JPH08251477A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a still image with high resolution in a camcorder or the like. CONSTITUTION: A zoom lens 11 is moved stepwise from a telescopic position till a wide position and plural images from an image pickup element 12 at each position are recorded on a magnetic tape 16. The plural reproduced images are written in field memories 31-35. The reading is conducted based on clock signals 28a-28n to reduce/magnify each image so as to be converted into the images with a same magnification and an image synthesis unit 50 superimposes the images and the superimposed image is stored in a master memory 60. Thus, still images with high resolution having a desired image frame are obtained from the master memory.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a zoom lens and a storage type image pickup unit for forming a high resolution still image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a camera-integrated VTR,
When a still image is formed in the memorial photo mode or the like, for example, when the trigger button is pressed, the image pickup system is fixed for 3 seconds, and the image signal accumulated in the image pickup device such as CCD is recorded on the magnetic tape during this period. .

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the image signal accumulated in the image pickup device is used as it is and recorded on the magnetic tape, the resolution of the still image formed is low.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of forming a high-resolution still image in a camera-integrated VTR or the like.

[0005]

According to the present invention, an image pickup means including a zoom lens whose magnification is changed, and a plurality of images picked up by the image pickup means at a plurality of positions of the zoom lens or reproduced from a recording medium are provided for each field. Alternatively, storage means for storing an image of a different image frame for each frame, reading means for reducing or enlarging the contents of the storage means to read out as an image of the same magnification, and a plurality of images read by the reading means. An image superimposing means for superimposing is provided.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a plurality of images magnified by the zoom lens are reduced (increased in density) by using the storage means,
Form a high resolution still image. Further, a plurality of images magnified by the zoom lens are reduced using the storage means and are superimposed as a part of the final image frame to form a high resolution still image. Further, a high-resolution still image is formed by reducing / enlarging a plurality of images enlarged / reduced by the zoom lens using the storage means and superimposing them as part or all of the final image frame.

[0007]

【Example】

(First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a view best showing the features of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a telephoto end to a wide end (0 to m.about. Every time one still image is formed according to the present invention.
n) zoom lens, 12 is a CCD, for example
An image pickup device consisting of 13, a recording signal processing circuit, 14 a recording / reproducing switch, 15 a magnetic head, 16 a magnetic tape, 17 a reproducing signal processing circuit, 31-35 (FM ₀
˜FM _m ˜FM _n ) are field memories, and 18 is a switch for distributing a reproduction signal to each field memory 31-35.

Reference numeral 21 is a trigger button for obtaining a still image, 22 is a master synchronization generator, 24 is a zoom lens driving unit, 25 is an index generating unit for generating an index signal for discriminating a formed still image,
26 is a write clock generation unit for the field memories 31 to 35, 28 is a read clock generation unit, and 29 is a read clock 28a to 28m.
28n is a switch for distributing 28n, 41 is a preset unit for generating a signal 43 for determining the frame of a still image to be finally output, 42 is a dial for controlling the preset unit 41, 50 is an output of the field memories 31-35. , An image composition unit for forming one high-resolution still image, 60 is a master memory for accumulating the output of the image composition unit 50, 61 is a motion detection control unit for detecting the motion of the image in the master memory 60, and 71 is a master memory. A color monitor using a liquid crystal display or the like for checking the contents of 60, and 72 is an output terminal for a high resolution still image.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. First, the operation (1) will be described. This operation (1)
Press the trigger button 21 to zoom the zoom lens 1
1 is driven from the tele end to the wide end, and images at a plurality of positions in between are stored in the field memories 31 to 35, respectively.

In FIG. 1, when the trigger button 21 is turned on, each unit 24, 2 from the master synchronization generator 22 is turned on.
The drive pulse 23 is distributed to 5, 26, and 28.
The zoom lens drive unit 24 which is one of the distribution destinations
Then, the zoom lens 11 is moved stepwise in accordance with the drive pulse 23 from the position 0 (tele end) to the position n (wide end) via the position m.

First, the zoom lens 11 is fixed at the position 0, and in this state, the signal imaged and accumulated on the image pickup device 12 is converted into a predetermined format by the recording signal processing circuit 13, and then the signal is passed through the switch 14 to be magnetically changed. Magnetic tape 16 by head 15
It is recorded on the upper track 0. Next, the zoom lens 11 is fixed at the position 1, and the same accumulated signal is recorded on the track 1 on the magnetic tape 16. In this way, a plurality of images at a plurality of positions from the position m of the zoom lens to the position n (wide end) are recorded on tracks m to n on the magnetic tape 16, respectively. That is, an image from the zoom magnification (N + 1) to the magnification 1 (magnification at the wide end) is track 0 by one operation of the switch 21.
Is recorded together with the index signal from the index generating unit 25 in the.

Next, the recording / playback changeover switch 14 is set to PB.
The magnetic tape 16 is closed to the side and reproduced by the magnetic head 15 and processed by the reproduction signal processing circuit 17. The image of the track 0 is stored in the field memory FM ₀ (31) from the processed signal through the switch 18 using the output pulse 27 of the write clock generation unit 26. Then track 1
Image is similarly stored in the field memory FM ₁ (32). Similarly, the images of the tracks are sequentially stored in the field memories, and the tracks m through the track n are stored in the field memory through the FM _m (34) through the FM _n (35). .

Next, the operation (2) will be described. This operation (2) is an operation for forming one high-resolution still image by forming an image with a desired constant magnification from a plurality of images with different zoom magnifications accumulated in a plurality of field memories and synthesizing them. is there.

In FIG. 1, first, the field memory FM
₀ (31) the picture size by the reading using the output pulse 28a of the read clock generating unit 28 which is supplied via the switch 29 of the stored zoom ratio (N + 1) is converted into a constant to the image combining unit 50
To enter. Then, the zoom magnification (N + 1) × {n / (n + 1)} accumulated in the field memory FM ₁ (32)
Image of the output pulse 28 supplied via the switch 29
The image size is converted into a constant size using b and input to the image composition unit 50. Similarly, other field memory F
The images accumulated in M are sequentially input to the image combining unit 50. This state is schematically shown in FIG.

The desired zoom lens position as shown in FIG.
Where m is the zoom lens position from 0 to m
The image up to the fixed magnification is equivalent to the reduced scanning range.
High resolution with more scanning lines (more CCD pixels)
Images have been obtained. Also, the zoom lens position (m +
Between 1) and n, the scanning range is expanded and the equivalent rough running is performed.
An image composed of contour lines is obtained. And fee
Rud memory FM₀~ FM _nRead from (31-35)
Read so that the size of all the captured images are converted to the same
The output clock generation unit 28 operates to generate the pulse 28a.
Outputs ~ 28n. In this way the size is the same
A plurality of images having different resolutions are used in the image combining unit 5
Input to 0.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the image synthesizing unit 50. In FIG. 3, the amplitude of the combined image is adjusted by the gain adjusters GC _{0 to} GC _n (51 to 55) so as not to be affected by the scanning range shown in the lower part of FIG. 2 is reconfigured with the closest number of scanning lines shown at the left end of FIG. 2, superposed by the adder 56, and then stored in the master memory MM60 of FIG.

If the relative positions of the subject and the zoom lens 11 of the present apparatus do not change due to the above operations (1) and (2), the portion aimed at the tele end of the zoom lens 11 is set to the highest resolving power, and that portion is set. As a result, a still image with a weighting resolution in which the resolution continuously decreases as the distance from the image is obtained.

A still image of a desired resolution is output from the master memory 60 from the output terminal 72. At that time, an image frame showing how much the image at the position m drawn from the tele end of the zoom lens is desired is displayed. By controlling the signal 43 by the dial 42 which controls the image frame preset unit 41, it is possible to select from the range of (N + 1) to 1 of the zoom lens. When the desired image frame has the magnification (N + 1), the resolution is the same as that at the time of shooting, and when the magnification is 1, the resolution of the portion aimed at the tele end is improved to the maximum.

The content of the master memory 60 can be output to the monitor 71 to visually check how much the zoom magnification is set to obtain a satisfactory reproduction image quality. If the result of the check is not satisfactory, the contents of the master memory 60 can be rewritten by setting the dial 42 again. When a satisfactory image quality is obtained, the output can be input to, for example, a color printer to obtain the weighted high resolution still image as a hard copy.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the highest resolution of the image pickup section 10 due to the combination of the telephoto end position of the zoom lens 11 and the image pickup device 12 is set in the image frame other than the telephoto end. A high resolution still image can be obtained from the VTR with a built-in camera by using it also when configuring.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the image pickup unit 10 is used when the object moves in a certain direction while the zoom lens position moves from 0 to n, or due to camera shake.
1 moves, the motion detection control unit 61 detects a motion vector for the image in the master memory 60 of FIG. 1, and rewrites the memory so that the positions of the images in the lower part of FIG. 2 match according to the detection result. I do.

According to the second embodiment, a high-resolution still image can be obtained even if the object or the image pickup section 10 moves at a low speed.

(Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, of the images accumulated in the field memories 31 to 35 of FIG. 1, images with large blurring are prohibited from being transferred to the master memory 60. The blur detection can be performed under the condition that the positions of the images do not match by performing the signal processing by the motion detection performed in the second embodiment.

According to the third embodiment, a high-resolution still image can be obtained even if the object or the image pickup section 10 moves at a high speed for a fixed short time while the zoom lens position moves from 0 to n.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the input of the switch 18 may be directly the output of the image pickup device 12 instead of the output of the magnetic tape 16. Also, by increasing the capacity of the master memory 60, the trigger button 2
It is also possible to press and hold 1 to accumulate the first scene and then update the contents of the respective field memories 31 to 35 to accumulate a plurality of scenes such as the second and third scenes.

According to the fourth embodiment, the mechanical system for driving the magnetic tape or the like can be eliminated and the entire apparatus can be made compact and lightweight.

(Fifth Embodiment) Although the magnetic tape 16 is used as the recording medium in the first embodiment, a magnetic disk may be used instead. Further, as a recording system including the magnetic head 15 and the magnetic tape 16, other recording techniques such as optical recording, magneto-optical recording, and semiconductor memory such as flash memory can be introduced.

According to the fifth embodiment, when mainly storing still images, the rotating disk type requires a shorter access time.

(Sixth Embodiment) The field memories 31 to 35 are used in the configuration of FIG.
A frame memory that alternately receives signals from the image pickup devices 12 may be used.

According to the sixth embodiment, the image pickup device 12
The equivalent interlaced scanning can be performed by the combination of the arrangement and the signal reading timing, and the vertical resolution can be further improved.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Effectively use the features of the zoom lens by configuring the storage device to reduce / enlarge multiple images that have been enlarged / reduced by the zoom lens and superimpose these images as part or all of the final image frame. Thus, a high-resolution still image can be obtained. In particular, in the case of a camera-integrated VTR or the like, it is possible to obtain a high-resolution still image of the target point portion of the subject.

Further, by detecting the movement between a plurality of images and controlling so that the plurality of images coincide with each other according to the detection result, it is possible to deal with a moving subject.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an operation of the field memory of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the image composition unit of FIG. 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image pick-up part 11 Zoom lens 12 Image pick-up element 16 Magnetic tape 28 Read clock generation unit 31-35 Field memory 41 Image frame preset unit 50 Image composition unit 60 Master memory 61 Motion detection control unit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup unit including a zoom lens having a variable magnification, and a plurality of image frames picked up by the image pickup unit at a plurality of positions of the zoom lens or reproduced from a recording medium are different for each field or each frame. Storage means for storing the image as the image, read-out means for reducing or enlarging the content of the storage means to read out as an image of the same magnification, and image superimposing means for superimposing a plurality of images read by the read-out means. Image forming device. 2. A detection control means is provided for detecting a movement between the plurality of read images and controlling the plurality of images so that the plurality of images match and overlap each other according to a detection result. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.