Television – Camera – system and detail – Combined image signal generator and general image signal...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-02
2003-03-25
Garber, Wendy R. (Department: 2612)
Television
Camera, system and detail
Combined image signal generator and general image signal...
C348S222100, C348S234000, C348S238000, C348S305000, C348S446000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06538694
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image output system which is suitably provided in an image processing system of, for example, a video camera apparatus, camera apparatus, computer system or the like.
The present invention relates to a contour compensation system which is suitably provided in an image processing system of, for example, a video camera apparatus, camera apparatus, computer system or the like and, more particularly, to a contour compensation system which is adapted to perform contour compensation processing with respect to an image data or image pickup data portion having a frequency band that corresponds to the zoom magnification of an electronic zoom of the image data or image pickup data.
The present invention relates to an electronic zoom circuit which enlarges electronically in, for example, a video camera apparatus a digital video signal input from the camera part, or a digital video signal reproduced from the video part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, there is known a digital video camera apparatus which digitalizes an image pickup signal obtained by imaging a desired object and records it in a video cassette tape.
This digital video camera apparatus has inputted thereto an image pickup light by a CCD image sensor and thereby forms an analog image pickup signal that corresponds to the amount of this image pickup light. After having been amplified with a suitable gain and digitalized, this image pickup signal is subjected to gamma correction processing and then supplied to a contour compensation circuit. The contour compensation circuit forms contour compensation data having a prescribed stressed frequency of the image pickup data by the use of a contour compensation coefficient that is made to be a fixed value. It adds up this contour compensation data and the original image pickup data and thereby performs contour compensation processing on this image pickup data and supplies the resulting data to the electronic zoom circuit.
The electronic zoom circuit performs line interpolation processing or the like on the image pickup data having the contour compensation processing performed thereon, so that the image pickup data may have a magnification designated by the user, thereby electronically enlarging the imaged object and outputting the same. The image pickup data having had this electronic zoom processing performed thereon is stored once in a frame memory and is read out in units of a field by the image output circuit in correspondence with a record rate. And, prescribed video process processing is performed thereon and the resulting image pickup data is recorded in a video cassette tape.
However, the conventional digital video camera apparatus is so arranged that the image output circuit may read out the image data stored once in the frame memory as it is in a form divided in units of a field for recording thereof. Therefore, in the stage output from the frame memory, it cannot process the image pickup data whatsoever and so there was the problem that the image quality could not be improved. With a view to the fact that the characteristics of the image pickup data differ for each image pickup conditions, image pickup mode, or the like, there have hitherto been wanted developments of a digital video camera apparatus which can vary the characteristics of the output (recorded) image pickup data in correspondence with these conditions, mode or the like.
On the other hand, also, in the conventional digital video camera apparatus, the contour compensation coefficient of the contour compensation circuit is made to be a fixed value. As a result, the frequency band that is stressed by the contour compensation processing is limited (fixed). Therefore, there was the problem that when high-magnification electronic zoom processing was performed with the use of the electronic zoom circuit, the return noises increased with the result that the frequency characteristic and S/N ratio deteriorated, causing deterioration of the quality of the displayed image.
It is to be noted that while Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-122577 discloses a video camera apparatus that makes a variable control of the contour compensation coefficient value in correspondence with the enlargement factor of the electronic zoom and that thereby prevents the deterioration of the resolution, such a conventional technique is one which makes a variable control of the “correction level” by changing the contour compensation coefficient value equally. Namely, this technique realizes the contour compensation processing by making a vertical control of the level as a whole of the image pickup data. For this reason, it is difficult to perform excellent contour compensation processing and said technique does not go up to the stage of solving the above-described problems.
Meanwhile, in the electronic zoom circuit, it is possible to perform an electronic zoom control of not only a video signal input from the solid image pickup element but also a video signal reproduced from a digital video tape.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram illustrating an electronic zoom circuit that performs processing of a luminance signal by a spline interpolation system and that of a color difference signal by a linear interpolation system. To an input terminal In there is input a 12-bit video signal taken from a solid image pickup element or a 12-bit video signal reproduced from a digital video tape. Of this 12-bit input signal, an upper order 8-bit component signal is a luminance signal and a lower order 4-bit component signal is a color difference signal.
In
FIG. 1
, reference symbols L
1
, L
2
, L
3
and L
4
represent line memories in each of which there is stored a 1-line video signal and each of which delays this signal in units of one horizontal scanning time-period and sequentially outputs the resulting delayed signal. A reference symbol
60
represents a luminance signal/color difference signal separation circuit to which there are input the 1-line video signals from the line memories L
1
to L
4
, each signal corresponding to one line and which separates the upper 8-bit luminance signal and lower 4-bit color difference signal and thereby outputs these separated signals.
Also, a reference symbol
61
represents a vertical spline interpolation circuit that performs vertical spline interpolation processing according to the 4-line luminance signals output from the luminance signal/color difference signal separation circuit
60
. A reference symbol
62
represents a vertical linear interpolation circuit that performs vertical linear interpolation processing according to the 2-line color difference signals output from the luminance signal/color difference signal separation circuit
60
.
Also, a reference symbol
63
represents a horizontal spline interpolation circuit that horizontally enlarges the luminance signal vertically enlargement processed by the vertical spline interpolation circuit
61
. A reference symbol
64
represents a horizontal linear interpolation circuit that horizontally enlarges the color difference signal vertically enlargement processed by the vertical linear interpolation circuit
62
.
With the above-described construction, the 12-bit video signal that is input to the input terminal In is subjected to selection of the output data or to adjustment of the timing by the line memories L
1
to L
4
, whereby the resulting signals are input as the successive 4-line video signals to the luminance signal/color difference signal separation circuit
60
.
Thereafter, 8-bit data of the luminance signal and 4-bit data of the color difference signal are processed, each, by the vertical and horizontal interpolation circuits. Here, while the color difference signal is output as 4-bit data, this signal is converted to an 8-bit data signal by a color difference 8-bit signal converter circuit not illustrated and, after passing through a video process executing system, is recorded into a digital video tape.
It is to be noted that in a case wh
Miyahara Hiroyuki
Taguchi Kenji
Berkowitz Marvin C.
Garber Wendy R.
Nath Gary M.
Novick Harold L.
Victor Company of Japan , Limited
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