Olympus Corporation

Olympus Imaging Corporation

Makoto Ikeda

Kazuhiro Haneda

Yoshinao Shimada

Satoru Adachi

Hitoshi Hashimoto

Nana Akahane

Shingo Miyazawa

Ryuhi Okubo

Masaya Honda

Hitoshi Komine

Toshimasa Miura

Kauzuya Nakabe

Yoshio Fukuda

An imaging system includes: an optical system configured to form a subject image; a driver configured to drive the optical system; an imaging element configured to capture the subject image and generate image data; and a processor configured to control the imaging element and the driver. The imaging element includes: a first imaging portion configured to capture an image of a first light beam that travels through a first optical path in the optical system; a second imaging portion configured to capture an image of a second light beam that travels through a second optical path shorter than the first optical path; and plural phase difference pixels for phase difference autofocus, the plural phase difference pixels being arranged in at least one of the first imaging portion and the second imaging portion, the plural phase difference pixels being configured to output phase difference signals.

Imaging system, endoscope system, and control method

A control device includes: a processor configured to obtain a first picture signal and a second picture signal, calculate first ranging information based on the first picture signal, calculate second ranging information based on the second picture signal, estimate a first subject distance corresponding to the first ranging information, estimate ranging information corresponding to a second focal position, perform arithmetic processing to determine degree of reliability of the first ranging information, and output a result of the arithmetic processing.

Control device, endoscope system, and control method

An imaging apparatus includes a pixel array, a first adder, a second adder, a first A/D converter circuit, and a second A/D converter circuit. The pixel array includes a plurality of pairs of first pixels and second pixels. Each pair of the first pixel and the second pixel receives a light flux passing through a photography optical system by pupil-dividing the light flux. The first adder adds outputs of the first pixels and outputs of the second pixels. The second adder generates a first output by adding the outputs of the first pixels and generates a second output by adding the outputs of the second pixels. The first A/D converter circuit converts an output of the first adder to a digital signal. The second A/D converter circuit converts an output of the second adder to a digital signal.

Imaging apparatus, control method of imaging apparatus, and storage medium storing control program of imaging apparatus for performing focus detection and display

A direction judgment unit calculates a first evaluation value based on an image signal of a first focus detection region among focus detection regions to judge a drive direction of a focus lens to be in focus and calculates a second evaluation value based on an image signal of at least one second focus detection region smaller than the first region, the focus detection regions being at least partly the same and being different in size. A control unit determines whether a change of the second evaluation value is a monotonous change when the focus lens is slightly driven a first number of times in a first direction judged on the basis of the first evaluation value and the focus lens is slightly driven a second number of times smaller than the first number of times in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and the control unit performs focus adjustment on the basis of the second evaluation value when the change of the second evaluation value is not a monotonous change.

Focus adjustment device and focus adjustment method

A phase difference pixel extraction unit reads phase difference pixel data obtained by performing a storing operation in the same storing time for each of the phase difference pixels in each frame of an imaging operation of an image pickup device. A phase difference pixel calculation unit adds the read frame-by-frame phase difference pixel data of the same coordinates in a current frame and a past frame. A determination unit determines whether to perform a focus detection operation based on the added phase difference pixel data. A ranging calculation processing unit applies the added phase difference pixel data when it is determined, and otherwise applies the phase difference pixel data in the current frame.

Imaging apparatus, imaging method, and storage medium

A focus adjustment device for carrying out focus adjustment by moving a focus lens, comprises a point light source determination section which determines a point-like light source subject based on the image signals, an orientation stability determination section which determines stability of orientation by detecting orientation of the focus adjustment device, a photometry section which outputs photometric values corresponding to subject brightness based on the image signals, and a focus adjustment section which carries out a focus adjustment operation using the image signals, based on a determination result of the point light source determination section, wherein the point light source determination section, in a state where a point-like light source subject is currently determined, when a determination result of the orientation stability determination section indicates unstable and a photometric value output from the photometry section does not indicate low brightness, determines that the subject is not a point-like light source.

An image pickup apparatus including an image pickup device having a pixel section with a plurality of two-dimensionally arranged pixels and a frame memory which temporarily stores, in an analog manner, analog image data read out from the pixel section and first to third readout control sections which perform first readout control that reads out image data of all pixels obtained through one exposure from the pixel section and stores the image data in the frame memory and perform second readout control that nondestructively reads out a piece of image data of a smaller number of pixels than all the pixels from the image data of all the pixels stored in the frame memory a plurality of times such that the piece of image data each has different object region size.

Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method

The invention relates to an image pickup apparatus including a pixel section in which plural pixels are arrayed two-dimensionally, an exposure amount control section that determines an exposure amount and controls the pixel section to be continuously exposed plural times, a memory section that can store a pixel signal from the pixel section for plural frames of an output image, a vertical scanning circuit that reads out the pixel signal of the pixel section and stores the pixel signal in the memory section, and a column processing section that reads out the pixel signal stored in the memory section. The vertical scanning circuit sequentially reads out respective pixel signals related to the plural times of exposures and stores the pixel signals in the memory section.

Image pickup apparatus

The invention provides an image pickup apparatus including: an image pickup device including a memory portion for analog storage and a pixel portion; a first read-out control and processing portions that, in a first frame-period, read out a first-image-signal from a first-pixel-region of the pixel portion, and in a second frame-period longer than the first frame-period, read out a second-image-signal from a second-pixel-region of the pixel portion including the first-pixel-region, and store the read-out signals in the memory portion; a second read-out control and processing portions that read out from a memory portion an AF image signal related to the first-image-signal and a display image signal related to the second-image-signal; a focal point detecting portion that carries out contrast focal point detection based on the AF image signal; and an image display portion that displays an image based on the display image signal.

This invention provides an image pickup apparatus that performs an image pickup operation that alternately repeats a long exposure LE and a short exposure SE. The image pickup apparatus drives an image pickup device in a first driving mode that makes a first time interval between an exposure end time of a pixel in an SE and an exposure start time of the pixel in an LE immediately thereafter and a second time interval between the exposure end time of the pixel in the LE and the exposure start time of the pixel in the SE immediately thereafter equal.

Image pickup apparatus, image pickup system, and image pickup method

An imaging device comprises a photographing lens, a first imaging sensor for taking a subject image formed by the photographing lens, a second image sensor for taking a subject image formed by the photographing lens, an optical path switching section for selectively switching subject light that has passed through the photographing lens to either one of the first image sensor or the second image sensor, a display section for displaying an image taken by the second image sensor, and a display region storage section for storing information representing a region for display on the display section from a region where imaging by the second image sensor is possible. The display section controls the display region based on the information stored in the display region storage section.

Imaging device having a display to display images captured by a plurality of image sensors with different display regions

An imaging device according to one aspect of the present invention has a CCD, a mechanical shutter which prevents transmission of incident light beams to the CCD, a main CPU which sequentially reads stored electric charges obtained by the CCD in a plurality of field cycles and calculates a signal amplification rate based on an image signal which relies on the stored electric charge read to the last field of the plurality of field cycles, and a non-volatile memory which stores the signal amplification rate. The above-described calculation may be executed by an external PC.

Imaging device and imaging device adjusting method

In an electronic camera according to the present invention, an electric charge is stored in a CCD as a light receiving signal having at least color information with respect to received light beams. Standard color information is acquired by an imaging circuit and a main CPU from the light receiving signal obtained by driving the CCD in such a manner that a stored electric charge quantity to be stored in the CCD becomes a predetermined quantity. On the other hand, reference color information is acquired from light receiving information obtained by driving the CCD. An application range of an amplification ratio of the light receiving signal determined based on the reference color information with respect to the standard color information is stored in a detachable memory.

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Kunitachi, Japan

Makoto Ikeda