Solid state color imaging apparatus
First Claim
1. A solid state color imagining apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
- photosensitive means including a plurality of pairs of lines of photosensitive elements with the lines in each pair being different from each other and the pairs of lines being positioned one above the other with the different kinds of lines in alternating sequence in the direction of a vertical scan of said photosensitive means, each of said photosensitive element lines having light sensitivity elements of two kinds in alternating sequence in the direction of a horizontal scan of said photosensitive means;
clock signal generating means for generating a clock signal;
signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said clock signal generating means for operating said photosensitive means for reading out in synchronism with said clock signal charge signals from said photosensitive means for producing a first signal and a second signal alternately in successive horizontal scans;
said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and of a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of a third light component and of a fourth light component in alternating sequence; and
circuit means coupled to said photosensitive means for receiving the first and second signals and deriving a modulated component therefrom which represents the color difference of the image and modulated with the repetition frequency of said photosensitive elements; and
demodulating circuit means coupled to said filter circuit means and said clock signal generating means for receiving the modulated component and demodulating the color difference signals in synchronism with said clock signal.
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Abstract
A solid state color imaging apparatus with a color encoding filter and a solid state area imaging device for producing a color signal representing an optical image of an object. The color filter is formed from a plurality of pairs of color filter strips arranged one above the other in a vertical scanning direction, each of which color filter strips consists of alternating transmissivity filter elements of two different colors. The color filter is placed on the imaging device so that each photosensitive element of the imaging device is covered with a corresponding filter element. During the self-scanning of the area imaging device, first and second signals which represent color difference signals are derived therefrom alternately in the successive scan lines, from which the color signal is produced.
74 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A solid state color imagining apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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photosensitive means including a plurality of pairs of lines of photosensitive elements with the lines in each pair being different from each other and the pairs of lines being positioned one above the other with the different kinds of lines in alternating sequence in the direction of a vertical scan of said photosensitive means, each of said photosensitive element lines having light sensitivity elements of two kinds in alternating sequence in the direction of a horizontal scan of said photosensitive means; clock signal generating means for generating a clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said clock signal generating means for operating said photosensitive means for reading out in synchronism with said clock signal charge signals from said photosensitive means for producing a first signal and a second signal alternately in successive horizontal scans;
said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and of a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of a third light component and of a fourth light component in alternating sequence; andcircuit means coupled to said photosensitive means for receiving the first and second signals and deriving a modulated component therefrom which represents the color difference of the image and modulated with the repetition frequency of said photosensitive elements; and demodulating circuit means coupled to said filter circuit means and said clock signal generating means for receiving the modulated component and demodulating the color difference signals in synchronism with said clock signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A solid state color imaging apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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photosensitive means including a plurality of pairs of lines of photosensitive elements with the pairs of lines being positioned one above the other with the different kinds of lines in alternating sequence in the direction of a vertical scan of said photosensitive means, each of said photosensitive element lines having light sensitivity elements of two kinds in alternating sequence in the direction of a horizontal scan of said photosensitive means; horizontal clock signal generating means for generating a horizontal clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said horizontal clock signal generating means for applying said horizontal clock signal to said photosensitive means for reading out in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal generating means charge signals from said photosensitive means for producing a first signal and a second signal alternately in successive horizontal scans;
said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and of a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of a third light component and of a fourth light component in alternating sequence;extracting circuit means coupled to said photosensitive means for receiving the first and second signals and extracting a modulated component therefrom which represents the color difference of the image and modulated with the repetition frequency of said photosensitive elements; reference signal generating means coupled to said horizontal clock signal generating means for generating a reference signal in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal, having a frequency which is one half that of said horizontal clock signal; and demodulating circuit means coupled to said extracting circuit means and said reference signal generating means for receiving the modulated component and demodulating the color difference signals with said reference signal. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A solid state color imaging apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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color filter means constituted by a plurality of pairs of filter strips positioned one above the other in the direction of a vertical scan, one of which filter strips consists of a plurality of first light transmissivity filter elements and second light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan, the other of said filter strips consists of alternate filter elements including at least third light transmissivity filter elements and fourth light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan; photosensitive means including a plurality of photosensitive elements for converting a light impinging thereon into an electrical signal, said color filter means being placed on said photosensitive means with each photosensitive element of said photosensitive means covered by at least one of said filter element; horizontal clock signal generating, means for generating a horizontal clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said horizontal clock signal generating means for operating said photosensitive means for reading out the electric signals from said photosensitive elements with said horizontal clock signal for producing first and second signals alternately in successive horizontal scans, said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of at least a third light component and a fourth light component in alternating sequence; circuit means coupled to said photosensitive means for deriving a modulated component therefrom which is modulated with a repetition frequency of the filter elements and represents color differences of the image; and demodulating circuit means coupled to said circuit means and said horizontal clock generating means for receiving the modulated component for demodulating the color difference signals with a signal which is in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A solid state color imaging apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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color filter means constituted by a plurality of pairs of filter strips positioned one above the other in the direction of a vertical scan, one of which filter strips consists of a plurality of first light transmissivity filter elements and second light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan, the other of said filter strips consists of alternate filter elements including at least third light transmissivity filter elements and fourth light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan; photosensitive means including a plurality of photosensitive elements for converting light impinging thereon into an electric signal, said color filter means being placed on said photosensitive means with each photosensitive element of said photosensitive means covered by at least one of said filter elements; horizontal clock signal generating means for generating a horizontal clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said horizontal clock signal generating means for operating said photosensitive means for reading out the electric signals from said photosensitive elements with said horizontal clock signal for producing first and second signals alternately in successive horizontal scans, said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of at least a third light component and a fourth light component in alternating sequence; signal processing means coupled to said photosensitive means and responsive to the first and second signals from said photosensitive means for producing color difference signals with a signal which is in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal; signal extracting means coupled to said photosensitive means for receiving the first and second signals for producing a luminance signal; and combining means coupled to said signal processing means and said signal extracting means for receiving the color difference signals and the luminance signal for combining the signals for producing a color video signal.
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14. A solid state color imaging apparatus for producing a color signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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color filter means constituted by a plurality of pairs of filter strips positioned one above the other in the direction of a vertical scan, one of which filter strips consists of a plurality of first light transmissivity filter elements and second light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan, the other of said filter strips consists of alternate filter elements including at least third light transmissivity filter elements and fourth light transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan wherein said second light transmissivity filter elements and said fourth light transmissivity filter elements are luminance transmissivity filter elements; photosensitive means including a plurality of photosensitive elements for converting light impinging thereon into an electric signal, said color filter means being placed on said photosensitive means with each photosensitive element of said photosensitive means covered by at least one of said filter elements; horizontal clock signal generating means for generating a horizontal clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said horizontal clock signal generating means for operating said photosensitive means for reading out the electric signals from said photosensitive elements with said horizontal clock signal for producing first and second signals alternately in successive horizontal scans, said first signal including portions representative of a first light component and a second light component in alternating sequence and said second signal including portions representative of at least a third light component and a fourth light component in alternating sequence; and signal processing means coupled to said photosensitive means and responsive to the first and second signals from said photosensitive means for producing color difference signals with a signal which is in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A solid state color imaging apparatus for producing a color video signal representing a color image of an object, said apparatus comprising:
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color filter means constituted by a plurality of pairs of first and second filter strips positioned one above the other in the direction of a vertical scan, said first filter strips consisting of at least a plurality of first color transmissivity filter elements and a plurality of luminance transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan, and said second filter strips consisting of at least a plurality of second color transmissivity filter elements and a plurality of luminance transmissivity filter elements in alternating sequence in the direction of the horizontal scan; photosensitive means including a plurality of photosensitive elements for converting light impinging thereon into an electric signal, said color filter means being placed on said photosensitive means with each photosensitive element of said photosensitive means covered by at least one of said filter elements; horizontal clock generating means for generating a horizontal clock signal; signal reading means coupled to said photosensitive means and said horizontal clock generating means for operating said photosensitive means for alternately reading out in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal the electric signals from said photosensitive elements under said first filter strip for producing a first signal and from said photosensitive elements under said second filter strip for producing a second signal in successive horizontal scans, said first and second signals including portions representative of a first color signal component and a luminance signal component in alternating sequence, and portions representative of a second color signal component and a luminance signal component in alternating sequence, respectively; first extracting circuit means coupled to said photosensitive means for receiving the first and second signals and extracting a modulated component therefrom which represents the color difference of the image having a modulating frequency which is the repetition frequency of the reading out of said photosensitive elements; reference signal generating means coupled to said horizontal clock signal generating means for generating a reference signal in synchronism with said horizontal clock signal; demodulating circuit means coupled to said first extracting circuit means and said reference signal generating means for receiving the modulated component and demodulating the color difference signals in synchronism with said reference signal; second extracting circuit means coupled to said signal reading means for receiving said first and second signals for producing a luminance signal; and signal combining means coupled to said demodulating circuit means said second extracting circuit means and responsive to said ciolor difference signals and said luminance signal therefrom for combining these signals for producing a color video signal. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification