SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND IMAGING APPARATUS

• US 20080218597A1
• Filed: 03/04/2008
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Cho, Hirotake
• Granted Patent: US 8,125,543 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2209/046 Colour interpolation to calculate the missing colour values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/71 Circuitry for evaluating the brightness variation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/843 Demosaicing, e.g. interpolating colour pixel values
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/133 including elements passing panchromatic light, e.g. filters passing white light
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/136 using complementary colours

Abstract

A solid-state imaging device includes: a first detecting portion that detects each component by dividing a first wavelength region of image information into a plurality of wavelength regions; a second detecting portion that detects components in the first wavelength region with higher sensitivity than the components in the first wavelength region detected by the first detecting portion; and a signal processing unit including a high sensitization signal processing portion that acquires a signal indicating a measured amount on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion and that executes a sensitivity correction operation on the unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion by using the signal indicating the measured amount and a signal of the component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

Claims

1. A solid-state imaging device comprising:

a first detecting portion that detects each component by dividing a first wavelength region of image information into a plurality of wavelength regions;

a second detecting portion that detects components in the first wavelength region with higher sensitivity than the components in the first wavelength region detected by the first detecting portion; and

a signal processing unit including a high sensitization signal processing portion that acquires a signal indicating a measured amount on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion and that executes a sensitivity correction operation on the unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion by using the signal indicating the measured amount and a signal of the component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion executes the sensitivity correction operation using high-sensitivity information detected in the second detecting portion and performs processing for suppressing incorrect color information while executing demosaic processing for generating information, in which wavelength components or sensitivity is uniform, from mosaic shaped information, in which wavelength components or sensitivity varies, for the position of each of all of the detecting portions.

3. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion includes an interpolation processing portion that performs pixel interpolation processing on the basis of proportional information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

4. The solid-state imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion includes an anti-aliasing processing portion that performs anti-aliasing processing on the basis of difference information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

5. The solid-state imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion includes an anti-aliasing processing portion that performs anti-aliasing processing on the basis of proportional information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

6. The solid-state imaging device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising:

a correlation detecting portion that detects correlation of image information on the basis of a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion performs the sensitivity correction operation or the processing for suppressing the incorrect color information referring to information of correlation detected in the correlation detecting portion.

7. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1,

wherein within one arrangement unit of the plurality of first detecting portions and the second detecting portions, the number of second detecting portions is largest.

2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion includes an interpolation processing portion that performs pixel interpolation processing on the basis of difference information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

8. An imaging apparatus comprising:

a first detecting portion that detects each component by dividing a first wavelength region of image information into a plurality of wavelength regions;

a second detecting portion that detects components in the first wavelength region with higher sensitivity than the components in the first wavelength region detected by the first detecting portion;

a signal processing unit including a high sensitization signal processing portion that acquires a signal indicating a measured amount on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion and that executes a sensitivity correction operation on the unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion by using the signal indicating the measured amount and a signal of the component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion; and

a control unit that controls processing in the signal processing unit,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion executes the sensitivity correction operation using high-sensitivity information detected in the second detecting portion and performs processing for suppressing incorrect color information while executing demosaic processing for generating information, in which wavelength components or sensitivity is uniform, from mosaic shaped information, in which wavelength components or sensitivity varies, for the position of each of all of the detecting portions.

9. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion includes at least one of a first interpolation processing portion that performs pixel interpolation processing on the basis of difference information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion, a second interpolation processing portion that performs pixel interpolation processing on the basis of proportional information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion, a first anti-aliasing processing portion that performs anti-aliasing processing on the basis of difference information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion, a second anti-aliasing processing portion that performs anti-aliasing processing on the basis of proportional information between a signal indicating a measured amount, which is acquired on the basis of a unit signal corresponding to each wavelength detected in the first detecting portion, and a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion.

10. The imaging apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, further comprising:

a correlation detecting portion that detects correlation of image information on the basis of a signal of a component in the first wavelength region, which has high sensitivity and is detected in the second detecting portion,

wherein the high sensitization signal processing portion performs the sensitivity correction operation or the processing for suppressing the incorrect color information referring to information of correlation detected in the correlation detecting portion.