Sony Corporation

Yoshiaki Nishide

Hiromasa Ikeyama

Motohiro Nakasuji

Fumihiko Sudo

Kazushige Takahashi

Noriyuki Ono

Manabu Hara

Yukihiro Kinoshita

Sohhei Okada

Motohiro Nakasuzi

Provided is an image signal processor, including: an integrator configured to integrate each frame of an image signal; a first flicker corrector configured to extract a flicker component from the integrated value obtained by the integrator, the flicker component depending on a frequency of a light source, and to reduce a flicker component from the integrated value sequentially; and a second flicker corrector configured to generate a reference image without a flicker component based on the correction result of the integrated value corrected by the first flicker corrector, and to correct a flicker of the image signal based on the reference image.

Image signal processor that reduces a flicker component of an image signal depending on a level change between continuous frames

A signal processing method is provided. The method includes: generating an output signal containing a high-precision component at a level not determined by quantization of an input digital signal by subjecting each of pixels constituting the input digital signal to a predetermined filter operation such that a set of predetermined number of pixels including a target pixel and surrounding pixels thereof is obtained, the operation is carried out on the surrounding pixels when a variation from the target pixel is within a predetermined threshold range, and the operation is carried out on the target pixel when a variation from the target pixel is out of the predetermined threshold range; separating the high precision component from the signal output from the edge-preserving smoothing filter; and adding the high precision component separated from the high-precision component separating part to the input digital signal.

Imaging apparatus, signal processing circuit, signal processing apparatus, signal processing method, and computer program product

An arithmetic processing section executes an arithmetic process on a flicker correction signal output from a flicker correction signal outputting section and corresponding to the flicker component contained in a video signal of each of specific periods and the video signal of each of the specific periods to form a corrected video signal of the specific period corrected for the flicker component of the specific period for the video signal of each of the specific periods formed as a succession of specific periods and containing a flicker component as supplied from a video signal generating section in response to a correction error signal of each of the specific periods supplied from a correction error detecting section.

Flicker correcting method, flicker correcting circuit, and imaging device using them

A high frequency component detection circuit detecting a high frequency component included in a video signal is provided. The high frequency component detection circuit includes a filter acquiring a group of a predetermined number of pixels including a focused pixel and pixels surrounding the focused pixel with respect to each of pixels constituting the video signal, rearranging the pixels constituting the group to be arrayed in the order of luminance values, determining the luminance value of the pixel positioned at the center in the rearranged order, and outputting the pixel positioned at the center among the rearranged pixels arrayed in the order of luminance values as the focused pixel. Further, the high frequency component detection circuit includes a detection circuit detecting a high frequency component included in the video signal based on the output from the filter.

Imaging apparatus, high frequency component detection circuit, high frequency component detection method and computer program product

A video signal processing circuit converting a color image represented using a plurality of primary color signals into a monocolor image is provided. The video signal processing circuit includes: a chroma adjustment unit adjusting the chroma of the plurality of input primary color signals; a gain correction unit provided for each of the primary color signals, correcting gain on the primary color signals whose chroma is adjusted in the chroma adjustment unit; and a control unit instructing the chroma adjustment unit to adjust the chroma and instructing each of the gain correction units to correct the gain.

Imaging apparatus, video signal processing circuit, video signal processing method and computer program product for converting a color image

An image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup device generating image signals of picked up images; a converting unit converting the image signals generated by the image pickup device to digital image signals; a memory storing the image signals obtained by the converting unit; and a memory control unit controlling writing the image signals in the memory and reading the image signals from the memory. The memory control unit assigns bands of the memory in order to simultaneously perform writing image signals in the memory and reading the image signals from the memory for displaying picked up images and/or reading the image signals from the memory for recording picked up images at different frame rates.

Image pickup apparatus and image pickup method to display or record images picked up at high rate in real time

A signal processing apparatus to be used for a solid-state image pickup element having a plurality of output systems that output video signals obtained from pixels arranged in a column direction includes a subtraction unit that subtracts an amended error value for each column from the video signals output from the solid-state image pickup element. The signal processing apparatus also includes an error value computing unit that shields the solid-state image pickup element from light or irradiates light to the solid-state image pickup element at a constant rate, computes a respective average value of each of a plurality of pixel signals obtained from the pixels in a predetermined region of the solid-state image pickup element, subtracts the respective average value from a respective of the plurality of the pixel signals obtained from the pixels of the solid-state image pickup element, and accumulates values obtained by subtractions for respective columns.

Signal processing apparatus and signal processing method for solid-state image pickup element and image pickup apparatus

Even when the light intensity of the light source varies, the flicker correction can thus be made flexibly. The present invention provides a flicker correction method comprising the steps of predicting, from an image of a present flicker-corrected frame, a flicker of an image of a next frame to generate two types of flicker images having flickers different in level from each other added thereto, detecting a flicker component through comparison between the generated two types of flicker images and an image of an input next frame, generating a flicker correction value on the basis of the detected flicker component, and making flicker correction by adding the generated flicker correction value to an input image frame by frame.

Flicker correction method and device, and imaging device

An apparatus includes a solid-state image pickup element that outputs video signals obtained from pixels arranged in a column direction. The apparatus also includes an amendment unit that amends an error value corresponding to a column position of the video signals according to a temperature to supply an amended error value to a subtraction unit that subtracts the amended error value for each column from the video signals. The apparatus further includes an error computing section that shields the pickup element from light or irradiates light to the pickup element at a constant rate, computes a respective average value of each of a plurality of pixel signals obtained from the pixels in a predetermined region of the pickup element, subtracts the respective average value from a respective of the plurality of pixel signals obtained from the pixels of the pickup element, and accumulates values obtained by subtractions for respective columns.

Even in case the shutter speed is high, a flicker can be corrected accurately. A flicker correction method in which a flicker is corrected by predicting, from a present input frame image, a flicker component in an image of a next frame and adding a correction value to the next frame image on the basis of the predicted flicker component includes holding a plurality of flicker data, calculating the correction value by combining a plurality of flicker data together at a ratio set correspondingly to a shutter speed and frame rate, and adding the calculated correction value to the input image signal.

A flicker is corrected with consideration given to the influence of noises. The present invention provides a flicker correction method in which a flicker is corrected by subtracting a flicker correction signal from an image signal, the method including the steps of removing noise from the flicker-corrected image signal by passing the latter through a low-pass filter, generating a correction error signal from the noise-removed, flicker-corrected image signal and the image signal not yet flicker-corrected, removing the image signal not yet flicker-corrected by passing the latter through a low-pass filter, and generating a flicker correction signal from the noise-removed image signal and correction error signal.

A quantization-precision-reproduction method including the steps of reproducing an m-bit-length high-precision component lower than or equal to quantization precision of an n-bit-length digital signal on the basis of the n-bit-length digital signal, and generating an n+m-bit-length digital signal by adding the reproduced m-bit-length high-precision component to a low-order bit of the n-bit-length digital signal is provided.

Quantization-precision-reproduction method, quantization-precision-reproduction device, image-pickup device, information-processing device, and program

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Kanagawa, Japan

Yoshiaki Nishide