JPH06292094A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image pickup device employing image pickup elements in which the number of picture elements is not increased and the size of the image pickup elements is not expanded to attain high resolution. CONSTITUTION:A CCD, a piezoelectric element 3 and a frame synthesis section 7 execute high definition processing of green component picture by the image shift method and the frame synthesis section 7 provides an output of n-fold high definition picture. Each of interpolation processing sections 5R, 5G, 5B matches a picture element density of each picture from a color use CCD with a picture element density of the picture outputted from the frame synthesis section 7. A picture synthesis section 8 uses a picture from the green use interpolation processing section 5G when a motion of the green component picture is large and uses a high definition picture from the frame synthesis section 7 to synthesize the picture when the motion of the green component picture is small to provide an output of the picture after synthesis as a green component picture whose resolution is improved. Furthermore, the other interpolation processing section provides an output of a color component picture whose resolution is enhanced other than the green component picture.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus applied to a home video camera, a broadcast camera, etc.
The present invention relates to an imaging device for obtaining a high-definition moving image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A solid-state image sensor has many features such as small size, low power consumption, and no afterimage. Therefore, recently, the number of image pickup apparatuses using a solid-state image pickup element such as home video cameras and handy type broadcast cameras has increased. However, since the image pickup device using the solid-state image pickup device has a lower resolution than the image pickup device using the image pickup tube,
Higher resolution is expected in the future.

Since the resolution of a solid-state image sensor is determined by the number of pixels, conventionally, the resolution of the solid-state image sensor has been increased by increasing the number of pixels in the image sensor. As a main method of increasing the number of pixels in a conventional image sensor, there is a method of increasing the pixel density by using a fine processing technique. There is also a method of increasing the size of the image sensor to increase the number of pixels.

[0004]

However, the method of increasing the pixel density has a problem that the process becomes difficult. Further, there is a problem that the sensitivity is lowered due to the reduction of the pixel area. In recent years, a 2 million pixel solid-state image pickup device for HDTV has been developed by a method of increasing the pixel density, but when the decrease in sensitivity is taken into consideration, the number of pixels is already near the limit. Therefore, it is difficult to further improve the resolution by increasing the number of pixels. Further, as the number of pixels increases, the driving speed of the image pickup device and the A / D conversion speed at the time of digitization must be increased.
There is also a limit to speeding up, and this also limits the increase in the number of pixels.

On the other hand, the method of increasing the size of the image pickup device without changing the pixel density has a problem that the manufacturing yield is lowered and the cost is increased. For this reason, the application of the solid-state image pickup device by this method is limited to scientific and military purposes such as astronomy.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image pickup apparatus using an image pickup element whose resolution is increased without increasing the number of pixels and increasing the size of the image pickup element.

[0007]

An image pickup apparatus according to the present invention comprises a color image pickup means for separating an image into a plurality of color components and picking up the image, and a monochrome image pickup for picking up the image and outputting a highly refined green component image. Means, a moving area detecting means for detecting a moving area of each imaged image, an interpolating means for increasing the pixel density of each image from the color imaging means by interpolation, and a moving area of the green component image by the moving area detecting means. An image synthesizing unit for synthesizing the green component image from the interpolating unit and the high-definition green component image from the monochrome imaging unit according to the degree of movement is provided.

[0008]

The monochrome image pickup means of the present invention performs high definition of the green component image by the image shift method.
Therefore, the image output from the monochrome image pickup means is n
Since the resolution is doubled, the interpolation means matches the pixel density of each image from the color imaging means with the pixel density of the image output from the monochrome imaging means. When the movement of the green component image is large, the image synthesizing means uses the image captured by the color image capturing means and interpolated,
When the motion of the green component image is small, the images are combined by using the high-definition image obtained by the image shift method, and the combined image is output as the green component image whose resolution is increased.
Further, the interpolating means outputs a color component image other than the green component image whose resolution is increased.

Since the required resolution differs between the moving area and the still area, and the resolution of the color image largely depends on the resolution of the green component, the green component image and other color component images are thus separated. It is possible to increase the resolution of an image suitable for each region and each color component by separately handling the moving region and the still region.

[0010]

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image pickup apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This image pickup device is provided with a half mirror 2 arranged behind the lens 1 in order to form the same subject image on the image pickup elements of both the color image pickup means and the monochrome image pickup means with the light passing through the lens 1. Has been. The color image pickup means includes a dichroic prism (DP) which is a color separation optical system, a red CCD area sensor (hereinafter simply referred to as CCD) 11R, a green CCD 11G, and a blue CCD 11B. The monochrome image pickup means includes a monochrome CCD 1 covered with a green filter (FG) and a frame synthesizing section 7 for creating a high definition green component image. The CCD 1 is in contact with a piezoelectric element 3 for implementing an image shift method described later.

The image signal from the CCD 11R is a moving area detecting unit 6R for detecting a moving area in the image, and an interpolation process for increasing the pixel density according to the detection signal from the moving area detecting unit 6R. It is input to the processing unit 5R. The output of the interpolation processing unit 5R is an output terminal 9 as a red component image signal.
It is output from R. The image signal from the CCD 11G is input to a moving area detection unit 6G that detects a moving area in the image and an interpolation processing unit 5G that performs interpolation processing to increase the pixel density. The image signal from the CCD 11B includes a moving area detection unit 6B that detects a moving area in the image, and an interpolation processing unit 5B that performs interpolation processing to increase the pixel density according to the detection signal from the moving area detection unit 6B. Entered in and. The output of the interpolation processing unit 5B is an output terminal 9B as a blue component image signal.
Is output from.

The image signal from the CCD 1 by the image shift method is synthesized by the frame synthesizing unit 7 and the image synthesizing unit 8
Entered in. The image synthesizing unit 8 selects either the output of the interpolation processing unit 5G or the output of the frame synthesizing unit 7 according to the detection signal of the moving region detecting unit 6G and outputs it as a green component image signal to the output terminal 9G. is there.

In the above arrangement, the monochrome image pickup means outputs the green component image signal which is n times finer in definition by the image shift method. Further, the green component image signal from the color image pickup means has a pixel density that matches the pixel density of the image signal from the monochrome image pickup means by the interpolation processing of the pixel density by the interpolation processing section 5G. In addition, the red component image signal from the color image pickup means has a pixel density that matches the pixel density of the image signal from the monochrome image pickup means by the pixel density interpolation processing by the interpolation processing unit 5R,
The blue component image signal is made to have a pixel density that matches the pixel density of the image signal from the monochrome imaging means by the interpolation processing of the pixel density by the interpolation processing unit 5B. The interpolation means is composed of the interpolation processing sections 5R, 5G, and 5B, and the image composition means is composed of the image composition section 8.

In the solid-state image pickup device, a photoelectric conversion unit for reading two-dimensional optical image information and converting it into an electric signal is shown in FIG.
They are arranged discretely as shown in. Then, a non-photosensitive region that does not directly contribute to imaging exists between the adjacent photoelectric conversion units. The image shift method is a method of utilizing the existence of the non-photosensitive area and doubling the number of samplings of the image to achieve high definition of the input image.

That is, a certain input frame image is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2A, in the frame image to be input next, the relative positional relationship between the subject image and the pixels of the image sensor as shown in FIG. 2C is shifted by ½ of the pixel pitch. Let it be an image. Then, both images are combined. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, it is equivalent to effectively inputting an image with double the pixel density, and high definition is achieved. Although FIG. 2 shows the case where two images are interpolated in the horizontal direction for the sake of simplicity, high definition can be achieved by interpolation in both the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. It is also possible to shift the pixel pitch by ⅓ to increase the definition three times in one direction.

The image shift method is a method for realizing high definition by synthesizing a plurality of frames (or synthesizing a plurality of fields) in this way. Therefore, it cannot be applied in the moving region because multiple images occur. Therefore, the image shift method is applied only to a still area where the image does not change over a plurality of frames. However, the visual characteristics of the human eye are inferior in the resolution to the moving area than to the stationary area. That is, the image quality is less deteriorated even at a relatively low definition. Therefore, if the definition of only the still area is increased, the definition of the entire screen is visually improved.

Further, here, only the stationary area of the green component is made finer. However, it is generally known that, in a color image, a high-definition image is visually reproduced by making only the luminance component high-definition. Considering that the green component is a component close to the luminance component, the definition of only the green component makes the entire screen visually finer.

Next, the operation of the image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The half mirror 2 arranged behind the lens 1 includes the CCDs 1, 11R, 11
The same subject image is formed on G and 11B. Each CCD1,
11R, 11G, and 11B perform scanning by the frame accumulation method.

In order to realize the image shift method in the monochrome image pickup means, the piezoelectric element 3 vibrates the CCD 1 in synchronization with the frame period. That is, the CCD 1 is shifted by ½ pixel pitch in synchronization with the frame cycle, such as right, bottom, left, and top. Then, the frame synthesizing unit 7 synthesizes the images of the respective frames. Assuming that the photoelectric conversion unit is arranged in the CCD 1 as shown in FIG. 3A, the image obtained by combining the frame combining unit 7 has horizontal and vertical directions as shown in FIG. 3B. Each is twice as high-definition. In FIG. 3B, if P1 is a pixel of the image of the nth frame, P1
2 is a pixel in the (n + 1) th frame, P3 is a pixel in the (n + 2) th frame, and P4 is a pixel in the (n + 3) th frame.

The pixel density of the image picked up by the CCD 11R is made equal to the pixel density of the image output from the frame synthesizing section 7 by the interpolation processing of the interpolation processing section 5R. The interpolation processing unit 5R performs in-field interpolation in the horizontal direction. In the vertical direction, the moving area detection unit 6R
In accordance with the detection signal from, the static and dynamic adaptive interpolation is performed in which the inter-field interpolation is performed in the moving area and the inter-field interpolation is performed in the stationary area. Then, the interpolation processing section 5R outputs the interpolated signal to the output terminal 9R as an output signal of the red component image.

Similarly, the image captured by the CCD 11B is made to have the same pixel density as the pixel density of the image output from the frame synthesizing unit 7 by the interpolation processing of the interpolation processing unit 5B. Then, the interpolation processing unit 5B outputs the interpolated signal to the output terminal 9B as an output signal of the blue component image.

The image density of the image picked up by the CCD 11G is the same as the pixel density of the image output from the frame synthesizing section 7 in the interpolation processing section 5G.
G is for all screens regardless of moving area or stationary area E
An interpolation process for a moving area is executed by a known method used in DTV or the like.

The moving area detecting section 6G detects a moving area in the green component image signal and outputs a motion detecting signal according to the degree of movement. It should be noted that the detection of the moving region is executed by detecting a change in brightness or the like. The image synthesis unit 8 includes the interpolation processing unit 5.
The image signal from G and the image signal from the frame synthesizing unit 7 are input. When the motion detection signal from the moving area detection unit 6G indicates that the degree of motion is large, the image signal from the interpolation processing unit 5G is output to the output terminal 9G as an output signal of the green component image. When the motion detection signal indicates that the degree of motion is small, the image signal from the frame synthesizing unit 7 is output.

The signal input from the frame synthesizing unit 7 to the image synthesizing unit 8 is a high definition green component image signal,
Since this image signal is output when the motion detection signal is small, the static area of the green component image is highly refined. Further, since the green component image subjected to the interpolation processing for the moving area is output when the motion detection signal is large, the moving area of the green component image is processed at the same speed as the conventional moving image capturing processing. .

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image pickup apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. This image pickup device has almost the same configuration as the image pickup device shown in FIG. 1, but in this case, when the interpolation processing unit 51G executes the interpolation process for the green component image signal, the CCD 11 of the color image pickup means is used.
In addition to the image signal from G, the monochrome image pickup means C
The image signal picked up by CD1 is also used.

The interpolation processing of the interpolation processing unit 51G will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, pixels indicated by solid line rectangles indicate pixels of the green component image picked up by the CCD 11G, and pixels indicated by circles indicate the CCD 1
The pixels of the image captured by are shown. Further, a shaded rectangular portion and a shaded circular portion indicate pixels sampled in each field. Pq (m, n) (q = 1 to 4, m = i,
i + 1, n = j, j + 1) indicates a pixel position. Here, i, i + 1 indicates a horizontal pixel address, and j, j + 1 indicates a vertical pixel address (line number). k, k + 1, k + 2, k +
3 indicates the line number in the image after the interpolation processing.

Since the monochrome image pickup means performs image pickup by the image shift method, the positions of corresponding pixels are different for each frame. For example, as shown in Fig. 5,
The pixel position in the nth frame image from CCD 1 is
It is assumed to be the same as the pixel position (the position indicated by P1 (m, n)) in the image from the CCD 11G. However, CCD1
It is assumed that the pixel arrays of 1G and CCD 1 are shifted by one line.

FIG. 5A shows an odd field pixel arrangement,
FIG. 5B shows an even field pixel arrangement.
Since the CCD 11G and the CCD 1 have a pixel arrangement shifted by one line, the CCD 11G is
In the CCD 1, the pixels on the j + 1th line are sampled, while the pixels on the jth line are sampled.

The interpolation processing unit 51G inputs the pixels from the CCD 11G and the pixels from the CCD 1 and synthesizes them to create an interpolated image signal. That is, in the odd field of the nth frame, the interpolation processing unit 51G determines that k, k
+2, ..., Outputs the image signal of the odd line. However, since there is no sampling data for the pixel indicated by P2 (m, n), the average value of the pixels indicated by P1 (m, n) on the left and right of the pixel is set as the value of P2 (m, n).

In the even field, j + is used in the CCD 11G.
The pixels on the first line are sampled, and the pixels on the jth line are sampled by the CCD1. The lines to be output from the interpolation processing unit 51G are k + 1, k +
3, ..., Even lines, but the pixels (pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n)) in these lines are not sampled. Therefore, as in equations (1) and (2), the values of the pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n) are calculated from the sampled pixels and are output.

P3 (i, j) = [P1 (i, j) + P1 (i + 1, j) + P1 (i, j + 1) + P1 (i + 1, j + 1)] / 4 .. (1) P4 (i, j) = [P1 (i, j) + P1 (i, j + 1)] / 2 (2) In the (n + 1) th frame, the CCD 1 is moved by the piezoelectric element 2 to 1 / Since the pixel pitch is shifted by 2 pixels, the pixel arrangement is as shown in FIG. FIG. 6A shows an odd field pixel arrangement, and FIG. 6B shows an even field pixel arrangement.

In the odd field, the pixel of the j-th line is sampled by the CCD 11G and j + is sampled by the CCD 1.
The pixels in the first line are sampled. here,
In the CCD 11G, the same pixel as the pixel in the odd field of the previous frame (the position indicated by P1 (m, n) in the jth line) is sampled, but in the CCD 1, the pixel position is 1/2 to the right on the imaging side. Since it is shifted by the pixel pitch (one pixel pitch on the output side), the sampling pixel is the pixel indicated by P2 (m, n) on the j + 1th line.

In the odd field, the interpolation processing unit 51G
Outputs image signals of k, k + 2, ..., Odd line. However, there is no sampling pixel for the pixel indicated by P2 (m, n) on the k line, so P1 on the left and right
The average value of the pixels indicated by (m, n) is taken as the value. Also,
There is no sampling pixel for the pixel indicated by P1 (m, n) on the (k + 2) line, so P2 (m, n) on the left and right
The average value of the pixels indicated by is taken as the value.

In the even field, the CCD 11G has j +
The pixels on the first line are sampled, and the pixels on the jth line are sampled by the CCD1. The lines to be output from the interpolation processing unit 51G are k + 1, k +
3, ..., Even lines, but the pixels (pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n)) in these lines are not sampled. Therefore, as in equations (3) and (4), the value of the pixel indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n) is calculated from the sampled pixels and is output.

P3 (i, j) = [P1 (i, j) + P1 (i + 1, j) + 2 × P2 (i, j + 1)] / 4 (3) P4 (i, j j) = [2 × P1 (i, j) + P2 (i-1, j + 1) + P2 (i, j + 1)] / 4 (4) In the (n + 2) th frame, the CCD 1 is a piezoelectric element. The pixel arrangement is as shown in FIG. 7 because it is shifted downward by 1/2 pixel pitch by 2. 7A shows the pixel arrangement in the odd field, and FIG. 7B shows the pixel arrangement in the even field.

In the odd field, the pixel of the j-th line is sampled by the CCD 11G and j + is sampled by the CCD 1.
The pixels in the first line are sampled. here,
In the CCD 11G, the same pixel as the pixel in the odd field of the previous frame (the position indicated by P1 (m, n) in the jth line) is sampled. Since it is shifted by the pixel pitch (one pixel pitch on the output side), the sampling pixel is the pixel indicated by P3 (m, n) on the j + 1th line.

In the odd field, the interpolation processing unit 51G
Outputs image signals of k, k + 2, ..., Odd line. However, there is no sampling pixel for the pixel indicated by P2 (m, n) on the k line, so P1 on the left and right
The average value of the pixels indicated by (m, n) is taken as the value. Also,
Since there are no sampling pixels for the pixels indicated by P1 (m, n) and P2 (m, n) on the (k + 2) line,
As in equations (5) and (6), the values of the pixels indicated by P1 (m, n) and P2 (m, n) are calculated from the sampled pixels and are output.

P1 (i, j + 1) = [P3 (i-1, j + 1) + P3 (i, j + 1) + P1 (i, j)] / 3 (5) P2 ( i, j + 1) = [4 × P3 (i, j + 1) + P1 (i, j) + P1 (i + 1, j)] / 6 (6) In the even field, the CCD 11G has j Pixels in the + 1st line are sampled, and pixels in the jth line are sampled in CCD1. The lines to be output from the interpolation processing unit 51G are k + 1, k + 3, ...
Even lines, but the pixels of these lines (P3 (m, n),
Some pixels (P4 (m, n)) are not sampled. Therefore, with respect to the pixel indicated by P4 (m, n) on the (k + 1) line, the average value of the pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) on the left and right is set as the value. For the (k + 3) line, the values of the pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n) are calculated from the sampled pixels and output as shown in equations (7) and (8). To do.

P3 (i, j + 1) = [P1 (i, j + 1) + P1 (i + 1, j + 1) + P3 (i, j + 2)] / 3 (7) P4 (i, j + 1) = [4 × P1 (i, j + 1) + P3 (i-1, j + 2) + P3 (i, j + 2)] / 6 (8) No. In the (n + 3) th frame, the CCD 1 is shifted leftward by a 1/2 pixel pitch by the piezoelectric element 2, so that the pixel arrangement is as shown in FIG. FIG. 8A shows an odd field pixel arrangement, and FIG. 8B shows an even field pixel arrangement.

In the odd field, the pixel of the j-th line is sampled by the CCD 11G and j + is sampled by the CCD 1.
The pixels in the first line are sampled. here,
In the CCD 11G, the same pixel as the pixel in the odd field of the previous frame (the position indicated by P1 (m, n) in the j-th line) is sampled, but in the CCD 1, the pixel position is ½ to the left on the imaging side. Since it is shifted by the pixel pitch (one pixel pitch on the output side), the sampling pixel is the pixel indicated by P4 (m, n) on the j + 1th line.

In the odd field, the interpolation processing unit 51G
Outputs image signals of k, k + 2, ..., Odd line. However, there is no sampling pixel for the pixel indicated by P2 (m, n) on the k line, so P1 on the left and right
The average value of the pixels indicated by (m, n) is taken as the value. Also,
Since there are no sampling pixels for the pixels indicated by P1 (m, n) and P2 (m, n) on the (k + 2) line,
As in equations (9) and (10), the value of the pixel indicated by P1 (m, n) and P2 (m, n) is calculated from the sampled pixels and is output.

P1 (i, j + 1) = [P1 (i, j) + 2 × P4 (i, j + 1)] / 3 (9) P2 (i, j + 1) = [P1 (i, j) + P1 (i + 1, j) + 2 × P4 (i, j + 1) + 2 × P4 (i + 1, j + 1)] / 6 (10) In the even field, in the CCD 11G The pixels of the j + 1-th line are sampled, and the pixels of the j-th line are sampled by the CCD1. The lines to be output from the interpolation processing unit 51G are k + 1, k + 3, ...
Even lines, but the pixels of these lines (P3 (m, n),
Some pixels (P4 (m, n)) are not sampled. Therefore, with respect to the pixel indicated by P3 (m, n) on the (k + 1) line, the average value of the pixels indicated by P4 (m, n) on the left and right of the pixel is taken as the value. For the (k + 3) line, the values of the pixels indicated by P3 (m, n) and P4 (m, n) are calculated from the sampled pixels and output as shown in equations (11) and (12). To do.

P3 (i, j + 1) = [P4 (i, j + 2) + P4 (i + 1, j + 2) + 2 × P1 (i, j + 1) + P1 (i + 1, j + 1)] / 6 (11) P4 (i, j + 1) = [2 × P1 (i, j + 1) + P4 (i, j + 2)] / 3 ··· (12) Above 4 By repeatedly executing the processing of the frame (8 fields), the interpolation processing unit 51 outputs the green component image signal that is twice as high-definition in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction.
It is output from G. Thereafter, the same processing as the processing in the first embodiment is executed. The image pickup apparatus according to the present embodiment is
Since the interpolation processing unit 51G also performs the interpolation processing by using the image signal from the monochrome image pickup means, the moving region of the green component image can be made fine.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image pickup apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. This image pickup apparatus has almost the same configuration as the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG. 1, but the contents of the image shift method are different from those of the image pickup apparatus shown in FIG.

In this case, the image shift method shown in FIG. 10 is performed. In FIG. 9, solid line rectangles indicate pixels in the image signal from the CCD 11G of the color image pickup means. The solid line circles indicate pixels in the image signal picked up by the CCD 1 of the monochrome image pickup means. The piezoelectric element 3 is
The CCD 1 is moved so that the pixel position shifts in the order of right, lower, and upper left for each frame.

That is, in the image shift method according to the first and second embodiments, the pixel position is shifted by 1/2 pixel pitch for each frame in the order of right, down, left, and up to 4 frames. Although the four pixel positions are sampled in step 3, the image shift method in this embodiment samples three pixel positions except for the positions sampled by the color image pickup means in three frames. Then, the frame synthesizing unit 71 synthesizes the pixels for three frames from the CCD 1 and the pixels for one frame from the CCD 11G to create a frame image. Thereafter, the same processing as the processing in the first embodiment is executed.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of an image pickup apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the image pickup apparatus according to the present embodiment has a single-plate CCD camera C1 as monochrome image pickup means and a three-plate color CCD camera C2 as color image pickup means. Then, a half mirror 2 for forming an image of the same subject is arranged on the image pickup elements of both CCD cameras. The single-plate CCD camera C1 has a piezoelectric element for realizing the image shift method together with the CCD inside.

The first from the three-plate color CCD camera C2
CCD 11R, 1 in any one of the first to third embodiments
Since the same image signal as the image signals from 1G and 11B is output, this image pickup apparatus operates similarly to the image pickup apparatus according to the first embodiment, and outputs a high definition image signal.

Although a CCD camera is used here, the present embodiment can be implemented regardless of the type of camera. Further, although the case where the half mirror 2 is arranged so that two cameras can image the same subject is shown, the half mirror 2 need not be provided as long as it has a function of specifying the image pickup area. For example, if such a function is provided, the two cameras can be arranged in parallel or at a certain angle.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the image shift method is used in which the image is shifted by 1/2 pixel pitch in one direction, but the resolution is further increased by shifting by 1/3 pixel pitch or 1/4 pixel pitch. It can also be increased. In each of the above-described embodiments, the image shift method in which the CCD is vibrated by the piezoelectric element to shift the subject image on the image pickup element is shown. However, for example, the transparent plate is vibrated between the lens 1 and the image pickup element. Other methods such as a method of causing the same may be used.

In each of the above embodiments, the case where the moving region is detected by using the green component image captured by the color image capturing means is shown. However, other color component images by the color image capturing means and the image captured by the monochrome image capturing means are detected. It is also possible to use.

Further, in the first to third embodiments, the case where the 3CCD system using the dichroic prism is adopted as the color image pickup means is shown, but the red component image and the blue component are formed by the two CCDs. A color image pickup means for picking up only an image may be used. However, in that case, the moving area is detected by using the red component image and the blue component image, or by using the image captured by the monochrome image capturing means.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The imaging device separately captures a green component image and other color component images, detects a moving region and a still region, and uses an interpolated image for the moving region for the green component image, and a still region. Since the configuration uses high-definition images, it is possible to output high-resolution images that have undergone processing suitable for each color and each region. That is, for the static area of the green component image, which greatly affects the definition of the image,
By taking time, a sufficiently high-definition image can be obtained with an image sensor having a small number of pixels. In addition, the moving area can be imaged at the same speed as the conventional moving image shooting speed,
A natural moving image can be obtained.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device capable of outputting a high-definition image even if an image pickup device having a small number of pixels is used. Therefore, a high-definition moving image pickup device such as an HDTV can be realized at low cost. Furthermore, HD
If a high-resolution image sensor for TV etc. is used, a higher-definition moving image can be obtained.

Further, since the moving area is detected and taken out, when transmitting a moving image to the receiving side, it is necessary to send only the image signal of the moving area and the portion which was the moving area one frame before in the still area. Well, the transmitted signal can be easily compressed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a high definition image by an image shift method.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a frame synthesizing method.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a pixel positional relationship between a captured image of an nth frame and an output image.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a pixel positional relationship between a captured image of an (n + 1) th frame and an output image.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a pixel positional relationship between a captured image of an (n + 2) th frame and an output image.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a pixel positional relationship between a captured image of an (n + 3) th frame and an output image.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the image shift method.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 11R, 11G, 11B CCD area sensor 2 Half mirror 3 Piezoelectric element 4 Lens 5R, 5G, 5B, 51G Interpolation processing unit 6R, 6G, 6B Motion area detection unit 7,71 Frame synthesis unit 8 Image synthesis unit C1, C2 CCD camera FG Green filter DP Dichroic prism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A color image pickup means for separating an image into a plurality of color components to pick up an image, a monochrome image pickup means for picking up the image and outputting a high-definition green component image, and a moving area of each picked-up image. A moving area detection unit that detects and outputs a detection signal, an interpolation unit that increases the pixel density of each image from the color imaging unit by interpolation, and a detection signal of the green component image from the moving area detection unit, An image pickup apparatus comprising: an image synthesizing unit for synthesizing a green component image from the interpolating unit and a high-definition green component image from the monochrome imaging unit.