JPH1051694A - Solid-state image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To partially scan a line corresponding to the size of an object. SOLUTION: In a solid-state image pickup device using an image pickup element 1 of an interline transfer type, a driving control part 2 switches a vertical transferring signal to the element 1 to a normal vertical transferring signal for transferring the electric charge of the line of an effective video signal, and a high vertical transferring frequency fast transferring unnecessary electric charge based on a vertical synchronizing signal from a vertical synchronizing signal generation part 3, and fast transfers the unnecessary electric charge within a vertical blanking period by the high vertical transferring frequency. This fast transfer is completed before a sensor gate signal to take in a next electric charge by the sensor gate signal and the same operation is repeated after this.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device, and more particularly to an input solid-state imaging device applied to a device for performing high-speed image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows the relationship between vertical transfer and video signals of a conventional interline transfer type image sensor.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a vertical synchronizing signal, 2 denotes a video signal, 3 denotes a sensor gate signal, and 4 denotes a vertical transfer signal. This is a signal for driving the element.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 3, unnecessary signals accumulated in a photoelectric conversion unit of an image pickup device are read out by a vertical transfer unit, which will be described later, based on a signal at the time of a fall of the vertical synchronizing signal 1. Perform a sweep.

After the unnecessary charges are transferred to the vertical transfer section, the signal charges stored in the photoelectric conversion section are transferred to the vertical transfer section by the sensor gate signal 3. At this time, the transferred electric charges are transferred for all 262.5 lines. Thereafter, the charge transferred to the vertical transfer unit is moved to the horizontal transfer unit by the vertical transfer signal 4, and the signal charge transferred to the horizontal transfer unit is input to a signal processing circuit and subjected to predetermined signal processing. , Are output as video signals 2.

[0006]

However, in the conventional interline transfer type solid-state imaging device as described above, the vertical transfer frequency of the interline transfer type imaging device is usually 15.734 kHz including the vertical blanking portion.
is set to z, and even if an attempt is made to transfer unnecessary charges at high speed during the vertical transfer blanking period, since the transfer speed of the image sensor is limited, partial scanning of the line according to the size of the subject is not performed. It was impossible.

That is, in the conventional solid-state imaging device, no consideration is given to transferring charges of one line or more at a frequency of 1 Hz or more.
Hz or more could not be obtained.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem. By inputting a vertical synchronizing signal of an arbitrary frequency from the outside, partial scanning of an arbitrary number of lines can be performed, and the scanning can be performed in accordance with the size of a subject. To provide a solid-state imaging device capable of realizing high-speed image processing.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a solid-state image pickup device using an interline transfer type image pickup device, wherein an arbitrary frequency for setting the number of lines of a video signal to be effective is set. A vertical synchronizing signal generating section for generating a vertical synchronizing signal; and a vertical synchronizing signal from the vertical synchronizing signal generating section. And a drive control unit for partially scanning an arbitrary number of lines by switching between the vertical transfer frequency and the high vertical transfer frequency for transferring unnecessary charges at high speed.

Thus, according to this fixed imaging device,
Partial scanning of an arbitrary number of lines can be performed, the number of lines can be set according to the size of the subject, and high-speed image processing can be realized according to the size of the subject.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The first aspect of the present invention is a solid-state image pickup apparatus using an interline transfer type image pickup device, wherein vertical synchronization of an arbitrary frequency for setting the number of lines of a video signal to be made effective is set. A vertical synchronizing signal generating section for generating a signal, and a vertical synchronizing signal from the vertical synchronizing signal generating section. And a drive control unit for partially scanning an arbitrary number of lines by switching between the frequency and a high vertical transfer frequency for transferring unnecessary charges at high speed.

Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, after the drive control means of the image pickup device transfers the charge of the line of the video signal effective at a normal vertical transfer frequency during a period other than the vertical blanking period, Unnecessary charges are erased by high-speed transfer at a high vertical transfer frequency during the period.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the drive control means of the image pickup device transfers the electric charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit of the image pickup device to the vertical transfer unit immediately after completing the high-speed transfer of the unnecessary electric charge. A sensor gate signal is output to the vertical transfer unit in accordance with the sensor gate signal, and the electric charge for the next frame stored in the photoelectric conversion unit is transferred to the vertical transfer unit.

Therefore, according to the solid-state imaging device of the present invention, by inputting a vertical synchronization signal of an arbitrary frequency from the outside, the switching between the vertical transfer frequency for effective charges and the vertical transfer frequency for unnecessary charges can be performed. Charge is transferred at high speed during the vertical blanking period, so partial scanning of any number of lines is possible without affecting the next frame, and the number of lines can be set according to the size of the subject In addition, high-speed image processing according to the size of the subject can be realized.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of a solid-state imaging device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image pickup device having an interline transfer type CCD structure, and this image pickup device 1 includes a photoelectric conversion unit including a photodiode (not shown), a vertical transfer unit, and a horizontal transfer unit. Reference numeral 2 denotes a drive control unit for operating the image sensor 1, and reference numeral 3 denotes a vertical synchronization signal generation unit.

The vertical synchronizing signal generating section 3 generates a vertical synchronizing signal of an arbitrary frequency for setting the number of lines of a video signal to be made effective.

The drive control unit 2 of the image pickup device 1 converts a vertical transfer signal to the image pickup device 1 based on the vertical synchronization signal from the vertical synchronization signal generation unit 3 into a normal vertical transfer signal for transferring a charge of a line of an effective video signal. By switching between a transfer frequency and a high vertical transfer frequency for transferring unnecessary charges at high speed, an arbitrary number of lines can be partially scanned, and charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit of the image sensor 1 can be transferred to the vertical transfer unit. It outputs a sensor gate signal.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart of vertical transfer by partial scanning according to the embodiment of the present invention, and shows a case where a video signal is repeatedly output only for one line.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 21 denotes a vertical synchronizing signal output from the vertical synchronizing signal generator 3;
Is a sensor gate signal output from the drive control unit 2 to the image sensor 1, and 24 is a vertical transfer signal output from the drive control unit 2 to the image sensor 1.

In the solid-state imaging device having the above configuration, when the horizontal frequency is 63.55 μs (15.734 Hz), the frequency of the vertical synchronization signal 21 output from the vertical synchronization signal generator 3 is 715 Hz.

Accordingly, when one line of a valid video signal is transferred during a period other than the vertical blanking period, and the vertical synchronization signal 21 falls within the vertical blanking period, the drive control unit 2 sets the vertical synchronization signal to The vertical transfer signal 24 to the image sensor 1 is generated based on the vertical synchronization signal from the generator 3.
Is switched from the normal vertical transfer frequency 2a for transferring the charges of the line of the effective video signal to the high vertical transfer frequency 24b for transferring the unnecessary charges at high speed.

After switching to the high vertical transfer frequency 24b, the drive control unit 2 erases unnecessary charges on the second and subsequent lines by high-speed transfer at the high vertical transfer frequency. Then, immediately after completing the high-speed transfer of the unnecessary charges, the drive control unit 2 outputs a sensor gate signal 23 for transferring the charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit to the vertical transfer unit. , The charge for the next frame stored in the photoelectric conversion unit is transferred to the vertical transfer unit, and thereafter, the same operation is repeated.

In this embodiment, the frequency at the time of high-speed transfer of the vertical synchronizing signal 24 is set so as to be able to cope with non-interlace. In this case, the unnecessary charge is about 491 lines, though it differs depending on the CCD image pickup device.

According to this embodiment, when the horizontal frequencies are 15.734 Hz and 31.468 Hz, a repetition operation of 22H in non-interlace scanning has been confirmed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by inputting a vertical synchronization signal of an arbitrary frequency from the outside,
It is possible to arbitrarily set the number of lines of a video signal to be made effective, and to perform partial scanning of an arbitrary number of lines. Therefore, if a vertical synchronizing signal of, for example, 600 Hz is input, 600 pieces of image information can be obtained in one second. Thus, high-speed image processing can be realized according to the size of the subject.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the one which repeatedly outputs only one line of a video signal as described in the above embodiment, and the number of lines is arbitrary according to the size of a subject.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, partial scanning of an arbitrary number of lines can be performed by inputting a vertical synchronizing signal of an arbitrary frequency from the outside. In addition to setting the number of lines, it is possible to realize high-speed image processing according to the size of the subject.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a configuration of a solid-state imaging device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing an example of vertical transfer of partial scanning according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an example of a vertical transfer of a conventional solid-state imaging device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image sensor 2 Drive control part 3 Vertical synchronizing signal generation part 21 Vertical synchronizing signal 22 Video signal 23 Sensor gate signal 24 Vertical transfer signal 24a Normal vertical transfer frequency 24b High vertical transfer frequency for high-speed transfer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A solid-state imaging device using an interline transfer type imaging device, comprising: a vertical synchronizing signal generating section for generating a vertical synchronizing signal of an arbitrary frequency for setting the number of lines of a video signal to be made effective; Based on the vertical synchronization signal from the vertical synchronization signal generation unit, the vertical transfer signal to the image sensor, the normal vertical transfer frequency to transfer the charge of the line of the effective video signal and high vertical transfer to transfer unnecessary charges at high speed A solid-state imaging device comprising: a drive control unit that performs partial scanning of an arbitrary number of lines by switching to a frequency. 2. The image pickup device drive control means transfers an effective video signal line charge at a normal vertical transfer frequency during a period other than the vertical blanking period, and then transfers unnecessary charge within the vertical blanking period. 2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein data is erased by high-speed transfer at a high vertical transfer frequency. 3. The image sensor drive control means outputs a sensor gate signal for transferring the charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit of the image sensor to the vertical transfer unit immediately after completing the high-speed transfer of unnecessary charges. 3. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the charge for the next frame stored in the photoelectric conversion unit is transferred to the vertical transfer unit according to the sensor gate signal.