# US 10,122,947 B2 · Image pickup apparatus and image processing method

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- Number: US 10,122,947 B2
- Document ID: US10122947B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/972,097
- Filed: 2018-05-04
- Published: 2018-09-06
- Granted: 2018-11-06
- Earliest claimed: 2014-05-29
- Assignees: Olympus Corporation
- Applicants: Olympus Corporation
- Inventors: Takeyuki Ajito
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10122947B2

## CPC

- H04N 25/48: Increasing resolution by shifting the sensor relative to the scene
- G03B 7/091: Digital circuits
- G03B 15/00: Special procedures for taking photographs; Apparatus therefor
- G06T 3/4015: Image demosaicing, e.g. colour filter arrays [CFA] or Bayer patterns
- G06T 7/13: Edge detection
- H04N 9/646: {for image enhancement, e.g. vertical detail restoration, cross-colour elimination, contour correction, chrominance trapping filters}
- H04N 9/77: Circuits for processing the brightness signal and the chrominance signal relative to each other, e.g. adjusting the phase of the brightness signal relative to the colour signal, correcting differential gain or differential phase (circuits for matrixing H04N9/67)
- H04N 23/667: Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
- H04N 23/672: {based on the phase difference signals}
- H04N 23/673: {based on contrast or high frequency components of image signals, e.g. hill climbing method}
- H04N 23/951: by using two or more images to influence resolution, frame rate or aspect ratio
- H04N 25/134: {based on three different wavelength filter elements}
- H04N 25/611: Correction of chromatic aberration
- H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
- G03B: APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS OR FOR PROJECTING OR VIEWING THEM; APPARATUS OR ARRANGEMENTS EMPLOYING ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ACCESSORIES THEREFOR (optical parts of such apparatus G02B; photosensitive materials or processes for photographic purposes G03C; apparatus for processing exposed photographic materials G03D)
- G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL

## Abstract

An image pickup apparatus includes an image pickup device including a plurality of pixels arrayed at a predetermined pixel pitch, a shift mechanism configured to perform a pixel shift in a movement amount which is a non-integral multiple of the pixel pitch, a microcomputer configured to cause the image pickup device to pick up an image at pixel shifting positions to respectively acquire a plurality of pieces of image data, a synthesis processing section configured to synthesize the acquired plurality of pieces of image data to generate composite image data with a high resolution, and an image processing section configured to determine an edge enhancement parameter based on a characteristic relating to a pixel opening of the composite image data and perform edge enhancement processing for the composite image data.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An image pickup apparatus comprising:
an image pickup device including a plurality of pixels arrayed in a two-dimensional form at a predetermined pixel pitch;
a shooting mode setting section configured to set either one of a first shooting mode and a second shooting mode;
a pixel shift section configured to, when the second shooting mode is set, perform a pixel shift so that a relative position in a direction of the array in the two-dimensional form between the image pickup device and a light flux received by the image pickup device becomes a plurality of relative positions, which differ in movement amounts, including a relative position in a movement amount which is a non-integral multiple of the pixel pitch;
an image pickup control section configured to, when the first shooting mode is set, cause the image pickup device to perform an image pickup operation once to acquire one piece of image data, and when the second shooting mode is set, cause the image pickup device to perform the image pickup operation at the plurality of respective relative positions to acquire a plurality of pieces of image data;
an image synthesis section configured to synthesize the plurality of pieces of image data acquired by the image pickup control section when the second shooting mode is set, to generate composite image data with a higher resolution than resolution of image data obtained from the image pickup device;
a parameter determining section configured to, when the first shooting mode is set, determine a first parameter as an edge enhancement parameter, and when the second shooting mode is set, determine, as the edge enhancement parameter, a second parameter that provides a degree of edge enhancement higher than a degree of edge enhancement when the first parameter is used; and
an image processing section configured to use the edge enhancement parameter determined by the parameter determining section, to perform edge enhancement processing for the one piece of image data when the first shooting mode is set, and to perform the edge enhancement processing for the composite image data when the second shooting mode is set.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the parameter determining section determines, as the edge enhancement parameter, the second parameter that compensates for an amount of decrease in pixel opening MTF characteristic caused by a pixel opening ratio becoming larger when the second shooting mode is set than when the first shooting mode is set.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a memory configured to store the first parameter and the second parameter, wherein
the parameter determining section, when the first shooting mode is set, receives an input of the first parameter from the memory and determines the first parameter as the edge enhancement parameter, and when the second shooting mode is set, receives an input of the second parameter from the memory and determines the second parameter as the edge enhancement parameter.

### Claim 4

An image processing method for processing
one piece of image data acquired, when a first shooting mode is set, by an image pickup device performing an image pickup operation once, the image pickup device including a plurality of pixels arrayed in a two-dimensional form at a predetermined pixel pitch, or
a plurality of pieces of image data acquired, when the second shooting mode is set, by performing a pixel shift so that a relative position in a direction of the array in the two-dimensional form between the image pickup device and a light flux received by the image pickup device becomes a plurality of relative positions, which differ in movement amounts, including a relative position in a movement amount which is a non-integral multiple of the pixel pitch, and causing the image pickup device to perform the image pickup operation at the plurality of respective relative positions, the method comprising:
for the one piece of image data acquired when the first shooting mode is set,
determining a first parameter as an edge enhancement parameter, and
performing edge enhancement processing for the one piece of image data using the edge enhancement parameter,
for the plurality of image data acquired when the second shooting mode is set,
synthesizing the plurality of pieces of image data to generate composite image data with a higher resolution than resolution of image data obtained from the image pickup device,
determining, as the edge enhancement parameter, a second parameter that provides a degree of edge enhancement higher than a degree of edge enhancement when the first parameter is used; and
performing the edge enhancement processing for the composite image data using the edge enhancement parameter.