Delay for a field time is introduced between the end of the time a field of pixel samples is transferred from the A register into the B register of a field-transfer CCD imager and the beginning of the time the field of pixel samples is transferred from the B register to the C register. Such field delay is useful in differentiating response to a radiant energy image with respect to time, for example. A field of pixel samples is delayed in a first B register sufficiently long to be in time registration with a succeeding field of pixel samples in a second B register and responses to these samples are differentially combined to provide indications of transient phenomena in one field and not the other or in one field for longer time than in the other. The two B registers may be in two CCD imagers receiving images in spatial registration or may be in a CCD imager in which one A register alternately supplies samples to the two B registers.
An electric power consumption and a quantity of generated heat can be reduced and hence a temperature characteristic can be maintained satisfactorily. A timing generator generates a smear gate pulse and a storage section driving pulse. The smear gate pulse is supplied to a smear gate region, whereby the smear gate region is opened during a vertical blanking period. The smear gate pulse and the storage section driving pulse are input to a gate circuit and an image section driving pulse is output from the gate circuit. The image section driving pulse has a waveform corresponding to a waveform which results from eliminating a line shift pulse from the storage section driving pulse. In the present invention, since the line shift pulse is not contained in the image section driving pulse, an electric power consumed by an image section is reduced considerably as compared with the prior art. Therefore, a quantity of generated heat also can be reduced, and a temperature characteristic of a frame interline transfer (FIT) solid state image sensor can be maintained satisfactorily.
This method is a direct development method for achieving a solid state image pickup device with a high speed electronic shutter on itself. A field integrating time is divided into a useless integrating time and a useful integrating time. The shorter one is the useful integrating time, the faster one is the electronic shutter speed. The useless integrated charges are cleared by the "photographic plate" clearing method. This image pickup camera apparatus is a high speed image pickup camera apparatus having low or slight high frame frequency, short explosure. A clear, relatively still or very slowly spinning images can be obtained by adjusting the field frequency of the high speed pickup camera apparatus.
A high shutter speed video camera has an objective lens and a CCD. The CCD is defined by a photosensor array for producing charge signals representing the image formed thereon by the lens, and a shift register for storing and moving the charge signals in a predetermined direction in response to drive pulses. A driver is provided for sequentially producing a first read pulse signal for effecting the transfer of the charge signals from the photosensor array to the shift register, high speed vertical drive pulses for moving the charge signals in the shift register at a high speed until all the charge signals are removed from the shift register, second read pulse signal for effecting the transfer of the charge signals from the photosensor array to the shift register, and normal speed vertical drive pulses for moving the charge signals in the shift register at a normal speed until the charge signals are removed from the shift register. Since the time interval between the first and second read pulse signals is selected to be very short, such as 1/1000 second, the image picked up by the CCD during this time interval is identical to an image picked up with a shutter speed of 1/1000.
A method of recording and storing pictures in rapid sequence wherein the pictures are imaged by means of an optical system on the recording surface of a CCD picture recorder that operates on the frame-transfer principle are transferred in the form of charge pictures into the memory of the CCD picture recorder, and are read out line by line by means of a register. The object is to increase the picture-repetition frequency. The surface of a CCD picture recorder (1) that consists of the recording area and the memory area is subdivided into an accordingly smaller subsidiary recording area (2) and at least two subsidiary memory areas (3, 4, & 5) and in that one picture (9 ) is transferred in separate steps from the subsidiary recording area (2) through the subsidiary memory areas (3, 4, & 5) in sequence and every subsequent picture (10, 11, & 12) is imaged in the subsidiary recording area (2) as it becomes free and is transferred in separate steps to each subsidiary memory area (3, 4, & 5) as it becomes free until all the subsidiary areas (2, 3, 4, & 5) of the CCD picture recorder (1) are completely charged.
An image pickup apparatus comprises: an image sensor for converting an optical image into distribution information of a minority carrier; a control circuit for periodically forming a first state in that a majority carrier is accumulated in the image sensor and a second state in that at least a part of the minority carrier is recombined with this majority carrier; a readout circuit for reading out the information in the image sensor; a recording apparatus for selectively recording the information for a predetermined interval from the information to be read out by the readout circuit with regard to the trigger operation for a still photograph; and a stopping circuit for stopping the control operation of the control circuit in association with the start of the recording by the recording apparatus or the closing of a shutter or in response to a low luminous condition or the like.
