Image pickup apparatus with function of adjusting incident light quantity

• US 20060038914A1
• Filed: 08/23/2005
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/07/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JVC Kenwood Corporation
• Original Assignee: Victor Company of Japan Limited (JVC Kenwood Corporation)
• Inventors: Nishiyama, Hiroshi, Hanada, Naoki, Kurashige, Norio, Kunimi, Hiroyasu, Oura, Tetsuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,432,958 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/362
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/51 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/136 using complementary colours

Abstract

A video camera which is provided with an inter-line type CCD and also which enjoys a function as a digital still camera. The video camera includes an irising mechanism for adjusting a quantity of light incident upon the CCD, an iris driving circuit for driving the irising mechanism, and a camera microcomputer for controlling operations of adjusting an incident-light quantity by the irising mechanism by controlling the iris driving circuit. The camera microcomputer controls the iris driving circuit to drive the irising mechanism, whereby the incident light upon the CCD is blocked to perform only a read-out operation while data of all the pixels is read out from the CCD.

Claims

1-4. -4. (canceled)

5. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a moving-picture pickup unit that picks up a moving picture and outputs a first moving-picture signal having a first horizontal pixel density;

a storage unit that stores a still picture having a second horizontal pixel density;

a first horizontal pixel density conversion unit that reads out the still picture from the storage unit and converts the second horizontal pixel density thereof into the first horizontal pixel density;

a picture synthesis unit that synthesizes the still picture having a horizontal pixel density is converted into the first horizontal pixel density by the first horizontal pixel density conversion unit and one of the first moving-picture signal outputted from the moving-picture pickup unit and a second moving-picture signal having the first horizontal pixel density;

a second horizontal pixel density conversion unit that converts the first horizontal pixel density of the synthesized picture outputted from the picture synthesis unit into the second horizontal pixel density; and

a write control unit that writes the synthesized picture outputted from the second horizontal pixel density conversion unit into the storage unit.

6. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

a recording/reproducing unit that records the first moving-picture signal and reproduces a signal corresponding to the first moving-picture signal as the second moving-picture signal; and

a signal switching unit that selectively supplies the first moving-picture signal and the second moving-picture signal to the picture synthesis unit.

7. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the still picture stored in the storage unit is a title picture.

8. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the synthesized picture written into the storage unit is a still picture.

9. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

a moving-picture pickup unit that picks up a moving picture and outputs a first moving-picture signal having a non-tetragonal lattice;

a storage unit that stores a still picture having a tetragonal lattice;

a first converting unit that converts the tetragonal lattice of the still picture read out from the storage unit into a non-tetragonal lattice;

a picture synthesis unit that synthesizes the still picture converted by the first converting unit to have the non-tetragonal lattice and one of the first moving-picture signal outputted from the moving-picture pickup unit and a second moving-picture signal having the non-tetragonal lattice;

a second converting unit that converts the non-tetragonal lattice of the synthesized picture outputted from the picture synthesis unit into the tetragonal lattice; and

a write control unit that writes the synthesized picture outputted from the second converting unit into the storage unit.

10. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising:

a recording/reproducing unit that records the first moving-picture signal and reproduces a signal corresponding to the first moving-picture signal as the second moving-picture signal; and

a signal switching unit that selectively supplies the first moving-picture signal and the second moving-picture signal to the picture synthesis unit.

11. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the still picture stored in the storage unit is a title picture.

12. The image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the synthesized picture written into the storage unit is a still picture.

13. A signal processing method using in an image pickup apparatus, the method comprising:

an outputting step of picking up a moving picture and outputting a first moving-picture signal having a first horizontal pixel density;

a reading-out step of reading out a still picture having a second horizontal pixel density stored in a storage unit;

a first converting step of converting the second horizontal pixel density of the still picture read out from the storage unit into the first horizontal pixel density;

a synthesizing step of synthesizing the still picture having a horizontal pixel density that is converted into the first horizontal pixel density by the first converting step and one of the first moving-picture signal outputted by the outputting step and a second moving-picture signal having the first horizontal pixel density;

a second converting step of converting the first horizontal pixel density of the synthesized picture synthesized by the synthesizing step into the second horizontal pixel density; and

a writing step of writing the synthesized picture converted by the second converting step into the storage unit.

14. The signal processing method according to claim 13, further comprising:

a reproducing step of recording the first moving-picture signal outputted by the outputting step and reproducing a signal corresponding to the first moving-picture signal as the second moving-picture signal; and

a switching step of switching between the first moving-picture signal and the second moving-picture signal as a moving-picture signal to be synthesized with the still picture by the synthesizing step.

15. The signal processing method according to claim 13, wherein the still picture stored in the storage unit is a title picture.

16. The signal processing method according to claim 13, wherein the synthesized picture written into the storage unit is a still picture.

17. A signal processing method using in an image pickup apparatus, the method comprising:

an outputting step of picking up a moving picture and outputting a first moving-picture signal having anon-tetragonal lattice;

a reading-out step of reading out a still picture having a tetragonal lattice stored in a storage unit;

a first converting step of converting the tetragonal lattice of the still picture read out from the storage unit into a non-tetragonal lattice;

a synthesizing step of synthesizing the still picture converted by the first converting step to have the non-tetragonal lattice and one of the first moving-picture signal outputted by the outputting step and a second moving-picture signal having the non-tetragonal lattice;

a second converting step of converting the non-tetragonal lattice of the synthesized picture synthesizing by the synthesizing step into the tetragonal lattice; and

a writing step of writing the synthesized picture converted by the second converting step into the storage unit.

18. The signal processing method according to claim 17, further comprising:

a reproducing step of recording the first moving-picture signal outputted by the outputting step and reproducing a signal corresponding to the first moving-picture signal as the second moving-picture signal; and

a switching step of switching between the first moving-picture signal and the second moving-picture signal as a moving-picture signal to be synthesized with the still picture by the synthesizing step.

19. The signal processing method according to claim 17, wherein the still picture stored in the storage unit is a title picture.

20. The signal processing method according to claim 17, wherein the synthesized picture written into the storage unit is a still picture.