Image pickup apparatus with mode switching between a still picture mode and a moving picture mode

• US 6,519,000 B1
• Filed: 06/24/1996
• Issued: 02/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Udagawa, Yoshirou
• Primary Examiner(s): MOE, AUNG SOE
• Application Number:
  US08/668,752
• Time in Patent Office: 2,423 Days
• Field of Search: 348/322, 348/323, 348/324, 348/321, 348/320, 348/315, 348/318, 348/317, 348/316, 348/220, 348/312, 348/220.1, 257/242, 386/120
• US Class Current: 348/220.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/136 using complementary colours
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/42 by switching between different modes of operation using different resolutions or aspect ratios, e.g. switching between interlaced and non-interlaced mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/46 by combining or binning pixels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/70 SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/713 Transfer or readout registers; Split readout registers or multiple readout registers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/73 using interline transfer [IT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/745 Circuitry for generating timing or clock signals

Abstract

An image pickup apparatus comprises: an interline-type image-sensing device, which includes: a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and a vertical transfer block for transferring charges received from the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements located along one direction. The vertical transfer block includes transfer electrodes disposed such that at least three transfer electrodes are disposed for each of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements. At least one horizontal transfer block transfers charges received from the vertical transfer block along a direction crossing the one direction, and mode switching means switches a drive mode to drive the image-sensing device either in a still picture mode or in a moving picture mode. In the still picture mode, one frame data is outputted during one field period, the frame data being produced on the basis of the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements in which the charges on two lines are transferred to the at least one horizontal transfer block during one horizontal blanking period without addition of charges read out from two of said plurality of photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along the one direction while, in the moving picture mode, a field data is outputted, the field data being produced on the basis of the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements in which the charges read out from two of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along one direction are added together in the at least one horizontal transfer block.

Claims

1. An image pickup apparatus equipped with an interline-type image-sensing device, said image-sensing device comprising:

a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements;

a vertical transfer block for transferring the charges received from said photoelectric conversion elements along one direction, said vertical transfer block including transfer electrodes disposed in such a manner that at least three transfer electrodes are disposed for each said photoelectric conversion element;

at least one horizontal transfer block for transferring the charges received from said vertical transfer block along a direction crossing said one direction;

a mode switch adapted to switch the driving mode of said image-sensing device, said mode switch being adapted to switch the driving mode so that said image-sensing device is driven either in a still picture mode or in a moving picture mode,

wherein the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements on a plurality of lines located at adjacent positions along said one direction of said image-sensing device are successively transferred through said vertical transfer block so that the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements on the plurality of lines located at adjacent positions along said one direction of said image-sensing device are added together in said horizontal transfer block thereby outputting the added pixel signal, wherein in said still picture mode one frame data is output during one field period, said frame data being produced on the basis of the charges read from said photoelectric conversion elements in which no addition is performed between the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along said one direction, while in said moving picture mode, field data is output, said field data being produced on the basis of the charges read from said photoelectric conversion elements in which the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent position along said one direction are added together and wherein a driving pulse for driving said horizontal transfer block has an amplitude corresponding to the number of photoelectric conversion elements whose charges are added together after being read.

4. An image pickup apparatus according to any of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein in said moving picture mode, the addition of the charge between two photoelectric conversion elements is performed such that a resultant sum of the charge of the two photoelectric conversion elements is interlaced between odd-numbered fields and even-numbered fields.

5. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 4, wherein there are a plurality of horizontal transfer blocks which are constructed so that charges may also be transferred among these horizontal transfer blocks, and the driving pulse for driving said plurality of horizontal transfer blocks and the driving pulse for controlling the transfer operation among these horizontal transfer blocks each have an amplitude corresponding to the number of photoelectric conversion elements whose charges are added together after being read.

6. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, of said plurality of horizontal transfer blocks, a horizontal transfer block located at a position furthest from said vertical transfer block structured to add charges, and said horizontal transfer block at the furthest position has a transfer capacity greater than other horizontal transfer blocks.

7. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along said one direction are added together in a final stage of said vertical transfer block.

8. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 7, wherein, in said moving picture mode, one field data is produced by a synthesizer from two successive field data based on different amounts of exposure of light incident on said photoelectric conversion elements.

9. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, in the synthesis, when an exposure of the field data from among the two successive field data, having a greater amount of exposure than the other field data from among the two successive field data is within the range in which no saturation occurs, this field data is employed as the output field data while when the exposure of the field data having a greater amount of exposure than the other field data is within the range in which saturation occurs, the field data having a smaller amount of exposure is multiplied by a predetermined factor and the resulting multiplied data is employed as the output field data.

10. An image pickup apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, the amount of exposure to said photoelectric conversion elements is controlled by controlling the exposure time by an electric shutter in which the charges accumulated in said photoelectric conversion elements are swept out toward a substrate.

11. An image pickup apparatus according to any of claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein, in said moving picture mode, one output field data is produced by combining two successive field data which are shifted from each other.

2. An image pickup apparatus equipped with an interline-type image-sensing device, said image-sensing device comprising:

a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements;

a vertical transfer block for transferring the charges received from said photoelectric conversion elements along one direction, said vertical transfer block including transfer electrodes disposed in such a manner that at least three transfer electrodes are disposed for each said photoelectric conversion element;

at least one horizontal transfer block for transferring the charges received from said vertical transfer block along a direction crossing said one direction;

a mode switch adapted to switch the driving mode of said image-sensing device, said mode switch being adapted to switch the driving mode so that said image-sensing device is driven either in a still picture mode or in a moving picture mode,

wherein the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements on a plurality of lines located at adjacent positions along said one direction of said image-sensing device are successively transferred through said vertical transfer block so that the charges read from the photoelectric conversion elements on the plurality of lines located at adjacent positions along said one direction of said image-sensing device are added together in said horizontal transfer block thereby outputting the added pixel signal, wherein in said still picture mode one frame data is output during one field period, said frame data being produced on the basis of the charges read from said photoelectric conversion elements in which no addition is performed between the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along said one direction, while in said moving picture mode, field data is output, said field data being produced on the basis of the charges read from said photoelectric conversion elements in which the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent position along said one direction are added together and wherein said moving picture mode has both;

a normal moving picture mode in which the addition operation of adding the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along said one direction is performed once during each horizontal blanking period thereby outputting one field data during one field period; and

a high-speed moving picture mode in which the addition operation of adding the charges read from two photoelectric conversion elements located at adjacent positions along said one direction is performed twice during each horizontal blanking period thereby outputting one field data during a half field period.

3. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

an image-sensing part, said image-sensing part including;

a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements;

a plurality of vertical transfer blocks, each vertical transfer block adapted to transfer signals received from said plurality of photoelectric conversion elements located along a vertical direction; and

at least one horizontal transfer block adapted to transfer signals received from said plurality of vertical transfer blocks along a direction crossing the vertical direction, and

a mode switch adapted to switch a driving mode to drive said image-sensing region in a still picture mode, a first moving picture mode, or in a second moving picture mode, wherein, in the still picture mode, the signals on two lines in the vertical direction are transferred to said at least one horizontal transfer block during one horizontal blanking period without addition, and outputted from said at least one horizontal transfer block without addition while, in the first moving picture mode, the signals read out from the first two lines in the vertical direction are added together in the at least one horizontal transfer block during one horizontal blanking period, and in the second moving picture mode, the signals read out from the first two lines in the vertical direction are added together, thereafter the signals read out from the second two lines in the vertical direction are different from the first two lines added together, in the at least one horizontal transfer block during one horizontal blanking period.