Image pickup device

• US 6,172,707 B1
• Filed: 02/27/1997
• Issued: 01/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Fujiwara, Akihiro, Morofuji, Tsuyoshi, Ouchi, Toshimichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tuan V.
• Application Number:
  US08/807,826
• Time in Patent Office: 1,412 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.5225, H04/N.5232, 348/208, 348/240, 348/358, 348/155, 348/369, 348/335, 358/451
• US Class Current: 348/208.6
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/60 Control of cameras or camera modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/68 for stable pick-up of the scene, e.g. compensating for camera body vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/6811 based on the image signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/683 performed by a processor, e.g. controlling the readout of an image memory
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/69 Control of means for changing angle of the field of view, e.g. optical zoom objectives or electronic zooming

Abstract

An image pickup device provided with an electronic image vibration compensating circuit, comprising an electronic zooming device for electronically varying the magnification of a designated portion of a taken image, a zoom lens constituting a phototaking lens, a zoom position detector for detecting the zoom position of the zoom lens, a driving circuit for zooming the zoom lens, and a control circuit for controlling the zoom lens and the electronic zooming device in mutually correlated manner, so as to maintain the image angle, determined by the zoom lens and the electronic zooming device at a predetermined value.

Claims

1. An image pickup device comprising:

electronic zoom means for performing an electronic zoom operation on a designated portion of a picked-up image with changeable magnification;

a zoom lens; and

control means operative upon vibration amount of said device greater than a predetermined value for controlling said electronic zoom means and said zoom lens to drive said zoom lens so as to reduce motion of an image formed by said zoom lens and to control said electronic zoom means to correct the image angle of the designated portion of the image changed by the driving of said zoom lens by the electronic zoom operation by said electronic zoom means.

2. A device according to claim 1, further comprising:

frame superposing means for superposing a frame signal indicating an image portion to be expanded by electronic zoom means within a taken image, to said taken image; and

image display means for selectively displaying the output image of said frame superposing means or the output image of said electronic zoom means.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means to drive said zoom lens to move said zoom lens in a wide direction and to maintain the image angle obtained by said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means at a designated value by correcting change of the image angle caused by the driving of said zoom lens by the electronic zoom means when the vibration amount is greater than the predetermined value.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electronic zoom means includes a memory for storing an image signal and memory control means for variably controlling a read out area of said memory, and said control means changes the read out area according to the movement.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising movement detecting means for detecting a movement vector from the image signal and estimating the vibration amount.

10. An apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising displaying means for displaying an area corresponding to the designated portion in an image screen.

6. An image pickup device provided with a zoom lens, image pickup means for converting an optical image formed by said zoom lens into an electrical signal, and electronic zoom means for electronically converting the magnification of a designated portion of the image taken by said image pickup means, comprising:

a control device operative upon vibration amount of said device greater than a predetermined value for controlling said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means to drive said zoom lens so as to reduce motion of an image formed by said zoom lens and to maintain the image angle obtained by said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means at a designated value by correcting change of the image angle caused by the driving of said zoom lens by the electronic zoom operation of said electronic zoom means.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control means controls said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means to drive said zoom lens in a wide direction and to maintain the image angle obtained by said zoom lens and said electronic zoom means at a designated value by correcting change of the image angle caused by the driving of said zoom lens by the electronic zoom means when the vibration amount is greater than the predetermined value.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said electronic zoom means includes a memory for storing an image signal and memory control means for variable controlling a read out area of said memory, and said control means changes the read out area according to the movement.

9. An appareatus according to claim 8, further comprising movement detecting means for detecting a movement vector from the image signal and estimating the vibration amount.

11. An image pickup device having active and deactivated states of antivibration comprising:

detection means for detecting the amount of vibration of image information;

memory means for storing said image information;

read-out means for controlling a read-out area of said memory means so as to reduce the vibration of said image information according to detection of the vibration by said detection means;

calculation means for calculating the magnification for expanding said image information, according to a size of the read-out area;

zoom magnification control means for controlling the zoom magnification of an optical system of the device; and

control means for controlling to maintain a total magnification of the zoom magnification determined on the size of the read-out area and the zoom magnification of said optical system when said image pickup device is shifted between the active antivibration and the deactivated antivibration states.

12. An image pickup device according to claim 11, further comprising:

selector means for arbitrarily selecting an active state or a deactivated state of antivibration function; and

wherein said control means controls the zoom magnification of the read-out area from said memory means and the zoom magnification of said optical system in mutually correlated manner, at the switching from said active state to said deactivated state or from said deactivated state to said active state of anti-vibration function, so as to maintain the image angle prior to said switching.

13. An image pickup device according to claim 11, comprising control means for controlling the zoom magnification determined by the read-out area from said memory means and the zoom magnification of said optical system in such a manner that the product of said zoom magnifications becomes constant.

14. An image pickup device according to claim 11, further comprising correction means which, in case the image angle defined by the zoom magnification determined by said read-out area and the zoom magnification of said optical system exceeds the mazimum image angle of the zoom magnification alone of said optical system, preferentially sets the zoom magnification of said optical system at the maximum image angle and corrects the deficient image angle by the zoom magnification of said read-cut area.

15. An image pickup device according to claim 11, further comprising:

inhibiting means which, in case the image angle by the zoom magnification alone of said optical system is less than the minimum image angle enabling the antivibration, inhibits the transition to the active state of antivibration until an external permission is obtained.

16. An image pickup device according to claim 15, comprising:

releasing means for releasing the inhibition for transition to the active state of antivibration by said inhibiting means, when the image angle by the zoom magnification alone of said optical system exceeds the minimum image angle enabling the antivibration.

17. A magnification control apparatus comprising:

optical zoom means for optically varying a magnification;

electronic zoom means for electrically varying the magnification;

movement correction means for correcting a movement of an image caused by a movement of said apparatus;

control means for controlling said optical zoom means said electronic zoom means to maintain a total magnification defined by said optical zoom means and said electronic zoom means when said movement correction means is shifted between an operating state and non-operating state.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said electronic zoom means has a memory for storing an image signal and memory control means for variably controlling a read out area of said memory and said control means changes the read out area according to the movement of the image.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein movement correction means includes detecting means for detecting a movement vector from the image signal and estimating the vibration amount and correcting means for correcting said electronic zoom by variably controlling the read out area on the basis of the movement vector.

20. An apparatus according to claim 27, further comprising:

selector means for arbitrarily selecting the operating state or the non-operating state of said movement correction means; and

wherein said control means controls the magnification of said electronic zoom means and the magnification of said optical zoom means in mutually correlate manner, at the switching from said operating state to said non-operating state or from said non-operating state to said operating state, so as to maintain the total magnification.