Imaging apparatus

• US 20030227552A1
• Filed: 05/16/2003
• Published: 12/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Optical Corporation Limited (Olympus Corporation)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Nobuyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,242,432 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/220.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/445 by skipping some contiguous pixels within the read portion of the array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/46 by combining or binning pixels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/767 Horizontal readout lines, multiplexers or registers

Abstract

An imaging apparatus for outputting image signals by photoelectrically converting an image formed at an optical system by an image sensor array having a color filter array having several spectral transmittance disposed in front thereof, including: mode setting means capable of setting at least one mode among an all-pixel read mode for effecting readout of all the pixels of at least one horizontal line, an intermittent read mode for effecting readout in a thinned-out manner of pixels to be read out from at least one horizontal line, and an averaging read mode for effecting readout by averaging a plurality of pixels as the mode for reading out image signals from the image sensor array; and readout rule control means for controlling and determining pixel locations for reading out the image signals: when the intermittent read mode and/or the averaging read mode have been set by the mode setting means, the readout pixel locations to be determined by the readout rule control means are caused to vary frame by frame in the image signals to be read out.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus for outputting image signals by photoelectrically converting an image formed at an optical system by an image sensor array having a color filter array having several spectral transmittance disposed in front thereof, said imaging apparatus comprising:

mode setting means capable of setting at least one mode among an all-pixel read mode for effecting readout of all the pixels of at least one horizontal line, an intermittent read mode for effecting readout in a thinned-out manner of pixels to be read out from at least one horizontal line, and an averaging read mode for effecting readout by averaging a plurality of pixels as the mode for reading out image signals from said image sensor array; and

readout rule control means for controlling and determining pixel locations for reading out said image signals;

wherein;

when the intermittent read mode and/or the averaging read mode have been set by said mode setting means, the readout pixel locations to be determined by said readout rule control means are caused to vary frame by frame in the image signals to be read out.

2. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when the intermittent read mode is set by said mode setting means:

the readout pixel locations to be determined by said readout rule control means are composed of pixel locations within a plurality of predetermined regions each consisting of a plurality of adjoining pixels;

said plurality of regions are discrete from each other and are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions of said image sensor array; and

said readout rule control means changes and controls the respective locations of said plurality of regions frame by frame in the image signals to be read out.

3. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said readout pixel location regions are arranged in such a manner that said regions located next to each other in the vertical direction of said image sensor array are shifted horizontally with respect to each other;

and

said readout rule control means changes and controls the locations of said readout pixel location regions frame by frame.

4. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2 further comprising a filter means for performing filter operation processing of readout image signals to compensate for shift amount resulting from the frame-by-frame change of the locations of said readout pixel location regions.

5. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said readout pixel location regions are each in a parallelogram shape where the locations of pixels in the vertical direction of the region are horizontally shifted with respect to each other.

6. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said readout pixel location regions are a combination of parallelogram shape where the locations of pixels in the vertical direction of the region are horizontally shifted with respect to each other and rectangular shape where the locations of pixels in the vertical direction of said region are not shifted from each other.

7. The imaging apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said readout rule control means selectively switches the shape of said regions to said parallelogram shape or said rectangular shape in accordance with the location of the regions frame by frame in the image signals to be read out.

8. The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said readout pixel location regions are formed of a combination of two types of parallelogram shape both having the locations of pixels in the vertical direction of the region that are horizontally shifted and each having a different inclination to the horizontal direction from the other;

and

said readout rule control means selectively and alternately switches frame by frame in the image signals to be read out the shape of said regions to one or the other of the two types of parallelogram having different shape in accordance with the location of the regions.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising an averaging means for performing a predetermined averaging operation on readout image signals when the intermittent read mode has been set by said mode setting means.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 9, wherein those regions subjected to the averaging operation by said averaging means and those regions not subjected to the averaging operation are caused to alternately occur on the image sensor array.

11. The imaging apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the regions subjected to said averaging operation and the regions not subjected to the averaging operation are switched to each other frame by frame in the image signals to be read out.

12. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a means for extracting color signals from the signals obtained by averaging image signals corresponding to the same block location within consecutive frames read out at the time of said all-pixel read mode and extracting luminescence signals from the signals read out at the time of the intermittent read mode to generate consecutive image data by composing said respectively extracted color signals and luminescence signals.

13. The imaging apparatus according to claim 12 further comprising:

means for detecting difference of luminance information between frames of the image signals to be read out; and

means for switching the interpolating method of luminance information and chromatic component based on the difference between the frames detected at the difference detecting means.