IMAGE-CAPTURING DEVICE

• US 20130002882A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: ONOZAWA, Kazutoshi, Kato, Yoshihisa, Kouyama, Shinzou
• Application Number:
  US13/611,586
• Publication Number:
  US 20130002882A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/164
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/87 Combinations of systems using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4863 Detector arrays, e.g. charge-transfer gates
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2209/045 using mosaic colour filter
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/11 for generating image signals from visible and infrared light wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/73 by influencing the exposure time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/74 by influencing the scene brightness using illuminating means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/131 including elements passing infrared wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/135 based on four or more different wavelength filter elements

Abstract

The image-capturing device according to the present invention includes a solid-state imaging element, an infrared LED which emits infrared light, a light-emission controlling unit which causes the infrared LED to emit infrared pulsed light on a per frame time basis, and a signal processing unit which extracts, from the solid-state imaging element, a color visible-light image signal in synchronization with a non-emitting period and an infrared image signal in synchronization with an emitting period of the infrared LED. The solid-state imaging element includes an image-capturing region in which unit-arrays are two-dimensionally arranged, and each of the unit-arrays has a pixel for receiving green visible light and infrared light, a pixel for receiving red visible light and infrared light, a pixel for receiving blue visible light and infrared light, and a pixel for receiving infrared light.

Claims

1. An image-capturing device comprising:

a solid-state imaging element including an image-capturing region in which unit-arrays are two-dimensionally arranged, each of the unit-arrays including a first unit-pixel having a filter that allows green visible light and infrared light to pass, a second unit-pixel having a filter that allows red visible light and infrared light to pass, a third unit-pixel having a filter that allows blue visible light and infrared light to pass, and a fourth unit-pixel having a filter that allows infrared light to pass;

a light-emitting element which emits infrared light;

a light-emission controlling unit configured to cause the light-emitting element to emit pulses of the infrared light by turning the light-emitting element ON or OFF on a per frame time basis; and

a signal extracting unit configured to extract, from the solid-state imaging element, a color visible-light image signal in synchronization with a non light-emitting period of the light-emitting element and an infrared image signal in synchronization with a light-emitting period of the light-emitting element, the light-emitting element being turned OFF or ON by the light-emission controlling unit.

2. The image-capturing device according to claim 1,

wherein the signal extracting unit:

includes an infrared difference unit configured to subtract a signal from the fourth unit-pixel from a signal from each of the first unit-pixel, the second unit-pixel, the third unit-pixel to generate color signals; and

is configured to extract the color visible-light image signal or the infrared image signal from the color signals generated by the infrared difference unit and a luminance signal generated from any one of the first to the fourth unit-pixels.

3. The image-capturing device according to claim 1,

wherein, in each of the unit-arrays:

the first unit-pixel and the fourth unit pixel are adjacent to each other in a row direction or a column direction; and

the first unit-pixel and the second unit-pixel are diagonally positioned.

4. The image-capturing device according to claim 1,

wherein the light-emission controlling unit is configured to cause the light-emitting element to emit, in pseudorandom pulses, the infrared light that is turned ON or OFF on a per frame time basis.

5. The image-capturing device according to claim 4,

wherein the pseudorandom pulses are pulses of emitted light temporally modulated by the light-emission controlling unit in a pseudorandom manner using a spread spectrum system.

6. The image-capturing device according to claim 5,

wherein the signal extracting unit is configured to separately extract the color visible-light image signal and the infrared image signal by despreading image signals captured by the solid-state imaging element.

7. The image-capturing device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a detecting unit configured to detect whether or not intensity of the signal from the fourth unit-pixel is greater than or equal to predetermined intensity; and

a light reducing unit configured to reduce the infrared light when the detection unit determines the intensity of the signal is greater than or equal to the predetermined intensity.

8. The image-capturing device according to claim 1, further comprising

an accumulating unit configured to accumulate at least one of the color visible-light image signal and the infrared image signal.

9. The image-capturing device according to claim 1,

wherein the solid-state imaging element includes

a signal outputting unit configured to output the color visible-light image signal or the infrared image signal at 1/60 second or less.