Imaging system and electronic endoscope system
AssigneeHoya Corporation
InventorYoshihiro HAYASHI
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Abstract
According to an aspect of the present invention, provided is an electronic endoscope system including a CMOS image sensor that images an object using a rolling shutter method and a light source device that emits a flash to perform strobe imaging of the object. In the system, the light source device emits a flash such that a period from a flash end time of a certain flash to a flash start time of a next flash is longer than a flash prohibition period during which the emission of the flash is prohibited for at least one frame period. The electronic endoscope system processes a captured image for each frame obtained by the CMOS image sensor on the basis of the emission timing of the flash from the light source device to generate a display image.
Claims10
An imaging system comprising:
- an image sensor that images an object using a rolling shutter method;
- a light source unit that emits a flash to perform strobe imaging of the object, the light source unit emitting the flash such that a period from a flash end time of a certain flash to a flash start time of a next flash is longer than a flash prohibition period during which emission of the flash is prohibited for at least one frame period;
- and
- an image processing unit that processes a captured image for each frame obtained by the image sensor on a basis of an emission timing of the flash from the light source unit to generate a display image,
- wherein in a case where the flash is emitted at any line of the image sensor at an exposure start time that is one frame before a current frame,
- the image processing unit generates the display image of the current frame by
- setting an upper image corresponding to lines above a flash start line that is one frame earlier in the display image of the current frame as a captured image obtained from corresponding lines of the current frame,
- setting a lower image corresponding to lines below a flash end line that is one frame earlier in the display image of the current frame as a captured image obtained from corresponding lines that are one frame earlier, and
- setting a boundary image from the flash start line to the flash end line in the display image of the current frame as an image obtained by adding the captured image obtained from the corresponding lines of the current frame and the captured image obtained from the corresponding lines that are one frame earlier, and
- in a case where the flash is not emitted at any line of the image sensor at the exposure start time that is one frame before the current frame,
- the image processing unit generates the display image of the current frame by
- setting an upper image corresponding to lines above the flash start line that is two frames earlier in the display image of the current frame as a captured image obtained from corresponding lines that are one frame earlier,
- setting a lower image corresponding to lines below the flash end line that is two frames earlier in the display image of the current frame as a captured image obtained from corresponding lines that are two frames earlier, and
- setting a boundary image from the flash start line to the flash end line in the display image of the current frame as an image obtained by adding the captured image obtained from corresponding lines that are one frame earlier and the captured image obtained from corresponding lines that are two frames earlier.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.