JPH0564062A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always enable optimum exposure control without regard to photographing environment and a photographing situation and to simply and clearly display each photographing mode and various kinds of control information referring to the photographing mode. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup device is provided with a mode selecting means selecting an optional photographing mode from plural photographing modes, a data table 19 difining the control characteristic of plural parameters to the plural photographing modes and storing it, control means 12 and 14 controlling an image pickup system based on the parameter read out of the data table 19 corresponding to the selected photographing mode and a display means 26 displaying information referring to the photographing mode. The plural photographing modes include an automatic mode where the parameter is automatically set and a manual mode where the parameter can be controlled to be an optional value. In the case of selecting the automatic mode, the display means displays the photographing mode and in the case of selecting the manual mode, it displays the setting state of the manually set parameter on EVF (electronic view finder).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup device such as a video camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video equipment such as video cameras has made remarkable progress, and various functions have been automated and operability has been improved. For example, equipment such as a zoom lens, automatic focus control, automatic exposure control, etc. can be automated. Is essential, for example, in terms of automatic exposure control, it is a demanding factor that determines the quality of captured images, and stable and good automatic exposure control must be possible in all shooting environments. The importance of the automatic exposure control function is extremely high.

FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of an exposure control system of a general video camera. Reference numeral 101 is a photographic lens optical system, 102 is an iris for adjusting the amount of incident light, and 103 is a photographic lens optical system for displaying an image on its imaging surface. An image sensor such as a CCD that photoelectrically converts an image that has been formed and whose light amount has been adjusted by an iris and converts it into an image signal, and 104 performs predetermined signal processing on the image signal output from the image sensor to standardize it. A camera signal processing circuit for converting to a converted video signal, 10
Reference numeral 5 is a video signal output terminal, 106 is a motor for driving the iris 102 to change the aperture amount, 107 is a diaphragm drive circuit for driving and controlling the motor 106, 108 is control of accumulation, readout, and reset timing of the image sensor 103. , A CCD drive circuit that variably controls the accumulation time (exposure time) to set a desired shutter speed, and 109 evaluates the exposure state based on the level of the luminance signal output from the camera signal processing circuit, and drives the aperture. An automatic exposure control circuit (AE circuit) 110 that controls the circuit 107 and the CCD drive circuit 108 to optimally control the exposure, and 110 is a switch panel that receives an input of a key operation.

Explaining the exposure control by the AE circuit 109, the luminance signal output from the camera signal processing circuit 104 is integrated and the diaphragm drive circuit 107 is controlled so that the level is within a predetermined range, and the iris motor is controlled. A closed loop for iris control that controls the drive current output by changing the opening amount of the iris is configured, and the CCD drive circuit 108 is controlled according to the key operation of the switch panel 110 to switch the drive pulse. A control system is provided that controls the exposure time, that is, the shutter speed by varying the accumulation time of the image sensor 103 to obtain an appropriate exposure state.

This storage time control is what is called an electronic shutter, and for example, in the case of NTSC, in addition to the usual exposure time of 1/60 seconds per screen, it is about 1/100 to 1/10000 seconds. It is possible to select multiple stages of light accumulation time.

In the system configured as above,
If a high-speed electronic shutter is used, there will be an automatic exposure control mode that controls the diaphragm mechanism (iris) of the imaging optical system on the basis of this for each arbitrarily selected set exposure time, that is, for each shutter speed. , The so-called shutter priority mode is set. FIG. 34 shows the shutter priority mode, in which the shutter speed on the horizontal axis is selected, the shutter speed is fixed, and the aperture value on the vertical axis is variable.

[0007]

However, like the above-described video camera device, the iris control according to the brightness level of the image pickup signal, and the shutter priority mode realizes appropriate exposure control in various shooting environments and shooting situations. In many cases, it was not possible to achieve proper exposure control.

In particular, in a camera such as a silver-salt camera which takes a momentary still image, it suffices if the exposure control at the moment of taking the image is properly controlled. However, like a video camera, a moving image is taken over a long time. In such a case, it is necessary to naturally follow the shooting situation and shooting environment that change momentarily even during shooting, and always perform stable and optimal exposure control. Realization of an exposure control device for a camera is strongly desired.

It is essential for this type of video camera to have good operability, but if the number of functions is increased, the operation and various control information will be complicated and the operability will be deteriorated. There is a strong demand for a display unit that can accurately and easily recognize information and operation modes.

An object of the present invention is to satisfy all of these conditions, to enable optimum exposure control at all times regardless of the shooting environment and shooting conditions, and to display various shooting modes and various control information related to the shooting modes. The purpose is to display clearly and clearly, and to prepare for the recognition of operating conditions.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides an image pickup apparatus having a plurality of shooting modes which can be arbitrarily selected according to shooting conditions. Mode selecting means for selecting an arbitrary shooting mode from the above, a data table in which control characteristics of a plurality of parameters for the plurality of shooting modes are defined and stored, and a shooting mode selected by the selecting means is stored. A control means for controlling the imaging system based on the characteristics of the parameters read from the corresponding data table and a display means for displaying information about the shooting modes are provided, and the plurality of shooting modes automatically set the parameters. Automatic mode and a manual mode in which the parameter can be controlled to an arbitrary value, and the display means is controlled by the control means. If the serial automatic mode is selected and displays the shooting mode, when the manual mode is selected, configured to display the setting state of the manual setting parameters.

[0012]

As a result, it is possible to perform control using parameters more suited to the shooting situation by referring to the data tables of other shooting modes according to the shooting conditions without switching the set shooting mode. , Regardless of the shooting situation and shooting environment, you can always shoot optimal
In addition, various necessary control information can be displayed simply and clearly according to the set shooting mode, and it is always easy to accurately recognize the operating state of the device.

[0013]

Embodiments of the image pickup apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of an embodiment in which the image pickup apparatus of the present invention is applied to a video camera. In FIG. 1, 1 is a taking lens optical system, 2 is an iris for adjusting the amount of incident light, and 3 is an iris. An image pickup device such as a CCD for photoelectrically converting an image which is formed on the image pickup surface by the taking lens optical system and whose light amount is adjusted by an iris into an image pickup signal.
Is a double correlation sampling circuit (CDS) that reduces the noise of the accumulated charge of the image sensor, 5 is an AGC circuit that automatically adjusts the gain of the image signal, and 6 is a predetermined signal process for the image signal output from the AGC circuit 5. A camera signal processing circuit for converting the video signal output from the camera signal processing circuit into a signal suitable for recording on a video tape recorder or the like; A video tape recorder 8 uses a magnetic tape as a recording medium.

On the other hand, 9 is an AGC for dividing the image pickup screen into a plurality of screens and extracting an image signal corresponding to an arbitrary region.
A gate circuit 10 which gates the signal output from the circuit 5 and an integrator 10 which integrates an image pickup signal corresponding to a designated area in the image pickup screen selected by the gate circuit 9 to obtain an average light amount, 11 Is an A / D converter that converts the signal output from the integrator into a digital signal that can be processed by a system control circuit described later. The area specifying operation by the gate circuit 9 and the integrating operation of the integrator 10 relate to specification and weighting setting of the photometric area according to the photographing mode, and selection characteristics thereof are output from the system control circuit 13 described later. It can be arbitrarily set by controlling the pulse and the integral reset pulse. The detailed processing will be described later.

Reference numeral 12 is a CCD drive circuit for controlling the accumulation operation, read operation, reset operation, etc. of the image sensor 3, 13 is an iris motor for driving the iris 2, 14 is an iris drive circuit for driving the iris motor, and 15 is described later. D / A converter for converting the digital iris control signal output from the system control circuit into an analog signal, 1
Reference numeral 6 is an iris encoder configured by a Hall element or the like for detecting the aperture amount of the iris, that is, an aperture value, 17 is an amplifier that amplifies the output of the iris encoder 16, and 18 is an iris encoder that is amplified to a predetermined level by the amplifier 17. It is an A / D converter that converts an output into a digital signal that can be processed by a system control circuit described later.

Reference numerals 19a, 19b, 19c, ... Show a data reference table (LUT: memorizing various data for exposure control).
In the present embodiment, three tables are shown so that a plurality of settings can be made according to the shooting conditions in the Look up table). However, in reality, each table is provided for each of the shooting modes prepared, and will be described further below. In the full-auto shooting mode, two data tables are selectively used in the same mode. Incidentally, in this embodiment, as will be described later, "indoor shooting mode", "sports shooting mode", "landscape shooting mode", "portrait shooting mode", "full-auto shooting mode", "spotlight shooting mode" , "Surf & Snow shooting mode",
The "manual shooting mode" is explained.

Specifically, information on control characteristics of parameters for exposure control such as iris, shutter speed, and gain corresponding to each of the plurality of shooting modes is stored, and the information is stored according to the set shooting mode. Necessary data can be read out.

Reference numeral 20 designates an operating section consisting of a plurality of operation keys for performing various operations, and 21 designates a digital gain control signal outputted from the system control circuit, converted into an analog control signal and supplied to the AGC circuit. The A converters 22 and 23 respectively convert a digital control signal output from the system control circuit into an analog control signal in order to change or modify various characteristics in the camera signal processing and the image signal processing according to the shooting situation. It is a D / A converter that is supplied to the camera signal processing circuit 6 and the image processing circuit 7.

Reference numeral 25 is a system control circuit constituted by a microcomputer, which comprehensively controls the entire video camera system in this embodiment.

The system control circuit 25 sends a control signal for controlling the characteristics of the camera signal processing circuit 6 and the image signal processing circuit 7 in accordance with the photographing mode operated by the operation section 20, to the D / A converters 22 and 23. And the gate pulse supplied to the gate circuit 9 is controlled according to the photographing mode to set the photometric area for detecting the light amount on the image pickup screen. In addition, the integration reset pulse supplied to the integrator 10 is controlled to control the selection characteristic of the integration operation.

For example, FIG. 2 shows an example in which a photometric area is set on the image pickup screen. In the figure, the photometric area is set in the central portion of the image pickup screen, and signals in this area are mainly exposed. It shows a region setting state of "center partial weighted photometry" used for control calculation.

This is based on the empirical rule that the probability that the main subject is located substantially in the center of the screen is high. During the exposure calculation, the signal inside the central region shown by the solid line is larger than the signal outside. The exposure is controlled by assigning a coefficient and increasing the weighting of the central portion.

Then, the integrated value of the image pickup signal in the photometric region taken in through the gate circuit 9 is fetched, and the iris control according to the photographing condition is made with reference to the data of the LUTs 19a, 19b, 19c. The signal is calculated and supplied to the iris driving circuit 14 via the D / A converter 15 and also D / A to the AGC circuit 5.
A gain control signal is supplied through the converter 21 to control the gain of the AGC circuit 5 to be changed according to the photographing mode and the photographing situation. Further, the control signal is also supplied to the CCD drive circuit 12 to control the photographing mode, photographing. Depending on the situation, the storage time (electronic shutter) of the image sensor, the read timing, the reset timing, etc. are controlled.

These various controls are performed by referring to the output of the iris encoder 16 according to the photographing mode, various control parameters are calculated and set, and the above-mentioned respective controls are selectively or simultaneously or. It is executed in appropriate combination.

In this way, the system control circuit 25
Is a combination of iris control, gain control, drive control of the image sensor (for example, electronic shutter by storage time control), etc. based on the shooting mode shooting situation and iris drive state as described above. By doing so, optimum exposure control is performed for all shooting situations.

Reference numeral 26 is an electronic viewfinder (EVF) for displaying a photographed image, an image reproduced by the recorder unit 8 and data relating to various operation modes.

The display of the various data will be described later.

The image pickup apparatus according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and its specific operation will be described below step by step.

First, various control parameters used for exposure control in the apparatus of the present invention will be described. (1) Iris opening amount (parameter P1) The iris control signal output from the system control circuit is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 15 and then supplied to the iris drive circuit 14 for current amplification. Is supplied to the iris motor 13 to drive it. The iris motor 13 controls the diaphragm state of the iris 2 accordingly.

The integrator 1 supplied from the A / D converter 11
The integrated value of 0 corresponds to the shooting mode of the LUT 19
If it is larger than the control value defined by a, 19b, 19bc ..., it means that overexposure, so the iris drive circuit 14 is controlled to drive the iris motor 13 in the direction of narrowing the iris 2 and the amount of incident light. To reduce the output level of the integrator 10.

On the contrary, when the integrated value supplied from the A / D converter 11 is smaller than the control value defined by the LUT 19, the iris motor 13 is driven in the opposite direction to drive the iris 2 contrary to the above. It is controlled to open and increase the amount of incident light and consequently increase the integral value. (2) Shutter speed (parameter 2) (see FIG. 3) The accumulation time setting signal D _{t of the} image pickup device is output from the system control circuit 25 in the form of a digital signal, and the CCD drive circuit 12 receives the signal and outputs it. Pulses that determine various timings are generated and the storage time is controlled.

Since the method of setting the storage time and the setting range greatly differ depending on the structure of the CCD which is the image pickup device, in this embodiment, a CCD having a structure in which unnecessary charges are discarded in the OFD (overflow drain) during the H blanking period is taken as an example. And explain.

FIG. 3 (a) is for explaining the operation of this CCD, and the settable range is the range allowed in terms of image quality such as the amount of image pickup light and smear if it is within H blanking on the high speed side. Can be set with. It is substantially 1/10000 second. On the low speed side, up to 1/60 second H for NTSC
It can be set in steps of the blanking cycle (about 63.5 μsec).

As a concrete time control method, D _t
Is output from the system control circuit 25, the shutter speed T is determined by the following calculation. ． T _NTSC ≈ (262.5-D _t ) * 63.5 μsec. T _PAL ≉ (312.5−D _t ) * 64.0 μsec The CCD drive circuit 12 which receives the instruction in this way further adds ΔV _sub to V _sub (vertical substrate applied voltage) in order to realize the electronic shutter operation. Is added to change the potential distribution of the charge storage portion by photoelectric conversion, and unnecessary charges are discarded in the substrate direction. In this way, an arbitrary shutter speed can be set. FIG. 3B shows this operation.

Then, the system control circuit 25
Current shear ivy speed the D _t in order to slow down the Hayakere if shear ivy speed than the control value defined in LUT19 corresponding to the integral value from the A / D converter 11 to the current less than the value If it is slower than the control value specified in the LUT 19, the D _t is changed to a value larger than the current value in order to increase the shutter speed. (3) Gain (Parameter P3) The D / A converter 21 outputs a gain setting signal that determines the amplification factor of the video signal, and supplies it to the AGC circuit 5.

To set the AGC gain, the AGCC amplifier is set to C.
The output signal of the DS4 is provided so that the camera signal processing circuit 6 of the next stage performs appropriate signal processing,
Conventionally, it has been treated as a part of the constituent element of the AE loop by iris, and it has not been the object of arbitrarily controlling only this.

In recent years, even if the S / N ratio of the CCD is improved and the amplification factor is increased by increasing the gain of the AGC, noise in the image pickup system becomes less noticeable and the settable range as a control parameter is expanded.

Since the gain is a parameter with a fast control response in the image pickup system, it is a parameter suitable for AE control in a situation where a quick reaction is required.

If the current AGC gain is larger than the control value defined in the LUT 19 corresponding to the integrated value from the A / D converter 11, the system control circuit 25
Updates the gain setting value to reduce the AGC gain.

On the contrary, the current AGC gain is A / D converter 2
If it is smaller than the control value defined by the LUT 25 corresponding to the integrated value from 5, the gain setting is updated to increase the gain of AGC.

According to the present invention, by using the above three parameters, it is possible to maintain an appropriate exposure state of the image pickup system according to the image pickup situation and the image pickup mode. The exposure control used will be described. First, the setting of the photometric area on the imaging screen that changes according to each exposure control mode will be described.

The object photographed by the video camera is a place,
It changes variously depending on the environment and the shooting situation at that time. Therefore, in order to always perform the optimum automatic exposure control in these shooting situations, the setting position of the photometric area in the image pickup screen and the weighting control of the photometric area are appropriately changed to perform the control suitable for the situation. There is a need.

Therefore, in consideration of the light ray situation corresponding to the set typical scene, the luminance distribution in the screen is assumed, and the area A in the screen which provides effective information for determining the exposure amount is displayed.
It is necessary to have an automatic photographing mode in which the E (automatic exposure control) calculation coefficient is largely assigned and the photometric area is set so that the weighting is increased.

According to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the image pickup screen is divided into 4 vertically and 6 horizontally, and the entire screen is divided into 24 small regions (in the figure, for convenience of explanation, Each area is numbered 1 to 24).

These division operations are controlled by the system control circuit 25, and the gate pulse output from the system control circuit 25 controls the opening and closing of the gate circuit 9 to output the AGC circuit 5. The signal is extracted for each of the areas 1 to 24, and the integration processing is performed as an independent value by the integrator 10 for each area. The result is A /
After being converted into a digital signal by the D converter 11, it is taken into the system control circuit 25. In the system control circuit 25, the integrated value in each of these areas is processed by giving a weighting coefficient preset according to the photographing mode. Note that these processes can be performed by time division processing corresponding to 24 divisions.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show examples of image pickup screens on which the weighting coefficient processing has been performed.

FIG. 5 shows the above-mentioned "center portion weighted photometry" realized by the 24-division AE system of the present invention.
The weighting calculation coefficient in the areas 8 to 11 and 14 to 17 corresponding to the center of the screen is set to 1.0, and the weighting calculation coefficient in the surrounding areas is set to 0.5, so that the AE control is focused on the central portion. .. Specifically, if the iris, shutter speed, and gain are controlled based on the value obtained by adding the integral values of these weighted regions, the above weighting can be reflected in these controls.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a photometric area suitable for "landscape photography" and the like. In general, when shooting landscapes, it is often the case that both the ground and the sky are captured on the screen at the same time. In addition, the sky part often has a very high brightness even if it is slightly cloudy compared to the ground part. For this reason, when a photograph is taken using the conventional AE control that does not consider the photometric area, a person or the like against the ground or the sky is often crushed in black due to insufficient light.

In order to eliminate these inconveniences, the weighting coefficients of the uppermost areas 1 to 6 of the screen, which correspond to the sky, are set to 0.0 and ignored substantially, and the coefficient above the center of the screen is set to 0.5.
And set the coefficients of the lower half of the screen to 1.0. By allocating the calculation coefficients in this way, it is possible to perform the AE calculation process with emphasis on the lower portion of the screen corresponding to the ground.

In addition to the above-mentioned two examples, various AE characteristics can be set by setting the photographing mode according to the photographing situation and selecting the photometric area setting and the photographing program according to the photographing situation described later. Is possible.

Next, the actual AE control according to the shooting condition using the above-mentioned three parameters will be described. As mentioned above, the conventional iris control is not enough for shooting in various shooting situations.
In the present invention, more parameters are prepared so that these can be optimally controlled.

In other words, in the present invention, a shooting control called "program mode" that enables shooting while automatically adjusting each of the typical shooting situations under the optimum conditions for each situation. Invented the scheme. These program modes can be arbitrarily selected and set by operating the keys of the operation unit 20.

In order to always perform good shooting in various places and under various conditions of video shooting, a typical scene is set according to the shooting situation, and a plurality of scenes are set in order to optimize the scene. It is necessary to have an automatic shooting (exposure control) mode.

In order to solve this problem, a plurality of look-up tables (LUTs) storing control functions for controlling a plurality of parameters are set, and the LUT is set as shown in FIG.
A plurality of tables 19a, LUTs 19b, LUTs 19c, ... Are prepared by a memory such as a ROM and are configured so that they can be selectively read from the system control circuit 25. This selection is made by key operation of the operation unit 20. It is carried out.

7 and 8 show examples of control characteristics of each parameter controlled by the data read from the LUTs 19a, 19b, 19c ...

FIG. 7 shows that the shutter speed of the parameter (2) can be set to 1/100 seconds as much as possible, and the iris or the parameter (1) of the parameter (1) can be changed with respect to the change of the luminance information of the input parameter. 3) A
FIG. 11 is a program diagram showing a program control operation for performing proper exposure control by changing a GC gain, which is stored in, for example, LUT 19a.

In this program mode, the power supply frequency is 5
This is for suppressing flickering of a fluorescent lamp that occurs when an NTSC video camera is used in an area of 0 Hz, and can be referred to as an "indoor shooting mode".

In the figure, the horizontal axis is the illuminance of the subject as an input parameter, and the vertical axis is the set value of each parameter. As is clear from the figure, the setting range of each parameter depends on the input parameter, that is, the illuminance of the subject,
It is divided into two areas, and exposure control is performed by combining three parameters in each area.

That is, looking at the area A, the shutter speed (P2) is fixed to 1/100 second and the gain (P3) is also fixed, and the iris (P1) is controlled according to the brightness. Exposure control is performed. It is possible to adapt to most subjects in this area A.

On the other hand, in the area B, the illuminance is low and the iris is open, and the iris is constant at the open value as shown in the figure. Therefore, the exposure control is performed by changing the shutter speed to 1/60 seconds. That is, in the NTSC system, since the data is originally stored and read at a cycle of 1/60 second, 1/60 second indicates the original operation timing.

When the illuminance further decreases, the iris and the shutter have reached their limits as shown in area 3, so the exposure is controlled by increasing the gain (P3).

As described above, by changing the control parameters P1 to P3 in accordance with the change of the input parameter indicating the illuminance of the subject, the optimum exposure control according to the photographing situation can be performed.

FIG. 8 shows another program mode. For example, in the program diagram stored in the LUT 19b, the shutter speed (P2) is set to a high-speed shutter of 1/500 seconds as much as possible, and movement is performed. This is a program mode prepared so that blurring can be suppressed and a screen can be clearly photographed for a fast subject, and will be referred to as a "sports photography mode" in the present invention.

As is clear from the figure, the shutter speed in the areas A and B is 1/500 as much as possible.
The iris (P
Exposure control is performed by 1) and the gain (P3), and the operation is performed so that the shutter speed is gradually changed to 1/60 second for the first time in the area C where the illuminance of the subject is lowered and the shutter speed cannot be maintained.

As described above, a plurality of program modes are prepared in accordance with shooting conditions, and these are appropriately selected by operating the keys of the operation unit 20, so that optimum exposure can be achieved for all shooting conditions. Control can be performed.

When the photographing program mode is switched by the operation unit 20, the setting of the photometric area on the image pickup screen is also switched at the same time as described above. Figure 7 for example
In the indoor shooting mode of FIG. 8 and the sports shooting mode of FIG. 8, since a subject such as a person usually located in the center of the screen is often taken, the “center-weighted metering” screen shown in FIG. 5 is used. Also in the landscape photography mode of FIG. 18, which will be described later, the photometry area on the imaging screen is switched to the photometry area for the “landscape photography mode” shown in FIG. 6 in conjunction with the operation of switching to this photography mode.

The control of each parameter in each program diagram described above has the following features.

That is, as is clear from FIGS. 7 and 8, each control parameter is divided into a plurality of areas (three areas A, B, and C in this embodiment) to change the input parameter, that is, the illuminance of the subject. Each area is selected according to each area.
Only one variable parameter used for control is designated, and the other two are fixed (FIX). This is shown in the table below the program diagram.

That is, in FIG. 7, the parameter (P1) is variable in area A and the others are fixed, that is, the shutter speed and gain are fixed when iris control is performed.

In area B, the parameter (P2), that is, the shutter speed is variable and the others are fixed, and area C
Then, the parameter (P3), that is, the gain is variable, and the others are fixed.

As a result, although the control is performed by changing the three control parameters, there is always one variable parameter in each area unit, and there is no need to perform a fixed parameter calculation process. The process is no different from the conventional single parameter process.

In other words, the present invention divides the parameter setting area into a plurality of areas and changes the complicated operation processing that naturally occurs due to the increase of the control parameters in order to cope with all shooting situations. By setting one parameter to be fixed and the other to be fixed, it is possible to simplify the handling of a wide variety of imaging conditions and multiple parameters to be controlled, and realize optimal AE control without using a large-scale logic or a large-scale computer. Is something that can be done.

The present invention has another feature in the control parameter switching operation described above.

That is, although the present invention reduces the calculation processing by always setting one variable parameter and fixing the other, the characteristic peculiar to a video camera is as follows.
The object of normal shooting is a moving image, and the shooting conditions change every second.

When each control parameter is set corresponding to the input parameter, the value of the input parameter may move between the plurality of divided areas due to the change of the photographing condition. At this time, the controlled parameter switching operation occurs, but the way of changing on the screen may vary greatly depending on the parameter.If this change occurs frequently, it is expected that the screen becomes difficult to see. It

As a countermeasure against this, it is conceivable to provide a hysteresis at the time of area transition and suppress the frequency of area transition to a low level, but when switching occurs, it has no effect and cannot be a fundamental countermeasure. ..

Therefore, in the present invention, as a countermeasure against this, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the two parameters of the adjacent areas are controlled so as to be simultaneously changed only in the areas B1 and B2 of the boundary portions near the area boundaries. is doing.

In FIG. 7, a boundary portion B sandwiched by broken lines
1 is a boundary region in which the parameters P1 and P2 operate simultaneously, and similarly, in the boundary portion B2, the parameters P2 and P3 are
And are running at the same time.

By simultaneously changing the two parameters in this way, image changes peculiar to the respective parameters occur simultaneously and gradually. Therefore, even if the parameters move between areas, the screen changes. Can be visually unnatural.

Although the method of controlling the exposure by a plurality of photographing program modes has been described above, according to the present invention, the D / A signal is issued by the command of the system control circuit 25 in accordance with the switching of the photographing modes. A control signal for changing various characteristics of various image processings and camera signal processings from the standard position in accordance with the respective photographing conditions can be supplied via the converters 22 and 23.

That is, in order to always optimally express each scene in various places and situations where shooting is performed, in addition to control by basic control parameters at the time of shooting, the camera signal processing circuit shown in FIG. 6. Control of the image signal processing circuit 7 is also effective.

Therefore, considering the image pickup screen corresponding to the set typical scene, and according to the set photographing mode, as shown in FIG.
In the camera signal processing circuit 6 of FIG. 10, the nonlinear conversion characteristics (knee characteristics and γ characteristics) of the video signal level are shown in FIG.
It is not possible to control the characteristics of the aperture correction circuit that changes the sharpness of the image, such as b and c, and the image signal processing circuit 7 in FIG. As the processing, for example, it is conceivable to give a "fade effect" or "afterimage effect" to the imaged video signal.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the configuration of the image signal processing circuit 6 having the function of applying such an additional effect, and the configuration and operation will be described below.

The color signal processing circuit 30 generates a color signal designated by the control signal * 1 from the system control circuit 25 (for example, all-blue blue back or all-white) and outputs the color signal and the image. The field memory circuit 32 delays the signal by 1 screen, and
It is supplied to a selection switch 31 which makes an alternative selection.

Information of one of the three selected by the instruction * 2 of the system control circuit 25 is supplied from the selection switch 31 to the input terminal of the multiplier 33. The multiplier 33 executes the multiplication process using the coefficient output from the multiplication coefficient generator 34 according to the instruction * 3 of the system control circuit 25. The multiplication result is added by the adder 35 to the signal resulting from the same coefficient multiplication process performed by the multiplier 38 on the video input signal input from the input terminal 36, and the result is supplied to the output terminal 37. It

In the process of processing such a signal, if the OFF terminal of no signal is selected by the selection switch, the adder 35
Since only the video signal from the input terminal 36 is input to, the video input signal is directly output to the video signal output terminal 37 (through). At this time, the coefficient of the multiplier 38 is 1.0, which indicates a through.

Next, when the output of the color signal generator 30 is selected by the selection switch 31, the multiplication coefficient generator 34 operates according to the instruction from the system control circuit 25 (start / end timing or direct coefficient setting). The output is calculated, and one side appears as 0 → 1 and the other side disappears as 1 → 0 due to the inverse operation (1's complement relationship by the coefficient) with the input video signal from the video input terminal 36, resulting in color The signal and the input signal are exchanged. Visually, the screen changes such that the blue screen gradually changes to a moving image.

Also when the output of the field memory is selected, the coefficient relation of the multiplier 38 is the one's complement as described above. The difference is that there is no change with time, and the operation is fixed at 0.5, for example.

In this case, since the added and output results are cyclically added at a predetermined ratio with a delay of one screen, the input image is represented as if it were tailed in the time axis direction.

By operating such signal processing in, for example, a so-called portrait photographing mode in which a person is mainly photographed, the aperture characteristic or the like is changed in the above-mentioned camera signal processing circuit. It is possible to adjust the image quality, for example, by giving a soft feeling to an image by lowering the frequency response that affects the sharpness of human visual characteristics, and the frequency response in the vicinity of 2-3 MHz in a television signal. it can.

By operating the circuit as shown in FIG. 11, the color fade can be applied to the image.
The effect of special image processing can be automatically added.

According to the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of program photographing modes are prepared so that optimum control can always be performed for various photographing situations. However, each control parameter in each program photographing mode is different. The setting of the photometering area according to the shooting mode, and the switching of the characteristics of the signal processing system according to the shooting mode will be described later, and the control parameters such as the iris, shutter speed, and gain described above are set. The operation procedure will be described.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing a parameter setting operation including the above-mentioned parameter processing of the area boundary portion in the program photographing mode using the program diagram of FIG. 7, for example.

In the figure, when control is started, S
The power-on is monitored at 1, and when the power is turned on, the process proceeds to S2, the photographing program mode (M) selected by the operation unit 20 is confirmed, and the process proceeds to S3 to select the selected program. Set the designated program characteristic by referring to the LUT 19a or 19b, 19c corresponding to the mode (M). The details of each shooting mode will be described later.

In S4, the data relating to the weighting of each of the 24 divisions set on the image pickup screen is read out from the designated LUT, the weighting according to the selected photographing mode is performed as described above, and the process proceeds to S5. ..

In S5, according to the designated photographing mode,
The contents and characteristics of the image processing are read from the LUT, and in the above example, the image quality adjustment by the aperture control and the image processing by the color fade or the like, which are adapted to the shooting mode, are set.

In S6, the current area on the reference parameter axis, that is, the current area is confirmed from the illuminance of the subject corresponding to the input parameter.

Then, the process proceeds to S7, and the branch destination is determined according to the current area.

If the area A is determined, the process proceeds to S8 to calculate the iris control parameter P1, and then S
At 9, the inside / outside of the boundary area B1 of the area is determined, and the boundary B
If it is out of 1, proceed to S10 to hold the shutter speed control parameter P2 in advance and fix it, and if it is in B1, S1.
After 1 to calculate and update the shutter speed control P2, the process proceeds to S21, where the gain control parameter P3 is held in advance and fixed, and the process proceeds to S24.

If the area B is determined in S6,
In step S12, the shutter speed control parameter P2 is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S13 to determine whether the boundary areas B1 and B2 of the area are inside or outside, and if it is within B1, S14.
Then, the iris control parameter P1 is calculated, and the process proceeds to S21. The gain control parameter P3 is held in advance and fixed, and then the process proceeds to S24.

If it is within B2, the process proceeds to S16, the gain control parameter P3 is calculated, the process proceeds to S23, the iris control parameter P1 is held in advance and fixed, and then the process proceeds to S24.

If neither B1 nor B2 belongs,
In step S15, the iris control parameter P1 is held in advance and fixed, and in step S22, the gain control parameter P3 is fixed, and then the process proceeds to step S24.

If the area C is determined in S7, the process proceeds to S17 and the gain control parameter P3 is set.
Then, in S18, the inside / outside of the boundary area B2 of the area is determined. If it is outside the boundary B2, the procedure proceeds to S20, in which the shutter speed control parameter P2 is held in advance and fixed, and then within B2. For example, the program proceeds to S19 where the shutter speed control P2 is calculated and updated, and the program proceeds to S23 where the iris control parameter P1 is held in front and fixed, and then S24.
Go to.

At S24, the values P1, P2, P3 of the respective parameters set by the above-mentioned processing, that is, the iris,
The control values of the shutter speed and the gain are output from the system control circuit 25 to control the iris 2, the image sensor 3 and the AGC circuit 5 respectively according to their program modes, and the next processing time unit comes at S25. Waiting (until one frame is a basic unit in this embodiment), the power-off is confirmed in S26, and if the power-on is continued, the process returns to S1 to repeat the above-mentioned processing.
If the power-off is instructed, the process ends.

As a result, various parameters can be controlled according to the selected program mode, and the exposure control is performed based on this.

Further, in association with the switching of the shooting program mode, the characteristics or additional functions of the photometric area and the image signal processing system on the shooting screen are switched to those suitable for the shooting situation. It is possible to always perform optimum automatic exposure control and photographing according to.

Moreover, even if the photographing condition changes, the photographing condition of the camera does not change unnaturally, and the optimum control mode can be switched.

Each of the above-mentioned photographing modes is an automatic photographing mode in each photographing situation, and when a certain photographing mode is selected, various control information is read from the data table LUT corresponding to the photographing mode, and the control parameters are set. Is automatically set and controlled.

The above is the processing procedure until the characteristics of each parameter are read from the data reference table LUT and the AE control data is calculated. Next, in the LUT corresponding to each program photographing mode and those photographing modes. Each stored parameter and its definition, characteristics, actual AE
The control characteristics will be described.

FIG. 12 shows the above-mentioned "full-auto shooting mode".
13 shows the internal structure of the LUT storing the data for determining the control characteristic in FIG. It is similar to the program diagram as shown in FIG.

This "full-auto shooting mode" is an automatic shooting mode in which proper shooting is possible under most normal shooting conditions. Therefore, as will be described later, a plurality of data tables are provided in accordance with the shooting situation, and it is configured to be able to widely support various shooting situations.

FIG. 14 also shows the internal structure of the LUT which stores data for determining another control characteristic, which is referred to in a shooting condition different from that of the LUT of FIG. 12 in the “full-auto shooting mode”, and FIG. Is the LUT of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a transition diagram of control parameters corresponding to the illuminance of the subject, that is, the photographing brightness, which is similar to the program diagram as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 described above.

Here, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are suitable indoor shooting modes, for example, for indoor shooting with flickering, and FIG.
4, FIG. 15 shows a shooting mode suitable for use when there is no flickering.

In the control parameter transition diagram of FIG. 13, six areas are divided by five threshold values y1 to y5 in accordance with the value of the input luminance level, and I, S, and G are respectively divided. Each control parameter of is set,
As shown on the right side of the figure, the iris is variable between CLOSE and the predetermined values F1 and OPEN, and the shutter is a high-speed T.
1, 1/100 second (NTSC) T for flickering
2, variable between standard 1/60 second STANDARD, gain is ± 0 dB THROUGH, predetermined value G1,
It changes between even larger G2. In the figure,
I, S, and G are variable regions of corresponding parameters.

The control parameter transition diagram of FIG. 15 has the same concept as that of FIG. 13, but the area division according to the value of the input luminance level is performed using four threshold values of y6 to y8. Each control parameter is set for each divided area.

That is, in the present invention, if the full-auto mode is set by the operation unit 20, the flickers in the image pickup signal are detected by the system control circuit 25, and the LUT is automatically detected according to the presence or absence of the flickers. 14 is configured to perform control by switching to the optimum one, and accordingly, in a single program shooting mode, these LUTs are appropriately switched according to shooting conditions, and any shooting condition is always available. It has become possible to respond to. In addition to flickering, another LUT is available depending on other shooting conditions.
Needless to say, can be prepared.

The individual parameters in each figure will be described in order below. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1, as is apparent from the data column on the right side of FIG. 12, the calculation is performed by displaying “→ CAL” (calcul).
ation) is required.

The premise in this case is that the brightness is extremely high,
The shutter speed is set slightly higher to prevent the iris from becoming too small, and the aliasing component in the time axis direction (so-called flickering)
Is set to an inconspicuous time setting T1, and the AGC gain is set to ± 0 dB (THROUGH) so that the S / N is not deteriorated.

When the input brightness level is between y1 and y2, the iris is fixedly set to the aperture value F1, and it is set by "F1" in the data column of FIG. 12 that the calculation is unnecessary. There is. It is desirable that the value of F1 be an aperture value that does not cause the diffraction phenomenon.

Further, when the input luminance level is between y2 and y3, it is shown that the calculation is necessary, as is clear from the display of "→ CAL". This range is the area with the widest range of exposure control by the iris.

As another parameter, the AGC gain is ±
If the shutter speed is 0 dB and the shutter speed is the fluorescent light flicker shown in FIG. 13, it is 1/100 second in NTSC and 1 in PAL.
Fixed to / 60 seconds and set so as to cancel the fluctuation of the irradiation energy of the fluorescent lamp due to the AC power supply, and when there is no flickering as described above (Figs. 14 and 15), the standard television screen is used to secure the exposure time. 1/60 second of rate (NT
SC) or 1/50 second (PAL).

In FIGS. 12 and 13, when the input luminance level is y3 or less, it is possible to set the iris to open.
PEN ”. Under this condition, the brightness is starting to decrease, so first raise the AGC gain to a level where S / N deterioration is not noticeable, and if the shutter speed is higher than the standard rate, then this shutter speed is set to the minimum speed of the standard rate. Gradually drop to.

As described above, with respect to the iris, the control characteristic of the iris is obtained by dividing the entire region from high luminance to low luminance into 4 by the three threshold values y1, y2 and y3 with respect to the value of the input parameter. Is defined. (P2: Shutter control parameter) As the shutter control parameter, a function f (Y) of the brightness of the input parameter is defined by the threshold values of y1 to y5.

When the input luminance level is higher than y1, "→ T1" is defined, and the shutter speed is set to high speed T1.
It is set to be fixed to. In this case, no calculation is necessary.

As described above, T1 is set slightly higher as a countermeasure against the small aperture, for example, 1/1.
It is selected within the range of 25 to 1/500 seconds.

When the input luminance level is between y1 and y2,
“→ CAL” is set, which indicates that it is necessary to calculate the optimum shutter speed according to the input luminance level and set the parameter value.

This is because the iris is temporarily fixed at an aperture value that does not cause a diffraction phenomenon as a countermeasure against a small aperture, and therefore it is necessary to set the shutter speed as fast as the increased amount of light. Therefore, the above calculation is performed.

When the input brightness level is between y2 and y4, the shutter speed is fixed to T2. Also in this case, calculation is unnecessary.

This T2 corresponds to the light accumulation time for preventing fluorescent light flickering, and is 1/100 second in NTSC,
In PAL, it is set to 1/60 seconds. However, in the above-mentioned shooting under the condition that the fluorescent light flickering does not occur, adjustment is made so as to extend the light accumulation time toward the standard value of the television signal, and shooting is performed under a better S / N condition. To control.

Therefore, in consideration of the case where there is no flickering, a control characteristic such that the shutter speed does not stop once at T2 is defined as another LUT and is used under the condition that there is no flickering of the fluorescent lamp. Is the LUT shown in FIG. 14, and FIG. 15 shows the transition of each of the three parameters with respect to the luminance level which is the input parameter in that case. For these figures, see FIGS.
The detailed description is omitted because it can be understood from the same viewpoint.

Regarding the presence / absence of the fluorescent lamp flickers, the system control circuit 25 monitors the luminance levels for each field, and if periodic level fluctuations are detected, there is a flickering and the brightness level of each field is almost the same. If it is stable, it can be determined that there is no flickering.

Then, the system control circuit 25
Depending on the presence or absence of this flickering, two types of LUTs are selectively used in the same program mode called the full-auto shooting mode, and the optimum control adapted to the shooting situation is performed.

In the area where the input luminance level is between y4 and y5, "→ CAL" is set, and the parameter is set by calculating the optimum shutter speed by calculation.

That is, as a measure for preventing the above flickers,
Although the shutter speed is set higher than the standard TV rate, it is more important to set the shutter speed slower so that the shooting itself can be performed when the illumination is low. Perform the above calculations to set the speed.

In this area, one step of the shutter speed can be finely set, so that even if the shutter speed is continuously changed, the image does not feel uncomfortable.

When the input luminance level is y5 or less, "→ standard value" specifies that the shutter speed should be set to the standard value of the television signal. This standard value means
It is 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL.

In this state, only the AGC gain remains as a controllable parameter, and the gain up exposure control is executed within a range where S / N deterioration is allowed. (P3: AGC gain) Even when the AGC gain is used as the parameter to be processed, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by a plurality of thresholds, and if the input luminance level is higher than y3, “ “± 0 dB” is specified and AG
The C gain is fixed at ± 0 dB, and the gain is set so as not to have an amplifying effect. That is, if exposure control is possible with the iris and the shutter, fix the AGC gain and set S
This is to prevent deterioration of / N, and also in this case, no calculation is required.

When the input luminance level is between y3 and y4, "→"
"CAL" is specified, and the optimum AGC is calculated by calculation.
Gain control parameters are set based on the gain.

When the input luminance level is between y4 and y5, the AGC gain is fixed to the predetermined value G1. Also in this case, calculation is unnecessary.

Further, when the input luminance level is y5 or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

The relationship between these threshold definitions and the three parameters is clear from FIG. 13 or FIG. 15, and if there is no flickering in FIG.
It is divided into 6 areas by 1 to y5, and the parameters to be calculated are as shown in FIGS.
Each area is distributed so that there is always one,
The iris (I), the shutter (S), the iris (I), the gain (G), the shutter (S), and the gain (G) are indicated from the high brightness side.

Also in the case where there is no flickering shown in FIG. 15, the whole is divided into four areas by y6 to y8, and the off-parameters to be calculated are distributed and arranged to be one parameter in each area. From the luminance side, they are I, S, I, and G. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric region weighting setting) As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this is a parameter for setting the photometric region distribution in the imaging screen and their weighting. As is clear from FIG. It is stored in the MAP format and the attribute is fixed. That is, although it differs for each LUT depending on the shooting mode, it is fixed within one shooting mode and does not change depending on the luminance signal level.

In the present embodiment, the regions are divided into 24 areas on the image pickup screen and are directly allocated like a map. In this full-auto mode, 1.0 in the 2 × 4 central area,
A coefficient of 0.5, which is lighter than that in the central portion, is assigned to each of the 16 peripheral areas, and this is designated as the photometric area for "central partial weighted metering" shown in FIG. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter is also constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this full auto mode, "NORMA
L ”is designated, indicating that the basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

In this fully automatic mode, "NORMA
L ”is designated, indicating that the basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

The attribute is fixed and set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

As described above, the data table LUT provided for each photographing mode in the present invention stores the definitions and characteristics of various parameters required for control, and such an LUT is stored according to the photographing mode. Since a plurality of shooting modes and shooting environments can be selected in accordance with a designated shooting mode, optimum control can be performed at all times.

Next, the setting and control of the "portrait photographing mode" mainly for photographing a person will be described in detail.

The "portrait photographing mode" is the operation unit 2
It is set by the operation of 0, and is basically a shooting mode by center-weighted photometry in which the photometry area as shown in FIG. 5 is weighted as shown in FIG. 5, and is referred to when this mode is selected. FIG. 16 shows the internal structure of the data table LUT storing the definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for the control.

The program diagram showing the operation of various control parameters defined and set by this LUT is shown in FIG.
It looks like 7. This figure shows the transition of the input parameter of each control parameter corresponding to the program diagram with respect to the brightness level. The actual program diagram is drawn as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, but for simplification, FIG.
2, As in FIG. 13, the iris, shutter speed, and gain are shown in this order from the top in the order of operating range.

That is, in FIG. 17, two threshold values y1 and y2 are provided for the subject illuminance on the horizontal axis which is an input parameter, and the entire area is divided into three areas, and I is the iris control parameter ( P1) and S are shutter speed control parameters (P2) and G is a gain control parameter (P3). As shown on the right side of the figure, the iris control parameter (P1) is CLOSE and O.
Operating between PEN, the shutter speed control parameter (P2) is High speed (T1) and 1/60 of standard
The gain control parameter (P3) changes within ±
Amplification factor 1 of 0 dB (Because the input signal is output as it is
It is meant to change from a value of HROUGH) to a predetermined value G1.

However, in the variable region, the value of each parameter is changed by calculation in accordance with the brightness level which is an input parameter, as in the program diagrams of FIGS. 7 and 8.

In this portrait mode, it is assumed that the subject is a person, and therefore importance is attached to taking a shallow depth of field.

The individual parameters in each drawing will be described below in order. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1, as is clear from the data column on the right side of FIG. 13, the calculation is performed by the display of “→ CAL” (calcul).
ation) is required.

Since it is desired to secure S / N with high brightness, AGC
The gain is maintained at ± 0 dB (THRUGH), and the iris is controlled so as to be fully opened up to the open value in consideration of the small aperture measure against the reduction of resolution due to the diffraction phenomenon of light by the small aperture of the iris.

When the input luminance level is y1 or less, the control for setting the iris to open is indicated by "→ OPEN".

By controlling in this way, the depth of field is set to be the shallowest, and a subject such as a person being photographed can be made to stand out against the background. This state is the basic state of control characteristics in portrait photography mode.

In this way, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire region from high luminance to low luminance with one threshold value y1. (P2: Shutter Control Parameter) As the shutter control parameter, a function f (Y) of the brightness of the input parameter is defined by the threshold values y1 and y2.

When the input brightness level is higher than y1, "→ T1" is designated, and the shutter speed is set to the high speed T1.
It is set to be fixed to. In this case, no calculation is necessary.

Here, as described above, T1 is set to a somewhat high shutter speed in order to set the depth of field to be shallow in addition to the measures against the small aperture.

Actually, it is selected within the range of about 1/250 to 1/4000 seconds.

At this stage, in order to earn S / N,
Even if the brightness becomes low, the control is performed without increasing the AGC gain as much as possible.

When the input luminance level is between y1 and y2,
“→ CAL” is set, which indicates that the optimum shutter speed according to the input luminance level is calculated and the control parameter value is set.

The control variable width here is between T1 and the standard screen frequency (standard value) of the television.

It is indicated by "→ standard value" that the shutter speed should be set to the standard value of the television signal when the input luminance level is y2 or less.

The standard value of the television signal referred to here is 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL.

In this state, since only the AGC gain remains as a controllable parameter, gain control is performed within a range that is allowable in terms of S / N deterioration, and exposure control is performed. (P3: AGC gain) Even when the AGC gain is used as the parameter to be processed, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by a plurality of threshold values, and if the input luminance level is higher than y2, " → ± 0 dB ”is specified and A
The gain is fixed so that the GC gain is fixed at ± 0 dB and no amplification effect is provided. That is, when the exposure control is possible by the iris and the shutter, the AGC gain is fixed to prevent the S / N from deteriorating, and in this case also, the calculation is unnecessary.

Since this section is set so as to occupy most of the range of the illuminance of the subject, S /
It is possible to pick up a good image of N.

When the input brightness level is y2 or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

Since the other parameters have already been set to the low illuminance measure to the maximum extent, the only controllable parameter left in this state is the AGC gain, and the balance with the S / N deterioration is considered. However, the exposure is controlled by adjusting the gain up within an allowable range.

The relationship between the three areas divided by the threshold values y1 and y2 and the three control parameters is
It is clear from FIG. 17 that the parameters to be calculated are distributed and arranged so that there is always one in each of the three areas, and the calculation is simplified.
The arrangement is I, S, G from the area on the high brightness side. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric area weighting setting) As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this is a parameter for setting the photometric area distribution in the image pickup screen and their weighting. As is clear from FIG. It is stored in the MAP format and the attribute is fixed. That is, although the set value differs for each LUT depending on the shooting mode, it is fixed within one shooting mode and does not change depending on the luminance signal level.

In this embodiment, 24 areas are directly allocated like a map. In this portrait photography mode, 1.0 is assigned to the central 2 × 4 8 region and 0.5 to the peripheral 16 regions, which are lighter than the central portion. It is designated as the metering area of "partial weighted metering". (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter is also constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In the case of "NORMAL", the basic image quality is set to the standard value, no special image processing is performed, and in the case of "SOFT", the frequency characteristic is changed with respect to the standard value of the basic image quality.

The setting in the portrait photographing mode is "SOFT". Specifically, as described above, specifically, the frequency related to the sharpness of the human visual characteristics, that is, about 2M to 3MHz in the television signal. By setting the frequency characteristics with reduced response, it is set to obtain a soft image quality. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

When "NORMAL" is designated, it indicates that the basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

In this portrait shooting mode, "WHI
TE-FADE ”, which has the effect of gradually turning the entire screen white by operating the white fade circuit used during normal scene changes. Specifically, in the circuit shown in FIG. 11, the color signal generator 30 is instructed by the system control circuit 25 to generate white (* 1), the switch is switched to the side of 30 (* 2), and white is mixed. It can be operated by setting the multiplication coefficient to about 0.1 to 0.5 (* 3) so that the ratio is around 30%, for example.

This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

As described above, in the portrait photographing mode, it is possible to take a picture with center-weighted photometry, give priority to the open aperture, and create a screen with a blurred background with a shallow depth of field. The main subject can be made to stand out against the background, and automatic shooting that is optimal for portrait shooting becomes possible. It is extremely effective to use the image quality adjustment and image processing described above together.

As described above, the data table LU according to the present invention
The definition and characteristics of various parameters required for control are stored in T, and a plurality of such LUTs are provided according to the shooting mode, and can be selected according to the specified shooting mode. Optimal control can always be performed for the shooting environment.

Taking the portrait photography mode as an example,
A data table LUT defining the control parameters,
And the operating characteristics of the control parameters set accordingly.

Next, regarding the "sports shooting mode",
The internal structure of the data table LUT and the control of the control parameter by the setting will be described.

As described above, the "sports shooting mode" is a shooting mode suitable for shooting a subject that moves a lot or a subject that moves fast, and is selected by operating the operation unit 20.
Basically, it is a shooting mode with center-weighted photometry in which the photometry area as shown in FIG. 5 is weighted as shown in FIG.
FIG. 18 shows the internal structure of the data table LUT that is referred to when this mode is selected and stores the definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for the control.

The program diagram showing the transitions of the input parameters of the various control parameters defined and set by this LUT with respect to the brightness level is as shown in FIG. 8 described above. Data table L
To clarify the correspondence with the UT, as shown in FIG.
A control parameter transition diagram showing an operating range with respect to input brightness as an input parameter of each control parameter will be used.

That is, in FIG. 19, five threshold values y1 are set for the subject illuminance on the horizontal axis which is an input parameter.
To y6 are provided, the entire area is divided into 6 areas from high brightness to low brightness, and I: iris control parameter (P1), S: shutter speed control parameter (P2), G: gain control parameter in each area. (P
Each control parameter of 3) is set, as shown on the right side of the figure, the iris is variable between CLOSE and OPEN, and the shutter is high speed T1, medium speed T2, standard 1
/ 60 seconds (NTSC) STANDARD, gain is ± 0 dB THROUGH, predetermined value G1,
It changes between even larger G2. In the figure,
I, S, and G are variable regions of corresponding parameters.

The individual control parameters set in the landscape photography mode data table will be described below in order. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) of the brightness level Y is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1, as is clear from the data column on the right side of FIG.
ation) is required.

Since it is desired to secure S / N with high brightness, AGC
Keeping the gain at ± 0 dB (THROUGH), open the iris from the minimum aperture to the open value first, considering the measures against the small aperture to prevent the reduction of resolution due to the diffraction phenomenon of light by the small aperture of the iris. To be controlled.

When the input brightness level is y1 or less, the control for setting the iris to open is designated by "→ OPEN".

In this state, the amount of light becomes insufficient with respect to the currently set shutter speed.
The C gain is raised so that the S / N deterioration is not so noticeable, the shutter speed is kept as high as possible, and the shutter speed is set as high as possible to control a fast-moving subject. ..

As described above, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire area from high luminance to low luminance into two by the threshold value y1. (P2: Shutter control parameter) The shatter control parameter is a function f related to the input brightness depending on a plurality of threshold values.
(y) is defined.

When the input brightness level is y2 or more, "→ T"
1 "is designated, and the setting is made so that the shutter speed is fixed to a predetermined high-speed shutter speed T1.
Therefore, in this area, calculation for input brightness of shutter speed is unnecessary.

As described above, T1 is set to a slightly higher shutter speed as a countermeasure against a small aperture, but in many cases, a realistic value of T1 is 1/250 sec-1.
It will be selectable in the range of / 1000 seconds.

At this stage, the shutter speed is fixed to T1 and the decrease in brightness is compensated by opening the iris to the open value, but the iris is fully opened at y1.
In the areas 1 to y2, the amount of light is becoming insufficient. However, in order to keep the shutter speed as high as possible, A within the range where S / N deterioration can be tolerated.
This is dealt with by increasing the gain of the GC.

Between the input luminance level ga y2 and y3, "→"
CAL ”is designated, and it is shown that it is necessary to set the control parameters by obtaining the optimum shutter speed by calculation. The control variable width here is T
It is between 1 and T2.

As a standard for setting T2, a shutter speed at which a moving subject can be imaged clearly to some extent is set.

In the area between y3 and y4, it is instructed to fix the shutter speed to T2. This area does not require calculation. Also here AGC
The gain process is the same as the above-mentioned y1 to y2 areas.

When the input luminance level is between y4 and y5,
"→ CAL" is designated, and it is shown that control is performed to calculate the optimum shutter speed according to the input luminance and set the value of the control parameter within the range of T2 or less.

That is, since the brightness level has already dropped considerably in this area, it is not preferable to increase the AGC gain any more from the viewpoint of the S / N ratio of the image, and the shutter speed is set to a low speed by giving up the moving object resolution. This is because there is no choice but to shift to the side.

However, since one step of the shutter speed can be finely set in the area around this, even if the shutter speed is continuously changed, the image does not feel strange.

When the input brightness level is y5 or less, the control to set the shutter speed to the standard value of the television signal is designated by "→ standard value".

The standard value of the television signal mentioned here means 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL.

In this state, since only the AGC gain remains as a controllable parameter, the gain is adjusted up within an allowable range in terms of S / N deterioration and exposure control is executed. (P3: AGC gain) Looking at the case where the AGC gain is the parameter to be processed, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by a plurality of threshold values y, and when the input luminance level is higher than y1. "→ ± 0 dB" is specified,
The AGC gain is fixed at ± 0 dB, and the AGC circuit is set to have no amplification effect. That is, if the exposure control is possible with the iris and the shutter, the AG
This is because the C gain is fixed to prevent the S / N from deteriorating, and in this case as well, the calculation is unnecessary.

When the input brightness level is between y1 and y2, the optimum AGC gain for the input brightness is calculated,
Set the gain control parameter so that the →→ C
AL ”is specified.

Further, when the input brightness level is between y2 and y3, the AGC gain is designated to be fixed to the predetermined value G1, and the calculation is unnecessary.

When the input luminance level is between y3 and y4, the optimum AGC gain for the input luminance is calculated,
Set the gain control parameter so that the →→ C
AL ”is specified.

When the input luminance level is between y4 and y5, the AGC gain is designated to be fixed to a predetermined value G2 higher than G1, and no calculation is required.

When the input brightness is y5 or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain for the input brightness is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

FIG. 19 shows the relationship among the above three parameters with the brightness as the horizontal axis.
Although it is divided into six areas by the five threshold values of 5, the control parameters to be calculated are distributed and distributed so as to be one in any area.
Therefore, the calculation is simplified, the expansion of the calculation scale can be suppressed even if the control parameters increase, and the calculation speed can be improved. The parameters to be calculated are I, G, S, G, and S in order from the high-luminance side, and the "G, S" portion increases the number of repetitions as necessary to make more precise setting. It is possible.

As described above, the operation as a whole is a sequence in which the iris control is performed on the high-luminance side and then the gain and the shutter are alternately controlled in an area divided by an appropriate variable width. There is.

Specific examples of each parameter when the whole area is divided into 10 areas will be shown below.

Area: Iris: Shutter: Gain (Maximum brightness: CLOSE: 1/1000: ± 0 dB) No. 1: CLOSE to OPEN: 1/1000: ± 0 dB No. 2: OPEN: 1/1000: -No. 3: OPEN: ~: + 3dB No. 4: OPEN: 1/500: ~ No. 5: OPEN: ~: + 6dB No. 6: OPEN: 1/250: ~ No. 7: OPEN: ~: + 9dB No. 8: OPEN: 1/125: ~ No. 9: OPEN: ~: + 12dB No10: OPEN: 1/60: ~ (Minimum illuminance: OPEN: 1/60: + 15dB) (P4: AE weighting parameter = metering area weighting setting) Imaging as shown in Fig. 5. It is a parameter for setting the photometric area distribution in the screen and the weighting thereof, which is stored in the MAP format and has a fixed attribute, as is clear from FIG. That is, L according to the shooting mode
Although different for each UT, it is fixed in one shooting mode and does not change depending on the input luminance signal level.

In this embodiment, 24 calculation coefficients are directly allocated like a map to the 24 divided areas.

In this "sports shooting mode", 1.0 is set in the central 2 × 4 area and 0.5 in the peripheral 16 areas.
That is, a coefficient that is lighter than that in the central part is assigned, which is the setting of "central part weighted photometry" in FIG. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this landscape shooting mode, "NORMAL"
In this case, the basic image quality is set as the standard value, and no special image processing for changing the image quality by using the aperture control described above is performed. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

"NORMAL" is designated,
The basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

As described above, according to the "sports shooting mode", automatic exposure control can be realized by giving priority to the high-speed shutter, and clear and good shooting can be performed on a moving subject or a fast-moving subject. be able to.

The data table LUT defining the control parameters of the sports photography mode and the operation characteristics of the control parameters set by the data table LUT have been described above.

Next, the internal structure of the data table LUT in the "landscape photography mode" and the control of the control parameters by its setting will be described.

In this landscape photography mode, it is assumed that the subject is a landscape. Therefore, as described above, it is unlikely that a flickering object or a fast-moving subject will be present. As described above, there are often high-luminance portions such as sky in the screen information, and as shown in the figure, the setting of the photometric region is changed to decrease the weighting coefficient at the upper part of the screen and increase the weighting coefficient at the lower part. It is necessary to set control parameters that match the subject.

The landscape photographing mode is set by the operation of the operation unit 20, and the internal structure of the data table LUT storing the definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for its control is shown in FIG.

A program showing transitions of various control parameters defined and set by the LUT with respect to the brightness level of the input parameter is as shown in FIG. 22, and the actual program diagram is shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. However, for the sake of simplicity, in FIG. 22, the iris, the shutter speed, and the gain are shown in order from the top in the order of operating range.

That is, in the figure, I is the iris control parameter (P1), S is the shutter speed control parameter (P2), and G is the gain control parameter (P3). As shown on the right side of the figure, The iris control parameter (P1) operates between CLOSE and OPEN, and S
Is the constant shutter speed control parameter (P2), G
Means that the gain control parameter (P3) changes from an amplification factor of 1 of ± 0 dB (THROUGH because the input signal is output as it is) to a predetermined value G1. However, in the variable region, the value of each parameter is changed in accordance with the brightness level which is an input parameter, as in the program diagrams of FIGS. 7 and 8 described above.

In the landscape photography mode, there are often no flickers, fast-moving subjects, etc., so the shutter speed (P2) is fixed at the standard 1/60 second and the iris (P1) center control is performed. After is opened, the gain (P3) is controlled.

That is, as shown in the figure, the control range of the parameter is divided into two areas with the threshold value y as a boundary in accordance with the value of the subject brightness of the input parameter. The shutter speed (P2) is fixed to 1/60 seconds regardless of the subject brightness value of the input parameter, the AGC gain (P3) is fixed to ± 0 dB, and the iris (P1) is maintained until the brightness decreases to y. Only control. After the brightness is y or less and the iris is opened, the AGC gain is changed to perform optimum exposure control.

As described above, by preparing a plurality of program modes according to the shooting conditions and selecting the program modes by operating the keys of the operation unit 20 as appropriate, the optimum exposure for all shooting conditions can be obtained. Control can be performed.

When the photographing program mode is switched by the operation unit 20, the setting of the photometric area on the image pickup screen is also switched at the same time as described above.

The individual control parameters set in the landscape photography mode data table will be described below in order. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
If it is higher than 1, as is apparent from the data column on the right side of FIG.
ation) is required.

Since it is desired to secure S / N with high brightness, AGC
The gain remains ± 0 dB (THROUGH), and the control range is from the minimum aperture of the iris to the open value.

When the input brightness level is y or less, the control for setting the iris to open is designated by "→ OPEN".

In this state, it can be considered that the illuminance is considerably low, and when it is desired to give priority to the continuous shooting even if the S / N of the image is deteriorated, the AGC gain is increased to correspond to the area.

In this way, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire area from high luminance to low luminance into two by the threshold value y1. Then, the control characteristic of the iris is defined. (P2: Shutter control parameter) Since the shutter control parameter is unlikely to have flickers and fast-moving subjects, and it is not necessary to make the field progress shallow, the attribute is fixed and the input brightness level is low. It is shown that the value is always fixed to a fixed value regardless of, and the content is set to "→ standard value" so as to be set to the standard value of the television standard, and no calculation is necessary.

The standard value of the television signal referred to here is 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL. (P3: AGC gain) Looking at the case where the AGC gain is the parameter to be processed, the function f (Y) of the input brightness is defined by the threshold value y, and the input brightness level is y1.
If it is higher, “→ ± 0 dB” is specified and AGC
The gain is fixed at ± 0 dB, and the AGC circuit is set to have no amplification effect. That is, when the exposure control is possible by the iris and the shutter, the AGC gain is fixed to prevent the S / N from deteriorating, and in this case also, the calculation is unnecessary.

Further, since this section is set so as to occupy most of the range of the illuminance of the subject, S /
It is possible to pick up a good image of N.

When the input brightness level is y1 or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

In this state, the illuminance is considerably low, and the S
This is an area corresponding to the case where the AGC gain is increased when it is desired to continue shooting even if / N is deteriorated.

Since the other parameters have already been set to the low illuminance measure to the maximum extent, the only controllable parameter left in this state is the AGC gain, and the balance with the S / N deterioration is considered. However, the exposure is controlled by adjusting the gain up within an allowable range.

The relationship between the area divided into two by the threshold value y1 and the three control parameters is clear from FIG. 22, and the parameter to be calculated here is always one in each of the two areas. Thus, the calculation is simplified, and the arrangement is I and G from the area on the high luminance side. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric region weighting setting) As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this is a parameter for setting the photometric region distribution in the image pickup screen and their weighting. It is stored in MAP format and has a fixed attribute.

That is, although it differs for each LUT depending on the photographing mode, it is fixed within one photographing mode and does not change depending on the luminance signal level.

In this embodiment, 24 calculation coefficients are directly allocated like a map to the 24 divided areas.
In this "landscape shooting mode," the 1x6 6 in the upper center
The region is assigned a coefficient of 0.0, the next 1 × 6 region is assigned a coefficient of 0.5, which is lighter than the central portion, and the lower half 2 × 6 region is assigned a coefficient of 1.0. As shown, it is designated as a photometric area for "lower part weighted photometry".

As a result, it is possible to prevent the subject from being blackened due to the influence of high brightness such as the sky.

The photometric area distribution is not limited to the pattern shown in FIG. 6, but the area number shown in FIG. 1
~ No. 12, the weighting coefficient of the upper two stages is 0.0,
13-No. 24, the weighting coefficient of the lower two stages is 1.0, and 1-No. 6, the weighting coefficient in the first stage of the table is 0.0, No. 7-No. No. 18 has a weighting coefficient of 0.5, No. 19-No. 24, the photometric distribution that sets the weighting coefficient in the lower first stage to 1.0. 1 to
No. 12, the weighting coefficient of the upper two stages is 0.0, 1
4 to No. The weighting coefficient of the lower central part of 17 is 1.0,
No. on the side and below. 13, No. 18, No. 1
9-No. A photometric distribution in which 24 is 0.5 is also conceivable. In particular, the last photometric distribution is effective when there is a high-luminance subject on the front side of the screen. By storing each of these in the data table and selecting them appropriately, the range of photography can be expanded. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this landscape shooting mode, "NORMAL"
In this case, the basic image quality is set as the standard value, and no special image processing for changing the image quality by using the aperture control described above is performed. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

"NORMAL" is designated,
The basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

As described above, the data table LUT in the present invention stores the definitions and characteristics of various parameters required for control, and a plurality of such LUTs are provided in accordance with the photographing mode, and the designated photographing is performed. Since you can select it according to the mode,
Optimal control can always be performed.

The data table LUT defining the control parameters and the operation characteristics of the control parameters set by the data table LUT have been described above by taking the landscape photographing mode as an example.

Next, the "spotlight shooting mode" which is still another program shooting mode of the present invention will be described, and the setting and control of various shooting modes and the data table LUT will be described by taking the "spotlight shooting mode" as an example. The internal structure of and the control of the control parameter by the setting will be described in detail.

The spotlight photographing mode is assumed to be a photographing situation in which a subject having a high brightness is present at one spot in a dark background, such as a wedding ceremony.
This is a shooting mode suitable for shooting a subject such as a party who has a spotlight on a spot in a dark room, and can be selected by operating the operation unit 20.

In general, when a subject whose spotlight is shining on a part of the dark background is photographed,
When the photometry of the entire imaged screen is performed as in the past, the low-luminance part occupies most of the screen, so it is pulled by this low-luminance part, causing overexposure and overexposure in the main subject part illuminated by the spotlight. I will end up.

Further, even if the central portion weighted photometry is used, the spot portion is not always located in the center, and even within the heavily weighted area of the central portion, if the area of the high luminance portion is small, Similarly, accurate exposure control cannot be performed.

The "spotlight photographing mode" of the present invention is a program photographing mode which enables good exposure control even in such a photographing situation, and will be described in detail below.

FIG. 21 shows the internal structure of the LUT, that is, the data table, in which the definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for the control corresponding to this spotlight photographing mode are stored, and which are defined and set by this LUT. The program diagram showing the transitions of the input parameters of various control parameters with respect to the brightness level is the same as the "landscape shooting mode" shown in FIG. Therefore, FIG. 22 will be used for the explanation of the control parameters below.
The values of 1 and y2 are different in each mode.

That is, in FIG. 22, a threshold value y1 'is provided for the subject illuminance on the horizontal axis which is an input parameter, and the entire area is divided into two areas, and the exposure is controlled by the iris and the gain. , Shutter speed is fixed.

The individual control parameters set in the data table LUT for the spotlight photographing mode will be described below in order. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) of the input brightness is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1 ', as is apparent from the data column on the right side of FIG.
ration) is required.

Since it is desired to secure S / N with high brightness, AGC
The gain remains ± 0 dB (THROUGH), and the control range is from the minimum aperture of the iris to the open value.

When the input luminance level is y1 'or less, the control for setting the iris to open is designated by "→ OPEN".

In this state, it can be considered that the illuminance is considerably low, and when it is desired to give priority to the continuous shooting even if the S / N of the image is deteriorated, the AGC gain is increased to correspond to the area.

In this way, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire area from high luminance to low luminance into two by the threshold value y1 '. Then, the control characteristic of the iris is defined. (P2: Shutter control parameter) The shutter control parameter has a fixed attribute, and it is shown that the shutter control parameter is always fixed to a constant value regardless of the input brightness level, and its content should be set to the standard value of the television standard. “→ Standard value” is set and no calculation is required.

The standard value of the television signal referred to here is 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL. (P3: AGC gain) Looking at the case where the AGC gain is used as the processing target parameter, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by the threshold value y, and the input luminance level is y.
If it is higher than 1 ', "→ ± 0 dB" is specified and A
The gain is fixed so that the GC gain is fixed at ± 0 dB and the AGC circuit does not have an amplifying action. That is, when the exposure control can be performed by the iris, the AGC gain is fixed to prevent the deterioration of the S / N, and in this case, the calculation is unnecessary.

Since this section is set so as to occupy most of the range of the illuminance of the subject, S /
It is possible to pick up a good image of N.

When the input brightness level is y1 'or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

In this state, the illuminance is considerably low, and the S
This is an area corresponding to the case where the AGC gain is increased when it is desired to continue shooting even if / N is deteriorated.

Since the other parameters have already been set to the low illuminance measure to the maximum extent, the only controllable parameter left in this state is the AGC gain, and the balance with the S / N deterioration is considered. However, the exposure is controlled by adjusting the gain up within an allowable range.

The relationship between the area divided into two by the threshold value y1 and the three control parameters is clear from FIG. 22, and the parameter to be calculated here is always one in each of the two areas. Thus, the calculation is simplified, and the arrangement is I and G from the area on the high luminance side. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric area weighting setting) This is a parameter for setting the photometric area distribution in the imaging screen and their weighting. As is clear from FIG. 21, the attribute is f (Y) and the input luminance It is shown to be a function. Specifically, it is defined by a histogram created according to the input luminance signal, and
The luminance level histogram is created by detecting the input luminance signal level in each of the four areas, and the portion illuminated by the spotlight with high luminance on the imaging screen is accurately detected, and that area is detected. The control is performed such that the weighted metering is performed.

In this embodiment, the brightness level of each of the 24 divided areas is detected, the upper N (= 2) areas are extracted from the brightness histogram created from these areas, and the AE control is performed only by these N areas. Is executed.

Therefore, even in the case of illumination such as a spotlight that is biased to a part of the image pickup screen, an appropriate exposure value can be determined without being affected by a dark part where there is no main subject.

The state of such a histogram is shown in FIG. The upper part of the figure is a luminance histogram, and the horizontal axis shows the level of IRE, the level increases from left to right, and 0 to 6 on the vertical axis show the number of areas corresponding to each IRE level.

The lower part is a cumulative histogram of the upper brightness histogram. The vertical axis represents the number of regions divided into 24.

[0275] In the figure, the top two areas (,) are extracted from the 24 areas of this cumulative histogram.

In this way, the high-brightness portion in the image pickup screen can be detected, and the AE photometric characteristic with emphasis on that portion can be set, and the AE control can be realized by eliminating the influence of the portion in which the main subject does not exist. .. Effective when present. By storing each of these in the data table and selecting them appropriately, the range of photography can be expanded. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this landscape shooting mode, "NORMAL"
In this case, the basic image quality is set as the standard value, and no special image processing for changing the image quality by using the aperture control described above is performed. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

"NORMAL" is designated,
The basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

As described above, the data table LUT in the present invention stores the definitions and characteristics of various parameters required for control, and a plurality of such LUTs are provided in accordance with the photographing mode, and the designated photographing is performed. Since you can select it according to the mode,
Optimal control can always be performed.

The data table LU defining the control parameters of the spotlight photographing mode has been described above as an example.
The operating characteristics of T and the control parameters set accordingly have been described.

Next, the setting and control operation of each control parameter of the "surf & snow photographing mode" will be described in detail.

The "surf & snow shooting mode" is set by the operation of the operation unit 20, is referred to when this mode is selected, and is a data table storing definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for the control. The internal structure of the LUT is shown in FIG.

Further, the program diagram showing the operation of various control parameters defined and set by this LUT, that is, the transition of each control parameter with respect to the input brightness level, is a design of the control parameter transition diagram in the portrait photographing mode shown in FIG. Is the same as. Therefore, in the present application, the setting of the control parameter in the surf & snow photographing mode is performed with reference to FIG.

However, only the design is the same, the two threshold values, the shutter speed, and the gain control value are set separately between these photographing modes,
To distinguish between these two thresholds y
1 ', y2', the high speed shutter speed is T1 ', and the gain control value is G1'.

The individual parameters in each drawing will be described in order below. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1 ', as is apparent from the data column on the right side of FIG. 24, the calculation (calcu) is performed by displaying "→ CAL".
ration) is required.

[0288] To secure S / N with high brightness, AGC
The gain is maintained at ± 0 dB (THRUGH), and the iris is controlled so as to be fully opened up to the open value in consideration of the small aperture measure against the reduction of resolution due to the diffraction phenomenon of light by the small aperture of the iris.

When the input luminance level is y1 'or less, the control for setting the iris to open is indicated by "→ OPEN".

In this way, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire region from high luminance to low luminance with one threshold value y1. (P2: Shutter control parameter) As for the shatter control parameter, the brightness function f (Y) of the input parameter is defined by the threshold values y1 'and y2'.

When the input luminance level is higher than y1 ', "→ T1'" is designated, and the shutter speed is set to the high speed T1. In this case, no calculation is necessary.

Here, as described above, T1 is set to a somewhat higher shutter speed as a countermeasure against the small aperture.

Actually, it is selected within the range of about 1/125 to 1/500 seconds.

At this stage, in order to earn S / N,
Even if the brightness becomes low, the control is performed without increasing the AGC gain as much as possible.

When the input luminance level is between y1 'and y2', "→ CAL" is set, and the optimum shutter speed corresponding to the input luminance level is calculated and the control parameter value is set. It indicates to control to do.

The variable range of control here is between the above-mentioned T1 'and the standard screen frequency (standard value) of the television.

It is shown by "→ standard value" that the shutter speed should be set to the standard value of the television signal when the input luminance level is y2 'or less.

The standard value of the television signal referred to here is 1/60 second in NTSC and 1/50 second in PAL.

In this state, since only the AGC gain remains as a controllable parameter, the gain is controlled within the range allowable in terms of S / N deterioration, and the exposure is controlled. (P3: AGC gain) Even when the AGC gain is used as the parameter to be processed, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by a plurality of thresholds, and when the input luminance level is higher than y2 ′, "→ ± 0 dB" is specified,
The AGC gain is fixed at ± 0 dB, and the gain is set so as not to have an amplifying effect. That is, when the exposure control is possible by the iris and the shutter, the AGC gain is fixed to prevent the S / N from deteriorating, and in this case also, the calculation is unnecessary.

Since this section is set so as to occupy most of the range of subject illuminance, S /
It is possible to pick up a good image of N.

When the input luminance level is y2 'or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

The other parameters have already reached their limits, and the controllable parameters left in this state are A
Since only the GC gain is used, the exposure control is executed by adjusting the gain up within an allowable range while considering the balance with the S / N deterioration.

The relationship between the area divided into three by these threshold values y1 'and y2' and the three control parameters is clear from FIG. 17, and the parameters to be calculated here are three areas. Each of them is arranged so as to be always one so as to simplify the calculation, and the arrangement is I, S, G from the area on the high luminance side. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric area weighting setting) This is a parameter for setting the photometric area distribution in the imaging screen and their weighting. As is clear from FIG. 24, the attribute is f (Y) and the input luminance It is shown to be a function.

Specifically, it is defined by a histogram created according to the input luminance signal, and is defined by the 24
The brightness level histogram is created by detecting the input brightness signal level in each of the divided areas, and the distribution state of the areas with high and low brightness on the imaging screen is accurately detected by this, and the area for priority metering is determined. decide.

In the present embodiment, the brightness levels of each of the 24 divided areas are detected, and the upper 50% (that is, 24/2 = 12) areas are extracted from the brightness histogram created from these areas. Exposure control is performed using only brightness information.

Expressed as a coefficient, each of the extraction regions is 1.
The AE control calculation is executed by assigning 0 to each of the non-extracted areas and 0.0.

The state of such a histogram is shown in FIG. The upper part of the figure is a luminance histogram, and the horizontal axis shows the level of IRE, the level increases from left to right, and 0 to 6 on the vertical axis show the number of areas corresponding to each IRE level.

The lower part is a cumulative histogram of the upper brightness histogram. The vertical axis represents the number of regions divided into 24.

In the figure, the upper 12 areas (1 to 12), which is 50% of the 24 areas of this cumulative histogram, are shown.
To extract.

In this way, it is possible to select the half of 12 in the image pickup screen from the one with the highest brightness and set the AE photometric characteristics with emphasis on that portion, and to emphasize the area with high brightness within the screen to perform the intensive photometry. Therefore, even in a shooting situation where there are many high-intensity areas such as snow scenes and sandy beaches, the result of performing exposure compensation to prevent blackout of the main subject and blackout of part of the screen It is possible to prevent poor-quality shooting in which the image in the high-brightness part of the image becomes overexposed and becomes unnatural, and it is possible to obtain a natural shot image on the entire screen. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and in the present embodiment, it is assumed that there are a large number of high-brightness areas in the image capturing screen, such as snow scenes and beaches. Since the shooting mode is set, the AE reference value is set to 80 IRE, which is slightly higher than the general 50 IRE, so that the high-brightness subject portion can be clearly captured as a whole, and the occurrence of blown-out highlights is suppressed. This parameter is also independent of the input brightness level,
It is constant in the shooting mode. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this photographing mode, "NORMAL" is set, and the basic image quality is set to the standard value. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

"NORMAL" is designated,
The special effect of the image is set not to be performed.

As described above, in the "surf & snow photographing mode", the reference setting is set higher than the normal AE reference value, and the photometric area of the high luminance portion (upper 50%) is set by the luminance histogram. As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of blown-out highlights and, even in a snow scene such as in a ski area, even with a high-brightness screen over a wide area, shooting with “white” is whiter and black blurring of people is reduced. It is possible.

Next, the internal structure of the data table LUT in the "manual shooting mode" and the setting of the control parameters based on the data will be described in detail.

The manual shooting mode is set by the operation of the operation unit 20, and is basically a shooting mode by center-weighted photometry in which a photometric area as shown in FIG. 5 described later is weighted as shown in FIG. FIG. 26 shows the internal structure of a data table LUT that is referred to when this mode is selected and stores the definitions and characteristics of various control parameters necessary for the control.

Further, a program showing a transition with respect to a brightness level as an input parameter of various control parameters defined and set by this LUT is as shown in FIG.

That is, in FIG. 27, a threshold value y1 is provided for the object illuminance on the horizontal axis which is an input parameter, and the entire area is divided into two areas.

This manual shooting mode is basically based on the AE control in the shutter priority mode, and when the shutter speed is specified in the manual mode, the iris control value or the AGC gain is optimized according to the shutter speed. It is an automatic mode with.

Therefore, in comparison with other shooting modes, A
It is characterized in that the variable range of the GC gain is set wide. This is because in the normal automatic shooting mode, the intention of the operator is not reflected as it is, so that the S / N is deteriorated.
Although the increase of the GC gain can be suppressed as much as possible, in the manual shooting mode, the operator constantly monitors the shooting condition. Therefore, by expanding the variable range of the AGC gain compared to that in the automatic shooting mode, the shootable range is increased. It is set to enlarge.

The individual control parameters set in the data table LUT for the manual shooting mode will be described below in order. (P1: Iris control parameter) The iris control parameter changes according to the input parameter Y, that is, the brightness level, and the function f (y) is defined as its attribute.

The input luminance level is the threshold value y shown in FIG.
When it is higher than 1, as is apparent from the data column on the right side of FIG. 26, the calculation is performed by the display of “→ CAL” (calcul).
ation) is required.

AGC is required to secure S / N with high brightness.
The gain remains ± 0 dB (THROUGH), and the control range is from the minimum aperture of the iris to the open value. Also, this area is responsible for almost the entire illuminance of the subject.

When the input luminance level is y1 or less, the control for setting the iris to open is designated by "→ OPEN".

In this state, it can be considered that the illuminance is considerably low, and when it is desired to give priority to continuing shooting even if the S / N of the image is deteriorated, the AGC gain is increased to correspond to the area.

In this way, the control characteristic of the iris is defined by dividing the entire area from high luminance to low luminance into two by the threshold value y1. (P2: Shutter Control Parameter) The shutter speed control parameter is a parameter that is manually set, and the attribute is manually set and does not change depending on the input brightness level, but is set manually.

[0326] The high-speed side is from 1/10000 to the low-speed side is a standard television standard rate (NTSC is 1/60 second,
In PAL, the variable range is up to 1/50 second), and it is possible to change manually within this variable range. (P3: AGC gain) Looking at the case where the AGC gain is used as the processing target parameter, the function f (Y) of the input luminance is defined by the threshold value y1, and the input luminance level is y.
If it is higher than 1, "→ ± 0 dB" is specified and AG
The C gain is fixed at ± 0 dB, and the AGC circuit is set to have no amplification effect. That is, when the exposure control is possible by the iris and the shutter, the AGC gain is fixed to prevent the S / N from deteriorating, and in this case also, the calculation is unnecessary.

Since this section is set so as to occupy most of the range of subject illuminance, S /
It is possible to pick up a good image of N.

When the input luminance level is y1 or less, "→ CAL" is designated so that the optimum AGC gain is calculated and the gain control parameter is set.

In this state, the illuminance is considerably low, and the S
This is an area corresponding to the case where the AGC gain is increased when it is desired to continue shooting even if / N is deteriorated.

Since the other parameters have already been set to the low illuminance measure to the maximum extent, the only controllable parameter left in this state is the AGC gain, and the balance with the S / N deterioration is considered. However, the exposure is controlled by adjusting the gain up within an allowable range.

Under this condition, this mode sets a wider variable range than the other automatic photographing modes.

The relationship between the area divided into two parts by these threshold values y1 and the three control parameters is shown in FIG.
More obvious, the parameters to be calculated here are also
The two areas are arranged in a dispersed manner so that there is always one, and the calculation is simplified, and the arrangement is I and G from the area on the high luminance side.

A feature of the manual photographing mode is that the variable range of AGC is set wider than that of other photographing modes. As shown in FIG. 27, other photographing modes (for example, shown in FIG. 17). In the portrait photography mode), the upper limit of the AGC gain up is G1, whereas in the manual mode G2 can be set up to G2. This difference between G1 and G2 ΔG = G2-G1
Since the noise characteristics of an image pickup device such as a CCD are currently improved, it is possible to set +3 dB to 6 dB. The control for expanding the variable range may be automatically performed, or a gain up switch may be provided and turned on to intentionally operate. (P4: AE weighting parameter = photometric region weighting setting) As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, this is a parameter for setting the photometric region distribution in the imaging screen and their weighting. As is clear from FIG. It is stored in MAP format and has a fixed attribute.

That is, although it differs for each LUT depending on the photographing mode, it is fixed in one photographing mode and does not change depending on the luminance signal level.

In the present embodiment, 24 arithmetic coefficients are directly allocated like a map for 24 divided areas.
In this “manual shooting mode”, as shown in FIG. 5, 1.0 is assigned to the central 2 × 4 area and 0.5 is assigned to the peripheral 16 areas, which are lighter than the central portion. This is the designation of the photometric area of the so-called "center-weighted metering" that emphasizes the central portion of the imaging screen. (P5: AE reference value parameter) The AE reference value parameter indicates the brightness level that serves as a reference for exposure control, and is stored in a numerical definition. It is determined whether the exposure is excessive or insufficient based on this reference value, and is set to 50 IRE in this embodiment. This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is constant in the shooting mode regardless of the input brightness level. (P6: Image quality adjustment parameter) It is a parameter that specifies the image quality adjustment processing by the aperture control described above, the processing content is defined by a code, the attribute is fixed, and is set according to the shooting mode. It does not change depending on the brightness level.

In this landscape shooting mode, "NORMAL"
In this case, the basic image quality is set as the standard value, and no special image processing for changing the image quality by using the aperture control described above is performed. (P7: Image effect processing parameter) As described with reference to FIG. 11, it is a parameter for designating image processing such as a fade, and the processing content is defined by a code.

"NORMAL" is designated,
The basic image quality is set to the standard value and no special processing is performed.

This parameter also has a fixed attribute and is set according to the photographing mode, and does not change depending on the input brightness level.

The data table LUT defining the control parameters in the "manual photographing mode" and the operating characteristics of the control parameters set by the data table LUT have been described above. According to this manual shooting mode, the degree of freedom in shooting is significantly increased by manually setting the shutter speed and manually operating the positive / negative exposure correction. In particular, since the variable range of the control parameter is expanded from that in the automatic shooting mode, it is possible to shoot in darker situations.

As described above, the data table LUT in the present invention stores the definitions and characteristics of various parameters required for control, and a plurality of such LUTs are provided in accordance with the photographing mode, and the designated photographing is performed. Since you can select it according to the mode,
Optimal control can always be performed.

Here, L corresponding to each of the above-mentioned photographing modes is set.
The operation of reading the data from the UT to the system control circuit, calculating the control parameters, and setting the control parameters will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

These processing operations are basically the same as the processing from the confirmation processing of the program photographing mode of S2 in the flow chart of FIG. 9 to the output of iris, shutter and gain control data based on each control parameter of S24. Done in.

FIG. 28 is an operation flow chart showing the procedure of the data set for setting the control characteristic according to the photographing program mode, which is S2 of the flow chart of FIG.
It is a routine that is executed in parallel in the processing of S24 to S24, and after this routine is finished, it returns to S25 of FIG.

When the control is started, the photographing mode is selected by the operation unit 20 of FIG. 1 in S101, and the selection result is fetched into the system control circuit 25, and in S102, the photographing mode selected is selected. The LUT is selected from the LUTs 19a to 19b.

At S103, a parameter counter n for designating parameters is initialized to n = 01,
In S104, the data of the parameter Pn designated in S103 is read.

Explaining this parameter specification,
From each data table LUT, when n = 01, data regarding iris, when n = 02, data regarding shutter speed, when n = 03, data regarding AGC gain, and when n = 04, AE weighting (photometry) Area weighting coefficient), when n = 05, data related to AE evaluation reference value, that is, a level used as a reference for adjusting the brightness level to a constant level, when n = 06, image quality adjustment data, and n = 7 special effect The data relating to specific image processing is read into the system control circuit 25.

At S105, the attribute of the read parameter is confirmed, and it is determined whether the attribute depends on the input parameter (f (Y)) or whether the data is fixed data corresponding to the mode without depending on the input parameter. Done.

That is, as shown in the data table LUT, the attribute means whether it changes according to a predetermined function f (Y) with respect to the input parameter, that is, the illuminance of the subject in this embodiment, or the change of the input parameter. If the attribute of the parameter is f (Y) and depends on the input parameter in S105, S1
If it is fixed, the process proceeds to S106, and the value of the parameter is set assuming that the data attribute is fixed regardless of the brightness level.

At S107, the parameter counter n is set to 1
Is added to make n + 1, and in S108, it is confirmed whether or not n is larger than the maximum value in the LUT, and the above-described operations of S104 to S107 are repeated until n reaches the maximum value, and the parameter is read. The attribute discrimination operation is repeated and when n exceeds the maximum value, the process proceeds to the data output process of S109 and thereafter.

After S109, LU is set in S101 to S108.
This shows a process of performing an output calculation of control data based on the parameter read from T. In S109, the parameter counter is reset to n = 01.

At S110, the attribute of the parameter is confirmed, and it is determined whether the attribute depends on the input parameter (f (Y)) or the fixed attribute corresponding to the mode without depending on the input parameter. If f (Y), S11
If fixed, skip S111 and S112 and skip to S113
Go to.

In S111, the output of the integrator 10 is sampled by the A / D converter 11 every unit processing time (for example, one field period), and the luminance signal level as an input parameter is taken into the system control circuit 25. The data definition of the LUT is referred to according to the value of the input signal, and the necessity / non-necessity of the data calculation is determined. If the calculation conditions are met, the process proceeds to S112, where only the instructed parameter in the current state is changed, the AE is controlled, and the optimum value of the parameter for adjusting to the proper exposure is calculated.

If it is determined in S111 that the calculation is unnecessary, the control output calculation process in S112 is skipped and the process proceeds to S113.

At S113, 1 is added to the parameter counter n, the value is set to n + 1, and the process proceeds to S114. Then, the process returns to Step S110 until the parameter counter n exceeds the maximum value of the parameter number of the LUT, and the above-mentioned S110 to S113 are performed for all parameters. When the parameter counter n exceeds the maximum value of the parameter number of the LUT, the process proceeds to the next S115 and returns to the process of S25 of the flow chart of FIG.

The above is the processing procedure until the characteristics of each parameter are read from the data reference table LUT and the AE control data is calculated. In this way, the LUT corresponding to the set shooting mode determines the shooting condition. Optimal shooting can be performed by reading out suitable control data and performing control.

Next, various displays in the EVF for allowing the operator to recognize various program photographing modes in the present invention will be described.

In the present invention, the various photographing modes and the like are displayed on the screen in the electronic viewfinder (EVF).

FIG. 29 shows a display area distribution example other than the manual photographing mode, and FIG. 30 shows a display area distribution example in the manual photographing mode.

Each of them shows an example of the display screen in the EVF 26, and the area d shown by the double line at the upper left is an area for displaying various shooting mode names and parameter setting values at the time of manual operation. The shooting mode name is displayed in the automatic shooting modes other than the manual shooting mode, and the setting parameter values in the manual shooting mode are displayed at the same place in the manual shooting mode.

Other solid frames in the EVF include various menus including display of a menu screen for image processing contents and self-timer settings, various warning displays such as battery exhaustion, and video recorder (VTR) such as recording and pause. The display area of the operating state, the display area of superimposing information such as insertion record information and the like, which are imprinted at the time of recording the VTR, are shown. This part is automatic /
Manually common.

In the automatic mode, two shooting modes such as "sport mode" and "portrait mode" are displayed.

In the manual shooting mode, "S: 1
Parameter values such as "/ 1000" and "+3 dB" are also displayed over two lines.

31 and 32 are examples of specific display contents of the mode display area and the manual setting area of FIGS. 29 and 30, respectively.

As described above, in shooting modes other than the manual shooting mode, for example, iris, shutter, A
Although the GC gain cannot be manually operated, the shutter can be manually operated only in the manual mode.

FIG. 31 shows a display example of the automatic photographing mode, and a photographing mode, for example, "sports photographing mode" is displayed in the display area d, and FIG. 32 shows the manual photographing mode and its control parameters. The shutter speed is displayed.

[0366]

As described above, according to the image pickup apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of photographing modes are provided according to the photographing situation, and the automatic mode for automatically setting the control parameters and the optional parameters are set. When the automatic mode is selected, the shooting mode is displayed, and when the manual mode is selected, the setting status of the manually settable parameters is displayed. Since it is configured to display, various necessary control information can be displayed concisely and clearly and effectively using a small display space according to the set shooting mode, and the operating status of the device can be accurately displayed. It is always easy to recognize.

In each of a plurality of shooting modes including this manual shooting mode, the shooting state is controlled using a plurality of parameters, and the control data suitable for the shooting situation is stored in the data table according to the shooting mode. Since the setting conditions are read out and controlled, it is possible to automatically set the optimal shooting conditions for that mode simply by selecting the desired shooting mode, and more precise control than conventional devices can be achieved. Therefore, even under various shooting conditions, optimum shooting can be performed only by selecting the shooting mode.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration when an image pickup device according to the present invention is applied to an exposure control device of a video camera.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a photometric region in central partial weighted photometry.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic shutter.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an area division state on an imaging screen according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining setting and weighting of a photometric area of “center part weighted photometry” in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining photometry area setting and weighting in the “landscape shooting mode” according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to the “indoor shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to the “sports shooting mode” of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart for explaining processing for explaining parameter setting in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing characteristics of a camera signal processing circuit which is performed in association with switching of shooting modes according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining control of the image processing circuit, which is performed in conjunction with switching of shooting modes according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a data table according to the “full-auto shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a program diagram for explaining the parameter processing based on FIG. 12 according to the “full-auto shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a view of the “fully automatic shooting mode” of the present invention.
6 is a diagram for explaining a data table to be referred to in a shooting situation different from that of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a program diagram for explaining the parameter processing based on FIG. 14 according to the “full-auto shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a data table according to a “portrait photographing mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to “portrait shooting mode” and “surf & snow shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a data table according to the “sports shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to the “sports shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the data table according to the “landscape shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the data table according to the “spotlight photography mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to the “landscape photography mode” and the “spotlight photography mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a luminance histogram for determining a photometric area according to the “spotlight photography mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a data table according to the “surf & snow shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a luminance histogram for determining a photometric area according to the “surf & snow shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a data table according to the “manual shooting mode” of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a program diagram for explaining parameter processing according to the “manual shooting mode” of the present invention.

28 is a flow chart for explaining the processing of the flow chart of FIG. 10 in more detail.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining display of various operation modes and control parameters in the EVF.

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining display of various operation modes and control parameters in the EVF.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing the specific content of display of various operation modes and control parameters in the EVF.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing the specific content of display of various operation modes and control parameters in the EVF.

FIG. 33 is a block diagram showing a configuration when a general image pickup device is applied to an exposure control device of a video camera.

FIG. 34 is a diagram for explaining a shutter priority mode.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiroji Takahashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An imaging apparatus having a plurality of shooting modes that can be arbitrarily selected according to shooting conditions, the mode selecting unit selecting an arbitrary shooting mode from the plurality of shooting modes, and the plurality of shooting modes. The image pickup system is controlled based on the data table in which the control characteristics of a plurality of parameters for each mode are defined and stored, and the characteristic of the parameters read from the data table corresponding to the shooting mode selected by the selecting unit. Control means and display means for displaying information on the photographing mode, wherein the plurality of photographing modes include an automatic mode for automatically setting the parameters and a manual mode for controlling the parameters to arbitrary values. Mode, the display means, if the automatic mode is selected by the control means, a shooting mode of the automatic mode. Is displayed, and when the manual mode is selected, the imaging device configured to display the setting state of the manually settable parameter.