JPH077656A - Image handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide an image handling device capable of electrically easily compensating for imager mounting position deviation of an imaging device by bonding a plurality of imagers. An imager of a plurality of imagers (imaging elements) is assigned to each divided area obtained by dividing one image, and the images obtained by the plurality of imagers are combined to obtain an image.
Adjusting the displacement of the mounting position (relative position) of each imager of a so-called multi-plate bonded imaging device, and adjusting the timing of reading image information from the corresponding imager (imaging device) according to the displacement amount of the plurality of imagers. Is compensated by.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image handling apparatus, and more particularly to an image handling apparatus having a high resolution characteristic using a plurality of imagers (imaging elements).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Imagers (CC
D) and the like, each imager shares each divided area into which one image is divided, and the images obtained by the plurality of imagers are combined to obtain a high-quality (multi-pixel) image. A so-called multi-plate bonded image pickup device has been proposed. In such an imaging device, since each of the plurality of imagers converts the image of the corresponding area previously assigned to the image signal, if the arrangement position of the imager is displaced, it is not possible to cover only the corresponding area of one image, Image shift occurs, causing deterioration of image quality. In order to compensate for the displacement of the imager installation position, the imager position has conventionally been adjusted by mechanical means.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional multi-plate imager image pickup apparatus using a plurality of imagers, the displacement of the imager placement position depends on the mechanical accuracy. However, since the shift of the imager is in units of pixels, mechanical shift compensation is not sufficient, and it is very difficult to obtain a perfectly aligned image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an image handling device capable of electrically easily compensating for a displacement of an imager mounting position of an image pickup device by bonding a plurality of imagers.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the image handling apparatus according to the present invention is arranged such that a predetermined display screen is divided into a plurality of display areas so as to cover the divided areas separately. In an image handling device adapted to obtain image information suitable for the display screen based on output image information from the plurality of image pickup devices, the image handling device is adapted to correspond to the degree of mismatch of relative positions of the plurality of image pickup devices. By adjusting the timing of reading the image information from the image sensor, the influence of the mismatch of the relative positions in the combined output of the plurality of image sensors is removed.

[0006]

According to the present invention, each imager of a plurality of imagers is made to share each divided area obtained by dividing one image, and the images obtained by the plurality of imagers are combined to obtain an image.
Adjusting the displacement of the mounting position (relative position) of each imager of a so-called multi-plate bonded imaging device, and adjusting the timing of reading image information from the corresponding imager (imaging device) according to the displacement amount of the plurality of imagers. Is compensated by.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of an image handling apparatus according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the deviation from the regular mounting position of the imager is detected in the x and y coordinate directions with respect to the optical axis, and the drive timing of the imager is adjusted for a time corresponding to this deviation. For example, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), when one image is covered by the imagers 1A to 1D whose mounting positions are displaced, the image data A ′ to D ′ simply obtained from the four imagers are combined. Then, as shown in FIG.
Image shift will occur. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The position shift amount of each imager in (A) is detected, and the drive timing of the imager is adjusted according to the shift amount.

In FIG. 1, the camera unit is composed of four imagers (for example, image pickup devices such as CCDs) 1A to 1D, and the output of each imager 1A to 1D is subjected to a predetermined processing by a signal processing unit 2. And is supplied to the A / D conversion unit 3 as an image signal corresponding to each imager. The A / D converter 3 converts the image signal into digital image data and supplies the digital image data to the image synthesizer 4. The image synthesizing unit 4 synthesizes the image data corresponding to each imager supplied from the A / D converting unit 3 to obtain image data forming one image and sends it to the D / A converting unit 5. The D / A converter 5 converts the image data from the image synthesizer 4 into an analog image signal and outputs it to a monitor or the like. The reference signal generator (SG unit) 6 generates a reference signal as a reference timing for the operation of the present device, and supplies, for example, a signal processing clock for the signal processor 2. T
The G section 7 receives the reference signal from the SG section 6 and generates a drive pulse for instructing the drive timing of the imager.

The deviation correction data generator 8 is provided by a deviation amount detector (not shown) for detecting the deviation amount (deviation amount in the x and y coordinate directions with respect to the optical axis) from the normal position where the imager should originally be installed. Each imager 1A, 1 based on the shift amount
The adjustment times TA, TB, TC, and TD of the supply timings of the drive pulses supplied to B, 1C, and 1D are determined and output to the TG control unit 9. The TG control unit 9
Adjustment times TA, TB, TC from the deviation correction data generator 8
And TD, the drive pulses output from the TG unit 7 are shifted by the adjustment time and the drive pulses TGA, TGB, TG.
Imagers 1A, 1B, 1C and 1 as C and TGD
Supply to D respectively.

The principle of image shift compensation by adjusting the timing of the drive pulse will be described. Assuming that a pixel signal in the horizontal (H) direction is output from the imager at the rising portion of the drive pulse, as shown in FIG. Drive pulse TG
The display scanning starts in synchronization with the rising edge of the imager, and the imager outputs 1H, 2H, 3H,
Image signals of 4H, ... Are output. At this time, when the drive pulse TG1 delayed with respect to the effective period of H is generated, the output of the imager is delayed by the same time as the output at the time of TG1, so that the image moves to the right. On the contrary, the driving pulse TG which is advanced with respect to the effective period of H
When 2 is generated, the output of the imager is output earlier by the same time as the output of TG2, so the image moves to the left. Similarly, the image can be moved up and down by delaying or advancing it with respect to the vertical direction (V).

The operation and configuration of the deviation correction data generator 8 will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.
The displacement amounts of the four imagers 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D with respect to the effective display screens (shown by dotted lines) in the x and y directions are x _A and y _A , x _B and y _B , x _C and y _{C, respectively.} x _D and y _D
Then, these shift amounts are detected and generated from the shift amount data generating section 81 (FIG. 5) of the shift correction data generating section 8 of FIG. The correction time generation unit 82 outputs drive pulse adjustment time data TA, TB, TC, and TD required to compensate the mounting position shift of each imager based on the shift amount data from the shift amount data generation unit 81. . The TG control unit 9 uses the data TA to TD to generate the TG unit 7
The supply timing of the drive pulse from is adjusted and supplied to each of the imagers 1A to 1D as drive pulses TGA to TGD.

The adjustment times TA to TD can be obtained by the following equation, where X is the number of effective pixels in the horizontal direction and h [sec] is the time of the effective pixel section in the horizontal scanning. _{TA = (- y A -x A} / X) h [sec] TB = (- y B -x B / X) h [sec] TC = (- y C -x C / X) h [sec] TD = (−y _D −x _D / X) h [sec] If the sign of the obtained time is positive, it is delayed by that time from the display scan start time, and if it is negative, it is started earlier by that time. Controls the supply timing of the drive pulse to the imager.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of the correction time generator 82A that generates the correction time TA for the imager 1A. The shift amount x _A of the imager 1A in the x direction output from the shift amount data generation unit 81 is multiplied by the constant: −1 / X output from the constant generation unit 821 in the multiplication unit 822, and output as −x _A / X. To be done. Further, the deviation amount y _A is
The constant output from the constant generator 826 in the multiplier 823:
It is multiplied by -1 and output as -y _A. Multiplication unit 82
The outputs from Nos. 2 and 823 are added by the addition unit 824, the addition result is multiplied by the multiplication unit 825 by the constant: h output from the constant generation unit 827, and the adjustment time TA is obtained and supplied to the TG control unit 9. It

FIG. 7 shows the adjustment times TA to TD required to correct the mounting position deviation of the imagers 1A to 1D.
3 shows a timing chart of the present embodiment for adjusting the generation timing of the drive pulse. In this example,
The drive pulses TGA and TGB supplied to the imagers 1A and 1B are advanced from the display start timing by the adjustment times TA and TB, and the drive pulse T supplied to the imagers 1C and 1D.
It can be seen that GC and TGD are delayed by the adjustment times TC and TD.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment relates to a specific means for compensating for the displacement of the mounting position of the imager described above. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image handling apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, components designated by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 indicate components having similar functions. In this embodiment, the digital image data from the A / D converter 3 is stored in the image memory 11. The image data read from the image memory unit 11 controlled by the CPU 13 via the memory controller unit 12 is combined by the image combining unit 4 and converted into an analog signal by the D / A conversion unit 5. Further, the adjusting jig 10 is connected to the CPU 13 via the connector 14. The adjustment jig 10 includes a chart generator 111 and an adjustment volume 112. The chart generator 111 generates a chart composed of cross lines as shown in FIG. 9, for example, and passes through the connector 14 and the CPU 13 to the image synthesizer 4.
Output to. The image composition unit 4 performs processing for displaying this chart on the image surface, and the processed data is D / A.
The conversion unit 5 converts the analog signal and outputs the analog signal to the monitor. The CPU 13 controls the image synthesizing unit 4 to alternately output the real shot and the chart from the chart generating unit 111 so that they can be compared with each other. Needless to say, display means capable of visually superimposing display can be used in addition to alternately outputting and alternately displaying.

As shown in FIG. 10, each imager 1A-
Assuming that the 1D is mounted so as to be displaced with respect to the image pickup surface, the image displayed on the monitor is as shown in FIG.
It tilts horizontally and vertically. In the figure, the solid line shows the chart by actual shooting, and the dotted line shows the chart from the chart generation unit 111. By doing so, the deviation can be visually recognized from the monitor display screen.

The adjusting volume section 112 is for adjusting the shift of the imager in the x-direction, the y-direction and the θ-direction while looking at the monitor. Change the address value. Similarly, with the y-direction moving volume, V
The address value changes the H and V address values by the θ direction moving volume. With these three volumes,
The image of one imager can be freely moved up, down, left, right and rotation on the monitor, and the deviation of the imager can be visually compensated.

The adjustment data by the adjustment volume section 112 is stored in the RAM inside the CPU 13,
The memory control unit 12 is controlled via 13. Here, it goes without saying that the memory control unit 12 may be controlled by other means. In addition, the CPU 13
When the adjustment work is completed and the connector 14 is removed, the data stored in the RAM inside the CPU 13 is changed to E ² PRO.
Transfer and store in M15. By doing so, the adjustment is completed, and the final data when the adjustment jig 10 is removed is stored in the E ² PROM 15.
An adjusted image is obtained even after removing 0.

The adjusting volume 112 is shown in FIG.
It can be configured as shown in FIG. The imagers 1A to 1D to be adjusted are determined by setting the volume 101 to the rotational positions A to D corresponding to the imagers 1A to 1D. The movement adjustment is performed by the up arrow key 102, the down arrow key 103, the left arrow key 104, and the right arrow key 105, and the rotation direction adjustment is performed by the left rotation key 106 and the right rotation key 107.
Done by.

The operation processing procedure of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the adjustment jig is set (step S1), the adjustment chart is photographed at the same angle of view (step S2), and the chart of the actual image and the chart from the chart generation unit 111 of the adjustment jig 10 are alternately displayed. The image is displayed on the monitor (step S3). Next, it is determined whether or not the chart image of the photographed image and the chart image from the chart generation unit 111 match (step S4). If they match, the adjustment jig is removed (step S6), The process ends. If they do not match, the adjusting volume unit 112 adjusts the two charts (step S5), and the process returns to step S4.

In the above embodiment, the adjustment jig 10 is
The chart can be built in the camera body, or only the chart generation unit 111 can be built in and the chart can be generated only when the adjustment jig is connected. Further, although the chart is alternately displayed on the monitor, it is possible to adjust by directly moving the mechanical mounting portion of each imager, instead of electrically moving the imager image by the adjusting volume 112 or the like. You can also

Using this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the adjusting volume 112, the CPU 13 and the E ² PROM ^{1 are} provided.
5 as the adjuster 20, the TG of the embodiment shown in FIG.
The timing of the drive pulse supplied to each imager can be adjusted by controlling the control unit 9. Also,
The number of imagers is arbitrary, and adjustment can be simplified by adapting and changing the pattern of the chart according to the number.

The above-described embodiment can also be expressed in the following points. That is, it is possible to obtain image information suitable for the display screen by output image information from a plurality of image pickup elements arranged so as to cover a divided area formed by dividing a predetermined display screen into a plurality of display areas. A first image obtained by photographing a predetermined standard pattern with this device, which is a method for performing the adjustment for removing the influence of the mismatching of the relative positions of the plurality of image pickup elements of the image handling device, A second image based on a video signal from a signal generating means representing a predetermined standard pattern corresponding to the standard pattern is displayed on the same monitor so that they can be visually recognized at substantially the same time, and the image is observed on the monitor. The adjustment of the processing mode for the output signals from the plurality of image sensors and / or the adjustment of the relative position of the plurality of image sensors so that the first image and the second image are overlapped with each other. Cormorant adjustment method.

[0024]

As described above, according to the image handling apparatus of the present invention, the deviation of the mounting positions (bonding positions) of a plurality of imagers can be compensated very easily and highly accurately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing an embodiment of an image handling apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the principle of image shift compensation by adjusting drive pulse timing in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a deviation correction data generation unit 8 in the embodiment of FIG.
6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of FIG.

5 is a deviation correction data generation unit 8 in the embodiment of FIG.
It is a figure which shows the structural example.

6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a correction time generation unit 82A which generates a correction time TA for the imager 1A in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart of the present embodiment in which the drive pulse generation timing is adjusted according to the adjustment times TA to TD required to correct the mounting position deviations of the imagers 1A to 1D.

FIG. 8 is a configuration block diagram of an image handling apparatus according to another embodiment of the present embodiment.

9 is a diagram showing a cross line generated from a chart generation unit 111 in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an adjusting volume unit 1 in the embodiment of FIG.
It is a figure which shows the structural example of 12.

13 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of the embodiment in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a configuration block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1A to 1D Imager 2 Signal processing unit 3 A / D conversion unit 4 Image synthesis unit 5 D / A conversion unit 6 SG unit 7 TG unit 8 Deviation correction data generation unit 9 TG control unit 10 Adjustment jig 11 Image memory unit 12 Memory control unit 13 CPU 14 Connector 15 E ² PROM 20 Adjuster 81 Deviation amount data generator 82 Correction time generator 111 Chart generator 112 Adjustment potentiometer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Image information suitable for the display screen is output from output image information from a plurality of image pickup devices arranged so as to cover a divided area formed by dividing a predetermined display screen into a plurality of display areas. In the image handling device configured to obtain the plurality of image pickup devices, the timing of reading image information from the corresponding image pickup device is adjusted so as to correspond to the degree of mismatch of relative positions of the plurality of image pickup devices. An image handling device, characterized in that the influence of the mismatch of the relative positions in the combined output of the above is eliminated.