Imaging Apparatus and Electronic Device

• US 20100302412A1
• Filed: 11/28/2008
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Hayashi, Yusuke, Sugita, Tomoya, Ohara, Naoto
• Granted Patent: US 8,605,192 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/241
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0068 having means for controlling the degree of correction, e.g. using phase modulators, movable elements controlling the phase of light using moving or deformable elements G02B26/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10831 Arrangement of optical elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors, prisms optical elements per se G02B
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/61 the noise originating only from the lens unit, e.g. flare, shading, vignetting or "cos4"
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/615 involving a transfer function modelling the optical system, e.g. optical transfer function [OTF], phase transfer function [PhTF] or modulation transfer function [MTF]

Abstract

An imaging apparatus includes an aberration control optical system having an aberration control function to intentionally generate an aberration and an imaging device; and an image processing device which forms a first image into a highly accurate final image. An aberration control optical system makes the PSF to cover two or more pixels by using the aberration control optical system containing an aberration control element having an aberration control function to intentionally generate an aberration or an aberration control plane having the aberration control function. The aberration control optical system is formed as a depth extension optical system having two or more peaks of the MTF characteristic for defocus in a main image plane shift region not causing a false resolution in a predetermined frequency.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus comprising

an aberration control optical system including a lens and an aberration control part having an aberration control function of generating aberration and

an imaging device capturing an image of an object passed through the aberration control optical system,

wherein a point spread function (PSF) in the imaging device covers two or more pixels by the aberration control function.

2. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the aberration control function includes a function of generating spherical aberration and extending the depth.

3. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes two or more peaks in a main image plane shift area at any frequency in an MTF for defocus of the aberration control optical system.

4. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the apparatus has at least one inflection point in a longitudinal aberration characteristic of the spherical aberration of the aberration control optical system.

5. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the aberration control part has the characteristic that the peak position of the modulation transfer function (MTF) for defocus differs depending on the frequency.

6. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 5, wherein the peak position of the MTF for defocus of the aberration control optical system is located on a close side at a low frequency side and located on a distant side at a high frequency side.

7. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the aberration control optical system includes a stop, and the aberration control element or aberration control plane is arranged in the vicinity of the stop.

8. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the aberration control element itself has the function of a stop.

9. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein an absolute value of a focal length of the lens including the aberration control plane is large relative to the absolute value of the focal length of the entire optical system.

10. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the absolute value of the focal length of the aberration control element is large relative to the absolute value of the focal length of the entire optical system.

11. An imaging apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the apparatus has an image processing part applying image processing to an image signal obtained at the imaging device and improving contrast lowered due to the aberration of the aberration control optical system.

12. An electronic device comprising an imaging apparatus,

the imaging apparatus having

an aberration control optical system including a lens and an aberration control part having an aberration control function of generating aberration and an imaging device capturing an image of an object passed through the aberration control optical system,

wherein

a point spread function (PSF) in the imaging device covers two or more pixels by the aberration control function.

13. An electronic device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the device includes two or more peaks in a main image plane shift area at any frequency in an MTF for defocus of the aberration control optical system.

14. An electronic device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the device has at least one inflection point in a longitudinal aberration characteristic of the spherical aberration of the aberration control optical system.

15. An electronic device as set forth in claim 12, wherein the aberration control part has the characteristic that the peak position of the modulation transfer function (MTF) for defocus differs depending on the frequency.

16. An electronic device as set forth in claim 15, wherein the peak position of the MTF for defocus of the aberration control optical system is located on a close side at a low frequency side and located on a distant side at a high frequency side.