JPH08289188A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a still picture with high resolution by using an image pickup element with a small number of picture elements. CONSTITUTION: Plural image pickup visual fields of the image pickup element 103 are set by a prism 101 with variable angle, and photographing is performed via a zoom lens 102 in each visual field, and plural images are obtained. They are reproduced after recording on the separate tracks of a magnetic disk 107. A reproduction signal from each track is read out after being stored in field memory 131-134, and the image of a read out signal is synthesized by an image synthesis circuit 146 as a partial image, which forms one image. In this way, since the photographing for all the picture elements of the image pickup element are performed in each image pickup visual field, a synthesized image goes to the still picture with high resolution consisting of the picture elements of several times the image pickup visual fields of all the picture elements.

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 for forming a high-resolution still image suitable for use in an electronic still camera, a camera-integrated VTR or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows a conventional image forming apparatus disclosed in JP-A-49-52912. In FIG.
The subject image input through the focal play shutter 50, the shutter 51, and the camera optical system 52 is converted into an electric image signal by a photoelectric converter 53 as an image sensor. This image signal is PWM-modulated by the pulse width modulator 54 to improve S / N, and then processed by the logic circuit 55 to generate the RGB signal and the synchronization signal S.
These signals are recorded on the magnetic tape 58 in the recorder 57 via the magnetic head 56.

A magnetic tape 58 is unwound from a tape reel in a deep cassette 59 via a roller 60, recorded by a magnetic head 56, and then rewound to a tape reel in a tape cassette 59 via a roller 61. The recorder 57 is operated by the recorder drive unit 62, and when the counter 63 counts a predetermined number of shots, an end signal is output. The photoelectric converter 53 scans the imaging surface by a scanning circuit 64, and the scanning circuit 64 is driven by a signal output every time the recorder driving unit 62 performs recording once.

Further, the above signal and the signal from the recording switch 65 are applied to the AND gate 66, and the shutter 51 and the logic circuit 55 operate in accordance with the AND output. The AND output is also delayed by the delay circuit 67,
The motor 69 is driven through the tape feeding circuit 68. As a result, the motor 69 that drives the tape reel is set to 1
Rotate for the number of times recorded. The above two rollers 60, 6
Since the interval 70 of 1 corresponds to the vertical retrace line period in the image reading from the photoelectric converter 53 by the scanning circuit 64, all the images are read, and the images are recorded on the magnetic tape 58 frame by frame.

Next, other prior art documents and their features will be briefly listed. (1) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 54-136325 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-136325 A CCD image pickup device for a photoelectric converter and a digital memory for a recorder are used, and a memory output is D / A converted to an electronic optical display device, a magnetic tape type recording / reproducing device, and a printer. And output to. (2) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-127308 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a two-dimensional array of CCDs, scanning is performed in the column direction simultaneously and in the row direction in time series. (3) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-14507

A magnetic disk is used as a recording medium, and one image shot, intermittent image shot, and continuous recording are selected by mode switching. (4) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-140514 The recording means is sequentially switched for each recording track and digital display is performed. (5) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 54-140515 Detects whether a recording track is unrecorded or recorded.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the image signal accumulated in the image pickup device for the standard television is used as it is, the resolution of the still image is low. Regarding this, for example, "Murakami: Electronic Still Cameras-Current Situation and Trends-Television Society Journal 39, 9, PP.7
60-764 (September 1985), P. "762" is a CC of 780 x 490 pixels (380,000 pixels) class
The pixel density of D is insufficient to enjoy the same technique as a film camera, such as enlargement or partial enlargement of a cabinet or more, and at least 35 mm half size or more of pixels (about 2 million pixels) is required, and 1125 series Let's call for a television system. "

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to form a still image having a high resolution in an image pickup system of an electronic still camera or a camera-integrated VTR.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image pickup means for picking up an image of a subject in a constant image pickup field, an image pickup field moving means for moving the image pickup field of the image pickup means, and the image pickup field moving means. And an image synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of images picked up in the plurality of image pickup fields set in.

[0010]

A plurality of images are obtained by setting a plurality of imaging fields of view and photographing each, and a single image is obtained by synthesizing the images as partial images. Since each partial image is imaged with respect to all the pixels of the image sensor in each imaging field of view, one still image having a high resolution that is several times the imaging field of view can be obtained by combining these.

Further, a combination of zoom lenses is used, images are taken in a plurality of imaging fields of view at a plurality of zoom magnifications, and each of the obtained images is reconstructed with an image frame of a specific magnification.
By synthesizing, the part of interest on the screen can have a particularly high resolution. Furthermore, by using the variable angle prism, the imaging visual field can be moved with a simple mechanism.

[0012]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a view best showing the features of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 101 is a variable angle prism aiming at a different image frame each time one still image is formed,
2 is a zoom lens, 103 is an image pickup device such as CCD, and 10
4 is a recording signal processing circuit, 105 is a recording / reproducing changeover switch, 106 is a magnetic head, 107 is a magnetic disk as a recording medium, 108 is a reproducing signal processing circuit, 131-14.
Reference numeral 5 is a field memory, and 109 to 112 are switches for distributing a reproduction signal to the respective field memories 131 to 145.

Reference numerals 113 to 115 denote field memories 131.
Switch 142 for obtaining the outputs of ˜142, an image synthesizing section 146 for selectively synthesizing the outputs of the field memories 131 to 145 to generate one high resolution still image, and 147 storing a high resolution still image. A master memory 148 is an output terminal for sending the output of the master memory 147 to a printer or the like, 1
A monitor 49 displays the output of the master memory 147.

Reference numeral 121 is a trigger switch as an image pickup button for taking a still image, 122 is a synchronizing signal generating circuit, 124 is a prism driving circuit for driving the variable angle prism 101, 125 is a zoom lens driving circuit, and 126.
Is an index generation circuit 127 for generating an index signal 123 for identifying a divided area of an image described later.
Is a W clock generation circuit that generates a write clock 128 for the field memories 131 to 145, and 129 is an R clock generation circuit that also generates a read clock 130. 151 is a dial for determining the zoom magnification, 150
Is an image frame preset circuit that determines an image frame according to the zoom magnification.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the operation-
1A will be described. This operation-1A is an operation in which the variable angle prism 101 is sequentially moved to the first to fourth quadrants within the image frame by pressing the image pickup button, and each quadrant is imaged and recorded in separate tracks of the magnetic disk. Is. The operation-1A will be described in detail below. After determining the zoom magnification of the zoom lens 102 in FIG. 1, when the switch 105 is set to the R side and the switch 121 is turned on,
Driving pulses are sent from the synchronization signal generation circuit 122 to each circuit.

The variable angle prism drive unit 124 includes
As shown in FIG. 2, the variable angle prism 101 is driven by the driving pulse, and as shown in FIG.
The image sensor 103 sequentially captures the quadrant, the second quadrant, the third quadrant, and the fourth quadrant. That is, the desired image pickup image frame 200 is divided into four, and first, the position of the prism 101 is fixed so that the partial image 201 of the first quadrant is imaged on all the pixels on the image pickup surface of the image pickup element 103. In this state, the output signal of the image sensor 103 is recorded on the track 1 on the magnetic disk 107 by the magnetic head 106 through the recording signal processing circuit 104 and the switch 105 together with the index signal 123 for identifying the first quadrant.

Next, the position of the prism 101 is fixed so that the partial image 202 of the second quadrant is imaged on all the pixels of the image sensor 103, and the output signal of the image sensor 103 is processed together with the index signal 123 in this state. After that, recording is performed on the track 2 on the magnetic disk 107.

Similarly, the partial images 203 and 204 in the third and fourth quadrants are recorded on the tracks 3 and 4 together with the index signal 123. Although the desired shooting image frame 200 is divided into four in this embodiment, the number of divisions of the desired shooting image frame 200 is
The imaging recording order is arbitrary, and these can be identified by the index signal 123.

Next, the operation-1B will be described. This is because partial images 201 to 204 recorded on separate tracks of the magnetic disk 107 are stored in separate field memories 131 to 131.
It is an operation of accumulating in 134 and synthesizing those outputs to obtain a high resolution still image. In the following description, the field memories 131 to 142 will be referred to as FM _{1 to} FM ₈ and FM _k-4 to F.
Let it be called M _k-1 .

The operation-1B will be described in detail below. FIG.
At, the recording / reproduction changeover switch 105 is closed to the P side, and the magnetic disk 107 is reproduced. As a result, the signal of track ₁ is stored in the field memory FM ₁ via the switches 109 and 110. Similarly, the signals of tracks 2 to 4 on the magnetic disk 107 are transferred to the field memory FM.
_{2 to} FM ₄ are accumulated.

Next, the signals from FM _{1 to} FM ₄ are switched to the switch 11
The read image synthesizing circuit 146 synthesizes one image corresponding to the desired photographing image frame 200 of FIG. 2 via 3 and accumulates it in the master memory 147. The write clock pulse 128 and the read clock pulse 130 of each field memory and the master memory are the W clock generation circuit 1 respectively.
27, supplied from the R lock generation circuit 129.

The image frame of the image stored in the master memory 147, that is, the desired photographic image frame 200 can be selected by setting the position of the zoom lens 102 by the dial 151 controlling the image frame preset circuit 150. The content of the master memory 147 can be visually checked by outputting to the monitor 149 how much the zoom magnification is set to obtain a satisfactory reproduction image quality. If the image quality is not satisfactory, the contents of the master memory 147 can be rewritten by resetting the dial 151 and then pressing the trigger switch 121. And
When a satisfactory image quality is obtained, the high-resolution still image can be obtained as a hard copy by outputting the image in the master memory 147 to, for example, a color printer.

According to the first embodiment described above, four partial images are displayed in 20 images by using a CCD image pickup device having, for example, 400,000 pixels.
By separately capturing and synthesizing Nos. 1 to 204, a high-resolution still image corresponding to four times as many as 1.6 million pixels can be obtained. If the number of image frame divisions is increased to 4 or more, a higher resolution image can be obtained, and by changing the image frame configuration, an image with an arbitrary aspect ratio (aspect ratio) can be obtained. (Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment having the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described. First, the operation-2A is performed. As the first step, the operation of the first embodiment is executed with the zoom lens 102 fixed at the telephoto end, and partial images 201 to 204 in each quadrant are grouped into fields of a first group consisting of four field memories. Store in memory. As a second step, while the zoom lens is fixed to the wide side by one step from the telephoto end, the operation of the first embodiment is executed and the partial image of each quadrant is composed of the other four field memories. Accumulate field memory of. The above operation is repeated for each step up to the (k-1) position of the zoom lens 102, and is stored in the field memory of the (k-1) th group.

The operation-2A will be described in detail below. First step. The zoom lens 102 is fixed at the position “1” at the tele end, and the variable angle prism 101 is moved to the first to fourth quadrants of FIG.
To 204 are recorded on tracks 1 to 4 of the magnetic disk 107.

Second step. The zoom lens 102 is fixed at the position “2” on the one step wide side from the tele end, and the variable angle prism 101 is moved to the first quadrant to the fourth quadrant so that the respective partial images 201 to 204 are recorded on the track 5 of the magnetic disk 107. Record at ~ 8.

Third step. By performing the above operation to the position "k-1" of the zoom lens 102, the partial images 201 to 204 in the first to fourth quadrants at the zoom lens position "k-1" are tracked (k-4). ~ (K-
Record in 1).

Next, the switch 105 is switched from the R side to the P side, and the operation-2B at the time of reproduction is performed. This action-2B
Stores a signal reproduced from each track of the magnetic disk 107 in a field memory composed of a first group to a (k-1) th group for each zoom lens position, and synthesizes images for each group by shrinking. A high-resolution still image is obtained.

The operation-2B will be described in detail below. The signals reproduced from the tracks 1 to 4 of the magnetic disk 107 are accumulated in the first group of field memories FM _{1 to} FM ₄ via the switches 109 and 110. Then, the signals reproduced from the tracks 5 to 8 are switched to the switches 109 and 111.
Through the second group of field memories FM _{5 to} FM ₈ . Repeated until storing the operation to the track (k-4) ~ (k -1) field memory the signal reproduced of the (k-1) group from the _{FM k-4 ~FM k-1} . The partial images accumulated in the field memories FM _{1 to} FM _k-1 in this manner are 1, 2, ..., K-1 on the left side of the upper stage of FIG.
It becomes as shown in.

Next, the first group of field memories FM in FIG.
By changing the frequency of the read clock 130 by reading the contents of _{1 to} FM ₄ , the screen is reduced as shown in the lower part of FIG. 3, and the scanning lines per unit area are increased. This operation is executed by the image synthesizing circuit 146 via the switch 113 of FIG. The above operation is performed for the field memories of the second group and the third group, and is executed up to the (k-1) th group. However, the screen size of the contents of the field memory of the last (k-1) group matches the image frame 200 desired by the photographer, and the reduction operation is not performed. Next, in the image synthesizing circuit 146, the images of the respective groups are superimposed as images of the same size to form an image with high resolution in the central portion on the screen, which is emphasized by the photographer.

According to the second embodiment, the image pickup frame 20
If the area of 0 is, for example, double at the zoom lens position “(k−1)” at the zoom lens position “1”, it is possible to use the CCD image pickup device of 400,000 pixels to obtain 400,000 × 4 × 2 = 320.
It is possible to obtain a high resolution still image having a high resolution equivalent to 10,000 pixels in the center of the screen.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment having the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described. First, operation-3A is performed as follows. First, the operation-2A described above is executed. Next, the variable angle prism 101 is fixed, and another image associated with the content of the image of 1 to (k-1) is photographed as a sub-screen as shown in FIG. 4 at arbitrary zoom lens positions k to m to n. , The image is recorded on the tracks k to m to n of the magnetic disk 107.

Next, operation-3B is performed. The signals reproduced from the tracks k to m to n of the magnetic disk 107 are transmitted via the switch 109 to the field memories FMk to FMm.
Store in FMn. Finally, in the image synthesizing circuit 146, the main screen obtained by the zoom lens positions 1 to (k-1) and the sub screen obtained by the zoom lens positions k to m to n are synthesized as shown in FIG. High resolution still images can be obtained. According to the third embodiment described above, by combining the high-resolution image combination in which the variable angle prism 101 and the zoom lens 102 are combined with the image obtained by only the zoom lens 102 or by displaying them simultaneously, a special effect can be obtained. It is possible to provide an image having.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, a high resolution still image can be formed by using an image pickup device having a small number of pixels. In addition, since the number of pixels of the image sensor can be reduced to 1 / (for example, 1/4) of the field of view of the image,
The cost of the device can be reduced. Also, by combining a zoom lens, it is possible to form a wide-angle still image with a high resolution at the point of interest. If a sub-screen that is related to the content of the main screen with higher resolution is superimposed, it is possible to have an auxiliary function of the main screen. Can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing movement of an image pickup screen by a variable angle prism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of field memories FM _{1 to} FM _k-1 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an operation of synthesizing images with field memories FM _{1 to} FM _n .

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Variable Angle Prism 102 Zoom Lens 103 Image Sensor 131-145 Field Memory 146 Image Compositing Circuit 151 Zoom Magnification Setting Dial

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup unit for picking up an image of a subject in a fixed image pickup field, an image pickup field moving unit for moving the image pickup field of the image pickup unit, and a plurality of image pickup images picked up in a plurality of image pickup fields set by the image pickup field moving unit. An image forming apparatus including an image combining unit that combines images. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image pickup means takes an image through a zoom lens. 3. The image according to claim 2, wherein images are captured in a plurality of imaging fields of view at a plurality of zoom positions of the zoom lens, and the obtained plurality of images are converted into images of equal size and then combined. Forming equipment. 4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a variable angle prism is used as the imaging visual field moving means.