JPS6284681A - Image pickup and recording system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the current TV standard system hardware to record and reproduce a high density still picture when the still picture is picked up and recorded by a high resolution image pickup element, by setting the number of vertical direction picture elements in teach field to a number N integer-times field effective scan lines with the television standard system. CONSTITUTION:Assuming that the current TV standard system is an NTSC system, the number of effective scan lines per field by line interlace is about 244 where the number of the scan lines are approximately 93% of the total number of the scan line 525. With N=4 given, the number of picture elements in the direction Y of a high density image pickup element becomes 976. Four fields F-1-F-4 with X=950 and Y=244, which are obtained by dividing a high density picture frame with X=950 and Y=976 by N=4, correspond to the recording part with four fields by the standard NTSC system. Accordingly, for monitoring picture data, two fields are taken out and said data can be viewed on a monitor television TV 6 with a conventional NTSC system.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a system for capturing, recording and reproducing still images at high density.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, when capturing and recording still images using a high-resolution image sensor, etc. in a VTR, etc., the number of sampling pixels in the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) directions of each field of the recorded image increases. It is conceivable that the number is about 400 to 800, and about 800 in the Y direction.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with this method, current TV standards (e.g. NT
Since the format is different from the SC format, there is a problem in that the recording and playback hardware is no longer compatible with the conventional format, making it impossible to use the conventional hardware.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to enable high-density still image recording and playback using current TV standard hardware.

[Means for solving problems]

When capturing and recording still images with a high-resolution image sensor, the number of vertical pixels in each field is selected to be an integral multiple N of the field effective scanning line number of the TV standard method, and the image data is read out so that N: 1 line is interlaced. It was configured to record.

[Effect]

The above image data once recorded is 2= of the TV standard system.
1 interlacing, for example, the signal every N lines,
Compatibility can be ensured by shifting each field by N/2 lines for reproduction, and in high definition mode, high vertical resolution can be obtained by forming a field image using all horizontal lines.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained below based on examples.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the format (pixel array) for reading image data from an image sensor according to the present invention.If the current TV standard system is, for example, the NTSC system, the effective scanning line of the l field by line interlacing. The number is approximately 83% of the total number of scanning lines, 525, and is 525X0.93/
2: 244, the number of pixels in the Y direction of the high-density image sensor is set to be an integral multiple (N) of the above 244. −
For example, if N=4, number of pixels in Y direction = 244X
4 = 978 (lines). The number of pixels in the X direction by the image sensor is not directly related to the compatibility of the hardware, so it is better to have a larger number, but here we assume 850, and assuming that 4 horizontal lines are 1 bronc, as shown in Figure 1. , assign an address to each block. That is, for block l, 1-1.1-2. 1-3, 1-4; 2-1.2-2.2-3.2-4 for block 2;

・・・・・・(The same applies hereafter)・・・・・・244-1.2
44-2.244-3°244-4.

Next, we will discuss the method for recording these image data in the second section.
This will be explained with a diagram. x=950. The high-density image frame of this example with Y=976 is decomposed by N=4
=950. Each field F-1 of Y=244,
F-2, F-3, and F-4 correspond to the four-field recording portion of the standard NTSC system. As the hardware that actually performs recording, a video tape, a video disc recorder, or the like is used. Regarding the data input method, the last digit of the line number in FIG. 1 corresponds to the field number in FIG. 2.

For example, field F-1 contains line address 1-1.2-
1.3-1. ..., 244-1 is in field F-2, line address 1-2.2-2.3-2.・・・
..., 244-2 is also field F-3, F
-4 has a similar distribution, but the field number does not need to match the number of upper digits of the line address (ie, block number).

When monitoring the image data configured as described above, it is possible to extract two fields and view them on a conventional NTSC monitor TV.

Further, the original high-density image can be obtained by combining all the image data of the fields F-1 to F-4 using a frame memory or the like, and monitoring it using another high-definition output device.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of the circuit according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes an image sensor, which uses a high-resolution image sensor capable of divided reading, such as a MOS type, a hepolar type, or an electrostatic induction type. When using a sensor that does not have a divided readout function, it can be supplemented by providing an external memory. Reference numeral 2 denotes a sensor readout timing generation section, which reads out each pixel (image data) in the order described above, and a signal processing section 4 which limits the band. 3 is a signal amplifier for the image sensor 1. Since the output signal of the signal processing unit 4 conforms to the format of the TV format, that is, the NTSC format in this embodiment, it has hardware compatibility and is compatible with the NTSC format VTR.
It is possible to record each field information in 5.

In playback mode, if the original NTSC specification image quality is sufficient, use the NTSC monitor TV6 as is.
When the original high-density image quality is required, it is converted into a digital signal by the analog/digital converter 7, and the memory controller 9 and frame memory 8 are used to display the data at the time of the divided readout. The images are recombined by performing the reverse arrangement. This output signal is converted into an analog signal by a digital-to-analog converter 10 and inputted to a high-definition output device 11 such as a high-definition monitor TV or a high-definition printer to reproduce a high-density, high-quality image.

〔effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of pixels recorded in the vertical direction of each field by the image sensor can be adjusted to
By selecting an integer multiple of the effective number of scanning lines of the system format, high-density still image data can be recorded and played back using current standard TV system recording equipment without the need for special dedicated equipment. It is now possible to ensure compatibility of clothing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a format for reading image data from an image sensor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a method for recording the image data of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an example circuit according to the present invention. FIG. l...Image sensor (high resolution image sensor) 2
...Sensor readout timing generation section 4...
...Signal processing unit 5...NTSC (current standard) TV system VTR6
...NTSC (current standard) TV system monitor TV
8...Frame memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] When capturing and recording still images with a high-resolution image sensor, the number of pixels in the vertical direction of each field is selected to be an integral multiple N of the field effective scanning line number in the TV standard method, and the image data is read and recorded so that N: 1 line is interlaced. An imaging recording method characterized by being configured to perform.