KR101032162B1 - Apparatus and method for making stereoscopic image using single lens - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an apparatus and method for generating a stereoscopic image using a monocular lens capable of generating a stereoscopic image by acquiring an image of a subject photographed with a different optical axis without using an additional device by using an optical axis image stabilizer provided in a camera module. . The stereoscopic image generating apparatus using the monocular lens, the lens; First lens transfer means for moving the lens in a horizontal direction to an image plane to change a position at which the subject is imaged on the image plane by a center of the lens and an optical axis formed by the subject; An image sensor which forms the image plane and detects an image of the subject formed at a plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means; And image synthesizing means for synthesizing the plurality of images detected by the image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image of the subject.

Monocular, Stereo, Stereo, Matching, Image Stabilization, Optical Axis, OIS

Description

Apparatus and method for generating stereoscopic images using monocular lenses {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING STEREOSCOPIC IMAGE USING SINGLE LENS}

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for generating a stereoscopic image, and more particularly, by using an optical image stabilizer provided in a camera module, a stereoscopic image is obtained by acquiring an image of a subject photographed with different optical axes without adding an additional device. An apparatus and method for generating a stereoscopic image using a monocular lens that can be generated.

In order to synthesize a stereoscopic image, at least two or more images of a single subject photographed from different angles are required. Accordingly, conventional stereoscopic image capturing apparatuses use a method of photographing a subject using a plurality of camera modules, finding a matching point of the images captured by each camera module, and synthesizing each other to generate a stereoscopic image. Since the conventional stereoscopic image capturing apparatus needs to use a plurality of camera modules, the cost of adding a camera module increases and there is an unsuitable problem in miniaturization.

In order to solve this problem, the Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2000-0017888 proposed a monocular lens stereo vision acquisition method using a mirror in such a manner that a plurality of images can be obtained while using a monocular lens. However, the monocular lens stereo vision acquisition method described in the above document has the advantage of using a single camera module, but additionally it is necessary to have a special type of mirror, which still does not completely solve the problem in terms of cost or miniaturization. have.

The present invention has been made in an effort to provide an apparatus and method for generating a stereoscopic image using a monocular lens capable of generating a stereoscopic image by acquiring an image of a subject photographed with different optical axes without adding an additional device. .

According to an aspect of the present invention,

lens;

First lens transfer means for moving the lens in a horizontal direction to an image plane to change a position at which the subject is imaged on the image plane by a center of the lens and an optical axis formed by the subject;

An image sensor which forms the image plane and detects an image of the subject formed at a plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means; And

Image synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of images detected by the image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image of the subject

It provides a stereoscopic image generating apparatus using a monocular lens comprising a.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the first lens transfer means may be an optical image stabilizer.

In one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a second lens transfer means for changing the distance between the lens and the image plane, lens position detection means for detecting the distance between the lens and the image plane, and the second lens transfer means. Obtain a focus value of the image detected by the image sensor while varying the distance between the lens and the image plane using the lens, and use the lens position detecting means to obtain the maximum focus value of the image detected by the image sensor. And auto focus means for detecting a distance between the image plane and calculating a distance between the lens and the subject corresponding to the distance between the lens as the maximum focus value and the image plane.

In this embodiment, the said autofocus means uses the said 2nd lens conveyance means and the said lens position detection means with respect to the 1st position of the some lens position moved by the said 1st lens conveyance means, and the said maximum focus value. After calculating the distance between the first position and the subject corresponding to the distance between the lens and the image plane, the distance between the first position and the second position among the plurality of lens positions and the first The distance between the second position and the subject may be calculated using the position and the distance between the subject.

Further, in this embodiment, the auto focus means uses the second lens transfer means and the lens position detection means with respect to the second position among the plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means. The distance between the second position and the subject calculated as a value corresponding to the distance between the lens and the image plane which is the maximum focus value, the distance between the first position and the second position, and the first position The accuracy of the auto focus may be determined by comparing the distance between the second position and the subject calculated using the distance between the object and the object.

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As another means for solving the above technical problem, the present invention,

Moving the lens to a first position, adjusting the distance between the lens and the image plane at the first position, the first position corresponding to the distance between the lens and the image plane at which the image having the maximum focus value is detected; Calculating a distance between the lens and the subject, acquiring an image of the subject at a distance between the lens and the image plane from which the image with the maximum focus value is detected, and the first position in parallel in the image plane Moving the lens to a second position different from the second lens; using the distance between the first position and the second position and the distance between the lens and the subject calculated at the first position; Calculates a distance between the object and the lens and corresponds to a distance between the lens and the subject at the second position; Obtaining an image of the subject at a distance between image planes and synthesizing the images calculated at the first and second positions to generate a stereoscopic image. to provide.

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Also in this embodiment, determining whether an additional image is necessary, moving the lens to a third position different from the second position in parallel in the image plane when it is determined that the additional image is needed and the first position And a distance between the lens and the subject at a third position using a distance between the lens and the subject calculated at the first position and the distance from the third position, and calculating the lens at the third position. And acquiring an image of the subject at a distance between the lens and the image plane corresponding to the distance between the subject and the subject.

 According to the present invention, since a plurality of images having different optical axes can be generated by using the optical axis image stabilizer provided for image stabilization, it is not necessary to additionally add a camera module or an optical axis changing means. There is an advantage in that a plurality of images can be obtained. In addition, according to the present invention, the distance between the lens and the subject, which can be used as a variable in image synthesis, can be detected using the auto focus means provided in the camera module, and the accuracy of auto focus at each lens position can be improved. Can be.

Hereinafter, various embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Embodiment of this invention is provided in order to demonstrate this invention more completely to the person skilled in the art to which this invention belongs. Therefore, it should be noted that the shape and size of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for more clear explanation.

1 is a block diagram showing a three-dimensional image generating apparatus using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a stereoscopic image generating apparatus using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lens 11, first lens transfer means (not shown) for moving the lens in a horizontal direction with respect to an image plane; Image synthesis for synthesizing a plurality of images detected by the image sensor 12 and the image sensor 12 respectively detecting images formed at the plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means. Means 14 may be included.

The lens 10 is a monocular lens that can adjust the focus to form an image of a subject on an image plane, and its position is moved horizontally in the image plane vertically or horizontally by a first lens transfer means (not shown). Can be.

The first lens transfer means (not shown) moves the position of the lens 10 in the horizontal direction to the image plane, that is, the lens-side imaging surface of the image sensor 12. In general, a high-performance camera module may include a camera shake correction device for correcting a camera shake of a user who photographs a subject. Among various types of image stabilization apparatuses, an optical image stabilizer (OIS) is known, in which the same image can be formed at a predetermined position even when the movement of a lens or an image sensor is generated. The optical axis image stabilization device detects the magnitude and direction of the hand shake by the gyroscope 19 and calculates the movement direction of the lens or image sensor which can compensate for the detected hand shake and the motion by the digital signal processor 13. Afterwards, the position of the lens or the image sensor may be shifted by driving the optical axis image stabilizer according to the calculated compensation movement size and the compensation movement direction of the driving unit 15 of the optical axis image stabilizer. In the present invention, a plurality of images can be obtained at various angles required for stereoscopic image generation by using an optical axis image stabilizer that can move the position of the lens horizontally to the image plane in an environment in which camera shake does not occur. That is, the present invention can be used to obtain a plurality of images of one subject viewed from different angles after moving the lens to a preset position without using the optical axis image stabilizer for image stabilization.

FIG. 2 is a view showing variation of an imaging position according to a lens position in a stereoscopic image generating apparatus using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, V _L , V _C , and V _R represent the center positions of the lens moved by the first lens transfer means, and l1 represents the moving line to which the lens moves by the first lens transfer means. In addition, I _L , I _C , and I _R represent center positions at which an image of a subject is detected on an image plane formed by the image sensor 12 according to each lens position. As shown in FIG. 2, when the lens is moved by the first lens transfer means, the optical axis formed by the center of the lens and the subject is changed, and the position where the image of the subject is imaged on the image plane is changed according to the changed optical axis. Is changed. For example, an image formed on the image plane at the lens position V _C and the lens position V _L and V _R shifted to the left and right, respectively, is viewed from 21 to 23 of FIG. 2. It may appear as shown. That is, by using one lens (monocular lens) to transfer the position to the image plane in the horizontal direction, a plurality of images of one subject viewed from different angles can be imaged at different positions on the image plane. By using the plurality of images, a stereoscopic image of a subject may be synthesized.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the image sensor 12 uses the lens side as an image plane on which an image is imaged and detects the image actually formed as an electrical signal. The image sensor 12 may be a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD or CMOS known in the art.

The image synthesizing means 13 and 14 synthesize a plurality of images detected by the image sensor 12 to generate a stereoscopic image of the subject. The lens may be moved to various positions by the first lens transfer means to generate an image of one subject viewed from different angles, and the various image synthesizing means 13 and 14 synthesize various stereoscopic images. I can do it. The image synthesizing means may be implemented by a conventional digital signal processor (processor) 13 only, or may be performed by the image synthesizing module 14 provided for synthesizing a separate image when a large number of operations are required. Since a detailed algorithm for creating a stereoscopic image is well known in the art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted in order not to obscure the subject matter of the present invention.

On the other hand, the present invention may require a means for adjusting the focus at each lens position so that a clear image of the subject can be detected at the plurality of lens positions determined by the first lens transfer means. In order to adjust the focus, the present invention provides a second lens transfer means 16 for moving the lens 10 to change the distance between the lens 11 and the image plane (image sensor 12), and the position of the lens. It may further include a lens position detecting means 17 for detecting the distance between the lens 10 and the image plane. In addition, the focal value of the image detected by the image sensor 12 is obtained while varying the distance between the lens 11 and the image plane by using the second lens transfer means 16, and the lens position detection is performed. Means 17 detects the distance between the lens 11, which is the maximum focus value of the image detected by the image sensor 12, and the image plane, and the lens 11, which is the maximum focus value. And auto focus means 13 for calculating a distance between the subject and the lens 11 corresponding to the distance between the image plane and the image plane.

In general, the focus value may be a sharpness value of an image formed on an image plane of the image sensor 12, and the auto focus means 13 may be included in the digital signal processor 13 used in the camera module. . The distance between the lens 11 and the image plane can be adjusted by moving the position of the lens 11 in the vertical direction with the image sensor 12 by the second lens transfer means 16, and the digital signal processor 13 Detects the sharpness of the image input from the image sensor 12 at each distance to detect the position of the lens 11 having the maximum sharpness value from the lens position detector. In addition, the digital signal processor 13 may detect a subject distance corresponding to the detected lens position, that is, a distance between the lens and the subject using a look-up table stored in advance.

For example, in the imaging environment as shown in Fig. 2, the second lens at each lens position is changed by changing the center position of the lens 11 to V _L , V _C , V _R by the first lens transfer means, respectively. The transfer means 16 and the lens position detector 17 can be used to find the distance between the lens and the subject representing the respective maximum clarity. Thereby, the sharpest image can be detected at each lens position changed by the first lens transfer means.

On the other hand, in another embodiment of the present invention, the auto focus means detects the second lens transfer means 16 and the lens position with respect to a first position among a plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means. Means 17 is used to calculate the distance from the subject corresponding to the distance between the lens 11 and the image plane to be the maximum focus value, and then at another lens position changed by the first lens transfer means. The focus adjustment may be performed by mathematically calculating the distance between the lens and the subject. As shown in FIG. 2, using the second lens transfer means 16 and the lens position detection means 17 with the center of the lens at the first position V _C where the subject can be detected from the front. After the digital signal processor 13 calculates the distance d _C between the lens representing the maximum sharpness value and the subject, the distance from the subject at different lens positions V _L and V _R with the first lens position. The distance d _LC , d _RC may be calculated using the distance and the distance d _C from the subject at the first lens position. Using the Pythagorean theorem simply, the distances d _L and d _R from the subject at different lens positions V _L and V _R may be calculated as in Equations 1 and 2 below.

[Equation 1]

[Equation 2]

On the other hand, in another embodiment of the present invention, by using the second lens transfer means 16 and the lens position detection means 17 at all lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means and the lens showing the maximum sharpness value; A method of verifying the accuracy of the focus adjustment by calculating the distance between the subjects and comparing the distances between the lens and the subject obtained by two methods mathematically calculating the distance between the lens and the subject as shown in Equations 1 and 2 above. You can also use

3 is a flowchart illustrating a stereoscopic image generation method using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the stereoscopic image generation method using the monocular lens according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, after the lens is moved to the first position by using the first lens transfer means (S31), the first Perform focus adjustment at the position. In the process of performing the focus adjustment, first, it is checked whether a distance between the lens and the subject previously calculated at another lens position exists (S32). If the first position is a position for acquiring the first image for generating the stereoscopic image, the second lens transfer means 16 and the lens position detection means 17 because there is no distance between the previously obtained lens and the subject. The focus adjustment is performed in the digital signal processor 13 in such a manner as to find the maximum sharpness value (focus value) while adjusting the distance between the lens and the image sensor. Through this, after the distance to the subject is calculated at the first position of the lens, the first image of the subject may be obtained while maintaining the distance between the lens 11 having the maximum focus value and the image sensor 12 ( S35).

Since at least two or more images are required to obtain a stereoscopic image, it may be determined in step S36 that additional images are required and the lens position is moved to a second position different from the first position by the first lens transfer means. It is moved (S31). Since there is a distance between the lens and the subject obtained at the first position of the lens, at the second position of the lens, the distance between the lens and the image sensor is directly changed by the second lens transfer means, and the distance is calculated at the first position. The distance between the lens and the subject may be mathematically calculated using the distance between the lens and the subject. That is, the digital signal processing unit 13 calculates the distance between the lens and the subject at the second position by using an equation such as Equation 1 or Equation 2 above, and calculates the distance between the lens and the subject at the calculated second position. The distance between the lens at the second position corresponding to the distance and the image sensor is found in the look-up table and set using the second lens transfer means 16 (S34). Subsequently, an image in which focus is adjusted at a second position may be acquired (S35). As a result, two images captured after the lens is moved to two different positions are acquired, thereby generating stereoscopic images of stereo vision. If a more precise stereoscopic image is required, an additional image is further required, so the above-described steps S31 to S35 may be further performed to calculate an image at another lens position and a distance between the lens and the subject. If no additional image is required, a stereoscopic image may be generated using the images acquired by the image synthesizing means 13 and 14 and then output through the display unit 18 (S37).

As described above, the present invention can generate a plurality of images having different optical axes using the optical axis image stabilizer provided for image stabilization, so that a three-dimensional image without additional camera module or optical axis changing means is added. There is an advantage in that a plurality of images for synthesizing are obtained. In addition, the distance between the lens and the subject, which can be used as variables in image synthesis, can be detected using the auto focus means provided in the camera module, and the accuracy of the auto focus can be improved at each lens position.

In the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

1 is a block diagram showing a three-dimensional image generating apparatus using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view for explaining a concept of performing a change in the image position according to the lens position and the autofocus in the stereoscopic image generating apparatus using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a stereoscopic image generation method using a monocular lens according to an embodiment of the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

11: lens 12: image sensor

13: Digital signal processing unit (DSP) 14: Image synthesizing unit

15: Optical axis image stabilizer drive unit 16: Lens transfer unit

17: lens position detection unit 18: display unit

19: gyroscope

Claims (7)

lens; First lens transfer means for moving the lens in a horizontal direction to an image plane to change a position at which the subject is imaged on the image plane by a center of the lens and an optical axis formed by the subject; An image sensor which forms the image plane and detects an image of the subject formed at a plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means; And Image synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of images detected by the image sensor to generate a stereoscopic image of the subject Stereoscopic image generating device using a monocular lens comprising a. The method of claim 1, The first lens transfer means is an optical image stabilizer (Optical Image Stabilizer) characterized in that the stereoscopic image generating apparatus using a monocular lens. The method of claim 1, Second lens transfer means for changing a distance between the lens and the image plane; Lens position detecting means for detecting a distance between the lens and the image plane; And The focus value of the image detected by the image sensor is obtained by varying the distance between the lens and the image plane by using the second lens transfer means, and the maximum value of the image detected by the image sensor by the lens position detection means. Autofocus means for detecting a distance between the lens as the focal value and the image plane and calculating a distance between the lens and the subject corresponding to the distance between the lens as the maximum focal value and the image plane; Stereoscopic image generating device using a monocular lens, characterized in that it further comprises. The method of claim 3, wherein the auto focus means, Distance between the lens and the image plane which becomes the maximum focus value by using the second lens transfer means and the lens position detection means with respect to a first position among a plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means After calculating the distance between the first position corresponding to the subject and the subject, using the distance between the first position and the second position of the plurality of lens positions and the distance between the first position and the subject And a distance between the second position and the subject is calculated. The method of claim 4, wherein the auto focus means, Between the lens and the image plane which becomes the maximum focus value by using the second lens transfer means and the lens position detection means with respect to the second position among the plurality of lens positions moved by the first lens transfer means. A distance between the second position and the subject calculated as a value corresponding to a distance; Comparing the distance between the second position and the subject calculated using the distance between the first position and the second position and the distance between the first position and the subject to determine the accuracy of autofocus. A stereoscopic image generating device using a monocular lens characterized in that. Moving the lens to a first position; Adjusting the distance between the lens and the image plane at the first position to calculate a distance between the lens and the subject at the first position corresponding to the distance between the lens and the image plane from which the image with the maximum focus value is detected; step; Acquiring an image of a subject at a distance between the lens and an image plane from which the image having the maximum focus value is detected; Moving the lens to a second position different from the first position in parallel in the image plane; The distance between the lens and the subject at the second position is calculated using the distance between the first position and the second position and the distance between the lens and the subject calculated at the first position. Acquiring an image for the subject at a distance between the lens and the image plane corresponding to a distance between the lens and the subject at a location; And Generating a stereoscopic image by synthesizing the images calculated at the first and second positions Stereoscopic image generation method using a monocular lens comprising a. The method of claim 6, Determining whether additional images are needed; If it is determined that the additional image is necessary, moving the lens to a third position different from the second position in parallel in the image plane; The distance between the lens and the subject at a third position is calculated by using the distance between the first position and the third position and the distance between the lens and the subject calculated at the first position. And obtaining an image of the subject at a distance between the lens and the image plane corresponding to the distance between the lens and the subject at a location.

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