JPH0771310B2 - Imaging device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image pickup device that stereoscopically picks up a subject image.

Conventional Technique A conventional technique for three-dimensionally capturing and displaying a subject image will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 3, the A side indicated by the alternate long and short dash line is the three-dimensional imaging device, and the B side is the three-dimensional display device. 1 is a television camera, 2 is a television camera, 3 is a subject, 4 is a synchronizing signal generator, 5 is a switch, and 6 is an adder. The three-dimensional imaging device is composed of the numbers 1 to 6. 7 is a sync separator,
8 is a monitor TV, and 9 is glasses. The television camera has a lens arranged in front of the imaging surface. The three-dimensional display device is composed of the numbers 7 to 9.

Next, the operation will be described.

First, the three-dimensional imaging device will be described.

The TV camera 1 and the TV camera 2 are arranged with respect to the same subject 3 at an arbitrary angle θ. Further, the scanning timings of the TV camera 1 and the TV camera 2 are kept in a synchronous relationship. Therefore, the TV camera 1 and the TV camera 2 are simultaneously supplied with a pulse signal necessary for driving the TV camera from the sync signal generator 4 (the TV cameras 1 and 2 correspond to the human right eye and left eye, respectively). .

The video output signals of the television camera 1 and the television camera 2 are connected to the terminals a and b of the switch 5, respectively. The switch 5 is controlled by the field pulse supplied from the synchronizing signal generator 4. The field pulse has a high level in the first field and a low level in the second field. In the switch 5, if the control signal is at the high level, a and the c are connected, and if the control signal is at the low level, the b and the c are connected. , In the first field, the video signal obtained from the TV camera 1
In the second field, the video signals obtained from the TV camera 2 are alternately output. A three-dimensional video signal can be obtained by supplying the video signal and the sync signal supplied from the sync signal generator 4 to the adder 6 and adding them. Here, it goes without saying that the drive pulse, the field pulse, and the synchronization signal of the television camera output from the synchronization signal generator 4 are all in a synchronization relationship.

Next, the three-dimensional display device will be described.

The 3D image signal obtained by the 3D image pickup device having the above-mentioned configuration is transmitted to the 3D display device by any means.

The transmitted three-dimensional video signal is supplied to the monitor television 8 and displayed. Since the three-dimensional video signal displayed on the monitor television 8 is a signal in which the video output signals of the television camera 1 and the television camera 2 are alternately switched, not only is it not perceived as a three-dimensional image when observed as it is. , An unnatural image such as double appearance.

Therefore, if the image captured by the television camera 1 is viewed only by the observer's right eye and the image captured by the television camera 2 is viewed only by the observer's left eye, it feels as a natural three-dimensional image. Special glasses 9 described below as means for that
To use. Therefore, using the glasses 9, the signal from the monitor television 8 is selected so that the signal in the first field is viewed by the right eye and the signal in the second field is viewed by the left eye.

The sync separator 7 separates the sync signal from the television signal, and further separates the horizontal sync signal and the vertical sync signal. A field pulse can be obtained from these two types of synchronization signals by a known simple method. The field pulse output signal from the sync separator 7 has a high level in the first field and a low level in the second field.

The structure of the eyeglasses 9 will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numerals 10 and 11 denote deflector plates, 12 denotes liquid crystal, 13 and 14 denote transparent electrodes, 15 denotes a rectangular wave generator,
16 and 17 are AND circuits, 20 and 21 are capacitors, 18 is an inverter, and 19 is a field pulse input terminal.

The basic structure of the spectacles 9 is a liquid crystal 12 between two types of deflection plates 10 and 11.
Is arranged and an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal to form an optical shutter, and the incident light to the right eye and the incident light to the left eye are alternately interrupted.

Next, the operation will be described.

The optical section of the spectacles 9 is composed of a deflection plate, liquid crystal, and transparent electrodes. The deflector 10 transmits only horizontally polarized light of the light from the monitor TV, the deflector 11 transmits only vertically polarized light, the transparent electrode 14 is grounded, the transparent electrode 13 is the liquid crystal 12
It is for applying an electric field to. In the above configuration, when no voltage is applied to the transparent electrode 13, the horizontal polarization transmitted through the deflection plate 10 is also phase-shifted by passing through the liquid crystal layer 12, and the vertical polarization transmitted through the liquid crystal layer 12 is also shifted. The wave passes through the deflector plate 11. That is, the liquid crystal shutter is turned on,
Light from the monitor can reach the eyes. On the other hand, when a voltage is applied to the transparent electrode 13, the horizontally polarized wave transmitted through the deflection plate 10 is not phase-shifted even when passing through the liquid crystal layer 12, and therefore, the horizontally polarized wave passes through the liquid crystal layer 12. The horizontally polarized wave thus generated cannot pass through the deflection plate 11. That is, the liquid crystal shutter is turned off, and the light from the monitor cannot reach the eyes.

The transparent electrodes 13 and 14 apply an electric field to the liquid crystal layer 12. The transparent electrode 14 is grounded, and a drive voltage is supplied to the transparent electrode 13 via capacitors 20 and 21. Transparent electrode
The drive voltage applied to 13 is about 10 V, and the drive frequency is about 500 Hz. The drive pulses are created by numbers 15-19. That is, the rectangular wave generator 15 generates a rectangular wave of about 500 Hz, and the output signals of the rectangular wave generator 15 are simultaneously supplied to the AND circuits 16 and 17, and the AND circuit 16 is supplied from the field pulse input terminal 19. A field pulse having a high level in the first field and a low level in the second field is supplied. Therefore AND circuit
As the output signal of 16, the drive voltage of the liquid crystal layer can be obtained only in the first field, while the AND circuit 17 is supplied with the signal obtained by inverting the field pulse supplied from the field pulse input terminal 19 by the inverter 18. As the output signal of the AND circuit 17, the drive voltage of the liquid crystal layer is obtained only in the second field.

The liquid crystal shutter is configured by the above configuration. That is, the liquid crystal shutter 100 shown in FIG. 4 transmits light in the first field, and the liquid crystal shutter 200 transmits light in the second field. Therefore, by observing the image on the monitor television using the optical shutter having the above-described structure, it can be perceived as a natural three-dimensional image.

However, in the three-dimensional image pickup device having the above configuration, if the TV camera and the display device have a field frequency of a standard television signal (60 Hz in the NTSC system and 50 Hz in the PAL system), the field frequency per screen is equivalent. 30
Since the frequency becomes Hz or 25 Hz, so-called flicker occurs in which the screen displayed on the three-dimensional display device flickers. A human causes a seasickness phenomenon when looking at an image in which this flicker phenomenon occurs for a long time.

To eliminate the flicker phenomenon, which is a problem, the field frequency per screen may be set higher than the human detection limit frequency. (Generally, the flicker detection limit frequency is about 60 Hz.) That is, the field frequency of the three-dimensional imaging device and the three-dimensional image display device may be increased to about 120 Hz.

The problem to be solved by the invention is that the field frequency of the three-dimensional image display device is set to 12
If 0Hz is set, the field frequency of the 3D image pickup device is also 120.
Must be Hz. The three-dimensional image pickup device is configured by using two commonly used television cameras as described in FIG. 3. Since the field frequency of the television camera is 60 Hz, the three-dimensional image pickup is performed on this television camera as it is. When used in a device, the field frequency of the three-dimensional image display device is not matched, and the system does not work.

In addition, a charge-coupled device (CC
When using D), the horizontal transfer CCD has a transfer frequency of 20 MHz, which is twice as high as that of a standard TV camera (the transfer frequency when the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is 600 pixels is approximately 10 MHz). There is a need to. When the frequency is increased as described above, the transfer efficiency is reduced and the image is blurred in the horizontal direction.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the problems, according to the present invention, a television camera having a field frequency of a standard television system is used to obtain an image of the same subject while keeping a predetermined angle. Of the video signals created by alternately switching the two types of video signals for each field, the video signal of the first field is stored in the first field memory and the video signal of the second field is stored in the second field memory. Each of the signals is written at a frequency f, and the signals recorded in the first and second field memories in the previous period are approximately twice the frequency recorded in the field memory.
While reading at a frequency of 2f, the output signal of the first field memory is written to the third field memory, and the output signal of the second field memory is written to a fourth field memory at a frequency of 2f. The signal recorded in the fourth field memory is read out at a frequency of 2f, and the output signals of the first to fourth field memories are selected at a predetermined timing to double the field frequency of the standard television system. The flicker can be prevented by obtaining the video signal of ## EQU1 ## and the signal of each field of the video signal of double field frequency is the signal obtained in the first field and the signal obtained in the second field alternately. This is the selected three-dimensional image pickup signal.

Operation The present invention uses a television camera having a standard television system field frequency to switch two types of video signals obtained by imaging the same subject at a predetermined angle for each field, After obtaining the first three-dimensional image pickup signal having the standard television field frequency, the first field image signal of the first three-dimensional image pickup signal is stored in the first field memory and the second field image signal is stored in the second field memory. The video signal of the field is written in the second field memory at a frequency f, and the signals recorded in the first and second field memories in the previous period are read out at a frequency 2f which is approximately twice the frequency recorded in the field memory. At the same time, the output signal of the first field memory is sent to the third field memory and the output signal of the second field memory is sent to the fourth field memory.
To the field memory of 2f, the signals recorded in the third and fourth field memories are read out at the frequency of 2f, and the output signals of the first to fourth field memories are selected at a predetermined timing. By
A second three-dimensional imaging signal having a field frequency twice that of the standard television system is obtained. In the second three-dimensional image pickup signal, the signals of the first field of the first frame and the second frame are the same, and the signals of the second field of the first frame and the second frame are the same. In this way, the field frequency of the three-dimensional image pickup signal is doubled to prevent flicker, and at the same time, the television camera having the field frequency of the standard television system and the three-dimensional field frequency having twice the field frequency of the standard television system. Matches with the image display device.

Examples Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a three-dimensional image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the A side indicated by the alternate long and short dash line is a three-dimensional image pickup device, and the B side is a three-dimensional display device.

1 is a TV camera, 2 is a TV camera, 3 is a subject, and 5
Is a waveform switcher, 10 is an A / D converter, 11 is a switcher, 1
2 is a first field memory, 13 is a second field memory, 14 is a third field memory, 15 is a fourth field memory, 16 is a switcher, 17 is a D / A converter, 18 is an adder, Reference numeral 19 is a pulse generator. A three-dimensional imaging device is configured by the above components.

Next, the operation of the three-dimensional image pickup apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

The pulse signals required for driving the television cameras are supplied from the pulse generator 19 to the television cameras 1 and 2, and scanning is performed at the field frequency of the standard television system. The subject image is scanned by the television cameras 1 and 2 at a standard television system field frequency. The video output signals of the TV camera 1 and the TV camera 2 are connected to the terminals a and b of the switch 5. The switch 5 is controlled by a field pulse A supplied from an output terminal A of the pulse generator 19. The field pulse has a high level in the first field and a low level in the second field. If the switch 5 has a structure in which a and c are connected when the control signal is at a high level, and b and c are connected when the control signal is at a low level, the terminal h, which is the output terminal of the switch 5, is connected. , The video signal obtained from the television camera 1 in the first field and the video signal obtained from the television camera 2 in the second field are alternately output.

In FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, the video signal output from the television camera 1 is denoted by R, and the video signal output from the television camera 1 is denoted by L. Therefore, the signal labeled R3 represents the video signal of the third field captured by the television camera 1.

The output signal of the switch 5 is supplied to the A / D converter 10, and is A / D converted by the sampling pulse supplied from the output terminal C of the pulse generator 19. The output signal of the A / D converter 10 is supplied to the input terminal D of the switch 11. The switching device
11 is controlled by a field pulse A supplied from the output terminal A of the pulse generator 19. The field pulse is a signal in which the first field has a high level and the second field has a low level. The switch 11 is configured so that when the control signal is at a high level, two switches are connected, and when the control signal is at a low level, the switches are connected to the switch, which is an output terminal of the switch 11. , The video signal obtained from the television camera 1 in the first field and the video signal obtained from the television camera 2 in the second field are output.

The field memories 12 to 15 have a signal input terminal Sin, a signal output terminal Sout, a clock input terminal Ck, and a write / read control terminal W / R. The read control terminal W / R writes a signal in a high level state and reads a signal in a low level state. The signal output from the output terminal E of the switcher 11 is applied to the signal input terminal Sin of the field memory 12. At this time, a control signal is supplied from the output terminal J of the pulse generator 19 to the read control terminal W / R of the field memory 12, and a clock pulse of frequency f is applied to the clock input terminal Ck. Here, the clock pulse of the frequency f and the sampling pulse (pulse from the output terminal C of the pulse generator 19) supplied to the A / D converter have the same frequency, and the field memory 12 in the synchronous relation has the second frequency. The signal of R1 shown in the figure is recorded. Next, a low level control signal is supplied from the output terminal J of the pulse generator 19 to the read control terminal W / R of the field memory 12, and a clock pulse 2f having a frequency twice the frequency f is supplied to the clock input terminal Ck. To be done. At this time, from the output terminal of the field memory 12, as shown in FIG. 2, the signal read out from the R1 signal at twice the speed of writing is output twice.

At this time, the read control terminal W / R of the field memory 13
The read control signal shown in FIG. 2I is a pulse generator.
19 is supplied from the output terminal I, and the clock input terminal Ck is supplied from the output terminal G of the pulse generator 19 with the clock pulse shown in FIG. Therefore, from the output terminal of the field memory 13, as shown in FIG. 2, the signal of the signal L1 read out at twice the speed at the time of writing is output twice.

The signals output from the field memories 12 and 13 in this way are supplied to the field memories 14 and 15, respectively, and the control signal shown in FIG. 2E is applied to the read control terminal W / R of the field memory 14. Read control terminal W /
If the control signal shown in FIG. 2D is supplied to R and a clock pulse of 2f frequency is supplied in common to the clock input terminals Ck of the field memories 14 and 15, the signal as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. It is obtained from the output terminals of the field memories 14 and 15. In this way, a signal having a field frequency twice the field frequency of the input signal can be obtained over 5 fields. The output signals of the field memories 12 to 15 are supplied to the switching device 16, and the signals of the field memories 12 to 15 are changed by the control signal (K pulse shown in FIG. 2) output from the output terminal K of the pulse generator 19. By sequentially switching, a signal as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained from the output terminal of the switch 16.

The output signal of the switch 16 has a field frequency that is twice the field frequency of the standard television system.

The output signal of the switching device 16 is supplied to the D / A converter 17 to be converted into an analog signal, which is then supplied to the adder 18 to generate a pulse generator.
A synchronization signal output from the output terminal L of 19 is added to obtain a three-dimensional image pickup signal. The three-dimensional display device is the same as that described in the conventional example, and therefore its description is omitted, but the field frequency of the three-dimensional display device is twice the field frequency of the television camera.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the field frequency of a three-dimensional image captured by using a standard television field frequency television camera can be doubled by using an electric circuit. Therefore, matching with a three-dimensional image display device having a field frequency twice that of the standard television system can be performed. Therefore, the flicker phenomenon of the image can be suppressed, and a comfortable three-dimensional image can be displayed.

Furthermore, since a standard television system field frequency television camera can be used, even if a charge coupled device (CCD) is used as the image pickup element of the television camera, the horizontal transfer CCD transfer frequency is in the standard state. Since it can be used, the transfer efficiency is not lowered, and the adverse effects such as the blurring of the image in the horizontal direction do not occur.

Further, according to the present invention, since the signal delay time at the time of conversion to double speed is as short as 1.5 fields, a natural stereoscopic image can be obtained with a small time difference between the video signal and the audio signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a three-dimensional image pickup apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a timing diagram showing signals of respective parts in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional three-dimensional image pickup device. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of special glasses that are main components of the three-dimensional image display device. 1,2 …… TV camera, 5 …… Waveform switcher, 10 …… A
/ D converter, 11 …… switch, 12,13,14,15 …… field memory, 16 …… switch, 17 …… D / A converter, 18
…… Adder, 19 …… Pulse generator.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideo Toyoda 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Atsushi Morimura 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. 56) References JP-A-63-181593 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A television camera having a field frequency of a standard television system is used to alternately switch two types of video signals obtained by picking up an image of the same subject while keeping a predetermined angle. Of the created video signals,
The video signal of the first field is stored in the first field memory and the second video signal is stored in the second field memory f.
And the signal recorded in the first and second field memories in the previous period is read twice in succession twice at a frequency of 2f, which is approximately twice the frequency recorded in the field memory. The output signal of the first field memory to the third field memory,
The output signal of the second field memory is written in the fourth field memory at a frequency of 2f, and the third and fourth fields are written.
The signal recorded in the field memory of No. 1 is read out by sequentially repeating the signal of one field at a frequency of 2f twice, and the output signals of the first to fourth field memories are selected at a predetermined timing. A video signal having a field frequency twice as high as that of the television system is obtained, and signals of each field are the same as the signal obtained in the first field and the second signal.
An image pickup device characterized in that signals obtained in the field are alternately selected.