AUTOMATIC DISCRIMINATOR FOR AUTOFOCUS

PURPOSE:To enable an automatic discriminator for autofocus to automatically and accurately check an autofocus matching degree for a video camera by using the pattern matching technique. CONSTITUTION:The section between the TELE end and the WIDE end in the zoom tracking is divided into a plurality of stages. An A/D converter 13 converts into a digital signal an image signal from a video camera 12 that took picture of a special purpose chart 11 for focus auto discrimination having a plurality of marks corresponding to the individual stages in the aforementioned section. This converted signal is accumulated in a digital image memory 14. Further, based on the read start point for pattern data calculated and picked up by a pattern matching section 15, a computer section 16 reads from an image memory 14 ten and a few points of individual pattern profile data corresponding to each mark of the special purpose chart 11, and analyses this read data to discriminate a focus matching degree at each stage.