JPH1195741A - Image pickup device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image pickup device in which the image pickup signals of non-square pixel solid image pickup elements are transformed into the image pickup signals of square pixels and the transform processes are successively conducted in a short time. SOLUTION: Digital image pickup signals of a moving picture of odd and even number fields, which are read in the field order from field memories 19 and 20, are supplied to a square filter 22 through a switching circuit 21, transformed into square pixel image pickup signals, inputted and written into the memories 19 and 20 through a switching circuit 23. Then, the square pixel digital image pickup signals stored in the memories 19 and 20 are alternatively taken out through the circuit 21 for every line. The circuit 21 outputs the digital image pickup signals of a square pixel frame still picture to an output terminal 25 by a non-interlace scanning system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, and more particularly to an image pickup apparatus that extracts an interlaced scan image signal from a solid-state image sensor having non-square pixels and outputs at least a frame still image signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional imaging apparatus. In FIG. 1, a CCD 11 is composed of a charge-coupled device (CCD), in which a large number of pixels are arranged in a matrix, and further includes a vertical and horizontal transfer register for transferring output charge signals of the CCD, and the like. This is an interlaced scanning solid-state imaging device used as an imaging device of a camera.

In the CCD 11, the number of scanning lines of a television signal is determined by a standard, so that the number of pixels in the vertical direction is constant, while the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is determined according to the resolution in the horizontal direction. Since it is arbitrarily determined, usually the number of pixels in the horizontal direction is larger than the number of pixels in the vertical direction in order to increase the resolution in the horizontal direction. Therefore, CC
The pixel D11 is not a square pixel having the same vertical and horizontal lengths, but a rectangular non-square pixel having a horizontal length shorter than the vertical length.

An image signal of an interlaced scanning system obtained by photoelectrically converting light from a subject by each non-square pixel of the CCD 11 is amplified by an amplifier 12,
The signal is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 13 and supplied to the frame memory 61 for storage. Where C
Since the CD 11 performs an interlaced scan to generate an image signal, the frame memory 61 stores two fields (one frame worth) of an odd (first) field image signal and an even (second) field image signal. ) Are stored in field order.

Here, in order to display this image pickup signal as a still image on the monitor 63 of a personal computer (PC), it is not enough to simply read out the image pickup signal from the frame memory 61 repeatedly. And the non-interlaced scanning method, conventionally, an image signal of a non-square pixel is converted into an image signal of a square pixel by software of the personal computer 62, and further, scanning line information of an odd field and an even field Is sequentially and alternately synthesized for each line in a time-series manner. In this manner, the image signal processed by the personal computer 62 is supplied to the monitor 63 and displayed as a still image.

[0006]

However, in the above-described conventional imaging apparatus, the imaging signal of the non-square pixel is converted into the imaging signal of the square pixel by software of the personal computer 62, and the conversion processing is sequentially performed. Therefore, there is a problem that the processing time is long.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an imaging device that can convert an imaging signal of a non-square pixel solid-state imaging device into an imaging signal of a square pixel and can sequentially perform a conversion process in a short time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of outputting a moving image signal and a still image signal in synchronization with each other.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, light from a subject incident on a plurality of non-square pixels is photoelectrically converted, and odd fields and even numbers are interlaced. A solid-state image sensor for outputting an image signal of a moving image composed of a field, an A / D converter for converting an image signal from the solid-state image sensor to a digital signal, and first and second independently controlled mutually Of the digital image signals output from the A / D converter, a field image and a digital image signal of an arbitrary odd field are written to a first field memory, and a subsequent digital image signal of an even field is written to a second field memory. A first writing unit for writing, a digital imaging signal of an odd field read from the first field memory, and a second A single square filter that sequentially converts the digital image signals of the even fields read from the field memory into image signals equivalent to the image signals captured by the square pixels, and among the digital image signals output from the square filter, A digital image pickup signal of an odd field is written in a first field memory, and a digital image signal of a subsequent even field is written in a second field memory, and first and second fields are written by the first write means. The digital imaging signals of the odd field and the even field respectively written in the memory are switched for each field and input to the square filter, and the digital imaging signal of the odd field written to the first field memory by the second writing means And the second writing means Switching means for alternately switching the digital imaging signal of the even field written in the field memory for each line and outputting the imaging signal of a frame still image synthesized in time series. is there.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 2 is to provide the first and second field memories with the digital image pickup signals passed through the first and second square filters, to the first And writing the stored digital image signals of the first and second field memories alternately line by line after the writing into the second field memory and the second field memory, respectively. An output digital imaging signal of the A / D converter is input to and written into the first and second field memories through a single square filter, and thereafter, the stored digital imaging signals of the first and second field memories are converted into one. The output is switched alternately for each line.

According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, an image pickup signal equivalent to an image pickup signal picked up by a square pixel is converted by a square filter having a hardware configuration, and an image picked up by the switch pixel is picked up by the square pixel. Image signals equivalent to the obtained image signals can be converted into image signals of a non-interlaced scanning method.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 4 performs a moving image processing on a digital image pickup signal output from an A / D converter, and converts the image pickup signal of the moving image into a frame still image. A moving image signal processing unit that outputs the image signal simultaneously with the image signal is provided. According to the present invention, an imaging signal of a moving image can be output simultaneously with an imaging signal of a frame still image.

[0013]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a first embodiment of an imaging apparatus according to the present invention. 6, the same components as those of FIG. 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 1, a digital image pickup signal of a moving image, which is converted into a digital signal by an A / D converter 13 and taken out, is supplied to a moving image signal processing circuit 14 where the moving image signal is processed, and then the D / A converter 15 is converted into an analog signal, and is output to an output terminal 2 as an analog video signal of a moving image.
4 is output. At the same time, the A / D converter 13
The digital image pickup signal of the moving image taken out is input to the switching terminal 17a of the switching circuit 17 through the switching circuit 16 connected to the switching terminal 16a.

In the first one field period, the switch circuit 1
Since 7 is connected to the switching terminal 17a, the digital image pickup signal of the moving image passing through the switch circuit 16 is supplied to the field memory 19 through the switch circuit 17, where the digital image pickup signal of the moving image of the odd field is written. It is.

In the subsequent one field period, the switch circuit 16
Is switched to the switching terminal 16b, and the switching circuit 18 is connected to the switching terminal 18a. Thereby, the digital image pickup signal of the moving image extracted from the A / D converter 13 is supplied to the field memory 20 through the switch circuits 16 and 18, respectively, where the digital image pickup signal of the moving image of the even field is converted. Written.

The subsequent operation is performed by connecting the switch circuit 16 to the switching terminal 16c, thereby causing the A / D converter 1 to operate.
The output terminal of the A / D converter 13 is disconnected from the input terminals of the switch circuits 17 and 18 irrespective of the digital image signal of the moving image output from the A / D converter 13.

First, the switch circuits 21, 23 and 17 are connected to the switching terminals 21a, 23a and 17b, respectively, for one field period. As a result, the digital imaging signal of the moving image of the odd field read from the field memory 19 is supplied to the square filter 22 through the switch circuit 21, and the filtering process for obtaining the imaging signal of the square pixel is performed by hardware. After being performed by the circuit, the data is sequentially input through the switch circuit 23 and the switch circuit 17 to the field memory 19 and written therein.

In the next one field period, the switch circuit 2
1, 23 and 18 are switching terminals 21b, 23b and 18b
Side. As a result, the digital imaging signal of the moving image of the even field read from the field memory 20 is supplied to the square filter 22 through the switch circuit 21, and the filtering process for obtaining the imaging signal of the square pixel is performed by hardware. After the processing is performed by the circuit, the data is sequentially input through the switch circuit 23 and the switch circuit 18 to the field memory 20 to be written.

Thereafter, the switch circuit 21 is alternately switched and connected to the switching terminals 21a and 21b every one line period. Therefore, after the first line of the digital imaging signal of the odd-numbered field stored in the field memory 19 is extracted from the switch circuit 21, the even-numbered field stored in the field memory 20 is converted into the square pixel. The first line of the digital image pickup signal is taken out from the switch circuit 21. Subsequently, the second line of the digital image pickup signal, which is stored in the field memory 19 and converted into a square pixel of an odd field, is output from the switch circuit 2.
1 and are switched and output for each line in the same manner.

In this manner, the digital image pickup signal of the frame still image of the square pixel is output from the switch circuit 21 to the output terminal 25 by the non-interlace scanning method, and is further supplied to the personal computer. It is displayed on the monitor as it is. Therefore, in this embodiment, a frame still image can be displayed on the monitor of the personal computer at the same time as supplying the imaging signal of the moving image output from the output terminal 24 to the ordinary television monitor and displaying the moving image. Further, since the square filter 22 has a hardware configuration, the same processing can be performed in a much shorter time than the conventional square pixel processing and sequential conversion processing by software of a personal computer.

Further, in this embodiment, since the two field memories 19 and 20 are provided with the square filter 22 in common, there is a feature that the configuration can be simplified. Since the squared filter 22 is provided on the output side, the processing speed can be relatively low, so that the circuit load of the squared filter 22 can be reduced.

Next, the square filter 22 will be described. As an example, as shown in FIG. 2A, assume that the pixels of the CCD 11 are non-square pixels of 4: 3 in which the length in the vertical direction is 4, and the length in the horizontal direction is 3, as shown in FIG. The values of four non-square pixels adjacent in the direction are x ₀ , x ₁ , x ₂
And x ₃ , the squared filter 22 becomes
As shown in FIG. 2B, in a 4: 4 square pixel, the values of the above four pixels are (3x ₀ + x ₁ ) / 4 and (x ₁ + x ₂ ) /
2. A filtering process for converting into three square pixels of (x ₂ + 3 × ₃ ) / 4 is performed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the square filter which operates as described above. In the figure, three cascade-connected flip-flops (FF) 41, 42
And 43, the pixel value of the input non-square pixel is shifted rightward for each sampling clock. Thereby, F
In the state where the pixel values x ₀ , x ₁ and x ₂ shown in FIG. 3A are stored in F41, 42 and 43, the pixel value x ₃
Suppose that the current pixel is input, the multiplier 44,
From 45 3 times the value 3x _3, 3x ₀ of the input pixel values are outputted respectively.

The adder 46 adds the output value x _{2 of the} FF 43 and the output value 3 × ₃ of the multiplier 44 to obtain an added value (x ₂ +3).
x ₃ ) is output and supplied to the switch circuit 52 through a divider 49 for multiplying the output by 3/4. Further, the adder 47 calculates F
A divider 50 that adds the output values x ₁ and x ₂ of F42 and F43 and outputs an added value (x ₁ + x ₂ ), and halves the sum.
Through the switch circuit 53. Further, the adder 4
8 adds the output value 3x ₀ of the output values x ₁ and the multiplier 45 of the FF 42, and outputs the addition value (3x ₀ + x _1), which 1 /
The signal is supplied to a switch circuit 54 through a divider 51 for multiplying by 4.

The switch circuits 52, 53 and 54 are turned off during the period when four pixels are input to the square filter 22, and turned on when the fourth pixel is input. Output value of (x ₂ + 3x ₃ ) /
4, write in FFs 55, 56 and 57 through (x ₁ + x ₂ ) / 2 and (3x ₀ + x ₁ ) / 4. These FF5
The values written in 5, 56 and 57 are
8, are sequentially selected over the input period of the four pixels, and output to the output terminal 59 in a time series as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the same operation as described above is performed every four pixel inputs. Note that even if the input pixels are m: n, a square filter can be designed in the same way as described above.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the imaging apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is characterized in that two field memories 19 and 20 are provided with dedicated square filters 27 and 28, respectively.

In this embodiment, the field memory 1
After the digital image pickup signal of the moving image of the odd field is written in 9, the switch circuit 1
6, 17, 18 are connected to switching terminals 16b, 17b, 18a. As a result, the digital image pickup signal of the moving image of the even field extracted from the A / D converter 13 is supplied to the field memory 20 through the switch circuits 16 and 18 and written therein, and during that period, the field image is output. After the digital imaging signal of the moving image of the odd field read from the memory 19 is filtered by the square filter 27 to be an imaging signal of a square pixel, it is input to the field memory 19 through the switch circuit 17. Written.

In the subsequent one field period, the switch circuit 1
6, 18 are connected to switching terminals 16c, 18b. As a result, after the digital imaging signal of the moving image of the even field read out from the field memory 20 is filtered by the square filter 28 to be an imaging signal of a square pixel, the field memory is passed through the switch circuit 18. 20 and written. After that, the frame still image signal is output to the output terminal 25 by alternately switching the switch circuit 21 line by line.

In this embodiment, a frame still image signal having a smaller delay time than a moving image signal can be output as compared with the first embodiment.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the imaging apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same components as those of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. The third embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is characterized in that one square filter 30 is provided in common on the input sides of the two field memories 19 and 20.

In this embodiment, a digital image pickup signal of a moving image extracted from the A / D converter 13 is first supplied to a square filter 30 to perform a filtering process for obtaining an image signal of a square pixel. After being performed, it is input to the switch circuit 31. The switch circuit 31 is connected to the switching terminal 31a for one field period, and supplies a moving image of an odd field and a digital image pickup signal of a square pixel output from the square filter 30 to the field memory 19 to write. In the subsequent one field period, the switch circuit 31 is switched and connected to the switching terminal 31b, and supplies the digital image pickup signal of the moving picture of the even field and the square pixel outputted from the square filter 30 to the field memory 20 for writing. .

Thereafter, when the switch circuit 31 is connected to the switching terminal 31c, the output terminal of the square filter 30 is disconnected from the inputs of the field memories 19 and 20, while the switch circuit 21 is switched every one line period. Are alternately switched to the switching terminals 21a and 21b. As a result, the digital imaging signal relating to the frame still image of the square pixels is output to the output terminal 25.

In this embodiment, the square filter 30
Since a high-speed operation is required, it is possible to obtain a frame still image signal having no time delay with a moving image signal, although the circuit configuration is slightly more expensive than the other embodiments.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A square filter having a hardware configuration converts the image signal equivalent to the image signal captured by the square pixel into an image signal equivalent to the image signal captured by the square pixel by the switching unit, and converts the image signal equivalent to the image signal captured by the square pixel by the non-interlace scanning method. Since the image signal is converted into an image signal, the image signal of a non-square pixel can be converted into an image signal of a square pixel by a non-interlace scanning method in a shorter time than software processing of a conventional personal computer.

Also, according to the present invention, a moving image signal processing means for processing a digital image signal output from an A / D converter into a moving image and outputting the image signal of the moving image simultaneously with the image signal of a frame still image. Is provided, an imaging signal of a moving image can be output simultaneously with an imaging signal of a frame still image.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating pixels and pixel values for explaining the operation of a square filter.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a square filter.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 CCD (solid-state image sensor) 13 A / D converter 14 Video signal processing circuit 15 D / A converter 16, 17, 18, 21, 23, 31 Switch circuit 19, 20 Field memory 22, 27, 28, 30 Square Filter 24 Moving image signal output terminal 25 Frame still image signal output terminal

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04N 5/335 H04N 7/01 G 7/01 G06F 15/64 450E

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A solid-state imaging device that photoelectrically converts light from a subject incident on a plurality of non-square pixels and outputs an imaging signal of a moving image including an odd field and an even field by interlaced scanning; An A / D converter for converting an imaging signal from a device into a digital signal, first and second field memories controlled independently of each other, and a digital imaging signal output from the A / D converter. A first writing means for writing a digital imaging signal of an arbitrary odd field to the first field memory and writing a digital imaging signal of a subsequent even field to the second field memory; and reading from the first field memory The odd field digital imaging signal and the even field read from the second field memory. A single square filter for converting the digital image pickup signal Rudo sequentially on the imaging signal captured by the square pixel equivalent image signal, among the output digital image pickup signal of the square filter,
A second writing unit for writing a digital imaging signal of an odd field into the first field memory, and a digital imaging signal of a subsequent even field into the second field memory; The odd field and even field digital imaging signals respectively written in the second field memory are switched for each field, input to the square filter, and written to the first field memory by the second writing means. The odd field digital image pickup signal and the even field digital image signal written to the second field memory by the second writing means are alternately switched line by line so as to be time-series. The imaging signal of the synthesized frame still image is An image pickup apparatus, comprising: a switching unit for outputting. 2. A solid-state imaging device that photoelectrically converts light from a subject incident on a plurality of non-square pixels and outputs an imaging signal of a moving image including an odd field and an even field by interlaced scanning; An A / D converter for converting an imaging signal from a device into a digital signal, first and second field memories controlled independently of each other, and a digital imaging signal output from the A / D converter. A first writing means for writing a digital imaging signal of an arbitrary odd field to the first field memory and writing a digital imaging signal of a subsequent even field to the second field memory; and reading from the first field memory The odd field digital imaging signal into an imaging signal equivalent to the imaging signal captured with square pixels. A first squared filter for converting, and a second squared filter for converting a digital image pickup signal of an even field read from the second field memory into an image pickup signal equivalent to an image pickup signal picked up by a square pixel. A second writing means for writing an output digital image signal of the first square filter to the first field memory and writing an output digital image signal of the second square filter to the second field memory; An output digital imaging signal of the first square filter written to the first field memory by the second writing means, and an output digital imaging signal written to the second field memory by the second writing means. The output digital imaging signal of the second square filter is alternately switched for each line, and is combined in time series. Switching means for outputting an imaging signal of the formed frame still image. 3. A solid-state imaging device that photoelectrically converts light from a subject incident on a plurality of non-square pixels and outputs a moving image imaging signal including an odd field and an even field by interlaced scanning; An A / D converter for converting an imaging signal from an element into a digital signal, first and second field memories controlled independently of each other, and a digital imaging signal output from the A / D converter. A single square filter for converting into an image signal equivalent to an image signal picked up by a square pixel; and, among the image signals output from the square filter, a digital image signal of an arbitrary odd field among the first field memory. A first switching means for inputting and writing to the second field memory and writing and writing the digital imaging signal of the subsequent even field to the second field memory; The digital image pickup signal output from the first field memory and the digital image pickup signal output from the second field memory are alternately switched for each line to output an image pickup signal of a frame still image synthesized in time series. An imaging device comprising: a second switching unit that performs the switching. 4. A moving image signal processing means for processing a digital image signal output from the A / D converter and processing the moving image signal and outputting the image signal of the moving image simultaneously with the image signal of the frame still image. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein:
The imaging device according to claim 1.