Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Okio Yoshida

Nozomu Harada

Yukio Endo

Yoshiyuki Matsunaga

Hiroshi Kobayashi

Yoshitaka Egawa

Akihiko Furukawa

Yasuo Takemura

Nobuyuki Takagi

A color image sensing system includes a CCD image sensor with an optical color filter. A CCD driver is provided to electrically drive the image sensor, which is attached to a vibration table serving as a swing-driver for moving the image sensor along a horizontal direction such that each cell of the image sensor shifts, in a frame period including first and second field periods, between four different sampling positions substantially aligned in the horizontal direction. During each field period, each cell is positioned at two sampling positions, wherein a brightness signal component is produced at one sampling position and color signal components are produced at these sampling positions. The distance between two sampling positions at which the brightness signal components of the first and second field images are produced is set to be half the horizontal pitch of the cells of the image sensor. The remaining two sampling positions of the four sampling positions are apart from each other by one-and-half times the horizontal cell pitch. A color frame image is thus reproduced by electrically adding the first and second field images to increase the number of picture elements to more than the actual number of cells, thereby improving the horizontal image resolution of the frame image and minimizing the generation of color moire in the frame image. The swing-drive operation of the image sensor is repeated in synchronism with the frame period.

Swing-driven solid-state color image sensor

A solid-state image sensor has an electrically floating carrier detecting electrode formed on a substrate, into which the signal carriers are transmitted, a sense amplifier circuit detecting the variation in a voltage of the electrode at the time of transferring the carriers, and a resetting electrode for resetting the potential of the electrode to a predetermined potential at every read-out period of the picture element section. A circuit arrangement for removing noise is provided to have two switches which switch to alternatively become conductive in response to control pulse signals. The first switch becomes conductive during a first period within one picture element period. During the first period the CCD output signal contains an effective image signal component. The second switch becomes conductive during a second period during which the CCD output signal contains a reset noise component, thereby forcibly fixing the level of the reset noise signal to a DC reference potential so that reset noise can be removed.

Image-sensing system with noise eliminator

A solid state image sensing system includes a CCD and a vibration table. The vibration table swing-drives the CCD in response to a drive signal generated by a drive pulse generator, in such a manner that the CCD is vibrated in a horizontal direction in one vibration cycle consisting of two succeeding frame periods each having A and B fields.

Solid state image sensor with high resolution

A solid-state image sensing device such as an IT-CCD has first and second photosensing sections which are stacked so that they separately sense visible and infrared image light components contained in input light. The visible image light component contained in image light irradiated through a transparent layer is absorbed by a silicon amorphous layer, thereby sensing a visible image. The remaining light component is transmitted through an insulative layer, and is irradiated into an n.sup.+ diffusion layer which consists of a Schottky diode and serves as the second photosensing section. The infrared image light component is absorbed in the Schottky diode, thereby sensing the infrared light image.

Visible/infrared imaging device with stacked cell structure

A CCD output signal reproduction apparatus is applied to a solid state image sensor that performs a swing-driven image pickup operation. This image sensor is synchronized with one frame period and swings periodically and relatively in relation to incident light to pickup the image while changing the sampling positions in the A and B field periods. The carrier generator produces first and second sinusoidal carrier signals which have the same frequency as that of the read out frequency of the image sensor. An amplitude modulator modulates the carrier signals in response to the waveforms of the image signals supplied from the image sensor. Accordingly, amplitude-modulated A, B field image signals, which are phase-shifted by half the pixel pitch of the pixel arrangement of the image sensor. A carrier clamp circuit forcibly clamps the different peak potentials of the carrier waveforms of the amplitude-modulated field image signals to the reference potential level. In this way, when the field image signal whose waveform has been shaped is synthesized on the reproduction screen, it is possible to obtain a one frame image which has a resolution twice that determined by the actual number of pixels.

Image signal reproduction circuit for swing image sensor

A solid-state image sensing device, such as an interline-transfer type charge-coupled device (IT-CCD), produces signal carriers in response to incident light and generates an image pickup signal. One frame of the image signal is formed of two fields. The CCD chip is coupled to fixed bimorph piezoelectric vibrators by which it is given a wobbling-swing drive during image pickup. This wobbling-swing drive is controlled by a vibration controller. This vibration controller controls the vibration mode of the bimorph piezoelectric elements to apply a first vibration (swing vibration) to the CCD such that each pixel cell is displaced to a different sampling position in the plurality of field periods included in one frame period for image pickup, and applying a second vibration, i.e., a swing vibration with wobbling superposed, to the CCD such that each pixel cell is wobbled while picking up an image in each sampling position, which is positioned in each field period.

Wobbling-swing driven image sensor

In an image sensing system, a solid-state image sensor is mounted on a vibration stand in a manner as to vibrate horizontally to an incoming light in synchronization with one frame period, thereby sensing while alternatively displacing at different sampling positions in two field periods. Field image signals from the image sensor is supplied, through a signal processor, to a signal reproduction unit which includes a carrier generator for producing first and second carrier signals having the same frequency as the horizontal readout frequency of the image sensor and a phase in reverse to one other in the field periods, and an AM modulator for amplitude-modulating the carrier signal. The amplitude modulation field signals thus obtained are sliced at a suitable level by a slicer and then synthesized each other to obtain a frame image signal.

Image signal reproduction circuit for solid-state image sensor

A solid-state image sensing device such as an interline-transfer type charge coupled device generates signal charges in response to incident light to produce an image signal. The CCD output signal includes a mixed reset pulse component from a reset pulse driver to the IT-CCD, as well as an image signal component corresponding to the signal charges. When the IT-CCD contains a defective picture element, position data of the defective picture element is stored into an address memory. An amplitude controller detects an increment of a signal level corresponding to a dark current generated at the defective picture element, and temporarily decreases the amplitude of the reset pulse only when the image signal is output from the defective picture element. In this way, the mixed reset pulse contained in the image signal output from the defective picture element is reduced, thereby subtracting the signal level increment from the CCD output signal produced from the defective picture element.

CCD Picture element defect compensating apparatus

A solid state image sensor with a plurality of cells comprising a photoelectric converting film formed on a semiconductor substrate for photoelectrically converting incoming light rays to generate signal charge, signal charge storage areas for storing said signal charge formed in said substrate, signal charge read out areas for reading out said signal charge from said storage area, conductor electrodes for making said photoelectric converting film electrically contact with said signal charge storage areas to lead said signal charge from said photoelectric converting film to said storage areas, and series of said conductor electrodes arranged along at least two or more row lines in a matrix of said conductor electrodes being displayed in the row direction by 1/2 of the length of one electrode one from the other as viewed in the column direction.

Solid state image sensor

There is disclosed a solid state image sensor including an interline transfer charge coupled device (IT-CCD) serving as an area image sensor and a vibrating plate for vibrating or swinging the IT-CCD in a plane orthogonal to an incident image light, horizontally, periodically and relatively to the incident image light in a given vibration mode. When the solid state image sensor is applied for NTSC television system in which one frame is composed of two fields, the IT-CCD is vibrated so that it senses an image at different positions during the two fields periods. As a result, a reproduced picture has a resolution which is obtained as if the number of picture elements of the image sensor per se is doubled.

An electronic still camera is disclosed which includes a solid state image sensor such as charge transfer device (CTD) and a shutter mechanism. For obtaining a still picture of one frame composed of two fields according to an NTSC television system, the shutter mechanism is driven so as to be opened before and after a signal charge read out period of a CTD by a shutter period control circuit. With this arrangement, the field image light is incident on the CTD in every field period.

Electronic image sensing apparatus

An image input device is disclosed including an image source which generates an image light and a light sensor facing the image source. The image light is divided into a number of components by an image dividing device. The light sensor contains a number of photoelectric converting elements, the number of photoelectric converting elements being smaller than the number of components constituting the image light. The image dividing device is placed between the light sensor and the image source to divide the image light into components in a predetermined timed order. The photoelectric converting elements are thereby irradiated in the predetermined timed order and the electrical signals generated by these photoelectric elements are read out in this same predetermined timed order and stored in a memory.

Image input device

A charge transfer apparatus comprises a pulse generator, a drive circuit for sending forth drive signals having a plurality of voltage levels in accordance with the pulse signals produced from the pulse generator, and a charge coupled device of the frame transfer type which is actuated by the drive signals and in which bias charges are previously injected into the potential wells of the light receiving section. The drive circuit comprises an analog multiplexer for selectively sending forth a D.C. voltage signal in accordance with the pulse signal, during the vertical blanking period, injects an excess amount of bias charges into the potential wells and raises the bottoms of the potential wells to let an excess amount of bias charges overflow the potential wells for combination with holes.

Charge transfer apparatus

A plurality of photosensitive sections, each having two photosensitive rows, and a plurality of readout sections, each having two readout rows, are alternately distributed in the horizontal direction. The picture element signals of the photosensitive rows each adjacent to each of two readout rows are synthesized for each line. Pseudo-picture element signals are synthesized from the synthesized picture element signals, and the pseudo-picture element signals are used as the picture element signals corresponding to the readout sections.

A solid-state image sensing device having an enhanced sensitivity to a short wavelength comprises an optical substrate for passing a predetermined light therethrough, a semiconductor substrate supported on the optical substrate and a plurality of electrodes formed on an insulating layer overlying the semiconductor substrate, in which a light corresponding to an object is incident from the optical substrate side.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Okio Yoshida