Compound Eye Optical System And Imaging Device Using The Same

• US 20150312496A1
• Filed: 12/04/2013
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Inc.
• Inventors: TAKAYAMA, Jun, KONNO, Kenji, ASANO, Motohiro, JIN, Makoto, KOGO, Shoji, YAGI, Katsuya, HATANO, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 9,591,241 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0018 with means for preventing ghost images anti-reflection coatings G02B1/11
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/1066 for enhancing image performance, like resolution, pixel numbers, dual magnifications or dynamic range, by tiling, slicing or overlapping fields of view
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0056 arranged along two different directions in a plane, e.g. honeycomb arrangement of lenses G02B3/0043 takes precedence; miniaturised objectives for electronic devices employing wafer level optics G02B13/0085
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0062 Stacked lens arrays, i.e. refractive surfaces arranged in at least two planes, without structurally separate optical elements in-between
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 15/00 Special procedures for taking photographs; Apparatus therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 19/07 having more than one objective
• CPC Class Codes: G03B 35/08 by simultaneous recording
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14627 Microlenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/41 Extracting pixel data from a plurality of image sensors simultaneously picking up an image, e.g. for increasing the field of view by combining the outputs of a plurality of sensors
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/62 Detection or reduction of noise due to excess charges produced by the exposure, e.g. smear, blooming, ghost image, crosstalk or leakage between pixels

Abstract

A compound eye optical system forms a plurality of images with different fields of view for connecting the plurality of images with the different fields of view and outputting one composite image. The system includes: a plurality of individual eye optical systems forming the plurality of images with different fields of view on an imaging surface; and an overall optical system forming an image with a field of view incorporating the entire fields of view obtained by the plurality of individual eye optical systems on the imaging surface, wherein the individual eye optical systems and the overall optical system are configured by a lens array plate having a plurality of lenses integrally formed.

Claims

1-16. -16. (canceled)

17. A compound eye optical system that forms a plurality of images with different fields of view for connecting the plurality of images with the different fields of view and outputting one composite image, comprising:

a plurality of individual eye optical systems forming the plurality of images with different fields of view on an imaging surface; and

an overall optical system forming an image with a field of view incorporating the entire fields of view obtained by the plurality of individual eye optical systems on the imaging surface, wherein the individual eye optical systems and the overall optical system are configured by a lens array plate having a plurality of lenses integrally formed.

18. The compound eye optical system according to claim 17, wherein the imaging surface is in one imaging element.

19. The compound eye optical system according to claim 17, wherein the lens array plate includes at least two pieces.

32. The compound eye optical system according to claim 18, wherein the lens array plate includes at least two pieces.

20. An imaging device comprising:

an imaging element;

a compound eye optical system forming a plurality of images with different fields of view for the imaging element; and

an image processing unit that connects the plurality of images with the different fields of view formed by the compound eye optical system and outputs one composite image, wherein

the compound eye optical system includes a plurality of individual eye optical systems that forms the plurality of images with different fields of view on an imaging surface of the imaging element, and an overall optical system that forms an image with a field of view incorporating the entire fields of view obtained by the plurality of individual eye optical systems on the imaging surface, and

the individual eye optical systems and the overall optical system are configured by a lens array plate having a plurality of lenses integrally formed.

21. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein the imaging surface is in one imaging element.

22. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein the lens array plate includes at least two pieces.

23. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein the image processing unit corrects to improve image quality of the composite image using information of the image obtained by the overall optical system.

24. The imaging device according to claim 23, wherein the field of view of the overall optical system is larger than the entire fields of view obtained by the plurality of individual eye optical systems.

25. The imaging device according to claim 23, wherein

the information of the image obtained by the overall optical system is crosstalk that causes ghost, and

the image processing unit identifies the crosstalk caused in the composite image and corrects to make the ghost less visible.

26. The imaging device according to claim 23, wherein the information of the image obtained by the overall optical system is shading and the image processing unit corrects luminance distribution of the composite image using luminance distribution information of the image of the overall optical system.

27. The imaging device according to claim 23, wherein the information of the image obtained by the overall optical system is a seam of the composite image and the image processing unit corrects seam distribution of the composite image using the image information of the overall optical system.

28. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein

the image processing unit has a function of outputting a moving image, a function of outputting a live view, and a function of outputting a still image, and

in the output of a still image, the image processing unit performs image processing for outputting the composite image and in the output of a moving image or live view, the image processing unit outputs using the image information of the overall optical system.

29. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein when it is assumed that the image formed by the individual eye optical system is an individual eye image, the image formed by the overall optical system is an overall image, and regions where the individual eye image and the overall image are formed on the imaging surface of the imaging element are an individual eye region and an overall region, respectively, a space between the individual eye region and the overall region is larger than a space between the individual eye regions.

30. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein other individual eye optical systems than the individual eye optical system having an optical axis perpendicular to the imaging surface are decentered optical systems with at least one free-form surface.

31. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein when the image formed by the individual eye optical system is an individual eye image, peripheries of the fields of view of the individual eye images are overlapped on each other and the amount of overlapping satisfies the condition formula (1):

0.01<

La/Lb<

0.5  

 

(1)

where La is the amount of overlapping and Lb is the width of a screen in an overlapping direction.

33. The imaging device according to claim 21, wherein the lens array plate includes at least two pieces.

34. The imaging device according to claim 21, wherein the image processing unit corrects to improve image quality of the composite image using information of the image obtained by the overall optical system.

35. The imaging device according to claim 24, wherein

the information of the image obtained by the overall optical system is crosstalk that causes ghost, and

the image processing unit identifies the crosstalk caused in the composite image and corrects to make the ghost less visible.

31-1. The imaging device according to claim 20, wherein the number of individual eye optical systems is three or more in each of vertical and horizontal directions, so that the individual eye optical systems form the images with the fields of view displaced in the vertical and horizontal directions in 3×

3 or more array.