Image pickup apparatus

• US 7,161,625 B2
• Filed: 04/13/2005
• Issued: 01/09/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Ayutthaya Limited (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Hori, Masashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ye; Lin
• Application Number:
  US11/104,475
• Publication Number:
  US 20050179144A1
• Time in Patent Office: 636 Days
• Field of Search: 348/220.1, 348/222.1, 348/312, 348/317, 348/322, 348/223.1, 348/655
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14621 Colour filter arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14623 Optical shielding
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14806 Structural or functional details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14887 Blooming suppression
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/88 for colour balance, e.g. white-balance circuits or colour temperature control
• 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 25/621 for the control of blooming
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/73 using interline transfer [IT]

Abstract

For preventing the blooming phenomenon, there is provided an image pickup apparatus comprising a solid-state image pickup device adapted for a first readout method in which plural pixels are added to be read and a second readout method in which plural pixels are not added; and a circuit for applying a predetermined substrate voltage common to the first and second readout methods in an exposure period of the solid-state image pickup device and applying a predetermined substrate voltage corresponding to each readout method of the solid-state image pickup device in a period from the end of exposure of the solid-state image pickup device to the start of transfer to the signal transfer channel.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a signal processing unit, adapted to process a signal from an image pickup element; and

a control unit, adapted to control said signal processing unit so as to suppress an affect on an image caused by a difference in sensitivity of said image pickup element between a first mode and a second mode;

wherein, in the first mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and in the second mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage, to said image pickup element.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control unit suppresses a difference between color reproducibility of a first image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode, and color reproducibility of a second image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the second mode.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control unit effects control so as to perform exposure control on the basis of a correction value and the signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode and perform photographing with said image pickup element in the second mode under the exposure condition obtained by the exposure control, and wherein the correction value is a suppression correction value of the affect on the image, caused by the difference in the sensitivity of said image pickup element between the first mode and the second mode.

4. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an image pickup element;

a substrate voltage control unit, adapted to apply selectively a first substrate voltage and a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage, to said image pickup element;

a drive control unit, adapted to control selectively a first mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying the first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and a second mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying the second substrate voltage to said image pickup element; and

a control unit, adapted to effect control so as to suppress an affect on an image caused by a difference in sensitivity of said image pickup element between the first mode and the second mode.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said control unit suppresses a difference between color reproducibility of a first image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode, and color reproducibility of a second image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the second mode.

6. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said control unit effects control so as to perform exposure control on the basis of a correction value and the signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode and perform photographing with said image pickup element in the second mode under the exposure condition obtained by the exposure control, and wherein the correction value is a suppression correction value of the affect on the image, caused by the difference in the sensitivity of said image pickup element between the first mode and the second mode.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein in the first mode, a plurality of signals of said image pickup element are added to each other therein and then read out from said image pickup element in a form of an added signal, and in the second mode, the plurality of signals of said image pickup element are not subjected to addition therein and read out from said image pickup element in a form of a non-added signal.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said image pickup element effects motion image photographing in the first mode, and effects still image photographing in the second mode.

9. An image processing apparatus comprising:

a signal processing unit, adapted to process a first signal and a second signal, from an image pickup element, wherein the first signal is a signal obtained from said image pickup element in a first mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying a first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and the second signal is a signal obtained from said image pickup element in a second mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage, to said image pickup element; and

a control unit, adapted to suppress a difference between color reproducibility of a first image which is based on the first signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode, and color reproducibility of a second image which is based on the second signal output from said image pickup element in the second mode.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said signal processing unit includes a white balance adjustment unit, adapted to adjust white balance of each of the first and second signals from said image pickup element, and wherein said control unit controls said white balance adjustment unit to suppress the difference in the color reproducibility between the first and second signals.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said white balance adjustment unit includes a white balance detection unit, adapted to detect a signal which is estimated to be representative of a color of white, from the signals output from said image pickup element, and a white balance control unit, adapted to adjust the first and second signals from said image pickup element on the basis of a detection result of said white balance detection unit, and wherein said control unit controls said white balance control unit so as to suppress the difference in the color reproducibility between the first and second signals.

12. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein in the first mode, a plurality of signals of said image pickup element are added to each other therein and then read out from said image pickup element in a form of an added signal, and in the second mode, the plurality of signals of said image pickup element are not subjected to addition therein and read out from said image pickup element in a form of a non-added signal.

13. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said image pickup element effects motion image photographing in the first mode, and effects still image photographing in the second mode.

14. An image processing apparatus comprising:

an image pickup element;

a substrate voltage control unit, adapted to apply selectively a first substrate voltage and a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage to said image pickup element;

a drive control unit, adapted to control selectively a first mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying the first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and a second mode in which said image pickup element is driven while applying the second substrate voltage to said image pickup element; and

a control unit, adapted to suppress a difference between color reproducibility of a first image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the first mode, and color reproducibility of a second image which is based on the signal output from said image pickup element in the second mode.

15. An image processing method comprising:

a control step, of effecting control so as to suppress an affect on an image, caused by a difference in sensitivity of an image pickup element between a first mode and a second mode;

wherein, in the first mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and in the second mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage, to said image pickup element.

16. An image processing method comprising:

a control step, of effecting control so as to suppress a difference between color reproducibility of a first image which is based on a first signal output from an image pickup element in a first mode, and color reproducibility of a second image which is based on a second signal output from said image pickup element in a second mode,

wherein, in the first mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a first substrate voltage to said image pickup element, and in the second mode said image pickup element is driven while applying a second substrate voltage different from the first substrate voltage, to said image pickup element.