Abstract: A method and a circuit for producing good edge crispening effect by an out-of-green method is not affected by the colors of the subject imaged by a color image sensor. The edge crispening circuit includes first and second arithmetic units, a comparator, and a decision circuit. The first arithmetic unit calculates the ratio of the magnitude of an input blue (B) signal to the magnitude of an input green (G) signal. The second arithmetic unit calculates the ratio of the magnitude of an input red (R) signal to the magnitude of the green (G) signal. The comparator compares these two ratios and selects a larger one. The decision means compares the coefficient selected by the comparator means with a reference value &agr; and produces a coefficient k. The magnitudes of the edge crispening signal to be added to the R, G, B signals, respectively, are determined from the coefficient k. Finally, weighted edge crispening signals are added to the R, G, B signals, respectively.

Abstract: Video camera which emphasizes an outline of a video signal produced thereby. A detail signal of a video image represented by the video signal is generated and which represents a vertical outline emphasis signal. Edges of the video image and burst-like portions of the video signal are detected, and an edge detection signal is generated that corresponds in one manner to the detected edges and that corresponds in another manner to the detected burst portions. The detail signal is adjusted by the edge detection signal or by a cross color suppression signal generated from the vertical outline emphasis signal. The video signal then is modified by the adjusted detail signal so as to produce the outline emphasized video signal. The detail signal may also be adjusted by a gain setting signal that corresponds to the vertical outline emphasis signal and which is compressed in level when the vertical outline emphasis signal is relatively low.

Abstract: A tone correction apparatus corrects the tone of an input color image signal independently of each of a plurality of hue areas divided by a plurality of standard axes passing through a plurality of standard colors set on a hue coordinate system. The tone correction apparatus judges whether the hue of an input color image signal belongs to which one of first and second auxiliary hue areas, the first and second auxiliary hue areas being one of the plurality of hue areas divided by an auxiliary standard axis of an auxiliary standard color, and if the hue of the input color image signal is judged to belong to one of the first and second auxiliary hue areas, independently performs tone correction of the input color image signal with respect to color components along one standard axis of the plurality of standard axes surrounding the one auxiliary hue area to which the hue of the input color image signal belongs and along the auxiliary standard axis.

Abstract: An apparatus for processing a video signal by adjusting the contour of a picture. The apparatus includes an arrangement from a delay circuit 2 to a subtraction circuit 5 for extracting a contour of the picture and generating at least a signal opposite in polarity to a contour enhancement signal enhancing the extracted contour. The signal polarity is continuously varied from a maximum value of a positive polarity to a maximum value of an opposite polarity by a variable resistor RV2, an output of which is added to the input video signal by an addition circuit 6. With the processing apparatus, a picture can not only be raised in resolution as felt by the viewer, that is can be enhanced in contour, but also can be lowered in resolution as felt by the user, that is can be softened in contour. A corresponding method for processing a video signal by adjusting the contour of a picture and a video camera having the apparatus for processing the video signal in this manner are also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus for processing a video signal by adjusting the contour of a picture. The apparatus includes an arrangement from a delay circuit 2 to a subtraction circuit 5 for extracting a contour of the picture and generating at least a signal opposite in polarity to a contour enhancement signal enhancing the extracted contour. The signal polarity is continuously varied from a maximum value of a positive polarity to a maximum value of an opposite polarity by a variable resistor RV2, an output of which is added to the input video signal by an addition circuit 6. With the processing apparatus, a picture can not only be raised in resolution as felt by the viewer, that is can be enhanced in contour, but also can be lowered in resolution as felt by the user, that is can be softened in contour. A corresponding method for processing a video signal by adjusting the contour of a picture and a video camera having the apparatus for processing the video signal in this manner are also disclosed.

Abstract: Digital processing apparatus for correcting an image enhancement signal having a shape includes a peak detector for detecting and holding peak levels of the image enhancement signal and an adjustment circuit, responsive to the peak levels, for correcting the image enhancement signal to reduce its peak levels while substantially maintaining its shape and to limit the signal levels of the image enhancement signal to a range of levels substantially between a first predetermined peak limit and a second predetermined peak limit.

Abstract: In a camera section, a luminance signal and the predetermined hue gate signal are modulated by a modulator in a quadrature modulation manner and the modulated signal is transmitted to a camera control unit via a cable. The modulated signal is separated by a branching filter in the unit and demodulated by a demodulator to generate the luminance signal and the detection signal. A signal to which the luminance signal and the detection signal are added, is used as a monitor video signal and a white image is displayed on a monitor screen within a range for the detection signal. Thus, the range detection signal can be observed with the monitor screen. Since the unit uses the added signal as the monitor video signal and the luminance signal for another purpose, the range of the detection signal can be observed by the monitor screen while using the luminance signal for another purpose.

Abstract: A signal processing circuit is utilized in a video camera which includes a CCD having pixels arranged in a dot-matrix fashion and color filters of R, G and B arranged in a mosaic fashion, and an output signal from the CCD is converted into a digital signal. A horizontal aperture signal (Hap) and a vertical aperture signal (Vap), which are produced on the basis of the digital signal, are multiplied by coefficients (K1, K2) which are obtained on the basis of a horizontal correlation value (Sh) and a vertical correlation value (Sv), and then, added to each other in an adding circuit, whereby an aperture signal is obtained by the adding circuit. The aperture signal is added to a luminance signal to perform an image enhancement.

Abstract: A digital video signal processing device for clipping a digital video signal to keep the signal at a predetermined level, includes an interpolation data signal generating unit for predicting video signal levels between adjacent sampling points for generating an interpolation data signal, clipping units for clipping the sampled video signal and the interpolation data signal at their levels, and a synthesizing unit for performing a predictive coding operation with respect to at least any one of the clipped video signal and the interpolation data signal and synthesizing these signals with each other.

Abstract: An image signal processing device includes a luminance information detecting circuit which detects luminance information on an object and a filter circuit to which an image signal is supplied from an image sensing system. The filtering characteristic of the filter circuit is arranged to be switched from one characteristic over to another according to the detection output of the luminance information detecting circuit, so that the generation of a pseudo-contour can be prevented.

Abstract: A video signal correction apparatus has a memory for storing a luminance value and color difference values for each pixel in an image, a horizontal color difference correction arrangement and a vertical color difference correction arrangement. The horizontal color difference correction arrangement includes a luminance change point detector for detecting leading and trailing edges, in which an area defined between the leading and trailing edges is a boundary between two colors. The colors in a region outside the boundary and adjacent to the edges are bleeding. The color difference values further outside the bleeding region are sampled to make reference color difference value. The reference color difference value is used for replacing the color difference values in the bleeding region to eliminate or reduce the bleeding color.

Abstract: A video camera system can track or follow the moving object without influence by other objects outside the desired image. Detection feature patterns are formed after brightness and hue frequency feature data is obtained on the basis of image information of the detection measurement frame. The position of the detection measurement frame having a feature pattern with the largest similarity to the standard feature pattern obtained from the standard measurement frame is determined. An imaging condition of a camera is controlled on the basis of the position information of the detection measurement frame.

Abstract: Video signal processing apparatus for use with a video camera having a line scanning line period during which useful video information is provided and a flyback period during which an optical black signal level is provided. Replacement black signal information that is a function of the optical black signal level is inserted into a portion of the flyback period. When the camera is of the type having a complementary color matrix filter which produces odd and even raster scan lines of image pickup signals with different modulation components, another aspect of this invention provides improved contour correction. Modulation components in a scan line of image pickup signals caused by the patterns of filter elements included in the matrix are removed, thereby producing an averaged scan line of image signals from which is extracted a signal component that is uncorrelated from one line to the next.

Abstract: An output from a solid state image sensing device spatially modulated by a color filter is A/D converted and stored in a field memory. Digital signals read from the field memory during electronic zooming are successively delayed by 1H period by means of first, second and third 1H delay elements connected in series. The output from the field memory and outputs from the first, second and third 1H delay elements are separated into luminance components and line sequential color components by first to fourth Y/C separating circuits, respectively. A first set of three primary color signals are calculated based on outputs from the first, second and third Y/C separating circuits, and a second set of three primary color signals are calculated based on outputs from the second, third and fourth Y/C separating circuits.

Abstract: A color image reading and compensating device comprises an image reader including a color image sensor for forming a number of dots arranged in a line, each of the dots being composed of a plurality of pixels corresponding to a plurality of colors, respectively, for outputting a color image signal having a plurality of color signal components for each dot, and a compensating circuit for compensating phase and resolution characteristics of the color image signal, by use of not only one color signal component selected from the color signal components of the color image signal but also the other color signal components, the one color signal component and the other signal components corresponding to a dot of interest and dot in close proximity thereto.

Abstract: A circuit for a video camera for color separation and contour correction which can perform color separation and contour correction of a signal from a charge coupled device image sensor specifically utilizing two 1H (1 horizontal period) delay elements. The circuit adds a 2H delayed chrominance signal from a delay unit and a current input chrominance signal. This sum is then decreased by one-half. The circuit separates red and blue components of the chrominance signals decreased by half and from the 1H delayed chrominance signal from the delay unit. Next, vertical and horizontal contour correcting signals are generated in response to the 1H delayed chrominance signal from the delay unit and in response to the output of an amplifying unit. Thus, the present invention uses two 1H delay elements to perform color separation as well as contour correction to thereby simplify the overall circuit design.