Image pickup apparatus that can reduce power consumption

摘要

An image pickup apparatus that can reduce power consumption of the image pickup apparatus, and take high-definition moving images at high speed without bringing about decreases in recordable time and the number of still images taken. An image pickup processing unit is operated in a plurality of operation modes, and has an image pickup device and a plurality of processing units that process image pickup signals outputted from the image pickup device. An interval control circuit causes the image pickup processing unit to switch between a standby ON state and a standby OFF state in predetermined timing. A control signal is outputted to the interval control unit according to an operation mode of the image pickup processing unit. When the image pickup processing unit lies in a predetermined operation mode, a control signal for causing the interval control circuit to perform the switching is outputted to the interval control circuit.

主权项

1. An image pickup apparatus comprising:
an image pickup processing unit adapted to be operated in a plurality of operation modes, and having an image sensor composed of image pickup pixels and a processing unit that processes image pickup signals outputted from the image pickup pixels; a first interval control unit adapted to control, by using a first control signal, the image sensor to switch between a standby state and a normal state alternately; a second interval control unit adapted to control, by using a second control signal, the processing unit to switch between the standby state and the normal state alternately; and a system control unit adapted to output, to each of said first interval control unit and said second interval control unit, a third control signal for controlling the each of said first interval control unit and said second interval control unit, according to an operation mode of said image pickup processing unit, wherein said first interval control unit connects to the image sensor and said second interval control unit connects to the processing unit, and wherein in a case where the operation mode of said image pickup processing unit is a predetermined operation mode, said system control unit outputs the third control signal to each of said first interval control unit and said second interval control unit so as to cause said first interval control unit and said second interval control unit to carry out the switching control, individually.