JPS6124876B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention displays alignment errors of solid-state image sensors in a solid-state image sensor that achieves high resolution by arranging a plurality of solid-state image sensors at predetermined spatial positions. Regarding how to.

In general, a charge coupled device (Charge Coupled Device) that directly optically samples an optical image and converts it into electricity.
In solid-state imaging devices composed of solid-state image sensors such as devices, the element size of the solid-state image sensor is reduced in order to drive the solid-state image sensor at a sufficiently high sampling frequency in order to obtain high-resolution captured images. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the number of elements. but,
With current semiconductor manufacturing technology, it is extremely difficult to manufacture a solid-state image sensor with a large number of picture elements necessary to obtain sufficient resolution.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously filed a patent application for a solid-state imaging device that can achieve high resolution by using a plurality of solid-state imaging bodies with a small number of picture elements that are easy to manufacture.
49-35277 and Japanese Patent Application No. 50-56912.
That is, for example, as shown in Fig. 1, with respect to a green charge-coupled device (hereinafter simply referred to as CCD) 1, red and blue CCDs 2 and 3 are placed horizontally by 1/2 of the pixel pitch τ. Place each CCD in a different direction.
The signal level of each imaging signal obtained in steps 1, 2, and 3 is adjusted so that it becomes L _G = L _R + L _B ......Equation 1, and each of the above imaging signals is synthesized to obtain high resolution. has proposed a solid-state imaging device that obtains an imaging output signal. Here, in the first equation above, L _G is the signal level of the imaging signal obtained by CCD 1 for green, L _R is the signal level of the imaging signal obtained by CCD 2 for red, and L _B is the signal level of the imaging signal obtained by CCD 3 for blue.
This is the image signal obtained by

In such a solid-state imaging device, each CCD1,
Regarding each imaging signal obtained from CCDs 2 and 3, the baseband signals are all in phase, and the sideband components due to sampling are opposite between the imaging signal from CCD 1 for green and each imaging signal from CCDs 2 and 3 for red and blue. each of the above at a given relative spatial position such that
It is necessary to adjust the positions of CCDs 1, 2, and 3 with high precision (so-called registration). By the way, when a solid-state imaging device like the one described above is actually operated, various effects may occur due to shock, changes over time, temperature changes, etc.
A problem may arise in that the CCDs 1, 2, and 3 are displaced from predetermined spatial positions, resulting in output of imaging output signals containing aliasing distortion due to alignment errors.

Conventionally, it has been extremely difficult to detect alignment errors in the solid-state imaging device in actual operation and perform re-registration.

Therefore, the present invention detects the alignment error of each solid-state image sensor in a solid-state image sensor in an actual operating state based on the presence or absence of a sideband component due to sampling, and uses the detected output signal to display the presence or absence of an alignment error on a display unit. The present invention is intended to facilitate the re-registration of each solid-state image pickup body.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings using an embodiment in which the method of the present invention is applied to the solid-state imaging device shown in FIG. 1 described above.

In the method of the present invention, a predetermined number of stripes is applied to a solid-state imaging device as shown in FIG. The alignment error of the solid-state image sensor is displayed by detecting a sideband component due to sampling in an imaging signal obtained by imaging a striped pattern having a striped pattern, and driving a display section with the detected output signal. .

Here, as the striped pattern having the above-mentioned predetermined number of stripes, for example, a black and white vertical striped pattern 4 as shown in FIG. 2 is used, and depending on the number of stripes,
Gives a baseband component to the imaging signal. In other words, when the above black and white pattern 4 is imaged to fill the entire screen with a solid-state imaging device, the effective horizontal screen width is normally
Since it is about 52.7 μs, the black and white pattern 4 above
If 50 vertical stripes are drawn at equal intervals, each imaging signal obtained from each CCD 1, 2, and 3 of the solid-state imaging device will contain a baseband component of about 1 MHz. The number of stripes in black and white pattern 4 above is 25
Each imaging signal includes a baseband component of about 0.5MHz for a book, and about 2MHz for a hundred lines. In this embodiment, the number of stripes in the black and white pattern 4 is 50.

Then, such a black and white pattern 4 is imaged by the above-mentioned solid-state imaging device, and each image signal obtained on each CCD 1, 2, and 3 is sent to an alignment error detection and display device as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1st
The signals are supplied from the third input terminals 5, 6, and 7 to the matrix circuit 11 via process processing circuits 8, 9, and 10, respectively.

Furthermore, in the above matrix circuit 11,
A luminance signal in the imaging output signal obtained by combining the respective imaging signals is supplied to the display unit driving circuit 13 via the bandpass filter 12, and the display unit 14 is driven by the output signal of the display unit driving circuit 13. Drive.

In this embodiment, if the sampling frequency of the imaging operation by each of the CCDs 1, 2, and 3 of the solid-state imaging device is 5MHz, the center frequency of the bandpass filter 12 is set to 4MHz.

Therefore, in the embodiments described above, if each of the CCDs 1, 2, and 3 of the solid-state imaging device deviates from a predetermined spatial position for some reason and causes an alignment error, the black-and-white pattern 4 is
The imaging output signal obtained by imaging has a frequency of
A lower sideband component is generated by sampling the 1MHz baseband component at a sampling frequency of 5MHz, and the lower sideband component becomes aliasing distortion and is included in the luminance signal. FIG. 4 shows the frequency distribution of signal components contained in the above luminance signal. Since the signal level of the lower sideband component mentioned above is proportional to the amount of aliasing distortion,
By passing the above luminance signal through a band pass filter 12 with a center frequency of 4 MHz, the above lower band component is detected, and the display drive circuit 13 is operated according to the detected output signal. The display unit 14 can display the presence or absence of the above-mentioned aliasing distortion, that is, the presence or absence of an alignment error.

Therefore, if the above-mentioned alignment error is displayed in the viewfinder of the imaging device using a lamp, meter, etc. as the display section 14, the operator can easily check the alignment even when the imaging device is in actual operation. It becomes possible to confirm the presence or absence of errors and easily perform re-registration of each CCD 1, 2, and 3 while viewing this display so that the above-mentioned alignment errors become zero.

In addition, in the black-and-white pattern 4 used in the above-mentioned embodiment, the luminance signal in the imaging output signal has a square wave shape as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, it is better to gradually increase or decrease the shading of the black and white pattern 4' so that the luminance signal in the image signal has a sine wave shape.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a solid-state imaging device in which a plurality of solid-state imaging bodies are arranged at predetermined spatial positions, and the outputs of the solid-state imaging bodies are combined to obtain an imaging signal to achieve high resolution. , detects a sideband component by sampling in the imaging signal obtained by imaging a striped pattern having a predetermined number of stripes, and drives a display section with the detection output to display information between the plurality of solid-state image pickup bodies. By providing an alignment error display method for a solid-state imaging device characterized by displaying an alignment error, it is possible to display an alignment error of a solid-state imaging body of a solid-state imaging device in an actual operating state, It becomes possible to easily re-register the above-mentioned solid-state image pickup body.

Note that the present invention is not only applicable to the above-described embodiments, but can also be applied to a solid-state imaging device in which two or more solid-state imaging bodies are arranged at predetermined spatial positions. effect can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the spatial position of each solid-state imaging body of a solid-state imaging device to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a striped pattern used in carrying out the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an alignment error detection and display device constructed by applying the present invention. FIG. 4 is a distribution diagram showing the frequency distribution of signal components included in the luminance signal in the imaging output signal in the above embodiment. FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram of a luminance signal obtained by imaging the striped pattern shown in FIG. 2 above. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of a striped pattern used in carrying out the present invention. 1, 2, 3... Solid-state image pickup body, 4, 4'... Striped pattern, 5, 6, 7... Signal input terminal, 8,
9, 10...Process circuit, 11...Matrix circuit, 12...Band pass filter, 13...Display unit drive circuit, 14...Display unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a solid-state imaging device in which a plurality of solid-state imaging bodies are arranged at predetermined spatial positions and the output of each solid-state imaging body is synthesized to obtain an imaging signal to achieve high resolution, A sideband component due to sampling in the imaging signal obtained by imaging the pattern pattern is detected, and the detection output drives a display unit to display alignment errors between the plurality of solid-state imaging bodies. A method for displaying alignment errors in a solid-state imaging device, characterized by: