JP5978866B2 - Image capturing apparatus and image processing method for image capturing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging device that captures surrounding images by synchronous detection processing, and an image processing method of the imaging device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an imaging device that captures a surrounding image using synchronous detection processing has been used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Since the synchronous detection process generates a synchronous detection image using a plurality of continuous image data, if there is a movement in the shooting target before the number of images to be used for the detection process has been shot, The detection processing is performed using the luminance values of different parts.

  Therefore, for example, in the case where a surrounding image (for example, a white line on a traveling road) is photographed by being mounted on a vehicle, if there is a pattern on the object to be imaged (if the image luminance value is not uniform), the time taken by moving the object to be imaged Brightness change occurs, and the brightness change of the irradiation light for synchronous detection cannot be distinguished from the brightness change of the background light.

  In other words, the luminance change due to the movement of the pattern is mixed with the luminance change component of the irradiated light, so if the subject moves at a certain speed, noise is generated in the synchronous detection image captured by the synchronous detection processing. Problem occurs.

JP 2010-107448 A

  As described above, in the conventional photographing apparatus, when the photographing object moves, noise occurs in the synchronous detection image, and there is a problem that a clear image cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to use an imaging apparatus and an imaging apparatus that can generate a synchronous detection image with reduced influence of noise. It is to provide an image processing method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a light projecting means for transmitting a plurality of reference signals within one detection period and projecting light whose intensity is modulated by each reference signal within the one detection period, and A photographing means for photographing a photographing target irradiated with light emitted from the means in synchronization with a reference signal transmission timing; and an image storage means for storing an image of the photographing target photographed by the photographing means. . Furthermore, synchronous detection processing means for performing synchronous detection processing based on image data within one detection cycle stored in the image storage means and the reference signal, and generating a plurality of synchronous detection images within one detection cycle; In each image of a plurality of synchronous detection images, a high-luminance portion edge detecting means for detecting an edge of a high-luminance portion having a predetermined high luminance, and an edge region generation for generating an edge region based on the edge of the high-luminance portion And synchronous detection correction means for correcting a result of the synchronous detection processing by substituting a pixel having a desired luminance into the edge region generated by the edge region generation unit.

  In the image capturing apparatus and the image processing method of the image capturing apparatus according to the present invention, the edge of the high luminance part is detected from a plurality of images captured by the image capturing unit to extract an edge region, and synchronous detection is performed based on the plurality of images. A synchronous detection image is generated by performing processing. Then, the luminance value of the edge region in the synchronous detection image is corrected by the synchronous detection correcting means. Therefore, when noise is generated in the synchronous detection image due to the relative movement between the imaging unit and the imaging target, it is possible to correct this and obtain a highly accurate synchronous detection image.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a photographing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process by the edge area | region detection part of the imaging device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process by the synchronous detection output correction | amendment part of the imaging device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the imaging device which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the white line contained in a synchronous detection image, and the edge area | region of the circumference | surroundings. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention and restore | restores an edge area | region. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that it concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention and an edge area | region is divided by the difference in a reflectance. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the imaging device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention and shows the difference in the reflectance of the light reflected by the asphalt and the light reflected by the white line.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Description of First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the photographing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The photographing apparatus 10 is provided in a moving body such as a vehicle, for example. As shown in FIG. 1, the light projecting unit 103, the photographing unit 101, the exposure control unit 102, the reference signal generating unit 105, A synchronization pulse generation unit 104.

  The light projecting unit 103 emits a plurality of reference signals within one detection period, and projects light that is intensity-modulated by each reference signal within the one detection period toward the imaging target P. The imaging unit 101 captures an image of the imaging target P onto which the intensity-modulated light is projected in synchronization with the transmission timing of the reference signal.

  The exposure control unit 102 controls the exposure time of the photographing unit 101. The reference signal generation unit 105 generates a reference signal such as a sine wave and outputs the reference signal to the synchronization pulse generation unit 104.

  The synchronization pulse generator 104 generates a synchronization pulse such as a PWM signal from the reference signal generated by the reference signal generator 105. Further, the synchronization pulse signal generated by the synchronization pulse generation unit 104 is output to the light projecting unit 103 and the exposure control unit 102.

Furthermore, the imaging apparatus 10 includes an image information storage unit 107 that stores images captured in time series by the imaging unit 101, image data within one detection period stored in the image information storage unit 107, and a reference It performs synchronous detection based on the reference signal outputted from the signal generator 105, and a synchronous detection processing unit 108 for generating a synchronous detection image in one detection cycle. The synchronous detection image generated by the synchronous detection processing unit 108 is output to the synchronous detection output correction unit 109.

In addition, a luminance image edge detection unit (high luminance part edge detection unit) 106 that detects an edge of a high luminance part having high luminance from an image photographed by the photographing unit 101 and stored in the image information storage unit 107; An edge region storage unit (edge region generation unit) 110 is provided that generates a predetermined edge region based on the high luminance edge obtained from the image data detected by the luminance image edge detection unit 106 and stores the predetermined edge region. Here, the edge area storage unit 110 can be set so as to store an edge area of a luminance image necessary for performing one synchronous detection process. In this case, the storage capacity can be minimized. Then, the edge region data stored in the edge region storage unit 110 is output to the synchronous detection output correction unit 109.

  The synchronous detection output correcting unit 109 corrects the luminance data for the edge region stored in the edge region storage unit 110 in the synchronous detection image detected by the synchronous detection processing unit 108 according to the procedure described later, and detects the detected image. A synchronous detection image corrected by the generation unit 111 is generated and output to the lower system.

  Next, the image memorize | stored in the edge area | region memory | storage part 110 of the imaging device 10 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for extracting edges from three images photographed in time series by the photographing apparatus 10 mounted on the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 2, three luminance images a1, a2, and a3 are taken in the order of times t1, t2, and t3, and are taken while the vehicle is running. Therefore, each of the three luminance images a1, a2 is taken. , A3 is displaced in the vehicle traveling direction (left-right direction in the figure). Specifically, since the vehicle is moving in the right direction in the figure, the image of the road surface to be photographed is displayed with a position shift in the left direction.

  Then, the luminance image edge detection unit 106 illustrated in FIG. 1 detects the edge of the luminance image. In edge detection, a threshold value for luminance is set in advance, and an edge can be detected by comparing the threshold value with a pixel value. Then, an edge image indicated by reference numeral b1 is obtained for the luminance image a1 at time t1. That is, in the luminance image a1, the shadow q1, the white line q2, and the road surface scratch q3 of the vehicle are projected, and by extracting an edge from the luminance image a1, as shown in the edge image b1, the symbol q4 , Q5, and q6 edge images are obtained. Similarly to the above, edge images are obtained for the luminance image a2 at time t2 and the luminance image a3 at time t3.

  Then, the edge area storage unit 110 obtains and stores an edge area from these edge images. In this process, an edge included in at least one image is set as an edge region. As a result, an edge region image as indicated by reference numeral Q1 in FIG. 2 is obtained.

  Next, a procedure for generating a synchronous detection image by processing in the synchronous detection processing unit 108 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, three luminance images a1, a2, and a3 are taken in the order of times t1, t2, and t3. This luminance image is the same as the luminance images a1, a2, and a3 shown in FIG. These luminance images are images taken at one detection cycle. That is, when the reference wave used in the reference signal generation unit 105 shown in FIG. 1 is a sine wave, the image is obtained with a phase obtained by dividing one period of this reference wave into three equal parts. Specifically, it is an image whose phase is shifted by 120 degrees.

  Then, the synchronous detection processing unit 108 executes the synchronous detection process based on the three images, thereby acquiring a synchronous detection image as indicated by reference sign Q2 in FIG. At this time, the image of the road surface to be photographed is detected by being shifted in the left direction. Therefore, in the synchronous detection image Q2, noise is generated at the shadow edge q11 of the vehicle, the white line edges q12 and q13, and the road surface scratch q14, and the image is displayed as a blurred image.

  The synchronous detection output correction unit 109 corrects the synchronous detection image based on the edge region stored in the edge region storage unit 110, that is, the edge region image Q1 shown in FIG. Specifically, the output of the edge region included in the edge region image Q1 in the synchronous detection image Q2 is invalidated (that is, the luminance value of this region is not adopted), and this edge region is set by a preset method. By using the luminance value, the influence of noise is removed, and the corrected synchronous detection image Q3 is generated.

  Specifically, the synchronous detection image Q3 is an image in which the edge q11 caused by the shadow of the vehicle and the edge region caused by the scratch on the road surface are erased and only the white line region y1 that is not affected by noise is displayed.

  Next, a processing procedure of the photographing apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. First, in step S <b> 101, the exposure control unit 102 activates the imaging unit 101 and starts exposure by the imaging unit 101 in synchronization with the PWM signal output from the synchronization pulse generation unit 104.

  In step S102, the light projecting unit 103 generates irradiation light (intensity-modulated irradiation light) modulated by the PWM signal generated by the synchronization pulse generation unit 104. Further, in step S103, the light projection unit 103 generates the irradiation light. Lights toward In the present embodiment, the light is projected toward the road surface of the traveling road while the vehicle is traveling.

  In step S104, it is determined whether or not the set exposure time has elapsed. If the exposure time has elapsed (YES in step S104), the exposure by the exposure control unit 102 is terminated in step S105. That is, one image is taken.

  In step S106, an irradiation flag indicating that irradiation light has been irradiated and period information are added to the captured image. In other words, information indicating what number of images are taken in one detection period is added. In step S107, the captured image is stored in the image information storage unit 107 and saved.

  In step S108, the luminance image edge detection unit 106 detects an edge included in the luminance image based on the luminance image stored in the image information storage unit 107. That is, the edge image b1 shown in FIG. 2 is acquired. In step S109, the acquired edge image is stored in the edge region storage unit 110.

  In step S110, it is determined whether or not an image for one detection cycle has been taken. If an image for one detection cycle has not been taken (NO in step S110), the process returns to step S101, and the next step. Take a picture of. On the other hand, when an image for one detection period (three images in this example) is taken (YES in step S110), the synchronous detection processing unit 108 is stored in the image information storage unit 107 in step S111. A luminance image corresponding to one detection cycle is read out. That is, the images taken at times t1, t2, and t3 shown in FIG. 3 are read out.

  In step S112, the synchronous detection processing unit 108 performs synchronous detection processing based on the luminance image for one detection period. As a result, the synchronous detection image Q2 shown in FIG. 3 is obtained.

  In step S <b> 113, the synchronous detection output correction unit 109 reads the edge region information stored in the edge region storage unit 110. That is, the edge area image Q1 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is read out. In step S114, the output of the edge region in the synchronous detection image is corrected.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the correction of the edge region is performed by reading the luminance values of the outer regions x1 and x2 of the edge regions q21 and q22 (regions where the output is stopped) and calculating the average value of the luminance values. It can be used as a corrected luminance value. Therefore, since the average luminance values of the outer peripheral regions x1 and x2 are assigned to the edge regions q21 and q22 shown in FIG. 5, the output value that does not greatly deviate from the peripheral luminance value in the edge region where noise occurs due to movement. Can be corrected to an image with little discomfort.

  Then, in step S115, a synchronous detection image corrected by the detection image generation unit 111 is generated, and the synchronous detection image is output to a subsequent device. Thereafter, the process proceeds to the next process. If it is determined in step S116 that the power is off, the process is terminated. Thus, even when noise occurs in the synchronous detection image when the imaging unit 101 and the imaging target P move relative to each other, a clear synchronous detection image with less noise can be obtained by correcting the luminance value in this region. Can be obtained.

  As described above, in the imaging apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, the irradiation light subjected to PWM modulation (intensity modulation) is irradiated onto the imaging target P, and this irradiation light is captured by the imaging unit 101 to obtain a synchronous detection image. In this case, an edge region that is an edge of the high luminance portion is detected from the image captured by the imaging unit 101, and the brightness value of the edge region is not adopted for the edge region in the synchronous detection image, and the periphery of the edge region is detected. Correction is performed based on the luminance value of the pixel.

  Therefore, even when the vehicle is moving, the imaging unit 101 mounted on the vehicle captures a synchronous detection image of the road surface, noise generated by the movement is removed, and the removed region is obtained as desired. Since it can correct | amend to a brightness | luminance, even when a motion arises, a clear synchronous detection image can be produced | generated.

  In addition, since the brightness of the edge region is set based on the pixels of the surrounding image of the edge region, it is possible to generate a clear synchronous detection image with no sense of incongruity.

  Further, since the brightness value of the edge region is corrected using the average brightness value in the surrounding image of the edge region as the corrected brightness value, the synchronous detection image of the road surface is captured by the photographing unit 101 mounted on the vehicle while the vehicle is moving. Even in the case of shooting, noise generated by movement can be removed, and the removed area can be corrected to a desired luminance. Moreover, it can be set as the image which does not largely diverge from the output value of the surrounding synchronous detection image. For this reason, a clear synchronous detection image can be generated even when movement occurs.

  Furthermore, since the edge area storage unit 110 stores the edge area of the image necessary for one synchronous detection process, the necessary minimum storage capacity can be achieved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the output of the edge region in the synchronous detection image is stopped and the luminance value of the edge region is set as the average value of the luminance values of the outer periphery of the edge region. For example, the maximum luminance value or the minimum luminance value at the outer periphery of the edge region can be set. Furthermore, it is also possible to adopt an average value of the luminance values of the inner periphery of the edge region, or an average value of the luminance values of the inner periphery and the outer periphery.

  Further, it is possible to set the luminance value of the edge region so as to gradually change from the average luminance value of the inner circumference to the average luminance value of the outer circumference. By doing so, it is possible to set a luminance value suitable for the output value of the surrounding synchronous detection image, and to obtain a synchronous detection image with less sense of incongruity.

  In addition, the threshold for edge detection used by the luminance image edge detection unit 106 can be changed according to the resolution (bit gradation) of the synchronous detection output image. Specifically, when the resolution is low, it is possible to set the threshold value at the time of edge detection to be small. With such a configuration, more edges than necessary are not detected in a synchronous detection image with little noise, and on the contrary, there are not too many edge detections in a synchronous detection image with a lot of noise. Can be set as follows.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which three images are captured in one detection cycle and synchronous detection processing is performed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two images in one detection cycle. Alternatively, it is possible to capture four or more images and perform synchronous detection processing.

[Description of Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the photographing apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the imaging apparatus 10 a is different from the imaging apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 described above in that the reflectance difference determination unit 112, the edge restoration unit 113, and the subsequent stage of the synchronous detection output correction unit 109, And the image output unit 114 is provided. Since the other configuration is the same as that of FIG. 1, the same reference numerals are given and detailed description of the configuration is omitted.

  The reflectance difference determination unit 112 obtains the light reflectance on both sides of the edge region stored in the edge region storage unit 110, calculates the difference between the obtained reflectances, and the difference is a preset difference. It is determined whether or not it is larger than the threshold value. Hereinafter, a method for measuring the light reflectance will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing how the light emitted from the light projecting unit 103 is reflected by asphalt (reflectance Ra) or white line (reflectance RI) and is photographed by the photographing unit 101. It is. When light is irradiated from the light projecting unit 103 and this light is applied to the asphalt and reflected, the reflected light enters the imaging unit 101 and is photographed. When the light amount irradiated from the light projecting unit 103 is I and the diffusion rate is Da, the incident light amount to the asphalt is I · Da, and the light amount (reflected light amount) photographed by the photographing unit 101 is Ra · I. -It becomes Da. Accordingly, the reflectance Ra is obtained from the ratio between the incident light quantity I · Da and the reflected light quantity Ra · I · Da. Therefore, based on this reflectance Ra, it is recognized that the light photographed by the photographing unit 101 is light reflected by asphalt.

  Similarly, if the amount of light emitted from the light projecting unit 103 is I and the diffusivity is DI, the amount of light incident on the white line is I · DI, and the amount of light (reflected light amount) captured by the photographing unit 101 is RI · I / DI. Accordingly, the reflectance RI is obtained by the ratio of the incident light quantity I · DI and the reflected light quantity RI · I · DI. Therefore, it is recognized that the light photographed by the photographing unit 101 is light reflected by the white line. That is, asphalt and white lines existing in the image can be classified with high accuracy by obtaining the reflectance of the image photographed by the photographing unit 101.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing whether the reflectance difference determination unit 112 determines whether or not to determine an edge, and FIG. 7A shows an edge image stored in the edge region storage unit 110. The edge is moved by the movement of the vehicle. Specifically, an edge is present around the shadow area d1 projected on the asphalt, an edge is present around the white line d2, and an edge is present at the portion of the scratch d3 on the road surface. .

  FIG. 7B shows a detection image after being corrected by the synchronous detection output correction unit 109 shown in the first embodiment, and a white line region d4 existing on the asphalt is displayed. Yes. Then, the reflectance difference determination unit 112 creates a superimposed image (an image in which FIGS. 7A and 7B are superimposed) of the edge image and the detected image. As a result, the image shown in FIG. 7C is obtained. Then, the reflectance is measured on both sides of the edge included in the image, and when this difference is larger than a preset difference threshold (this is referred to as “Dth”), it is a white line existing on the asphalt. If the difference is smaller than the difference threshold Dth, it is determined that the line is not a white line.

  In the region R1 shown in FIG. 7C, there is an edge q31 due to a shadow, and in this region, the reflectance is determined to be substantially the same on both sides (upper and lower sides in the figure) of the edge q31. The That is, since the edge q31 is a shadow projected on the asphalt, the reflectance is substantially the same on both sides of the edge q31. On the other hand, an edge q32 due to a white line exists in the region R2, and in this region, a large difference in reflectance occurs on both sides of the edge q32. That is, the upper side of the edge q32 in the drawing is an asphalt region, and the lower side in the drawing is a white line region, so that there is a large difference in reflectance. Then, when the difference threshold of reflectance is set as Dth in advance, and the difference in reflectance between both sides of the edge q32 is larger than the difference threshold Dth, the restoration process is executed in this edge region.

  That is, the restoration process is not performed on the edge q31 existing in the region R1, and the restoration process is performed on the edge q32 existing in the region R2. As a result, the boundary between the white line and the asphalt can be classified with higher accuracy. Details of the restoration process will be described below with reference to FIG. 8 which is an enlarged view of the region R2 shown in FIG.

  When an edge region having a certain width exists, in the method of the first embodiment, the edge region is pixel data corresponding to surrounding pixels (for example, asphalt pixel data or white line pixel data). Will be substituted. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the white line and the asphalt are distinguished based on the difference in reflectance in the edge region. For example, when it is detected that a change in reflectance has occurred at the polygonal line L1 in FIG. 8, that is, the reflectance of asphalt is measured above the polygonal line L1, and the reflectance of the white line is measured below. If it is, the boundary between the white line and the asphalt is set at the broken line L1. As a result, the boundary line between the white line and the asphalt can be detected with higher accuracy.

  Hereinafter, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 9, a processing procedure of the photographing apparatus 10a according to the second embodiment will be described. In FIG. 9, the processes of steps S101 to S114 and S115 are the same as those of FIG. 4 described above, and the second embodiment is different in that the processes of S121 to S125 are added between S114 and S115. .

  Therefore, detailed description of steps S101-114 is omitted. Hereinafter, the processing of steps S121 to S125 illustrated in FIG. 9 will be described.

  In step S121, the reflectance difference determination unit 112 illustrated in FIG. 6 superimposes the edge image stored in the edge region storage unit 110 and the synchronous detection image corrected by the synchronous detection output correction unit 109 (FIG. 7). Based on the image shown in (c), the difference in reflectance is calculated on both sides of the edge region. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), the reflectance in the both side regions sandwiching the edge q31 of the region R1, which is the edge facing the traveling direction of the vehicle, is calculated, and the calculated difference in reflectance is calculated. To do. Similarly, the reflectance in both side regions sandwiching the edge q32 of the region R2 is obtained, and further, the difference in the obtained reflectance is calculated.

  In step S122, the reflectance difference determination unit 112 determines whether or not the difference in reflectance measured in both side regions sandwiching the edge is greater than or equal to the difference threshold value Dth. If the difference is greater than or equal to the difference threshold Dth (YES in step S122), in step S123, the edge restoration unit 113 reads the luminance image detected by the luminance image edge detection unit 106 shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, in step S124, the edge restoration unit 113 restores the edge using the luminance image in the edge region. That is, when the difference in reflectance between the two regions sandwiching the edge is larger than the difference threshold Dth as in the edge q32 of the region R2 shown in FIG. 7C, the edge q32 is the boundary between the white line and the asphalt. Since the boundary where the reflectance changes is the boundary between the white line and the asphalt, the white line side is set as the brightness of the white line, and the asphalt side is set as the asphalt brightness to restore the edge image. .

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, when the boundary between the white line and the asphalt is a polygonal line L1, the edge image is restored by setting the lower side of the broken line L1 as the luminance of the white line and the upper side as the luminance of the asphalt. To do. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S125.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S122 that the difference in reflectance between the two regions sandwiching the edge is less than the difference threshold Dth (NO in step S122), the edge restoration process is not performed. The process proceeds to step S125. Specifically, as in the edge q31 of the region R1 shown in FIG. 7C, when the difference in reflectance is less than the difference threshold Dth in both side regions sandwiching the edge, this region is projected onto the asphalt. Since there is a high possibility that the edge is caused by the shadow, the process proceeds to step S125 without performing the restoration process.

  In step S125, the reflectance difference determination unit 112 determines whether or not the determination has been completed for all edges. If the determination has been completed, the process proceeds to step S115.

  In step S115, the detection image subjected to the restoration process by the edge restoration unit 113 is output from the image output unit 114 to a subsequent device. Thereafter, the process proceeds to the next process. If it is determined in step S116 that the power is off, the process is terminated. In this way, the reflectance is measured in both side regions sandwiching the edge, and it can be determined whether or not it is the boundary between the white line and the asphalt according to the difference between them, and it is determined that the boundary is between the white line and the asphalt. In this case, the inside of the edge region can be restored and the white line region and the asphalt region can be divided in more detail.

  In this way, the imaging apparatus 10a according to the second embodiment can achieve the same effects as those of the imaging apparatus 10 shown in the first embodiment described above. Furthermore, the edge area is divided into a white line area and an asphalt area based on the reflectance of the both side areas sandwiching the edge, the white line area is set as the white line brightness, and the asphalt area is set as the asphalt brightness. Restore space.

  Therefore, the edge area can be more finely distinguished into the asphalt area and the white line area, and the position of the white line laid on the asphalt can be recognized with higher accuracy. As a result, for example, when the vehicle is controlled to travel along the white line while measuring the distance between the vehicle and the white line, the vehicle traveling accuracy can be improved.

  Also, a difference in reflectance on each side is obtained based on the synchronous detection output of both sides across the edge, and when this difference exceeds a preset difference threshold Dth, it is determined that the boundary is between asphalt and a white line. Therefore, more accurate boundary recognition is possible.

  As described above, the image capturing apparatus and the image processing method using the image capturing apparatus of the present invention have been described based on the illustrated embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration of each unit has the same function. It can be replaced with one having any configuration.

  The present invention can be used to remove noise present in a synchronous detection processed image.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10,10a Image pick-up apparatus 101 Image pick-up part 102 Exposure control part 103 Light projection part 104 Sync pulse generation part 105 Reference signal generation part 106 Luminance image edge detection part 107 Image information memory | storage part 108 Synchronous detection process part 109 Synchronous detection output correction part 110 Edge Area storage unit 111 Detection image generation unit 112 Reflectance difference determination unit 113 Edge restoration unit 114 Image output unit P Imaging target

Claims (10)

A plurality of reference signals within one detection period, and light projecting means for projecting light whose intensity is modulated by each reference signal within the one detection period;
An imaging means for imaging the imaging object projected with the intensity-modulated light in synchronization with the transmission timing of the reference signal;
Image storage means for storing an image of a subject to be photographed by the photographing means;
Image data for one detection cycle stored in the image storing means, and performs a synchronous detection processing based on the reference signal, and the synchronous detection processing means for generating a synchronous detection image in one detection cycle,
A high-luminance portion edge detecting means for detecting an edge of a high-luminance portion having a predetermined high luminance in the image data within the one detection cycle ;
Edge region generation means for generating a predetermined edge region based on the edge of the high-luminance portion obtained from at least one image data within the one detection period ;
In the synchronous detection image, synchronous detection correction means for correcting the result of the synchronous detection processing by substituting a pixel having a desired luminance into the edge region generated by the edge region generation means,
A photographing apparatus comprising:   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the synchronous detection correction unit sets the luminance of the edge region in the synchronous detection image based on the luminance of pixels around the edge region.   The synchronous detection correcting unit sets the luminance of the edge region to any one of an average value, a minimum value, and a maximum value of the luminance of the region that is an outer periphery of the edge region. Item 3. The photographing apparatus according to Item 2.   The synchronous detection correcting unit corrects the luminance of the edge region so as to be uniform luminance based on luminance of an outer region of the edge region and luminance of an inner region. Item 3. The photographing apparatus according to Item 2.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the synchronous detection correction unit corrects the luminance of the edge region so as to gradually change from the outer peripheral side to the inner peripheral side of the edge region.   6. The high-luminance portion edge detection unit sets an edge detection threshold used for edge detection of the high-luminance portion according to the resolution of the detection output image. The imaging device described. The reflectance difference determination means for obtaining the light reflectance of both side regions sandwiching the edge detected by the high-luminance portion edge detection means, and obtaining the difference of each light reflectance;
Image restoration that restores the image of the edge region generated based on the edge of the high-intensity part when the difference in light reflectance is determined by the reflectance difference determination means to be larger than a predetermined difference threshold Means,
The photographing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Before SL obtains the respective light reflectance on the basis of the synchronous detection output on both sides of the edge region, imaging device according to claim 7, characterized in that obtaining a difference between the light reflectance. Transmitting a plurality of reference signals within one detection period, and projecting light that has been intensity-modulated by each reference signal within the one detection period toward an object to be imaged; and the intensity-modulated light is projected Photographing the subject to be photographed in synchronization with the transmission timing of the reference signal;
Storing the photographed image of the photographing object;
Image data for one detection cycle stored, and performs a synchronous detection processing based on the reference signal, and generating a synchronous detection image in one detection cycle,
Detecting an edge of a high-luminance portion having a predetermined high luminance in the image data within the one detection cycle ;
Generating a predetermined edge region based on an edge of a high-luminance portion obtained from at least one image data within the one detection period ;
Substituting a pixel having a desired luminance into the edge region in the synchronous detection image and correcting the result of the synchronous detection processing;
An image processing method for a photographing apparatus, comprising:


Obtaining the light reflectance of both side regions sandwiching the edge detected by the high-luminance part edge detecting means, and obtaining a difference between the light reflectances;
When it is determined that the difference in light reflectance is greater than a predetermined difference threshold, restoring the image of the edge region generated based on the edge of the high-intensity part; and
The image processing method of the photographing apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: