Television – Camera – system and detail – With single image scanning device supplying plural color...
Reexamination Certificate
1997-06-06
2001-08-14
Garber, Wendy R. (Department: 2612)
Television
Camera, system and detail
With single image scanning device supplying plural color...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06275261
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for operating an image sensing device and an image sensing apparatus adopting the method and, more particularly, to an operation method for driving an image sensing device comprising a plurality of pixels arranged in two dimension, and an image sensing apparatus having the image sensing device and an image sensing method which adopt the operation method.
FIG. 12
shows a brief configuration of a conventional interline-type solid-state image sensing device. In
FIG. 12
, reference numeral
101
denotes pixels, each including a photoelectric converter, for storing charges;
102
p
, vertical transfer charge-coupled devices (VCCDs), each including a plurality of CCDs operated by four different operation pulses, which are provided along vertical lines (i.e., columns) of the pixels
101
; and
103
p
, a horizontal transfer CCD (HCCD), electrically connected to the VCCDs
102
p
, having a plurality of CCDs operated by two different operation pulses. The VCCDs
102
p
and the HCCD
103
p
are shielded from light. Further, reference numeral
104
denotes a charge detector;
105
, an output terminal for outputting signals; and
106
p
,
107
p
,
108
p
and
109
p
, input terminals of the operation pulses to the VCCDs
102
p
, and respective operation pulses are supplied to the VCCDs
102
p
. Reference numerals
114
p
and
115
p
denote input terminals of operation pulses to the HCCD
103
p
, and respective operation pulses are provided to the HCCD
103
p.
Next, an operation of the image sensing device having the above configuration is explained.
Charges obtained by photoelectric conversion and stored in the pixels
101
are transferred to the VCCDs
102
p
, and sequentially transferred toward the HCCD
103
p
in accordance with the four operation pulses &phgr;V
1
p
, &phgr;V
2
p
, &phgr;V
3
p
and &phgr;V
4
P. The HCCD
103
p
transfers charges of one horizontal line (i.e., row) transferred from the VCCDs
102
p
to the charge detector
104
in accordance with the two operation pulses &phgr;H
1
p
and &phgr;H
2
p
. The transferred charges are converted into voltage signals by the charge detector
104
, then outputted from the output terminal
105
.
Further, the image signals outputted from the image sensing device are transformed into signals of a predetermined format by applying predetermined signal processes in not-shown circuits, then recorded on a variety of recording media, displayed on a display device, or outputted to outside.
With the advance of technology, the number of pixels used in an image sensing device has increased, and now it is not a rare case that the number of pixels used in an image sensing device is greater than the number of pixels used in an output device. The above situation often happens when displaying a sensed image on a liquid crystal display (LCD), for example, since the number of pixels used in an LCD is much lower than that of an image sensing device in many cases (e.g., about 240 rows). When outputting an image sensed by a conventional image sensing device to such an output device, signals of all the pixels of the image sensing device have to be read out, stored in a recording medium, such as a memory, then thinned down to the necessary number of rows of signals for the output device, and outputted. Therefore, a memory and a processing circuit for thinning signals are necessary, which increases complexities of circuits as well as manufacturing cost.
Furthermore, as the number of pixels used in the image sensing device increases, it takes longer to read signals of all the pixels. As a result, the number of images obtained in one second decreases, thereby a smooth moving image can not be obtained. The above problem can be solved by operating the image sensing device at higher speed, however, it becomes necessary to improve performance of semi-conductor in that case, which also causes an increase in manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide an operation method for operating an image sensing device in which, while skipping a predetermined number of rows, image signals, which can be used for generating image signals, are read out from the image sensing device, and an image sensing apparatus, having the image sensing device, adopting the operation method.
According to the present invention, the foregoing first object is attained by providing a method for operating an image sensing device which performs photoelectric conversion and stores converted charges having a plurality of pixels, arranged in two dimensions, the method comprising: a first reading step of adding image signals of two adjoining rows while skipping a predetermined number of rows and outputting the resultant image signals; and a second reading step of adding image signals of two adjoining rows out of the rows skipped at the first reading step while skipping the predetermined number of rows and outputting the resultant image signals.
Preferably, at the first and second reading steps, a reading step of adding signals stored in pairs of adjoining pixels in the vertical direction in two rows and outputting the resultant signals and a reading step of adding signals stored in pairs of adjoining pixels in the oblique direction in two rows and outputting the resultant signals are alternatively performed at every predetermined plurality of rows until one frame is processed.
According to the present invention, the foregoing first object is also attained by providing an image sensing apparatus comprising: an image sensing device, having a plurality of pixels arranged in two dimension, for performing photoelectric conversion and storing converted charges; and control means for controlling the image sensing device with operation signals so as to add image signals of two adjoining rows while skipping a predetermined number of rows and output the resultant image signals, then add image signals of two adjoining rows out of the rows skipped previously while skipping the predetermined number of rows and output the resultant image signals.
Preferably the control means controls the operation signals so as to alternatively repeat 1) a process for adding signals stored in pairs of adjoining pixels in the vertical direction in two rows and outputting the resultant signals and 2) a process for adding signals stored in pairs of adjoining pixels in the oblique direction in two rows and outputting the resultant signals at every predetermined plurality of rows until one frame is processed.
Further, preferably the pixels of the image sensing device are covered with a complementary color filter of magenta, green, cyan, and yellow, arranged in such a manner that different combinations of two colors are used in even rows and odd rows and appear alternatively, and the two colors in either the even rows or odd rows are arranged in a check pattern, or with a complementary color filter of magenta, green, cyan, and yellow, arranged in such a manner that different combinations of two colors are used in even rows and odd rows and appear alternatively, and the two colors in the even rows and the two colors in odd rows are arranged in check patterns.
Accordingly, while skipping a predetermined number of rows, it is possible to read out signals from the image sensing device, and to form color image signals from the read image signals. Therefore, in a case where the number of pixels used in an output device is smaller than that used in the image sensing device, it is possible to omit the process of reading signals of all the pixels of the image sensing device, a process of storing the read signals in memory means, such as a memory, and a process of decreasing the number of rows of the signals into the number of rows necessary for the output device. Further, the memory or a processing circuit used for performing the above processes can be also omitted. Furthermore, by reading signals as skipping rows, time for reading image signals of an entire image is s
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Garber Wendy R.
Harrington Alicia M.
Morgan & Finnegan , LLP
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