Image sensing apparatus and its control method, control program, and storage medium

• US 7,262,799 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2001
• Issued: 08/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Suda, Yasuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu; Ngoc-Yen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Quiett; Carramah J
• Application Number:
  US10/028,448
• Publication Number:
  US 20020122124A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,133 Days
• Field of Search: 348262-263, 348/265, 348279-280, 348/348, 348/311
• US Class Current: 348/280
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14627 Microlenses
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/15 Image signal generation with circuitry for avoiding or correcting image misregistration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/55 Optical parts specially adapted for electronic image sensors; Mounting thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• 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

Abstract

This invention has as its object to provide an image sensing apparatus which can satisfactorily correct misregistration among images, and can composite the images. To achieve this object, an image sensing apparatus includes: a plurality of apertures that receives external light from different positions; a plurality of image sensing units that outputs image signals obtained by independently receiving light that comes from an identical position of an object and is received via the plurality of apertures, and independently extracting predetermined color components for each received light; and a signal processing device that forms a signal that outputs an object image by mixing the image signals output from the plurality of image sensing units. When it is determined that a predetermined position deviation occurs between the image signals upon forming the signal that outputs the object image, the signal processing device corrects the predetermined position deviation by a signal process, and forms the signal that outputs the object image.

Claims

1. An image sensing apparatus comprising:

a single solid-state image sensing element having matrix-like arranged first to fourth image sensing areas with substantially the same size, all of the first to fourth image sensing areas being arranged on a single plane, green color filters being arranged on the first and fourth image sensing areas which are arrayed on one diagonal line of the matrix, and red and blue color filters being arranged on the second and third image sensing areas which are arrayed on the other diagonal line of the matrix;

a photographing optical system that respectively forms first to fourth object images on the first to fourth image sensing areas; and

a signal processing device that processes an output signal from said image sensing element,

wherein each of the first and fourth image sensing areas has a matrix of a plurality of pixels arranged at a pitch a in the horizontal direction and a pitch b in the vertical direction on a light-receiving surface, the first and fourth image sensing areas have a positional relationship in which the first and fourth image sensing areas are separated a×

h×

c in the horizontal direction and b×

c in the vertical direction (where h is a positive integer and c is constant), said image sensing element forms first and fourth images which are formed to have an identical spectral distribution and have substantially the same fields of view, and said signal processing device corrects a misregistration of the first and fourth images based on a relationship of the pixels arrayed in a slanting direction, and generates a composite image signal based on the first and fourth images.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said signal processing device corrects a change in spacing between the first and second images during processing of an output signal, and forms a composite image signal based on the first and second images.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the photographing optical system includes a photographing lens and a stop having a plurality of apertures, the stop being arranged in parallel with the single image sensing element.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the single image sensing element is a single CCD or CMOS element.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the single image sensing element has an image sensing surface defining the single plane and including the first and second image sensing areas.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first and second image sensing areas have formed thereon microlenses.