JPH10126694A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To observe the images with relatively low definition and to provide the images with high definition as needed. SOLUTION: A CCD 3 obtains 1000×960 picture elements. The video signals of 480 valid scanning lines in one field are respectively obtained from the CCD 3, CDS circuits 11 and 21 and signal processing circuit 12 and 22 and supplied to an addition circuit 14 and an image memory 13. A standard monitor 15 obtains the video signals of 240 valid scanning lines in one field from the addition circuit 14 and displays moving images. When the images required as needed are present while observing the moving images, when the selection button of a personal computer 17 is pressed, the video signals of 480 valid scanning lines in one field are obtained from the image memory 13 through an interface 16, the images are stored in the memory of the personal computer 17 and high definition still images are simultaneously displayed on the monitor of the personal computer 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus capable of observing a relatively low-definition image and obtaining a high-definition image as required.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Imaging devices have advanced with television technology and have been widely used from home video cameras to industrial fields, including those for broadcasting stations. Recently, applications such as a personal computer camera for capturing images to a personal computer and a digital camera for directly recording images on a digital memory have been widespread.

However, these are all standard NTS
The signal conforms to the C signal and the PAL system, and if a signal having more scanning lines than the standard system is to be obtained, the imaging device is different and the camera itself is complicated. Further, the monitor for displaying the image has a drawback such that it is complicated and expensive due to the need for advanced technology.

[0004] As a similar device, HDTV and the like have been actively researched and developed in foreign countries. In Japan, there was a movement to promote HDTV by calling it HDTV.

[0005] Therefore, when it is desired to view only the contents of an HDTV image, scan conversion is performed without using 1080 effective scanning lines, and the effective scanning lines are converted into 480 standard television signals. MN converters have also been developed that can be viewed on standard television receivers without high definition. This is an example in which a high-definition image can be viewed with low definition when actually viewed.

FIG. 8 schematically shows a first configuration example of a conventional imaging apparatus. An optical image of the subject 101 is formed on a photosensitive surface of a CCD 103 serving as an imaging device via an imaging lens 102. In the CCD 103, the optical image is photoelectrically converted, and becomes a charge image according to the intensity of light.

The video signal from the CCD 104 is a CDS
(Correlated DoubleSamplin
g) Applied to the circuit 104 to perform noise removal. C
The video signal from the DS circuit 104 is transmitted to the next signal processing circuit 1
In addition to the processing of FIG. 05, processing required for normal video signal generation such as gamma correction, contour correction, white clipping, and clamping is performed.

The output video signal of the signal processing circuit 105 is supplied to a small liquid crystal monitor 107 and an image memory 106.

In this case, since the small liquid crystal monitor 107 is small and has a small number of pixels, an image displayed on the monitor 107 has a lower definition than an image signal stored in the image memory 106.

FIG. 9 schematically shows a second example of the configuration of a conventional imaging apparatus. The same components as those in FIG. 7 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. In this example, the output video signal of the signal processing circuit 105 is supplied to the small monitor 112 of about 1.5 inches and the VTR 111.

[0011] Even in this case, the image quality is not so good because the monitor 112 is small, and an image with lower definition than the image signal recorded on the VTR 111 is displayed.

These monitors 107 and 112 only need to know what the stored or recorded image is, such as the angle, the color tone, and the focus. It is decreasing.

In recent digital cameras, 360 × 2
Shooting a relatively coarse image of 40 pixels and storing 9 images in one memory
There has been developed an image pickup apparatus capable of shooting a large number of about six images, and switching to a high-resolution image of 720 × 480 pixels as needed. However, in this case, the number of images recorded in one memory is reduced to about 1/4 of 24.

Further, a so-called all-pixel reading CCD capable of extracting a progressive image has been developed. An imaging device that uses this all-pixel reading CCD, which records interlaced moving images on a magnetic tape, and switches it as necessary, can take progressive progressive still images. ing.

[0015]

As described above, in an image pickup apparatus capable of switching between a still image and a moving image for photographing,
There is a drawback that a photographer loses a shutter chance when he / she wants to view the image with high definition, fails to capture a valuable image, and cannot obtain a necessary image.

In the medical field and the printing field, there is a strong demand for high-definition images having twice or more scanning lines, even for still images. As a result, the entire device becomes larger and more expensive, which has hindered the spread of this type of imaging apparatus.

Furthermore, with the spread of personal computers, there has been an increasing demand for easily obtaining still images having higher definition than standard televisions. However, imaging apparatuses and systems which can easily obtain these still images have been technically difficult. It was also difficult to spread.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of continuously picking up an image of a subject and obtaining a higher definition image when a desired image appears while observing a monitor displaying a moving image. With the goal.

[0019]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(First configuration example) Optical means for forming an image of a subject via an image pickup lens, and image pickup arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface and outputting a plurality of video signals in accordance with the optical image A device, means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device or adding a plurality of output video signals, and a first for displaying one of the output video signals or the added video signal Display means, selection means for observing the screen of the first display means to select a desired image, and obtaining video signals corresponding to the selected image from a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device. Means, storage means for storing the plurality of output video signals at a high resolution, and second display means for displaying the video signals stored at the high resolution at a high resolution.

(Second Configuration Example) An optical system for forming an image of light incident through an image pickup lens, and an image pickup device arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface and outputting a plurality of video signals A device, means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device or adding the two to obtain a video signal in a first format, and displaying the video signal in the first format. First display means;
Selecting means for observing the screen of the display means to select a desired image, and converting a video signal corresponding to the selected image from a plurality of video signals from the imaging device to twice the first format. Means for obtaining a video signal of the scanning line, storage means for storing the video signal of the double scanning line, and second display means for displaying the video signal of the double scanning line stored in the storage means And characterized in that:

(Third Configuration Example) Optical means for forming an image of a subject via an image pickup lens, and a plurality of video signals are arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface. An imaging device to output, means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device or adding a plurality of output video signals, and displaying one of the output video signals or the added video signal A first display unit, a selection unit for observing the screen of the first display unit and selecting a desired image, and a video signal corresponding to the selected image and an image signal at an appropriate interval thereafter. Means for obtaining a video signal from a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device; storage means for intermittently storing the plurality of output video signals at a high resolution; and the video recorded in the storage means at a high resolution. Signal Imaging apparatus characterized by comprising a second display means for.

It is characterized by having the following.

[0023]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention.
1 shows the configuration of the embodiment. An optical image of the subject 1 is formed via an imaging lens 2 on a photosensitive surface of a CCD 3 serving as an imaging device. In the CCD 3, the optical image is photoelectrically converted,
The charge image is formed according to the intensity of light.

On the other hand, the signal from the signal generator 4 is applied to the drive logic circuit 5, where pulses necessary for driving the CCD 3 and processing various signals are formed. These pulses are applied to the next horizontal drive circuit 6 and vertical drive circuit 7. The horizontal drive circuit 6 and the vertical drive circuit 7 form drive waveforms necessary for driving the CCD 3, respectively.

The horizontal driving pulse from the horizontal driving circuit 6 and the vertical driving pulse from the vertical driving circuit 7
The signal charge applied to the terminal of CD3 and formed on the photosensitive surface is moved to the output terminal to be an output video signal.

As shown in FIG. 2, the CCD 3 actually has a photodiode PD for performing photoelectric conversion and a V of a vertical transfer CCD.
A CCD and an H-CCD of a horizontal transfer CCD.

The photodiode PD is composed of 1000 horizontal pixels and 960 vertical pixels. Vertical transfer CCDs having four electrodes arranged corresponding to two pixels in the vertical direction of the photodiode PD are alternately arranged with the photodiode PD. .

A first H-CCD and a second H-CCD, two horizontal transfer CCDs, are provided below an image area which is a photosensitive surface including a photodiode PD and a vertical transfer CCD.
, And first and second signal output circuits are provided adjacent thereto.

Two sets of pulse waveforms, ΦVA and ΦVB, are applied to the vertical transfer CCD and V-CCD. Four-phase pulses ΦV1A, ΦV2A, ΦV3A, ΦV4 are respectively applied to ΦVA.
A has four-phase pulses ΦV1B, ΦV2B, ΦVB
V3B and ΦV4B are applied from the vertical drive circuit 7.

By applying the vertical drive waveforms of the two systems ΦVA and ΦVB in this manner, it becomes possible to read out the signals of two adjacent pixels independently.

The details will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
As shown in (a), in the CCD used, pixels are arranged vertically from 1, 2, 3,..., 960 from the bottom, but in the first field (A mode) from the bottom. 3,4,7,8,11,12, ..., 959,960
The signal is read out every two pixels as shown in FIG.

In the last output stage, two horizontal CCDs are arranged, and the signal charges transferred by two pixels here are transferred in order, and the first signal output circuit outputs 3, 7 , 11,... 959, the signal of each pixel is obtained. Similarly, from the second signal output circuit,
, 960, signals of respective pixels are sequentially obtained. Thus, the video signal of the first field is obtained.

On the other hand, in the second field (B mode), similarly, as shown in FIG.
The signals are read out every two pixels as in 9, 10,..., 957, 958. Since two horizontal CCDs are arranged in the last output stage, the signal charges transferred by two pixels here are transferred in order, and the first signal output circuit outputs 1, 5, 9,. ..., 957, 2nd
, 958 from the signal output circuit of
The signal of each pixel is sequentially obtained as shown in FIG. Thus, the video signal of the second field is obtained.

Here, when the first signal output and the second signal output are added, a signal of a standard format of 240 effective scanning lines is obtained in the first field as shown in FIG. In two fields, a signal of a standard format of 240 effective scanning lines as shown in FIG. 4B is obtained.

If these output signals are separately assembled and displayed without adding them, a high-definition image of 960 effective scanning lines as shown in FIG. 5 can be obtained.

Returning to FIG. 1, the two signal outputs are applied to the respective CDS circuits 11 and 21 to remove noise.

The video signals from the CDS circuits 11 and 21 are applied to the following signal processing circuits 12 and 22, and are subjected to processes required for normal video signal generation such as gamma correction, contour correction, white clipping, and clamping. You. Signal processing circuit 12, 2
The two output video signals are applied to an image memory 13 and also to an adder circuit 14, where signals for two scanning lines are added.

The output signal of the adder circuit 14 is a standard NTSC
It is applied to the monitor 15 and the effective scanning line 4
80 moving images are displayed.

On the other hand, the image memory 13 includes the signal processing circuit 1
The video signals (image signals) from 2, 22 are sequentially updated.

The video signal applied to the image memory 13 is
If the selection button of the personal computer is pressed, the video signal of one image at the moment when the button is pressed is transmitted to the interface (for example, SCSI (S
mall Computer System Inte
rface) through a board or an IEEE 1394 16) and is temporarily stored in a memory built in the personal computer 17. The stored video signal is immediately displayed as a high-definition still image of 960 effective scanning lines in one frame on an image display device, here, the monitor of the personal computer 17.

As described above, the standard image is displayed as a moving image on the standard monitor. When the observer views the image and a necessary image appears, the user presses the select button on the personal computer side. The video signal of 960 effective scanning lines in one frame added to the image memory 13 is taken into the memory of the personal computer 17 via the interface 16, and this video signal is displayed as a high-definition still image on the personal computer screen. It can be observed in detail.

Originally, human eyes cannot recognize a moving image even if it has a high resolution, but can recognize details of a still image.

According to the above-mentioned imaging apparatus, the characteristics of the human eye are effectively utilized, and a standard image system which can be constructed relatively inexpensively for moving images is constructed. In other words, there is an advantage that a system in which the number of effective scanning lines is twice as large as that of the standard image can be constructed and a high-definition image can be easily observed to every corner.

In the conventional imaging apparatus as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, signals stored in the image memory 106 and VTR 11
The signals recorded in 1 are directly used as monitors 107 and 112.
However, at this time, the image quality is only deteriorated due to the poor performance of the display device. He is not trying to record high-definition images by looking at the images on the monitor.

FIG. 6 shows the configuration of an image pickup apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same components as those in the first embodiment of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description is omitted. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that one of the two output video signals of the signal processing circuits 12 and 22 is used. In this case, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. In this case, the S / N may be reduced by about 3 dB, but the circuit is simplified, and this is effective when a set is prototyped to be small and lightweight.

In the above description, when the button is pressed while viewing the image on the standard monitor 15, the necessary scene 1
Although it has been described that the images are taken into the personal computer 17, a plurality of images can be successively stored in the memory of the personal computer 17 by pressing the selection button of the personal computer 17. In this way, a plurality of necessary images can be intermittently loaded into the memory of the personal computer 17, which is convenient for elucidating a changing phenomenon.

In this case, the captured images can be displayed side by side on the monitor of the personal computer 17 or can be displayed on top of each other as necessary. In addition, the display mode can be variously modified, such as displaying for each capture or displaying at once after capturing a plurality of sheets.

Further, the main part of the imaging apparatus is a personal computer 17
However, as shown in the modification of the first embodiment in FIG. 7, the main part of the imaging apparatus is placed at a remote place to photograph the state of the patient, and is indicated by a dotted line. Of course, it can be used for remote observation and remote medical treatment such as transmitting a high-definition image by a specialized doctor pressing a select button of the personal computer 17 while watching the standard monitor 95 in the enclosed portion. The specialist doctor observes the patient's condition and condition on the standard monitor 95, and when he wants to see the affected part in detail, he changes the position of the camera of the imaging device by remote control, sets the desired scene and angle, and shoots When it becomes possible, a selection button of the personal computer 17 is pressed to slowly transmit a high-definition still image.

The second embodiment can also be configured as a modification of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

In this way, the doctor can observe the sent image on the high-definition monitor of the personal computer 17 and make an accurate judgment. There is a great feature that the transmission is always performed using a standard image whose transmission fee is low and only the necessary data can be viewed as a high-definition still image, so that the transmission cost is low and efficient operation is possible.

Further, the high-definition image information stored in the memory of the personal computer 17 can be easily subjected to image processing such as contour correction, coloring processing, gradation correction, etc. by using personal computer-specific image software or general application software. There is also an advantage that an image that can be easily observed can be constructed according to the purpose.

Further, since the stored image information can be easily recorded on a storage medium such as a magnetic floppy, the image information can be reproduced on another personal computer or subjected to image processing as required.

Further, it is easy to send the image information to a remote place using ordinary personal computer communication. In the case of medical information, there is a great merit such as transmitting to a hospital in a remote place to ask for an accurate instruction.

In the above-described embodiments and modifications, the imaging device 3 is a CCD, but is not limited to a CCD, and may be a C-MOS sensor or the like. further,
The monitor of the personal computer 17 may be separate from the main body of the personal computer 17.

[0055]

As described above, according to the present invention, half of the signal is discarded or added to obtain a standard format image signal for constant observation, and only a required still image is converted to high definition. By displaying the image, it is possible to simplify the entire system and to construct a system that is easy to handle.

Further, according to the present invention, the subject is always observed while watching the screen of the standard type moving image, and when the user wants to see this screen in a little more detail, the user can operate the button to operate the high-definition still image inside the personal computer. The image is stored and immediately reproduced and displayed on the high-definition monitor of the personal computer. Therefore, it is possible to construct a moving image using a relatively inexpensive system that is currently in widespread use, and to easily construct a high-definition image using an inexpensive system using a personal computer. There is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a CCD 3, which is the imaging device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a video signal output from a CCD 3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining extraction of a video signal (image signal) of a standard format in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for forming an image in a high definition mode.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a modification of the first embodiment of the imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a first configuration example of a conventional imaging apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a second configuration example of a conventional imaging apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 subject, 2 imaging lens, 3 imaging device (CCD), 4 signal generator, 5 drive logic circuit, 6 horizontal drive circuit, 7.・ Vertical drive circuit, 11 ・ ・ ・ CDS (Correlated Do
12) a signal processing circuit, 13 an image memory, 14 an addition circuit,
15: Standard monitor, 16: Interface, 17: Personal computer, 21: CDS circuit, 22
... signal processing circuit, 95 ... standard monitor.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An optical unit for forming an image of a subject via an imaging lens, and an imaging device arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface and outputting a plurality of video signals in accordance with the optical image. Means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device or adding a plurality of output video signals; and first display means for displaying one of the output video signals or the added video signal Selecting means for observing the screen of the first display means and selecting a desired image; means for obtaining a video signal corresponding to the selected image from a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device. An image pickup apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores the plurality of output video signals at a high resolution; and a second display unit that displays the video signals stored at the high resolution at a high resolution. 2. An optical system for imaging light incident via an imaging lens, an imaging device arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface, and outputting a plurality of video signals; Means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the device or adding the two to obtain a video signal in a first format; and first display means for displaying the video signal in the first format. Selecting means for observing the screen of the first display means and selecting a desired image; and outputting a video signal corresponding to the selected image from a plurality of video signals from the imaging device to the first video signal. Means for obtaining a video signal of a double scanning line as a format; storage means for storing the video signal of the double scanning line; and displaying the video signal of the double scanning line stored in the storage means. Second display means; Imaging apparatus characterized by comprising. 3. An optical device for imaging a subject via an imaging lens, and an imaging device arranged so that the optical image is formed on a photosensitive surface and outputting a plurality of video signals in accordance with the optical image. Means for selecting one of a plurality of output video signals from the imaging device or adding a plurality of output video signals; and first display means for displaying one of the output video signals or the added video signal Selecting means for observing the screen of the first display means and selecting a desired image; and a video signal corresponding to the selected image and a video signal of an image spaced at appropriate intervals thereafter, Means for obtaining from the plurality of output video signals from the imaging device; storage means for intermittently storing the plurality of output video signals at high resolution; and displaying the video signal recorded at high resolution in the storage means. 2 Imaging apparatus characterized by comprising a display means. A high-definition image pickup device characterized by having: