JPH08149515A - Stereoscopic image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To attain congestion angle control in the stereoscopic image pickup device provided with an image pickup element. CONSTITUTION: Right eye image and left eye image having a parallax are formed on a single CCD 11 to pick up a stereoscopic image by the stereoscopic image pickup device and it is provided with an optical device 10 which compresses the right eye image and the left eye image respectively in the horizontal direction to form images on areas different from the left and right on the CCD 11, and an electronic congestion angle control means (congestion detection section 20 and CPU 18) which collates the right eye image and the left eye image to discriminate an image position relation when the deviation in corresponding picture elements is least and sets a segmentation frame for the right eye image and the left eye image compressed based on the image position relation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stereoscopic image pickup device capable of controlling the angle of convergence in accordance with the position of a subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a normal stereoscopic image pickup apparatus, two cameras are used to shoot a right-eye image and a left-eye image. However, as shown in FIG.
18 is used when a distant subject A and a distant subject B that are 0 and 101 are photographed, and when the subject A is focused.
When the subject A is photographed so as to be located in the center of the screen as shown in (a) and the subject B is focused, the subject B is photographed so as to be located in the center of the screen as shown in FIG. Shina makes it difficult for the human eyes to combine images for stereoscopic viewing.

Therefore, in the conventional stereoscopic image pickup device,
One in which the direction of the two cameras is driven and controlled so that the convergence angle is reduced when a distant subject is focused, and the convergence angle is increased when a near subject is focused. Are known.

By the way, it is conceivable to compress the right-eye image and the left-eye image in the horizontal direction and divide the image into a single image pickup device to form an image without using the two cameras as described above.

[0005]

However, in the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus using the above-mentioned one image pickup device, the convergence angle control for controlling the directions of the two cameras cannot be performed as in the conventional case.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to enable convergence angle control in a stereoscopic image pickup device having one image pickup device.

[0007]

A stereoscopic image pickup apparatus of the present invention is a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having a parallax on a single image pickup element. , An optical device for respectively forming the right-eye image and the left-eye image on the image sensor, a distance measuring unit for calculating a distance from the image sensor to a subject, and a distance measured by the distance measuring unit. Accordingly, a mechanical convergence angle changing means for changing the optical axis angles of the right eye constituent part and the left eye constituent part in the optical device is provided.

Further, the stereoscopic image pickup device of the present invention is a stereoscopic image pickup device for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having parallax on a single image pickup element. An optical device that forms an image and an image for the left eye on the image pickup device, a distance measuring unit that calculates a distance from the image pickup device to a subject, and a right eye for the right eye according to the distance measured by the distance measuring unit. An electronic convergence angle control unit for setting a cutout frame for the image and the image for the left eye is provided.

Further, the stereoscopic image pickup device of the present invention is a stereoscopic image pickup device for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having a parallax on a single image pickup element. An optical device for forming an image and an image for the left eye on the image sensor, respectively, and the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye are collated to determine the image positional relationship when the shift amount of the corresponding pixel becomes small, and the image An electronic convergence angle control unit that sets a cutout frame for the right-eye image and the left-eye image based on the positional relationship is provided.

[0010]

According to the first configuration, the vergence angles of the right-eye component and the left-eye component of the optical device are mechanically (optically) controlled in the stereoscopic image pickup device having one image pickup device.

According to the second configuration, the cutout frames of the right-eye image and the left-eye image are changed according to the distance from the image pickup element to the subject, so that the electronic convergence angle is fixed even if the optical convergence angle is constant. The convergence angle will be controlled.

According to the third configuration, the cutout frames of the right-eye image and the left-eye image are changed from the image positional relationship when the right-eye image and the left-eye image are collated and the shift amount of the corresponding pixel becomes small. Therefore, even if the optical vergence angle is constant, the vergence angle is electronically controlled.

[0013]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) The present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings showing the embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus of this embodiment. An optical device 10 in this stereoscopic imaging device includes an anamorphic mirror 1, a focus lens 2, liquid prisms (VAP: vari-angle prism) 3L and 3R, and a VAP drive circuit (not shown).

The anamorphic mirror 1 is configured such that the right-eye constituent portion and the left-eye constituent portion are horizontally separated by a predetermined distance. The right-eye component part is composed of right-eye mirror parts 1Ra and 1Rb, and the left-eye component part is composed of left-eye mirror parts 1La and 1Lb, so that the right-eye image and the left-eye image can be respectively compressed in the horizontal direction.
That is, the subject shown in FIG. 2A is horizontally compressed as shown in FIG. 2B and projected onto the light receiving surface of the CCD 11 described later.

The liquid prisms 3 (3L, 3R) are respectively arranged on the light incident sides of the left eye constituent part and the right eye constituent part of the anamorphic mirror 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid prism 3 includes a first transparent glass plate 3a on the light incident side, a second transparent glass plate 3b on the light outgoing side, the first and second transparent glass plates 3a, 3b
And is provided with expandable and contractible bellows 3c and 3d. The space surrounded by the first and second transparent glass plates 3b and 3c and the bellows 3c and 3d is filled with a transparent liquid 3e such as silicone oil. The refractive index of the transparent liquid 3e is equal to that of the transparent glass plates 3a and 3b, and the method of refracting light passing through the liquid prism 3 is the same as that of the bellows 3 described above.
c, 3d expansion and contraction of the first and second transparent glass plates 3a,
Determined by the slope of 3b.

A CCD 11 is provided on the light output side of the optical device 10.
Are arranged, and one CCD is used in the optical device 10.
The left and right compressed images projected on 11 are converted into electric signals and supplied to the CDS / AGC circuit 12. The CDS
Is a circuit portion that executes a correlative double sample (correlated double sample) process, and functions as a filter that takes noise components of the CCD.

The signal processed through the CDS / AGC circuit 12 is supplied to the camera processing circuit 13, subjected to predetermined signal processing, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 14. Then, the decompression circuit 15 decompresses the left and right images into images of the original size, the right-eye image is converted into an analog image by the D / A converter 16R, and the left-eye image is converted into the D / A converter 16L. Is converted into an analog image,
It is supplied to a recording system (not shown).

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a specific configuration of the expansion circuit 15. The memory control circuit 15a inputs a horizontal synchronizing signal (HD), and based on this signal, a 1 / 2H memory 15b for the right-eye image and a 1 / 2H memory for the left-eye image.
The data writing / reading of the memory 15c is controlled.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, during one horizontal period, a digital signal for one line of the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye, which has been compressed to 1/2, is input from in. Then, the memory control circuit 15a outputs the data write signal Rw to the 1 / 2H memory 15b during the one horizontal period.
e, the data write signal Lwe is output to the 1 / 2H memory 15c, and the left and right images are taken into the memories 15b and 15c during the writing period. Then, a phase shift of D with respect to the horizontal synchronizing signal (HD) is performed.
Due to the rising edge of the HD signal,
From the memory control circuit 15a, the data read signal Rre is 1 / 2H and the data read signal Lre is 1 / H.
Each of the left and right images that have been output to the 2H memory 15c and have been expanded in the reading period are stored in the memories 15b and 1c.
5c is read.

An AF integration circuit 17 is connected to the A / D converter 14, and the AF integration circuit 17 has a CP.
U18 is connected.

The CPU 18 inputs the integrated value of the high frequency components of the image signal from the AF integrating circuit 17, and controls the stepping motor for driving the focus lens via an AF driving circuit (not shown) so that the integrated value increases. The focus lens 2 is repeatedly moved. And CPU1
8 stops the stepping motor in the AF drive circuit when the integrated value reaches the maximum. This time point is the position where the focus position of the focus lens 2 matches the subject.

Further, the CPU 18 calculates the distance from the CCD 11 to the subject based on the step number of the stepping motor, that is, the focus position of the focus lens 2, and based on the calculated distance, the right-eye screen and the left-eye screen. The convergence angle at which the parallax of 0 becomes 0 is calculated. And
The liquid prisms 3R, 3 according to the calculated convergence angle
The control angle of L (that is, the amount of expansion of the bellows 3c, 3d) is detected, and the liquid prisms 3L, 3R are set to the control angle via a VAP drive circuit (not shown).

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, when the distance from the photographing position to the subject is short, the control angles of the liquid prisms 3L and 3R become large, as shown in FIG. 6B. As described above, when the distance from the shooting position to the subject is long, the control angles of the liquid prisms 3L and 3R are small.

As described above, with the above configuration, even in a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus having one CCD (image pickup element) 11, the focused subject is the CCD 11
The images are located substantially at the center of each of the right-eye region and the left-eye region, and the images are easy to fuse for a person to stereoscopically view.

In the embodiment described above, the pair of left and right liquid prisms 3L and 3R are the anamorphic mirror 1.
In FIG. 7, the light-incident side of the right-eye mirror section 1Ra and the light-incident side of the left-eye mirror section 1La are arranged, but the invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG.
L and 3R are respectively arranged on the light entering side of the right-eye mirror section 1Rb and the light entering side of the left-eye mirror section 1Lb, or, as shown in FIG. 8, a pair of left and right liquid prisms 3L,
3R may be arranged on the light output side of the right-eye mirror unit 1Rb and on the light output side of the left-eye mirror unit 1Lb, respectively.

(Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

Similar to the first embodiment, this embodiment is common in that the convergence angle is mechanically controlled, but the convergence angle control is performed by rotating the anamorphic mirror without using the liquid prism. It is different.

That is, in the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the right-eye mirror section 1Ra and the left-eye mirror section 1La in the anamorphic mirror 1 are respectively provided with the rotating shafts 4R, 1R on one end side. It is rotatably supported by 4L. Right-eye mirror unit 1Ra and left-eye mirror unit 1
Engagement protrusions 5R and 5L are formed on the other end side of each La, and these engagement protrusions 5R and 5L are respectively locked in engagement elongated holes of a cam plate (not shown). The cam plate is driven by a cam plate drive actuator (motor or the like) not shown.

The other structure is the same as that of the first embodiment.
Reference numeral 18 calculates the distance from the CCD 11 to the subject based on the number of steps of the stepping motor, and calculates the convergence angle between the right-eye screen and the left-eye screen based on the calculated distance. Then, the rotation angles of the right-eye mirror unit 1Ra and the left-eye mirror unit 1La according to the calculated convergence angle are determined, and the cam plate is driven by the cam plate drive actuator to drive the right-eye mirror unit 1Ra and the left-eye mirror unit. Mirror section 1L
The angle of convergence is controlled by rotating a.

With such a configuration, the angle of convergence can be changed by the cam plate and the actuator, which are lighter in weight than the liquid prism and the drive circuit thereof in the first embodiment, so that the weight of the stereoscopic image pickup device can be reduced. Can be planned.

In this embodiment, the right-eye mirror section 1R is used.
Although the a and the left-eye mirror section 1La are rotated, the right-eye mirror section 1Rb and the left-eye mirror section 1Lb may be rotated.

(Embodiment 3) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The present embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that the convergence angle control is performed mechanically, whereas the convergence angle control is performed electronically.

That is, the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment has a distance measuring means for calculating the distance from the image pickup device to the object and the compressed state or the expanded state according to the distance measured by the distance measuring means. The cutout frames of the subsequent right-eye image and left-eye image are set.

In the state of FIG. 17 shown in the description of the conventional example, when the subject A at the far point is focused, CC
In the image projected on D11, since the subject A is located at the center of each of the left and right regions as in the upper part of FIG. 11A, it is not necessary to perform the convergence angle control. Therefore, as shown by the broken line in the figure, the central portion of the image in each of the left and right regions is cut out, and the extension process and the electronic zoom process (in the figure, 1.5 times) are skipped by the extension electronic zoom circuit 15 'shown in FIG. For example, the left and right images are as shown in the lower part of FIG.

On the other hand, when the subject B at the near point is focused, since the mechanical convergence angle control is not performed, the image projected on the CCD 11 is as shown in the upper part of FIG. 11A, the subject A is located at the center of each of the left and right regions, as in the case shown in the upper part of FIG.

Therefore, as shown in the lower part of FIG. 11 (b), as shown by the broken line in the figure, the image portion of the left eye image capturing area is from the right, and the right eye image capturing area image is from the left. The image part of is cut out. In this way, by performing the extension electronic zoom process by the extension electronic zoom circuit 15 ', the subject B comes to be positioned at the center of the screen as shown in the lower part of FIG. 11 (b). That is, the left and right cameras appear to face the subject B as if the angle of convergence becomes large.

Next, the position control of the image cutout will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13.

In FIG. 12, the focus lens position of the part corresponding to the optical axis of the left eye component in the optical device is L, the focus lens position of the part corresponding to the optical axis of the right eye component is R, and the center of the left and right optical axes. Distance between 2A0 and C
The horizontal length of each of the left and right areas of the CD11 is 3W0, and the CCD11
The number of horizontal pixels in each of the left and right regions of 3 is 0, the focal length is L0,
It is assumed that the imageable range is Z and the electronic zoom magnification is 1.5. Further, the vergence angle is 0, that is, the optical axis of the left-eye constituent part and the optical axis of the right-eye constituent part are parallel to each other. In the notation of this figure, the uncompressed image is drawn so as to be projected onto the CCD 11, so the pixel shift amount to be finally obtained for clipping is 1 / X of the following X.
It should be 2.

When the near subject B at a distance l (subject distance) from the position indicated by L is focused,
As shown in FIG. 11, it is necessary to shift the clipping frame of the image by the number of pixels X. That is, in FIG. 12, the subject B is moved to the left by a distance W from the center of the left side area of the CCD 11.
Therefore, if the cutout frame is set from the position shifted to the right by 1/2 of the number of pixels X corresponding to this distance W, the subject B will be positioned at the center on the screen after the expanded electronic zoom. Become.

A method for obtaining the number of pixels X will be described. Here, the following first and second equations can be derived from the relationship shown in FIG.

[0044]

[Formula 1] W / L ₀ = A ₀ / l ...... First formula X · W ₀ = X _{0 ⋅} · Second formula

Then, according to the above first and second equations,
X is obtained as follows.

[0046]

[Number 2] _{X = W · X 0 / W} 0 = L 0 · X 0 · A 0 / (lW 0) ...... third expression

Next, the electronic convergence angle control by the CPU 18 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the electronic zoom magnification is set to 1.5 times (step 1), and the horizontal clipping position of the clipping frame in each of the left and right regions is set to the center on both the left and right (step 2). The distance between the left and right optical axes is 2A0, and the CCD 11
The horizontal length of each of the left and right regions is set to 3W0, the number of horizontal pixels in each of the left and right regions of the CCD 11 is set to 3X0, and the focal length is set to L0 (step 3). Further, the distance 1 is calculated from the autofocus (AF) data that is proportional to the distance 1 (step 4).

Next, on the basis of the third expression of, calculating a pixel shift amount X / 2 (step 5), X is as greater than X _0/2, if smaller in step 10 X = X ₀
After executing the processing of / 2, the left side image is shifted rightward by X / 2 from the center (step 7), and the right side image is shifted leftward by X / 2 from the center (step 8). Further, the extension electronic zoom process is executed (step 9), and the process proceeds to step 4 to prepare for the variation of the distance l.

As described above, the cutout frames of the left and right images are changed according to the subject distance, and the convergence angle is electronically controlled. As described above, by electronically controlling the convergence angle, the mechanical convergence angle control means as in the first and second embodiments is not required, and the weight of the stereoscopic imaging apparatus can be reduced.

In the first to third embodiments described above, the CCD 1
The distance from 1 to the subject is determined by detecting the integrated value of the high frequency components of the image information, but it may be determined by using another sensor such as an infrared sensor. Also,
In Embodiments 1 and 2 described above, in the case of having a zoom function, a zoom amount detection means is provided, and CC is determined by this zoom amount and the number of steps of the focus stepping motor.
The distance from D11 to the subject may be calculated.

(Embodiment 4) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

In the present embodiment, as in the case of the third embodiment, the convergence angle control is performed electronically by paying attention to the fact that the distance to the subject causes a shift between the left and right images.
However, while calculating how much the cutout frames of the left and right images are shifted based on the distance to the subject, in the present embodiment, it is possible to determine how much the two images are shifted between the left and right images. It is different in that it is decided directly by.

That is, the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus of the present embodiment collates the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye to determine the image positional relationship when the shift amount of the corresponding pixel becomes the smallest, and based on the image positional relationship. Thus, the cutout frames of the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye in the compressed state or after the expansion are set.

Constitutingly, as shown in FIG. 14, a congestion detecting section 20 is provided. The congestion detection unit 20 performs representative point matching processing, for example. The representative point matching method is a method applied to image motion detection and the like.
nal Technical Report Vol. Three
/ No. 3 Jun. 1991, p. 48-51. Here, as shown in FIG. 15, a representative point is set in each detection area of one image (left image in this embodiment), and representative point matching is performed using the other image (right image in this embodiment). By adapting the law, the congestion vector is derived, as it were.

When the representative point is arranged in the left image as described above, if the vector is on the right side, the image part is a far object part, and if the vector is on the left side, the image part is a near object part. It is a part. Further, the magnitude of the vector increases as the corresponding portions of the left and right images deviate from the center of each image region. Therefore, when the left and right images are shifted in the direction in which the vectors at the representative points become smaller as a whole, the corresponding portions of the left and right images are guided to the center side of each image region.

That is, the congestion detector 20 detects the direction and magnitude of the vector. Based on this vector information, the CPU 18 determines the position where the left and right images are shifted, and the position information is used as the decompression circuit 1.
Give 5 Then, in the decompression circuit 15, the image is cut out based on the position information at the time of decompression by the memory control.

As a result, for example, the subject is located far from the center in the left image because the subject is far away, and the subject is located to the left from the center in the right image, and both images are too far apart. The problem that stereoscopic viewing becomes impossible will be solved. Of course, even when the zoom process is performed, the same problem as described above occurs, but even in such a case, the stereoscopic viewing can be favorably performed by the configuration of the present embodiment.

Although the anamorphic mirror is used as the anamorphic optical system in the first to fourth embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 16, the anamorphic lenses 21a, 2b, 21c and the flat plate are used. It goes without saying that an optical system composed of the reflection mirrors 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d may be used. When using this optical system to perform the convergence angle control by the rotation control of the second embodiment, the anamorphic lens 21a and the reflection mirror 22a are integrally formed in the left-eye component.
Rotate about the optical axis center point S on the mirror 22a,
In the right-eye component, the anamorphic lens 21
b and the reflection mirror 22d are integrally formed into the mirror 22d.
It suffices to rotate it about the upper optical axis center point S.

In the above-described embodiment, the right-eye image and the left-eye image are compressed in the horizontal direction and imaged in different areas on the left and right of the image sensor, respectively. Alternatively, the image for the left eye and the image for the left eye may be alternately formed in the same region on the image sensor in a time division manner.

[0061]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An effect that convergence angle control can be performed in a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus including one image pickup element is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a stereoscopic imaging device that optically controls a convergence angle by a liquid prism of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an image compression operation of the optical device of the stereoscopic imaging device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the liquid prism of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a decompression circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of the decompression circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of vergence angle control by the liquid prism of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a modified example of a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus which optically controls the convergence angle by the liquid prism of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a modified example of a stereoscopic imaging device that optically controls the angle of convergence by the liquid prism of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a stereoscopic imaging device that optically controls a convergence angle by rotating an anamorphic mirror of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a stereoscopic image pickup apparatus that electronically performs convergence angle control of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of electronically performed convergence angle control of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an image cutout position for electronically performing convergence angle control of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing contents of electronically performed convergence angle control of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the stereoscopic image pickup apparatus for electronically performing the convergence angle control of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of a representative point matching method applied to obtain the congestion vectors of the left and right images of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a plan view showing an anamorphic lens that can be used as the optical device of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing how the convergence angle changes depending on the position of the subject.

FIG. 18A is an explanatory diagram of the convergence angle control when the subject distance is long, and FIG. 18B is an explanatory diagram of the convergence angle control when the subject distance is short.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Anamorphic Mirror 2 Focus Lens 3 Liquid Prism 10 Optical Device 11 CCD (Imaging Device) 15 Expansion Circuit 17 AF Integration Circuit 18 CPU 20 Congestion Detection Circuit

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 26, 1995

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0017

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid prism 3 includes a first transparent glass plate 3a on the light incident side, a second transparent glass plate 3b on the light outgoing side, the first and second transparent glass plates 3a, 3b
And is provided with expandable and contractible bellows 3c and 3d. The space surrounded by the first and second transparent glass plates 3a and 3b and the bellows 3c and 3d is filled with a transparent liquid 3e such as silicone oil. The refractive index of the transparent liquid 3e is equal to that of the transparent glass plates 3a and 3b, and the method of refracting light passing through the liquid prism 3 is the same as that of the bellows 3 described above.
c, 3d expansion and contraction of the first and second transparent glass plates 3a,
Determined by the slope of 3b.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0041

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

In FIG. 12, the focus lens position of the part corresponding to the optical axis of the left eye component in the optical device is L, the focus lens position of the part corresponding to the optical axis of the right eye component is R, and the center of the left and right optical axes. The distance between them is 2A ₀ , C
The horizontal length of each of the left and right regions of the CD 11 is 3W ₀ , and the CCD 11
3X ₀ the number of horizontal pixels in the right and left regions of the focal length L _0,
It is assumed that the imageable range is Z and the electronic zoom magnification is 1.5. Further, the vergence angle is 0, that is, the optical axis of the left-eye constituent part and the optical axis of the right-eye constituent part are parallel to each other. In the notation of this figure, the uncompressed image is drawn so as to be projected onto the CCD 11, so the pixel shift amount to be finally obtained for clipping is 1 / X of the following X.
It should be 2.

[Procedure 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0048

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

First, the electronic zoom magnification is set to 1.5 times (step 1), and the horizontal clipping position of the clipping frame in each of the left and right regions is set to the center on both the left and right (step 2). Then, the distance between the left and right optical axes is 2A ₀ , and the CCD 11
The horizontal length of each of the left and right regions is set to 3W ₀ , the number of horizontal pixels in each of the left and right regions of the CCD 11 is set to 3X ₀ , and the focal length is set to L ₀ (step 3). Further, the distance 1 is calculated from the autofocus (AF) data that is proportional to the distance 1 (step 4).

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0059

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

In the above Examples 1 to 4, the case where the anamorphic mirror is used as the anamorphic optical system has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 16, the anamorphic lenses 21a, 22b, 21c and the flat plate are used. It goes without saying that an optical system composed of the reflection mirrors 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d may be used. When this optical system is used and the convergence angle control is performed by the rotation control of the second embodiment, the anamorphic lens 21a and the reflection mirror 22a are integrally formed on the mirror 22a in the left-eye component. The optical axis center point S is rotated as a center, and in the right-eye component, the anamorphic lens 21b and the reflection mirror 22d are integrally formed.
It may be rotated about the optical axis center point S on 2d.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Hideyuki Kanayama 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A stereoscopic image pickup apparatus for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having a parallax on a single image pickup device, wherein the right-eye image and the left-eye image are picked up. Optical devices for respectively forming images on the elements, distance measuring means for calculating the distance from the image pickup element to the subject, and right eye constituent parts and left eyes in the optical device according to the distances measured by the distance measuring means. And a mechanical vergence angle changing means for changing the optical axis angle of the component part for use in stereoscopic imaging. 2. A stereoscopic image pickup apparatus for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having parallax on a single image pickup device, wherein the right-eye image and the left-eye image are picked up. Optical devices for respectively forming images on the elements, distance measuring means for calculating the distance from the image pickup element to the subject, and a frame for cutting out the image for the right eye and the image for the left eye according to the distance measured by the distance measuring means. An electronic vergence angle control unit for setting is set. 3. A stereoscopic image pickup apparatus for picking up a stereoscopic image by forming a right-eye image and a left-eye image having a parallax on a single image pickup device, wherein the right-eye image and the left-eye image are picked up. An optical device for forming an image on each element is collated with the right-eye image and the left-eye image to determine the image positional relationship when the shift amount of the corresponding pixel becomes small, and the right-eye image based on the image positional relationship. And an electronic convergence angle control means for setting a clipping frame for the left-eye image, the stereoscopic imaging apparatus.