IP Library Granted Patent US 9,100,604
Granted Patent B2
US 9,100,604 · App. 14/264,243 · Granted Aug 4, 2015

Electric camera

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,100,604
App. No.
14/264,243
Granted
Aug 4, 2015
Kind
B2
Abstract

An electric camera includes an image sensing device with a light receiving surface having N vertically arranged pixels and an arbitrary number of pixels arranged horizontally, N being equal to or more than three times the number of effective scanning lines M of a display screen of a television system, a driver to drive the image sensing device to vertically mix or cull signal charges accumulated in individual pixels of K pixels to produce, during a vertical effective scanning period of the television system, a number of lines of output signals which corresponds to 1/K the number of vertically arranged pixels N of the image sensing device, K being an integer equal to or less than an integral part of a quotient of N divided by M, and a signal processing unit having a function of generating image signals by using the output signals of the image sensing device.

Claims (20)

1. An electric camera comprising:

an image sensing device, with a light receiving surface having a quantity N of vertically arranged pixels, and an arbitrary quantity of pixels arranged horizontally, wherein N is greater than or equal to three times a quantity M of effective scanning lines of a display screen of a television system;

a driver configured to drive the image sensing device to vertically mix or cull signal charges accumulated in individual pixels, at intervals of a quantity K of pixels, in order to produce a quantity of lines of output signals which corresponds to the quantity M of effective scanning lines, wherein the quantity K is an integer less than or equal to an integer portion of a quotient of N divided by M;

a view angle change switch configured to input a request to change a view angle of a moving image; and

a signal processing unit configured to generate image signals by using the output signals of the image sensing device;

wherein when the request to change the view angle is to magnify an output image by the view angle change switch. the driver changes the quantity of K from a

first value K 1 to a second value K 2 , in order to read out image signals with the same quantity of output lines from different areas on the imaging sensing device wherein the first value K 1 is larger than the second value K 2 ;

wherein the signal processing unit generates the image signals with the same scanning lines.

2. An electric camera according to the claim 1 ,

wherein the view angle change switch is configured to input the request to continuously change the view angle of the moving image,

wherein the signal processing unit is configured to generate magnified image signals with interpolation processing, according to a magnification factor set by the view angle switch.

3. An electric camera according to the claim 2 ,

wherein the view angle switch includes a zoom switch interlocked with an optical zoom mechanism.

4. An electric camera comprising:

an image sensing device, with a light receiving surface having a quantity N of pixels arranged vertically, and an arbitrary quantity of pixels arranged horizontally, wherein N is greater than three times a quantity M of effective vertical lines of a television system;

a signal processing unit configured to generate and output image signals with the quantity M of effective vertical lines of the television system, by using output signals of the image sensing device,

a zoom switch configured to enable a user to input zooming operation information,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the image signals, read out with mixing or culling vertical pixel lines of signals, at pixel intervals of a quantity K of lines, from different areas of the imaging device, the areas being continuously changed, and the quantity K being discontinuously changed according to magnification factors.

5. An electric camera according to the claim 4 ,

wherein the zoom switch is interlocked with an optical zoom mechanism.

Assignments (4)
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 3, 2021
From: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
To: MAXELL, LTD.
Reel/Frame 058666/0407 →
MERGER Recorded Nov 29, 2021
From: MAXELL, LTD.
To: MAXELL HOLDINGS, LTD.
Reel/Frame 058255/0579 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 25, 2018
From: HITACHI MAXELL, LTD.
To: MAXELL, LTD.
Reel/Frame 045142/0208 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 4, 2014
From: HITACHI CONSUMER ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
To: HITACHI MAXELL, LTD.
Reel/Frame 033685/0883 →