD converter 15 via an amplifier 14. AD converter 1
The video signal digitized in 5 is supplied to the digital filter 21 of the inverted signal processing system 20 or the switch 7
1 is output to the DSP 70.

The inverted signal processing system 20 performs signal processing for panoramic photography, and the digital filter 2
1, an adder 22, an extraction circuit 23, an inverting circuit 24, and a memory 25.

The video signal obtained from the image pickup system 10 is a DS signal.
In P70, only the luminance signal component is extracted, and the extraction circuit 23
Is supplied to. The extraction circuit 23 extracts a component corresponding to the connection portion B1 of the first image A1 from the luminance signal component and supplies the component to the inversion circuit 24. This signal is the inversion circuit 2
The polarity is inverted at 4, and the signal b of FIG. 2 is obtained. The range of the inverted signal b with respect to one horizontal scanning period H can be arbitrarily set by the MPU 60 as needed.

The inverted signal b is stored in the memory 25. The memory 25 does not need to have a large capacity because it only needs to hold the signal of the connection portion B1 of the first image A1.

On the other hand, the digital filter 21 is used in the image pickup system 10.
It is provided to extract the luminance signal component (signal c in FIG. 2) from the video signal output from the AD converter 15, that is, the video signal of the second image A2. This luminance signal component c is added to the output signal d from the memory 25 in the adder 22.
Is added. This signal d is the signal b from the memory 25.
Of the signal b by controlling the timing of reading
The front part of one horizontal scanning period (the connection part B2 of the second image A2
It is obtained by offsetting to (the part corresponding to). The signal e obtained by the addition by the adder 22 is supplied to the DSP 70 via the switch 71. Then, this signal is subjected to predetermined processing in the DSP 70,
The (Y + S) signal is output to the display system 50 and displayed by the LCD display section 53.

The reproducing system 30 reproduces a video signal recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk and supplies it to the DSP 70. That is, the video signal reproduced by the magnetic head 31 from a recording medium such as a magnetic disk is supplied to the FM demodulation circuit 33 via the head amplifier 32. FM
The video signal FM-demodulated by the demodulation circuit 33 is AD
The signal is converted into a digital signal by the converter 34, and the DSP 7
Input to 0.

The recording system 40 records a video signal on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk. That is, DSP7
The video signal output from 0 is converted into an analog signal in the DA converter 41, and F in the FM modulation circuit 42.
M-modulated. This video signal is sent to the head amplifier 4
Then, it is supplied to the magnetic head 44 and recorded on a predetermined track of the recording medium by the magnetic head 45.

The display system 50 outputs a video signal on a monitor. That is, the output from the DSP 70 (Y
The + S) signal signal is converted into an analog signal by the DA converter 51 and supplied to the drive circuit 52. Drive circuit 5
In 2, the drive signal and the control signal for driving each pixel of the LCD display unit 53 are formed, and thereby the video signal is displayed on the LCD display unit 53 as an image.

The switch 71 is switch-controlled by the MPU 60 to connect the DSP 70 to the image pickup system 10 or the inverted signal processing system 20. That is, during normal shooting operation, DS
P70 is connected to the AD converter 15 of the image pickup system 10, and the video signal a (first image A1 in FIG. 1) formed by the image pickup system 10 is input. On the other hand, 2 in panoramic photography
When framing the second and subsequent images, the DSP 70 is connected to the adder 22 of the inversion signal processing system 20, and the signal e formed by the inversion signal processing system 20 is input as described later.

The DSP 70 performs various signal processing under the control of the MPU 60, and also supplies a video signal to each circuit block according to the mode designated by the key switch 61. That is, when recording a video signal on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, the video signal is supplied to the recording system 40 after being subjected to predetermined signal processing by the DSP 70. On the other hand, during framing of the second and subsequent images in panoramic photography, the luminance signal component c of the video signal from the imaging system 10 is added by the adder 22 to the luminance of the connection portion B1 of the first image A1 read from the memory 25. The signal component d is added and the added signal e is input to the DSP 70.
Then, this signal e is subjected to a predetermined process in the DSP 70 and then supplied to the display system 50 as a (Y + S) signal and displayed by the LCD display section 53.

The operation of this embodiment will be described. During shooting operation,
Normally, the switch 71 is switched to the image pickup system 10 side. The video signal formed by the imaging system 10 is supplied from the DSP 70 to the recording system 40 by the shutter release operation and recorded on the recording medium. When the shutter is released, the luminance signal component a of the video signal obtained from the image pickup system 10
Are supplied from the DSP 70 to the extraction circuit 23, and the extraction circuit 23 extracts the signal component corresponding to the connection portion B1 of the first image A1. The polarity of this signal component is inverted in the inversion circuit 24 (signal b) and stored in the memory 25.

When panoramic photography is selected by operating the key switch 61, the switch 71 is switched to the inverted signal processing system 20 side in the next photography operation. As a result, the video signal output from the imaging system 10, that is, the luminance signal component c of the second image A2, is added to the luminance signal of the connection portion B1 of the first image A1 read from the memory 25 by the adder 22. It is added to the component d. The added signal e is input to the DSP 70, subjected to predetermined processing, then supplied to the display system 50 as a (Y + S) signal, and displayed on the LCD display unit 53.

The photographer displays the first image A1 on the display on the LCD display unit 53, that is, on the connection B2 of the second image A2.
Looking at the image in which the connection portion B1 has the polarity inverted and added, the second image A2 is fumed. And the second
When the connection portion B2 of the image A2 of FIG.
Is switched to the image pickup system 10, and the signal from the image pickup system 10 is recorded. This results in a second image that is accurately connected to the first image.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent the displacement of the connecting portion between the first image A1 and the second image A2 during panoramic photography, and to widen the image having an arbitrary aspect ratio. Can be obtained accurately and easily. Also, by repeating the above operation multiple times,
A wider image can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, an example in which a wide image is formed in the left-right direction has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to the case where a wide image is formed in the vertical direction. In the case of forming a wide image in the vertical direction, the same processing as that in the above-described embodiment may be performed using the lower part of the screen of about 20H (H represents a horizontal scanning period) as a connecting portion.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to accurately connect the ends of a plurality of images.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an operation of panoramic photography by an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining signal processing.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure explaining formation of a wide image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Imaging System 20 Inverted Signal Processing System 22 Adder 23 Extraction Circuit 24 Inversion Circuit 25 Memory 30 Playback System 40 Recording System 50 Display System

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A means for inverting the polarity of a portion of a first video signal to form a connection signal, and a first of the second video signal.
And a means for forming a display video signal by adding the connection signal to a portion corresponding to the video signal.