IMAGE PICK-UP APPARARUS AND SYNCHRONIZATION-SIGNAL-GENERATING APPARATUS

• US 20090237520A1
• Filed: 03/02/2009
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Katsumi Kaneko, Takashi Tsuchiya
• Original Assignee: Katsumi Kaneko, Takashi Tsuchiya
• Inventors: Kaneko, Katsumi, Tsuchiya, Takashi
• Granted Patent: US 8,199,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/90 Arrangement of cameras or camera modules, e.g. multiple cameras in TV studios or sports stadiums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/00 Circuitry of solid-state image sensors [SSIS]; Control thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/265 Mixing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/272 Means for inserting a foreground image in a background image, i.e. inlay, outlay
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/013 the incoming video signal comprising different parts having originally different frame rate, e.g. video and graphics

Abstract

An image signal generation portion 11 generates an image signal of a variable frame-rate picked-up image. A signal generation control portion 24 drives the image signal generation portion 11 and generates image pick-up setting information IF to generate an image signal that is frame-synchronized with a generated image signal DVd. The generated image signal DVd is output in condition where the image pick-up setting information IF is inserted in it. When supplied with image pick-up setting information IFex, the signal generation control portion 24 controls the driving operations of the image signal generation portion 11 based on the image pick-up setting information IFex, to frame-synchronize the generated image signal with an image signal of a reference variable frame-rate picked-up image of a source that has supplied the image pick-up setting information IFex. If a plurality of image pick-up devices capable of varying a frame rate is used, the image signals can be frame-synchronized with each other.

Claims

1-14. -14. (canceled)

15. A synchronization-signal-generating device for supplying a synchronization signal to an image pick-up device having image signal generation means for generating an image signal of a variable frame-rate picked-up image, comprising:

setting information generation means for generating image pick-up setting information which is used to frame-synchronize the image signal generated by the image signal generation means of the image pick-up device with a reference frame;

synchronization signal generation means for generating the synchronization signal that corresponds to the reference frame;

synchronization signal output means for outputting the generated synchronization signal with the generated image pick-up setting information being inserted thereinto; and

control means for setting the reference frame.

16. The synchronization-signal-generating device according to claim 15, wherein the synchronization signal output means inserts the generated image pick-up setting information into a synchronization signal at a position of a blanking interval.

17. (canceled)