JPH11211464A - Ranging device and computer-readable storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To reduce the distance measurement time when performing active distance measurement and passive distance measurement in time series. SOLUTION: In active ranging, IRED 2011-2011 is used.
In 2013, the pulse light is projected on the measurement objects 221 to 223, and the reflected light is received by the sensor arrays 11R and 11L. The photoelectrically converted charges are transferred by the linear CCD 17 through an electronic shutter, a storage unit, and a shift unit, and further circulated through the ring CCD 18 for integration. Each output is amplifier 1
The distance from 01R and 101L to the AF control circuit 206 is obtained to determine the distance to the measurement target. Next, passive distance measurement without performing the light projection is performed. At this time, conditions such as the drive frequency for the transfer and the opening time of the electronic shutter are determined by the drive frequency and the electronic shutter used for the active distance measurement. Set based on the opening time of

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distance measuring device used for an automatic focus camera and the like for performing active distance measurement and passive distance measurement, and a computer-readable storage medium used in the distance measuring device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a hybrid type distance measuring device that measures the distance to a distance measuring object by using both an active distance measuring method for irradiating light to a measuring object and a passive distance measuring method for not irradiating light is used. It is known that a high-precision distance measurement result can be obtained by compensating for the drawbacks of the respective distance measurement methods, and the effect thereof has been disclosed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229675. On the other hand, since the active distance measurement and the passive distance measurement are performed in time series in order to obtain the distance measurement result, there is a disadvantage that the distance measurement time becomes long. Therefore, in the hybrid ranging device, a technique for shortening the ranging time has been proposed. As one of the means for shortening the distance measurement time, as proposed by the present applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229681, when performing a plurality of distance measurement operations continuously by multipoint distance measurement or the like. , CC set during the first ranging
There is a method in which the drive pulse frequency of the D sensor and the opening time of the electronic shutter are used as they are for setting the conditions for the subsequent continuous distance measurement.

[0003]

However, in a distance measuring device mounted on a camera or the like equipped with a wide-angle lens, in order to search for an object to be measured in a wider range, as shown in FIG. A plurality of sensors are arranged in the direction, and the distance is measured in a different direction for each sensor array. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the above-mentioned prior art, in which 50 is a light receiving lens, 51, 52 and 53 are sensor arrays for receiving signal light, mainly focusing on the light receiving means of the distance measuring device. In the figure, the light projecting means is omitted. Sensor arrays 51 to 5
Numeral 3 receives light coming from the right, center, and left directions through the light receiving lens 50. 54 is each sensor array 51
A selection device for selecting one of the outputs from .about.53, comprising a switch or the like, and 55, a signal processing device for performing a distance measurement operation using the sensor array output selected by the selection device 54.

[0004] In FIG. 7, since the sensor arrays 51 to 53 receive external light from different regions, the intensity of the external light differs for each sensor array. If the driving pulse frequency of the CCD sensor and the opening time of the electronic shutter set when the object 222 is measured for distance are used as they are for the condition setting of the distance measuring object 221 by the right sensor array 51, strong light is incident. The electric charge of the sensor array 51 is too large and the signal processing device 55 is saturated. Therefore, in the multi-point distance measuring apparatus configured as described above that measures the distance to be measured in a plurality of directions, it is necessary to set the drive pulse frequency of the CCD sensor and the opening time of the electronic shutter for each distance measurement. There was a problem that the distance time was long.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to reduce the distance measurement time when performing active distance measurement and passive distance measurement in time series.

[0006]

In a distance measuring apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of light projecting means for irradiating a pulse-like light to an object to be measured and a plurality of light receiving means for receiving reflected light from the object to be measured are provided. A pair of light receiving means comprising a photoelectric conversion element, an active distance measuring method for obtaining a distance to the object to be measured based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means in a state where the light emitting means is operated; A distance measuring means for performing distance measurement using a passive distance measuring method for obtaining a distance to the distance measuring object based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means in a state in which the means is stopped in time series; Setting means for obtaining setting conditions to be set by the second distance measurement method to be used next based on the setting conditions set by the first distance measurement method to be used.

In the storage medium according to the present invention, a light projecting process of irradiating a pulse-like light to the object to be measured, a light receiving process of receiving reflected light from the object to be measured by light receiving means, An active distance measurement method for obtaining a distance to the object to be measured based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means while processing is being performed, and a signal obtained from the light receiving means when the light projection processing is stopped. Distance measurement processing for performing distance measurement using a passive distance measurement method for obtaining the distance to the distance measurement object based on the time series, and a first distance measurement method used first.
And a setting process for obtaining a setting condition to be set by the second distance measurement method to be used next based on the setting condition set by the distance measurement method.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a hybrid distance measuring apparatus which combines an active distance measuring method and a passive distance measuring method by using a cyclic shift register in which a plurality of CCDs each having a skim means are connected in a ring shape according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, multipoint ranging that performs a ranging operation in a plurality of directions is enabled, and active ranging and passive ranging are performed in time series.

In FIG. 1, at the time of active distance measurement, a light emitting element 2011 (right side), such as an IRED, which repeatedly emits a pulsed light toward a distance measurement object in each distance measurement direction, 2
A light projecting unit 012 (center) and 2013 (left side), a light projecting lens 207 for condensing the light and forming a light beam;
At the time of active distance measurement, pulsed light emitted from the light projecting means is reflected by the distance measuring objects 221, 222, and 223, and at the time of passive distance measurement, the light emission of the light projecting means is stopped. Light receiving lens 208 for condensing the reflected light reflected by the distance measurement target illuminated by light or the like
R and 208L and a pair of sensor arrays 11R and 11L for receiving the condensed reflected light are provided. The sensor arrays 11 </ b> R and 11 </ b> L each include a distance measurement target 221 in three directions.
A large number of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged in the base line length direction so that distance measurement of 222 and 223 is possible.

Reference numerals 12R to 16R and 12L to 16L denote storage units and transfer units that store and transfer output charges from the respective photoelectric conversion elements at predetermined timings via an electronic shutter.
17R and 17L are linear CCDs as charge injection means
Then, the signal charges generated in the sensor arrays 11R and 11L and stored in the storage units are transferred, and these signal charges are connected to the CCDs in a ring to circulate the charge. , 18L.
Reference numerals 21R and 21L denote skim portions for eliminating charges due to external light during active distance measurement. Reference numerals 101R and 101L denote OS amplifiers to which a voltage proportional to the signal charge in the charge transfer channel detected by the floating gate unit provided on the charge transfer channel of the cyclic shift registers 18R and 18L is input.

Reference numerals 103R and 103L denote skim portions 21R and 2R.
This is an amplifier that inputs a voltage proportional to the signal charge in the charge transfer channel detected by the floating gate portion provided on the 1L charge transfer channel, and the output voltage is transmitted to the comparators 105R and 105L. Comparators 105R and 105L are amplifiers 103R and 103L
Is compared with the reference voltage + Vref,
This means that the amount of signal charge transferred to the charge transfer channel of the skim section is compared. If the charge is larger than the predetermined amount, the signal SKC for executing the skim operation is compared.
LR. R, SCKLR. This output signal, which outputs L, is applied to the skim units 21R and 21L to perform a skim operation and is input to the AF control circuit 206.

An A / D converter 204 A / D converts the output voltages of the OS amplifiers 101 R and 101 L. The converted digital data is transmitted to the CPU 210. 20
Reference numeral 6 denotes an AF control circuit which controls the operation of the entire distance measuring apparatus, and includes an A / D converter 204, a CPU 210, and memories 211 and 212. The AF control circuit 206 detects an output voltage proportional to the signal charges from the cyclic shift registers 18R and 18L and a SK for detecting a skim operation.
CLR. R, SCKLR. L as an input signal, a drive signal of a multi-point IRED drive circuit 202 for driving the light projecting means, a drive pulse 20 for controlling the operation of each of the sensor arrays 11R and 11L as light receiving means and amplifiers and the like.
3, and a distance measurement result for an external device (not shown) is used as an output signal.

The CPU 210, which performs various calculations and controls, performs the main measurement in accordance with the procedure shown in the control software including the processing shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. It operates the distance device. The memory 211 is a CPU 21
0 is used when data is temporarily stored when the process proceeds. The memory 212 constitutes a storage medium according to the present invention, and may be a semiconductor memory, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic medium, or the like.

Next, the characteristic operation from the sensor arrays 11R and 11L to the amplifiers 101R and 101L and 103R and 103L will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the sensor array 11, and FIG. 1 identifies the two sensor arrays 11R and 11L by symbols L and R, but both have basically the same configuration. . Therefore, the symbols of L and R indicating left and right are omitted. still,
The basic operation is known from Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-229675. FIG. 3 shows a part of the drive pulse 203 shown in FIG. 1 and shows the timing of the pulse for driving the sensor array of FIG.

The characteristic feature of FIG. 2 is that the sensor array 11 is divided and taken into a circular shift register.
This is the point where multi-point distance measurement in the direction is performed. However, it is not necessarily 3
It does not need to be a point, and it can be divided into an arbitrary number according to the function required of the distance measuring device. The sensors S11 to S51 on the left side of the sensor array 11 function to measure the distance to the object on the right as viewed from the distance measuring device via the light receiving lens. In FIG. The signal charges are photoelectrically converted. Similarly, the sensors S12 to
S52 functions to measure the distance of the object to be measured in the center direction. In FIG. 1, the signal charge from the object to be measured 222 is photoelectrically converted in FIG. The sensors S13 to S53 on the right side function to measure the distance of the object to be measured leftward as viewed from the distance measuring device, and in FIG. 1, photoelectrically convert the signal charges from the object to be measured 223.

The timing chart shown in FIG. 3 shows a case where the sensors S12 to S52 in the central direction operate to take out signal charges. ST11, ST21, ST1
3. ST23 maintains inactive (L) and S23
The charges generated in S11 to S51 and S13 to S53 are collected in the integrator 12 in FIG. 2, but are not transferred to the first accumulator 14 or the second accumulator 15 because no transfer pulse is applied. No, ICG pulse is active (H)
Then, all the electric charges existing in the integration section 12 are eliminated through an ICG (electronic shutter) gate 13. Therefore, only the charges generated in the pixels S12 to S52 in the center direction in which ST12 and ST22 are active (H) are transferred to the linear CCD 17 as the charge injection means.

Assuming an active distance measurement, the LRED 2012 in FIG. 1 blinks so as to project a near-infrared light beam toward the center of the object 222 to be measured.
In S52 to S52, the charge generated when the LRED 2012 is turned off is transferred to the first storage unit 14 when ST12 is active, and the charge generated when lighting is turned on is transferred to the second storage unit 15 when ST22 is active. You. These transferred charges are transferred to the linear CCD 17 at the timing when SH is active, and the transfer clock C
The signals are transferred by K1 and CK2 and injected into the ring CCD 18 constituting the cyclic shift register. This ring C
While circulating through the CD 18, the signal charges are gradually added and integrated.

Similarly, when measuring the distance in the right direction as viewed from the distance measuring apparatus, the IRED 2011 is turned on and off, and the sensors S11 to S5 which receive the signal light from the object 221 in the right direction are measured.
ST1 so as to transfer the charge 1 to the linear CCD 17
1. It becomes possible by activating ST21 at a predetermined timing and simultaneously maintaining ST12, ST22, ST13, and ST23 in an inactive state. When measuring the distance in the left direction, the sensor S13 receives the signal light from the object 223 in the left direction by blinking the IRED 2013.
To transfer the charges of S53 to S53 to the linear CCD 17.
This becomes possible by activating T13 and ST23 at a predetermined timing and maintaining ST11, ST21, ST12 and ST22 in an inactive state.

In the case of passive ranging, each IRED
By setting 2011 to 2013 to the non-lighting state, the signal charges of the sensor array corresponding to each direction are transferred to the ring CCD 18 as the circulating shift register, and the image signal of the object to be measured can be grown. With the above configuration and operation, multipoint ranging can be performed with a hybrid ranging device using a cyclic shift register.

Next, a sequence according to the first embodiment for measuring the distance to the object to be measured by the hybrid distance measuring apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The description will be made on the assumption that distance measurement in three directions is performed in time series, and here, distance measurement is performed in the order of the center, rightward, and leftward. However, this order may be set arbitrarily. It is also assumed that the object to be measured is assumed in FIG.

S101: Select a distance measuring direction in multi-point distance measuring. First, select the center as described above. The sensor array is a charge ring CCD of the sensor part corresponding to the center direction
ST12 and ST22 become active so as to be transferred to.

S102: Based on the brightness in the distance measuring direction, the transfer stages inside the skim CCD, especially the circulating shift register to which the signal charges are added one after another during the active distance measurement, do not saturate so that the skim CCD does not saturate. Set the driving frequency and the opening time of the electronic shutter. In the case of the object to be measured shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the right side of the person in the center receives sunlight, so that it is extremely bright. You. The measurement here is performed to prevent saturation of the cyclic shift register and the CCD as the transfer means, and is determined by the sensor output of the brightest area among the sensors looking in each direction. S104: Active distance measurement is performed based on the conditions set in the above process, and the obtained distance measurement result is stored in the memory 21 of FIG.
1 is written to a predetermined address.

S105: Based on the measurement result of the brightness in the distance measurement direction, each transfer stage inside the skim CCD, especially the cyclic shift register to which the signal charges are added one after another during the passive distance measurement, is not saturated. Next, the drive frequency of the skim CCD and the open time of the electronic shutter 13 at t ₁ and t _{2 in} FIG. 3 are set. If the same value as the condition set in S102 may be used, step S105 is omitted.

S106: The passive result is written to a predetermined address of the memory 211 based on the conditions set in the above process. S107: If the distance measurement in each direction is completed, the process proceeds to the next step. If not completed, the process returns to S101 to perform the distance measurement in the next direction.

S108: The distance to the object to be measured is determined from the active distance measurement and the passive distance measurement in each direction written in the memory 211. Since a number of specific methods have been conventionally proposed, they will not be described here. S109: The distance measurement result determined in S108 is output to an external device (not shown).

Here, a specific example of the processing of S102 and S105, which is the point of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. FIG.
(A) schematically shows a non-lighting output signal of a specific pixel of the sensor array appearing in the output of the OS amplifier unit 20 in FIG. 2 during active distance measurement, and by repeating the addition of charges from the sensor. 7 shows how the output changes depending on the external light component. Here, the view is determined by the comparator 105R or 105L in FIG. 1 at the skim determination level, and the skim operation is executed when the external light component is accumulated until the level exceeds this level. The judgment level of Vjudge is arbitrarily determined by the set value of + Vref. Vsk
im represents a skim amount, and a charge corresponding to this voltage is discharged from the skim clear unit 23 by the skim operation. This charge amount is uniformly determined by the structure of the skim portion 21 in FIG.

Α is the charge storage amount per operation, and 1
It is assumed that the skim operation is detected for the first time at the Nth time by repeating the integration twice and twice. In the distance measuring apparatus shown in FIG.
The control circuit 206 detects each. α is proportional to the accumulation time per time if the amount of light impinging on the sensor is constant during the distance measurement time, and is changed by changing the original oscillation frequency of each drive pulse for driving the light receiving means shown in FIG. be able to. That is, if the frequency of the CCD drive pulse, which is the original oscillation, is increased, the operation of each drive pulse obtained by dividing the frequency is accelerated, and the accumulation time per time is shortened, and α is also reduced. If the drive pulse frequency is reduced, α can be increased.

However, as the CCD drive pulse frequency is increased, the pulse width for transferring the charges obtained by dividing the frequency is also reduced, resulting in inconvenience in charge transfer. Usually, the upper limit of the frequency of the charge transfer pulse is about several MHz. Therefore, the upper limit of the CCD drive pulse frequency is set so that no inconvenience occurs in the charge transfer, and the α can be reduced by controlling the open time of the electronic shutter to be short.

By the way, in order for the cyclic shift register not to be saturated in the active distance measurement, it is necessary to satisfy the following condition: Vskim> α (1) For that purpose, α of the output signal of the non-lighting of the light emitting elements (IRED) of all the pixels needs to satisfy the above expression.

In the distance measuring device shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 06 indicates the occurrence of a skim operation by reversing the skim comparators 105R and 105R.
Since dge> α × (N−1), Vskim> Vjudge / (N−1)> α (2), the signal accumulation time per operation is set.

In practice, N is obtained by setting the signal accumulation time per operation to the maximum, and if the above equation (2) is not satisfied, the signal accumulation time per operation is shortened at a fixed rate, and the signal accumulation time is reduced again. N
Is repeated, it is possible to determine the signal accumulation time per operation without saturating the cyclic shift register. That is, the brightness measurement in the distance measuring direction in S102 and the setting of the skim CCD driving frequency and the opening time of the electronic shutter in S103 are performed.

FIG. 5B schematically shows an output signal of a specific pixel of the sensor array appearing in the OS amplifier section 20 of FIG. 2 at the time of passive distance measurement, in which charge addition from the sensor is repeated. Shows how the output changes depending on the external light component. In passive distance measurement, light emission of the light emitting means and skim operation are prohibited, and external light impinging on the sensor is Vjud.
The addition of the charge from the sensor is repeated until the value reaches ge.
In this drawing, since the voltage exceeds Vjudge at the K-th time, the transfer of charges from the new sensor is stopped. However, for example, when the outputs of the sensors S13 to S53 in the left direction are added, the electric charges existing in the integration units 14 and 15 and the linear CCD
In order to transfer all the charges existing in the circular shift register to the circular shift register, it is necessary to further make four rounds of the circular shift register. Finally, the charge increases until the circular shift register makes (K + 4) rounds, and the signal level increases. .

On the other hand, the cyclic shift register and the OS amplifier 1
It must be within the range of Vlinear where a linearity of 01 is guaranteed. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the amount of charge stored per operation differently from that during active distance measurement, and it is necessary to limit the amount of signal storage β per operation so that the following equation is satisfied. (Vlinear-Vjudge) / 4> β (3) Here, Vlinear is sufficiently large (Vlinear-Vjudge).
When satisfying (Vjudge) / 4 ≧ Vskim, from equation (2), (Vlinear-Vjudge) / 4 ≧ Vskim> Vjudge / (N−1)> α (4)

The above equation (4) satisfies the equation (3) when the signal accumulation amount α per one time set in the conditional equation (2) is applied as it is at the time of active distance measurement and α = β. The signal indicates that it will not saturate below Vinear. That is, the skim CCD drive frequency and the electronic shutter opening time set in the active distance measurement can be used as they are in the passive distance measurement, and the skim CCD drive frequency and the electronic shutter open time can be newly obtained in the passive distance measurement. Since it becomes unnecessary, the time is shortened, which is effective in shortening the distance measuring time.

Further, (Vlinear-Vjudge) /
If 4 ≧ 2 × Vskim is satisfied, then (Vlinear−Vjudge) / 4 ≧ 2 × Vskim> 2 × Vjudge / (N−1)> 2 × α (5). The cycle of the number of times the skim CCD drive circuit breaks can be doubled or the open time of the electronic shutter can be doubled. It is possible to use the arithmetically calculated values as they are, and it is not necessary to newly calculate the skim CCD drive frequency and the electronic shutter open time during passive distance measurement. In particular, the electronic shutter open time is set to double. Then, the signal charge accumulation time is reduced by almost half, which is effective in shortening the distance measurement time.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart according to the second embodiment, and processing different from FIG. 4 will be described. S
In step 202, the skim CCD drive frequency and the opening time of the electronic shutter are set on the premise of passive distance measurement. Also S2
In 04, passive distance measurement is performed under the conditions set in S203 to obtain a distance measurement result. In S205, a skim CCD drive frequency and an electronic shutter open time suitable for active distance measurement are set based on the conditions set in S202. S206
Then, active distance measurement is performed under the set conditions.

According to such a method, it is not necessary to newly obtain the skim CCD driving frequency and the opening time of the electronic shutter at the time of passive distance measurement in the same sequence as in the first embodiment, and the distance measurement is required accordingly. Time can be reduced.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, when distance measurement is performed in time series using both active distance measurement and passive distance measurement, the first distance measurement method in which distance measurement is performed first is used. By determining the setting condition of the second ranging method based on the set setting condition and performing the second ranging, the time required to obtain the second setting condition can be omitted. The time required for the distance can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a hybrid ranging apparatus that performs active ranging and passive ranging according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a sensor array, a transfer unit, and a ring CCD part.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart of drive pulses for driving a sensor array, a transfer unit, and a ring CCD.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating a state of accumulation of signal charges.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional distance measuring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Sensor array 12 Signal charge integration part 13 ICG gate 14 First storage part 15 Second storage part 16 Shift part 17 Linear CCD 18 Ring CCD 20 OS amplifier part 23 Light receiving lens 25 Passive distance measurement arithmetic processing circuit 50 Light receiving lens 51 Sensor for Detecting Left Direction 52 Sensor for Detecting Center Direction 53 Sensor for Detecting Right Direction 101 OS Amplifier 202 Multipoint IRED Drive Circuit 203 Drive Pulse 206 AF Control Circuit 207 Light Projection Lens 208 Light Receiving Lens 210 CPU 211 Memory 212 Memory 221 Target object for right distance measurement 222 Target object for center distance measurement 223 Object for left distance measurement 2011 Right direction light emission IRED 2012 Center direction light emission IRED 2013 Left direction light emission IRED

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G03B 13/36 G02B 7/11 B // H04N 5/232 G03B 3/00 A

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A light projecting means for irradiating a pulse-like light to an object to be measured, a pair of light receiving means each comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements for receiving reflected light from the object to be measured, and An active distance measuring method for obtaining a distance to the object to be measured based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means while the light means is operated, and an active distance measuring method obtained from the light receiving means with the light projecting means stopped. A distance measuring means for performing distance measurement using a passive distance measurement method for obtaining the distance to the object to be measured based on a signal in time series; and setting conditions set in the first distance measurement method used first. Setting means for obtaining setting conditions to be set in a second distance measuring method to be used next based on the distance measuring apparatus. 2. The setting condition is determined by information on the maximum value of the amount of light incident on the light receiving means, and the maximum value of the amount of light incident on the light receiving means obtained by the first distance measuring method. 2. The distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting condition of the second distance measuring method is determined from information on the second distance measuring method. 3. A transfer means for taking in the electric charge generated in the light receiving means through an electronic shutter and transferring the electric charge to the distance measuring means in a plurality of times, wherein the set condition is such that the electric charge transferred per time is provided. 2. The distance measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a driving frequency of said transfer means for controlling an amount or an opening time of said electronic shutter is provided. 4. A state in which a light projecting process of irradiating a pulse-like light to the object to be measured, a light receiving process of receiving reflected light from the object to be measured by light receiving means, and the light projecting process are performed. An active distance measuring method for obtaining a distance to the object to be measured based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means, and the distance measuring method based on a signal obtained from the light receiving means in a state where the light emitting process is stopped. A distance measurement process for performing distance measurement using a passive distance measurement method for obtaining a distance to an object in a time-series manner, and a second distance measurement method based on a setting condition set in a first distance measurement method used first. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a setting process for obtaining a setting condition set by the distance measurement method of (2). 5. The setting condition is determined by information on the maximum value of the amount of light incident on the light receiving means, and the maximum value of the amount of light incident on the light receiving means obtained by the first distance measurement method. 5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein a setting condition of the second distance measurement method is determined from information regarding the second distance measurement method. 6. A program for executing a transfer process of capturing charges generated in the light receiving means via an electronic shutter and transferring the charges in a plurality of times, wherein the set conditions are transferred each time. 5. The computer-readable storage medium according to claim 4, wherein the transfer drive frequency for controlling a charge amount or an open time of the electronic shutter.