Image processing system

Abstract: There is disclosed an image processing system having an input or output unit for entering or releasing video signal, and a scanner for reading an original image or a printer for printing the video signal, in which the aspect ratio of the image is converted at the entry or release of the video signal between the input or output unit and the scanner or the printer.

Description: The present invention relates to an image processing system, and more particularly to an image processing system for processing video signal. Video printing is already known for printing a television image. Particularly the video printing from the conventional television system with 525 scanning lines is utilized as very useful means for printing decisive moments in news or sports programs. In recent sports events or the like, video records are often only available records, so that the role of video printing has become more and more important. Particularly the image of the high definition television will significantly improve the image quality of video printing, and will evidently expand the application of the video printing. For example, the high definition television has a resolving power of 1920 x 1035 points and can provide a high-quality image on the print up to A4 size. However, in case of handling the image signal of the conventional high definition television in the form of digital signal, the vertical-to-horizontal ratio of each pixel is not 1 : 1 (square) but each pixel has a somewhat oblong rectangular shape, for example in the proposed standard of the Broadcasting Technology Development Association (BTA S-001 1125/60 High-Definition Television Studio System Standard). Consequently, if such data, in which the vertical-to-horizontal ratio of each pixel is not 1 : 1 are supplied to a printing apparatus or the like designed to process data with square pixels, there will be obtained a distorted image as the aspect ratio of the printed image is different from that of the original image. Also similar image distortion will be encountered when video signal of 1 : 1 aspect ratio, generated in an image reading unit such as a scanner, is supplied to a BTA-standard equipment such as a digital video cassette recorder. Furthermore, the sampling frequency of 74.25 MHz employed in the high definition signal is primarily designed for use in the broadcasting studio. Since the amount of image data becomes enormous at such sampling frequency, the frequency is generally reduced, in the usual professional and amateur appliances, to a level that can maintain the tolerable image quality. For example, a sampling frequency of 48.6 MHz is employed in so-called MUSE system. However each pixel is not square even at such sampling frequency, so that the printing is associated with the above-explained difficulty. Japanese Patent Abstract JP-A-61/262383 discloses the use of a standard TV signal as the source for conversion into a video signal for printing. Japanese Patent Application JP-A-63/212281 discloses the printing of a reversed image of a television picture, stored in a frame memory. The reversal is obtained using a first-in, first-out (FIFO) memory convertible into a last-in, first-out (LIFO) memory. European Patent Application EP-A-0294622 discloses a facsimile machine for reproducing A3-sized pages as pairs of A4-sized pages. Pixel aspect ratio conversion is achieved by manipulating the addressing of page memory locations whilst reading from that memory for image output. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing system not associated with the drawbacks mentioned above, for example to provide an image processing system having a simple structure yet capable of providing a satisfactory image even if the aspect ratios of the printer and the image input apparatus are mutually different. The invention provides an image processing apparatus for printing image data received in a standard television image signal format using an image printer, the apparatus comprising: storage means for storing and releasing pixel data of a television image in accordance with a pixel aspect ratio of said standard format; and transfer means for transferring the released pixel data from the storage means to the printer, characterised in that: said standard format has a pixel aspect ratio different to a nominal pixel aspect ratio of the printer; and in that said transfer means includes means for changing a relationship between the image size printed by the printer and said pixel data released from said storage means in accordance with the aspect ratio of the standard format, synchronously with said transfer, thereby achieving a printed image faithful to the television image in aspect ratio. The invention further provides an image processing apparatus for converting scanned image data into a standard television image signal format, said standard format having a pixel aspect ratio different to a nominal pixel aspect ratio of a scanner used to obtain the scanned image data, the apparatus comprising: storage means for storing, in accordance with the pixel aspect ratio of said standard television image signal format, pixel data of a scanned image; and transfer means for transferring the scanned image data from the scanner to the storage means, wherein said transfer means includes means for changing a relationship between the image size of the original scanned by the scanner and pixel data supplied to the frame storage means, so as to supply to the frame storage means image data in accordance with the aspect ratio of the standard television image signal format, synchronously with said transfer, thereby achieving said aspect ratio conversion. Particular embodiments disclosed herein provide image processing systems capable of varying the aspect ratio of the image of the printer or the image scanner without the use of a particular device for converting the amount of data, and/or apparatuses capable of satisfactorily printing image signal matching the standard of high definition television. Still other aspects of the present invention, and the features thereof, will become fully apparent from the following description of the embodiments, which is to be taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an aspect ratio converter 14 shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a timing chart showing the function of the circuit shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the circuit shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a view showing an example of the structure of a printer 18; Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a modified embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a variation of the circuit shown in Fig. 2; Figs. 8 and 9 are timing charts showing the function of the circuit shown in Fig. 7; Fig. 10 is a block diagram of a further embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 11 is a view showing a printer of a structure different from that shown in Fig. 5; Figs. 12 and 13 are block diagrams showing examples of the structure of a printing speed changing circuit shown in Fig. 11; and Fig. 14 is a view showing the details of a scanner shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an image processing system embodying the present invention. In Fig. 1 there are shown a high definition video equipment (hereinafter written as HD equipment) 10 for entering or releasing video signal, such as a high definition television camera, a high definition video cassette recorder or a high definition television receiver; a frame memory 12 for storing the video signal from the HD equipment or from a data amount converter; a data amount converter (aspect ratio converter) 14 for converting the amount of data of the video signal from the frame memory 12 or a scanner 16, for supply to the frame memory 12 or a printer 18; a scanner 16 and a printer 18 which are usually connected by a signal cable to constitute a copying apparatus by the mutual combination. In the present embodiment, the HD equipment 10 releases image signal of a frequency of so-called BTA standard (ca. 74.25 MHz), and the printer 18 prints the image signal with a speed corresponding to 71.28 MHz. In the following there will be explained two examples of the structure of the data amount converter 14. When the high definition television signal is sampled with a frequency of 74.25 MHz defined in the BTA standard, each pixel is vertically oblong and each line contains 1920 pixels. On the other hand, the printer 18 forms square pixels with a vertical-to-horizontal ratio of 1 : 1, so that a line requires 1840 pixels in order to realize the aspect ratio 16 : 9 of the high definition television. Consequently, in order to print the video image sampled with 74.25 MHz, the data amount per scanning line has to be reduced from 1920 pixels to 1840 pixels. For this purpose, either of following two methods is employed in the present embodiment. (1) Simple skipping method: As explained above, the sampling frequency of the BTA standard and the frequency of the printer are different by about 3 MHz. Consequently the aspect ratio of the entire image can be retained by skipping 3 pixels per every 74 pixels. (2) Calculation method: Instead of simple skipping of 3 pixels per every 74 pixels mentioned above, an interpolating calculation can be employed to convert 74 pixels into 71 pixels, thereby obtaining a smooth image. Now reference is made to Fig. 2 showing an example of the structure of the data amount converter 14 employing the simple skipping methods explained above. A FIFO (first-in-first-out) memory 20 is provided for storing the data from the frame memory 12 and sending the data to the printer 18. Said FIFO memory is an asynchronous memory for converting the data amount in each line, and can have a structure of 2048 x 8 bits, since there are 1920 x 1035 effective pixels in the BTA standard. A memory controller 22 receives a horizontal synchronization signal Hsync and a vertical synchronization signal Vsync from the printer 18, and generates, in synchronization with said Hsync signal, a read instruction signal RM to the frame memory, a write enable signal WE and a read enable signal RE to the FIFO memory 20, and a video enable signal VE indicating the effective image period to the printer. In the following there will be explained the function of the data amount converter 14, with reference to a timing chart shown in Fig. 3, illustrating the Hsync signal (i) of the printer, the read instruction signal (ii) for the frame memory 12, the write and read enable signals (iii), (iv) for the FIFO memory 20, and the video enable signal VE (v) to the printer 18. The memory controller 22 shown in Fig. 3 sends write clock signal WCLK of 74.25 MHz and read clock signal RCLK of 71.28 MHz to the FIFO memory 20. Thus the FIFO memory 20 shown in Fig. 2 executes compensation between the speed of the frame memory 12 according to the BTA standard, and 71.28 MHz of the printer 18. Also in the present embodiment, the WE signal is maintained at the low level state for periods of 3 pixels in a period of 74 pixels as shown by (iii) in Fig. 3, thereby realizing the simple skipping explained in (1) above. It is also possible to use common clock pulses as the RCLK and WCLK signals as shown in Fig. 7, to read the image data from the frame memory 22 simultaneous with the entry of the horizontal synchronization signal Hsync from the printer 18 and to realize the pixel skipping by controlling the write enable signal for the memory 20. In this case, after the blanking period of the printer 18, the write enable signal RE is rendered effective to supply the pixel data, subjected to data amount conversion, from the memory 20 to the printer 18. Fig. 9 is a timing chart of the memory 20 and the memory controller 22 in case of printing the video data sampled at 48.6 MHz. In this case each pixel becomes horizontally oblong, and a line contains 1257 pixels. It is therefore necessary, at the supply to the printer 18, to interpolate a pixel in every about 2.16 pixels. Such interpolation can be realized by controlling the data reading from the memory 20. However, since interpolation of a pixel is only possible per an integral number of pixels, there are combined, in the present embodiment, interpolation of a pixel per two pixels and that of a pixel per three pixels to achieve interpolation of a pixel per every 2.16 pixels in average. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the conversion of aspect ratio is conducted at the transfer of the video signal from the frame memory 12 to the printer 18. Another embodiment shown in Fig. 4 is capable of an additional conversion of the aspect ratio at the storage of the image signal, obtained in the scanner 16, in the frame memory 12. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, there are additionally provided switches 24, 26 for switching the input and output of the FIFO memory 20. A switch instruction signal, for controlling said switches 24, 26, is also supplied to the memory controller 22. In response to said switch instruction signal, the memory controller 22 controls the signals WE, RE, WCLK, RCLK supplied to the FIFO memory 20 in such a manner as to effect an operation opposite to the pixel skipping explained above. As explained in the foregoing, the present embodiment is capable of arbitrary conversion of the aspect ratio by using a FIFO memory and controlling the timing and frequency of data writing into and reading from said FIFO memory. Also in the present embodiment, since the data amount converter 14 is provided behind the frame memory for storing the video signal obtained from the HD equipment, said data amount converter 14 can be operated with a relatively low speed, in comparison with the case in which the data amount converter is provided between the HD equipment and the frame memory, so that the circuit can be operated with improved precision. In the following there will be explained the structure of the printer 18 of the present embodiment. In Fig. 5, there are shown a switch circuit 107 for selecting either the image signal from the data amount converter 14 or the image signal from the scanner 16; a converter circuit 107 for converting the input signals R, G, B into signals Y, M, C and K; a selector switch 105 for selecting one of the Y, M, C and K signals from the converter circuit 107 for supply to a D/A converter 103; and an image signal modulating circuit 101 for applying pulse width modulation to the output signal of the D/A converter 103. The printer of the present embodiment is composed of a laser beam printer for color printing with frame sequential method. A laser beam LB modulated by the modulation circuit 101 corresponding to the image data is put into a high-speed horizontal scanning motion, as indicated by an arrow A-B, by a polygon mirror 112 rotated at a high speed by a motor 110, and is focused on the surface of a photosensitive drum 115 through an f- lens 113 and a mirror 114, thereby giving dot exposures corresponding to the image data. A horizontal scanning motion of the laser beam corresponds to a horizontal scan of the original image, and to a width of 1/16 mm in the sub scanning direction in the present embodiment. As the photosensitive drum 115 is rotated at a constant speed in a direction L, the laser beam scans said drum in the main scanning direction by the above-explained scanning motion of the beam and in the sub scanning direction by the rotation of said drum, thereby exposing the drum in succession and forming a two-dimensional latent image. Said exposure is preceded by uniform charging with a charger 117 and succeeded by image developed with a developing sleeve 131 to obtain a visible toner image. For example, corresponding to the first scanning operation of a color image reader, the image development is conducted with yellow toner of a developing sleeve 131Y to obtain, on the photosensitive drum 115, a toner image corresponding to the yellow component of the video signal entered through the switch 108. Then said yellow toner image is transferred onto a sheet 154, wound on a transfer drum 116 and gripped at the front end by a gripper 151, by means of a transfer charger 129 provided at the nip between the photosensitive drum 115 and the transfer drum 116. The above-explained process is repeated for the images of magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K), and the toner images are superposed on said sheet 154 to complete a full-color image with toners of four colors. Subsequently the transfer sheet 154 is separated from the transfer drum 116 by an unrepresented movable separating finger, and guided by a conveyor belt 142 to an image fixing unit, in which the toner image on the sheet 154 is fixed by fusion with heated pressure rollers in said unit. In Fig. 5 there are also shown a photosensor 152 for detecting the timing of scanning of the laser beam LB, and a signal processing circuit 153 for shaping the output signal of said photosensor 152. During the operation of the printer, the output signal of said processing circuit 153 is released as the Hsync signal. A motor drive circuit 120 drives the motor 110, based on the output of said processing circuit 153. In the above-explained embodiment, the conversion of aspect ratio is achieved by a data amount converter, but there may also be employed other methods for this purpose. For example the present invention also includes a method of storing the digital image signal once in a frame memory, and, at the supply of said signal to the printer, varying the printing speed of said printer in such a manner as to obtain proper aspect ratio (1 : 1 in the present embodiment). Such variation in the printing speed can be achieved in various manner, according to the kind of the printer. In case of a laser beam printer, the aforementioned drive circuit 120 may be so controlled as to increase the rotating speed of the polygon mirror reflecting the laser beam. In case of a thermal printer, the sheet feeding speed may be decreased. The conversion of the aspect ratio may be varied by suitably changing, at the conversion of data amount of the image signal, the reading speed of the scanner. Fig. 10 shows an embodiment employing such method, wherein same components as those in Fig. 1 are represented by same numbers and will not be explained further. In Fig. 10 there are provided a scanner 16' with variable reading speed and a printer 18' with variable printing speed. Fig. 11 shows the structure of the printer 18' shown in Fig. 10. Said printer is provided with a printing speed changing block, in addition to the components shown in Fig. 5. The motor drive circuit 120 in Fig. 11 rotates the motor 110 with a revolution corresponding to the frequency of a timing signal from a printing speed changing circuit 138. Thus said circuit 138 controls the revolution of the motor 110 by the frequency of the timing signal supplied from said circuit 138 to the motor drive circuit 120, thereby controlling the revolution of the polygon mirror 112. Fig. 12 shows an example of the circuit structure of the printing speed changing circuit 138, wherein provided are oscillators 220, 222, 224 of respectively different oscillation frequencies, and a switch 226 for selecting one of output clock signals of said oscillators 220, 222, 224 for supply to the motor drive circuit 120. For example the oscillator 222 oscillates with a standard frequency; the oscillator 220 oscillates with a higher frequency 72.45 MHz for correcting vertically oblong pixel shape; and the oscillator 224 oscillates with a lower frequency 48.6 MHz for correcting the horizontally oblong pixel shape. One of the outputs of the oscillators 220, 222, 224 is selected according to the sampling rate of the image signal to be printed. In this manner the printer 18' can be operated with a printing speed corresponding to said sampling rate, thereby obtaining the printed image of an aspect ratio same as that of the original image. Fig. 13 shows another example of the printing speed changing circuit 138, wherein provided are a crystal oscillator 228 of a constant frequency, a programmable counter 230, and a frequency division ratio setting circuit 232 for determining the frequency dividing ratio in the programmable counter 230. Said circuit 232 releases a frequency dividing ratio signal, according to the sampling rate of the image to be printed, for obtaining a revolution of the polygon mirror 112 providing the proper aspect ratio in the printed image. The counter 230 divides the frequency of the clock signal from the oscillator 228 with the ratio instructed by the ratio setting circuit 232 and sends the frequency divided clock signal to the motor drive circuit 120. The frequency division ratio setting circuit 232 may be so designed as to selectively release one of frequency dividing data corresponding to a standard sampling frequency, a higher sampling frequency 74.25 MHz and a lower sampling frequency 48.6 MHz, or to release arbitrarily variable frequency dividing data. Fig. 14 is a schematic view of the internal structure of the scanner 16, wherein shown are a platen glass 300 for supporting the original image; an original 302 to be read; a color line sensor 304 for reading said original 302; a carriage 306 supporting said line sensor 304; a motor 308 for moving the carriage 306 by means of a wire 310; pulleys 312, 314 for guiding said wire 210; a guide rail 316 for the carriage 306; a motor drive circuit 318 for driving said motor 308; a line sensor drive circuit 320 for driving said line sensor 304 and releasing three primary color signals of red, green and blue obtained from the output of said line sensor 304; a switch 322 for selecting the printer 18 or the frame memory 12 as the destination of the data; and a reading speed changing circuit 324, included in the speed changing circuit 19, for supplying the motor drive circuit 318 with a timing signal. Said reading speed changing circuit 324 is basically similar to that shown in Figs. 12 and 13. The motor drive circuit 318 rotates the motor 308 with a revolution corresponding to the frequency of the signal from the reading speed changing circuit 324, whereby the drive circuit 320 can provide image signal of an aspect ratio matching that of the image of the frame memory 14 or the printer 18. In the above-explained embodiment, the printing speed is changed by controlling the rotating speed of the polygon mirror 114, but it is also possible to maintain the polygon mirror 114 at a constant revolution and to vary the revolution of the drums 120 and 124. Also the foregoing description has been limited to an electrophotographic printer employing the polygon mirror 114, but the present invention is likewise applicable to other printers such as a thermal printer or an ink jet printer. In such case the moving speed of the recording head is controlled because the recording density of the head is physically fixed. In the foregoing embodiments shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the conversion of aspect ratio is conducted on the digital input image signal. However, the conversion of aspect ratio may likewise be achieved by changing the timing of sampling for A/D conversion if the high definition video signal is entered in analog form. A modified circuit having this facility is shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6, there are provided A/D converters 40, 42 for converting input analog signals R, G, B and YP R P B into digital signals, according to A/D conversion timing pulses entered through a switch 44; a counter 46 for dividing the frequency of the output signal from an oscillator 48 with such dividing ratios as to generate a sampling frequency corresponding to the BTA standard from a terminal Qn and a frequency matching the printer from a terminal Qm; a selector switch 50 for selecting the Y, P R , P B signals entered from two sources; and a selector switch 52 for selecting the R, G, B signals entered from two sources. In the circuit shown in Fig. 6, the switch 44 is placed at Qm for printing the input video signal in the printer 18, or at Qn otherwise. The above-explained control allows to satisfactorily respond to two signal processing systems of different aspect ratios. In the foregoing embodiments, the data amount conversion is achieved by pixel skipping or interpolation, but a similar effect can also be obtained by calculation. There will be considered a case in which the sampling frequency f Q before data amount conversion and the sampling frequency f P after conversion are related as follows: f Q : f P = 3 : 4 According to Shannon's sampling principle, the original signal can be restored from the sampled data as follows: g(t) = Σg(iT)S(t - iT) wherein i is zero or a positive integer, T is 1/f Q , and S is the sampling frequency. Conversion of sample values Q 0 , Q 1 , Q 2 ,... obtained at the sampling frequency f Q into sample values P 0 , P 1 , P 2 ,... with the sampling frequency f P can be achieved by substituting g(t), obtained by substituting g(0), g(1), g(2),... with Q 0 , Q 1 , Q 2 ,... in the right-hand term of the foregoing equation, with the times t of P 0 , P 1 , P 2 ,... Stated differently, this conversion is to interpolate P i with the minimum common multiple 4f Q (= 3f P ) of f Q and f P , and to effect re-sampling with the frequency f P to obtain Q j . More specifically; P 4k = Σ m S 4m ·Q 3k+m P 4k+1 = Σ m S 4m-3 ·Q 3k+m P 4k+2 = Σ m S 4m-6 ·Q 3k+m P 4k+3 = Σ m S 4m-9 ·Q 3k+m wherein Σ m is the summation from -∞ to +∞. Though such summation is not realizable in practice, it can be approximated utilizing a random access memory or a digital signal processing IC. In the foregoing description, the nature of the video signal is not specified. In fact said video signal may be three primary color signals of red, green and blue, a luminance signal and color difference signals, or a composite signal. In the foregoing embodiments, the image after data amount conversion contains several discontinuous portions, but such discontinuity can be eliminated by applying a smoothing filtration afterwards. Also the interpolation is not limited to simple interpolation but can be linear interpolation or cubic interpolation. As will be easily understood from the foregoing description, the present invention enables to read or print the images of different sampling rates while maintaining the original aspect ratio of the image. The foregoing embodiments have been limited to the signal processing between an HD equipment and a scanner/printer, but the present invention is applicable not only to the high definition television signal but also to other various video signals. As explained in the foregoing, the embodiments of the present invention allows to prevent image distortion, resulting from a change in the aspect ratio due to signal processing.

Claims: An image processing apparatus for printing image data received in a standard television image signal format using an image printer (18), the apparatus comprising: storage means (12) for storing and releasing pixel data of a television image in accordance with a pixel aspect ratio of said standard format; and transfer means for transferring the released pixel data from the storage means to the printer (18), characterised in that: said standard format has a pixel aspect ratio different to a nominal pixel aspect ratio of the printer; and in that said transfer means includes means (14) for changing the aspect ratio of pixels printed by the printer, relative to that of the pixel data released from said storage means in accordance with the aspect ratio of the standard format, said change being synchronous with said transfer, thereby achieving a printed image faithful to the television image in aspect ratio. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transfer means includes a first in first out (FIFO) memory (20) and is arranged so as to omit to store selected pixel data in said FIFO memory (20), or to read out the same pixel data from said FIFO memory (20) more than once, so as to effect said change of relative aspect ratio. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transfer means includes means (19) for controlling a mechanical scanning speed of the printer (18) in a main-scan direction, in order to change said relative aspect ratio. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said printer (18) is a laser printer and said transfer means includes means for controlling a polygon mirror (112) rotation speed of the laser printer. An apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said printer includes a moving recording head and said transfer means includes means for controlling a moving speed of the recording head. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transfer means includes means for controlling a mechanical scanning speed of the printer in a sub-scan direction, in order to change said relative aspect ratio. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said transfer means includes means for controlling the rotation speed of an electrophotographic drum (120) of said printer. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said transfer means includes means for controlling a speed of feeding a sheet of recording medium. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the standard television image signal format is a broadcasting standard format. An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the broadcast standard format is a high definition television signal format. An apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said high definition television signal format is in accordance with BTA S-001 1125/60 High-Definition Television System Studio Standard. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the standard television image signal format has non-unity pixel aspect ratio and the nominal pixel aspect ratio of the printer is unity. An image processing apparatus for converting scanned image data into a standard television image signal format, said standard format having a pixel aspect ratio different to a nominal pixel aspect ratio of a scanner used to obtain the scanned image data, the apparatus comprising: storage means (12) for storing, in accordance with the pixel aspect ratio of said standard television image signal format, pixel data of a scanned image; and transfer means for transferring the scanned image data from the scanner (16) to the storage means, wherein said transfer means includes means (14) for changing the aspect ratio of pixels scanned by the scanner relative to the aspect ratio of pixel data supplied to the frame storage means, so as to supply to the frame storage means image data in accordance with the aspect ratio of the standard television image signal format, synchronously with said transfer. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said transfer means (14) includes a first in first out (FIFO) memory (20) and is arranged so as to omit to store selected scanned pixel data in said FIFO memory (20) or to read out the same pixel data from said FIFO memory (20) more than once so as to effect said change of relative aspect ratio. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said transfer means includes means (324) for controlling a mechanical reading speed of the scanner. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the transfer means controls the speed of a colour line sensor (304) in a sub-scan direction of the scanner. An apparatus according to any of claims 13 to 16, wherein the standard television image signal format is a broadcasting standard format. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the broadcast standard format is a high definition television signal format. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said high definition television signal format is in accordance with BTA S-001 1125/60 High-Definition Television System Studio Standard. An apparatus according to any of claims 13 to 19, wherein the standard television image signal format has non-unity pixel aspect ratio and the nominal pixel aspect ratio of the scanner is unity.

Inventors: KANEKO YUSHI, SUZUKI YASUTOMO, WATAYA MASAFUMI, YANAKA TOSHIYUKI, KANEKO, YUSHI, SUZUKI, YASUTOMO, WATAYA, MASAFUMI, YANAKA, TOSHIYUKI
Applicants: CANON KK, CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1990
Main classification: H04N1
IPC codes: H04N1