Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080219585 | Image Processing Apparatus, Image Apparatus, Image Processing Method, and Computer Program - An image processing apparatus includes the following elements. An image input unit receives a long-time exposure image and a short-time exposure image. An image analysis unit detects a brightness-change pixel in which a brightness change has occurred during a photographic period on the basis of analysis of pixel values in the long-time exposure image and the short-time exposure image. A pixel value correction unit corrects a pixel value of the detected brightness-change pixel. In the pixel value correction unit, a combined image generator selectively combines pixel values in the long-time exposure image and pixel values in the short-time exposure image to generate a combined image; an intermediate image generator generates a blurred image of the combined image; and an output image generator determines a pixel value of the detected brightness-change pixel using a pixel value of a corresponding pixel in each of the combined image and the blurred image. | 09-11-2008 |
20080252356 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A semiconductor device is provided which has a driving circuit operable to drive a circuit that has a delay, the semiconductor device including: an auxiliary driving circuit operable to accelerate drive of the driving circuit, which receives a drive signal of the driving circuit as an input signal. | 10-16-2008 |
20080252742 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGING APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device, including, a pixel array unit, first driving means, second driving means, and third driving means. | 10-16-2008 |
20080258045 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF DRIVING SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND IMAGING APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device, includes: a pixel array area including an unit pixel having a photoelectric conversion element and a transfer gate; a first supply voltage control means for supplying a first control voltage to a control electrode of the transfer gate; a second supply voltage control means for sequentially supplying one or plural second control voltages having a voltage value different from the first control voltage to the control electrode; a third supply voltage control means for supplying a third control voltage having the same voltage value as the second control voltages once or plural times prior to one or plural supplies of the second control voltages; a first driving means for reading signal charges from the transfer gate when the first control voltage is supplied; and a second driving means for reading signal charges from the transfer gate once and more when the second control voltage is sequentially applied. | 10-23-2008 |
20080258047 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE, A METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, A SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state image pickup device including: a pixel array portion; a dummy pixel; a differential circuit; a reset voltage supplying section; and a common phase feedback circuit. | 10-23-2008 |
20080259177 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGING APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device, including, a pixel array unit, driving means, signal processing means, level determining means and control means. | 10-23-2008 |
20080259178 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGING APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device, including, a pixel array unit, driving means, and analog-to-digital conversion means. | 10-23-2008 |
20080291296 | Solid-state imaging device, signal processing device and signal processing method for solid-state imaging device, and imaging apparatus - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array unit in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix shape and a signal processing circuit that obtains a first video signal and performs processing for combining the first and second video signals. The signal processing circuit includes judging means that judges whether a pixel of interest in the pixel array unit is a pixel to be saturated during an exposure period, calculating means that sets the pixel of interest as a correction pixel and calculates a correction amount on the basis of a luminance value of the second video signal of a peripheral pixel of the correction pixel, and correcting means that applies the correction amount to a luminance value of the first video signal of the correction pixel to thereby correct a noise signal amount due to photo-charges leaking from the peripheral pixel into the correction pixel. | 11-27-2008 |
20090251582 | SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE, DRIVING METHOD OF THE SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT - A solid state imaging device includes: multiple unit pixels including a photoelectric converter generating electrical charge in accordance with incident light quantity and accumulating the charge, a first transfer gate transferring the accumulated charge, a charge holding region holding the transferred charge, a second transfer gate transferring the held charge, and a floating diffusion region converting the transferred charge into voltage; an intermediate charge transfer unit transferring, to the charge holding region, a charge exceeding a predetermined charge amount as a first signal charge; and a pixel driving unit setting the first transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the second transfer gate to a conducting state, transfer the first signal charge to the floating diffusion region, set the second transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the first transfer gate to a conducting state, and transfer the accumulated charge to the charge holding region as a second signal charge. | 10-08-2009 |
20100013976 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE, A METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, A SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A solid-state image pickup device including: a pixel array portion; a dummy pixel; a differential circuit; a reset voltage supplying section; and a common phase feedback circuit. | 01-21-2010 |
20100109716 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A semiconductor device is provided which has a driving circuit operable to drive a circuit that has a delay, the semiconductor device including: an auxiliary driving circuit operable to accelerate drive of the driving circuit, which receives a drive signal of the driving circuit as an input signal. | 05-06-2010 |
20100110261 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, IMAGING APPARATUS, PIXEL DRIVING VOLTAGE ADJUSTMENT APPARATUS, AND PIXEL DRIVING VOLTAGE ADJUSTMENT METHOD - A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel array unit having arranged unit pixels, each having a charge generator generating signal charges, and a signal output unit having a charge transfer unit, and generating and outputting a processing-target signal corresponding to the signal charges; a driving controller driving the unit pixels, the driving controller sequentially driving the charge transfer unit; and a transfer driving voltage setting unit setting, on the basis of a pixel signal based on a saturated charge amount of the charge generator and a pixel signal based on an intermediate voltage retained charge amount retained in the charge generator after intermediate transfer in which charge transfer is performed at a level between a complete transfer level and an off level, the level of the intermediate voltage such that an actual intermediate voltage retained charge amount becomes the expectation value of the intermediate voltage retained charge amount. | 05-06-2010 |
20100188543 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, DRIVING METHOD THEREOF AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state image capturing apparatus includes: a pixel array unit including two-dimensionally arranged pixels each including a photoelectric conversion unit, a transfer transistor that transfers charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit, and a charge discharging transistor that selectively discharges the charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit; and a driving unit that performs driving for reading signals from each pixel of the pixel array unit, and drives the charge discharging transistor by using a signal for the driving. | 07-29-2010 |
20100259662 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array section including a plurality of pixels, a pixel drive line controlling driving the pixels in each row, a signal line reading an analog signal of the pixels in each column, a pixel drive unit driving the pixels to perform a readout through the pixel drive line, and a readout circuit capable of converting the analog signal into a digital signal. At least the number of pixel drive lines or the number of signal lines is more than one, and the pixels of each pixel group are connected to different lines of either the pixel drive lines or the signal lines. The pixel drive unit sequentially drives the pixels in the pixel group at shifted timings, and the readout circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter sequentially receiving analog signals from the pixel group and sequentially converting the analog signals into digital signals. | 10-14-2010 |
20100309357 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEM INCLUDING THE DEVICE - A solid-state imaging device includes: a unit pixel including a photoelectric conversion section, an impurity-diffusion region capable of temporarily accumulating or holding electric charges generated by the photoelectric conversion section, and a reset transistor resetting the impurity-diffusion region by a voltage of a voltage-supply line, and having an impurity concentration such that at least the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region becomes a depletion state; and a drive circuit changing the voltage of the voltage-supply line from a first voltage lower than a depletion potential of the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region to a second voltage higher than the depletion potential while the reset transistor is on. | 12-09-2010 |
20110019047 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel unit in which plural pixels that perform photoelectric conversion are arrayed in a matrix shape; and a pixel-signal readout unit that performs readout of pixel signals from the pixel unit in a unit of plural pixels, the pixel-signal readout unit including an AD conversion unit that performs analog-digital (AD) conversion, wherein the pixel-signal readout unit includes plural comparators that compare a reference signal as a ramp wave and readout analog signal potentials of the pixels in rows in which the comparators are provided, plural counter latches that are arranged to correspond to the plural comparators and capable of counting comparison times of the comparators corresponding thereto, stop the count when outputs of the comparators are inverted, and store values of the count, and an adjusting unit that performs offset adjustment for the reference signal every time the AD conversion is performed. | 01-27-2011 |
20110127409 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE, A METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, A SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR THE SAME, AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS - A solid-state image pickup device including: a pixel array portion; a differential circuit; a reset voltage supplying section; and a common phase feedback circuit. | 06-02-2011 |
20110221940 | Solid-state image taking apparatus, method for driving solid-state image taking apparatus and electronic apparatus - Disclosed herein is a solid-state image taking apparatus, includes: a pixel array section including unit pixels laid out two-dimensionally to form a matrix to serve as unit pixels each employing an opto-electric conversion device, a transfer transistor, a first electric-charge accumulation section, a read transistor, a second electric-charge accumulation section, a reset transistor, and an amplification transistor; a driving section; and a correction section. | 09-15-2011 |
20110241079 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device including a photoelectric conversion element operable to generate electric charge according to the amount of incident light and to accumulate the electric charge in the inside thereof, an electric-charge holding region in which the electric charge generated through photoelectric conversion by the photoelectric conversion element is held until read out, and a transfer gate having a complete transfer path through which the electric charge accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element is completely transferred into the electric-charge holding region, and an intermediate transfer path through which the electric charge generated by the photoelectric conversion element during an exposure period and being in excess of a predetermined charge amount is transferred into the electric-charge holding region. The complete transfer path and the intermediate transfer path are formed in different regions. | 10-06-2011 |
20110242379 | Solid-state imaging device and driving method as well as electronic apparatus - A solid-state imaging device includes: a CMOS image sensor including a plurality of pixels disposed in an array and each including a light reception element, a discharging unit, a charge accumulation section, a transfer unit, a reset unit, an amplification unit, and a selection unit; and a control unit adapted to generate a selection pulse for rendering the selection unit operative to control operation of the CMOS image sensor. | 10-06-2011 |
20110242381 | Solid-state image pickup apparatus signal processing method for a solid-state image pickup apparatus, and electronic apparatus - Disclosed herein is a solid-state image pickup apparatus, including a pixel array section in which a unit pixel including a photoelectric conversion section and a charge detection section for detecting charge generated by photoelectric conversion by the photoelectric conversion section is disposed; a driving section adapted to carry out driving of reading out a signal of the unit pixel divisionally by twice as a first signal and a second signal; and a signal processing section adapted to set the first signal read out first from the unit pixel as a reference voltage for a processable input voltage range of the signal processing section, adjust the reference voltage so that the first and second signals may be included in the input voltage range and carry out signal processing for the first and second signals using the adjusted reference voltage. | 10-06-2011 |
20110242389 | Solid-state imaging device, driving method and electronic apparatus - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device employing a plurality of unit pixels each having an opto-electric conversion section configured to convert incident light into electric charge and an electric-charge holding section configured to hold a signal voltage representing the electric charge produced by the opto-electric conversion section, the solid-state imaging device further including a read section and a control section. | 10-06-2011 |
20120019697 | Solid-state imaging device and camera system - A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel section in which pixels performing photoelectric conversion are arranged in a matrix shape; and a pixel signal reading section that has an AD conversion section which reads pixel signals through pixel units from the pixel section and performs analog digital (AD) conversion. The pixel signal reading section includes comparators each of which compares a reference signal, which is a ramp wave, with read analog signal potentials of pixels in a corresponding column, counter latches each of which is disposed to correspond to each of the comparators, is able to count a comparison time of the corresponding comparator, stops the count when an output of the corresponding comparator is inverted, and retains a corresponding count value, and an adjustment section that performs offset adjustment on the reference signal for each row on which the AD conversion is performed. | 01-26-2012 |
20120026370 | Solid-state imaging device, method for driving solid-state imaging device, and electronic apparatus - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging device, including: a pixel array unit configured to be formed by two-dimensionally arranging unit pixels each having a photoelectric converter, a charge-voltage converter, a reset transistor to set the charge-voltage converter to a predetermined potential, and an amplification transistor to read out a signal converted by the charge-voltage converter; a signal processor configured to process a signal output from the unit pixel by using a reference voltage; and a setter configured to set a reset level obtained from a second unit pixel from which a signal level has been already read out as the reference voltage of the signal processor before readout of a signal level based on a signal charge accumulated or retained in the charge-voltage converter from a first unit pixel. | 02-02-2012 |
20120057056 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A solid-state imaging element includes a plurality of semiconductor layers stacked, a plurality of stack-connecting parts for electrically connecting the plurality of semiconductor layers, a pixel array part in which pixel cells that include a photoelectric conversion part and a signal output part are arrayed in a two-dimensional shape, and an output signal line through which signals from the signal output part of the pixel cells are propagated, in which the plurality of semiconductor layers includes at least a first semiconductor layer and a second semiconductor layer, and, in the first semiconductor layer, the plurality of pixel cells are arrayed in a two-dimensional shape, the signal output part of a pixel group formed with the plurality of pixel cells shares an output signal line wired from the stack-connecting parts, and the output signal line has a separation part which can separate each output signal line. | 03-08-2012 |
20120086842 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE-PICKUP DEVICE, METHOD FOR DRIVING SOLID-STATE IMAGE-PICKUP DEVICE, AND IMAGE-PICKUP APPARATUS - A CMOS image sensor in which column-parallel ADCs are mounted. Reference voltages Vref | 04-12-2012 |
20120153125 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE, METHOD OF DRIVING SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT - A CMOS image sensor has an image array as a matrix of unit pixels each including at least a photodiode, a memory for holding a charge stored in the photodiode, a floating diffusion region for converting the charge in the memory into a voltage, a first transfer gate for transferring the charge from the photodiode to the memory, a second transfer gate for transferring the charge from the memory to the floating diffusion region, and a resetting transistor for resetting the charge in the floating diffusion region. The unit pixels are driven to set the potential of a potential barrier at a boundary between the memory and the floating diffusion region to a potential such that a charge overflowing the memory is transferred to the floating diffusion region, when the first transfer gate is turned on. The CMOS image sensor operates in a global shutter mode for capturing moving images. | 06-21-2012 |
20120153126 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT, DRIVING METHOD, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - Disclosed herein is a solid-state imaging element including: a plurality of unit pixels each having a photoelectric conversion part, a transfer part that transfers a charge generated by the photoelectric conversion part to a predetermined region, and a draining part that drains a charge in the predetermined region; a light shielding film being formed under an interconnect layer in the unit pixels and shield, from light, substantially the whole surface of the plurality of unit pixels except a light receiving part of the photoelectric conversion part; and a voltage controller controlling a voltage applied to the light shielding film. The voltage controller sets the voltage applied to the light shielding film to a first voltage in charge draining by the draining part and sets the voltage applied to the light shielding film to a second voltage higher than the first voltage in charge transfer by the transfer part. | 06-21-2012 |
20120154656 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT, DRIVING METHOD, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging element is disclosed which includes: a pixel array portion configured to have a plurality of unit pixels arrayed two-dimensionally, the unit pixels being furnished with a photoelectric conversion portion, a transfer section, and a reset section, the transfer section being configured to transfer electrical charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion portion to a charge retention portion, the reset section being configured to reset the electrical charges of the charge retention portion; and a drive control section configured to control the driving of the unit pixels; wherein the drive control section controls the driving of the unit pixels in such a manner that prior to the charge transfer by the transfer section, the reset section resets the electrical charges of the charge retention portion in increments of a plurality of rows of the unit pixels, the plurality of rows being not adjacent to one another. | 06-21-2012 |
20120268627 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE AND SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND IMAGING APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array unit in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix shape and a signal processing circuit that obtains a first video signal and performs processing for combining the first and second video signals. The signal processing circuit includes judging means that judges whether a pixel of interest in the pixel array unit is a pixel to be saturated during an exposure period, calculating means that sets the pixel of interest as a correction pixel and calculates a correction amount on the basis of a luminance value of the second video signal of a peripheral pixel of the correction pixel, and correcting means that applies the correction amount to a luminance value of the first video signal of the correction pixel to thereby correct a noise signal amount due to photo-charges leaking from the peripheral pixel into the correction pixel. | 10-25-2012 |
20120327278 | SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE, DRIVING METHOD OF THE SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT - A solid state imaging device includes: multiple unit pixels including a photoelectric converter generating electrical charge in accordance with incident light quantity and accumulating the charge, a first transfer gate transferring the accumulated charge, a charge holding region holding the transferred charge, a second transfer gate transferring the held charge, and a floating diffusion region converting the transferred charge into voltage; an intermediate charge transfer unit transferring, to the charge holding region, a charge exceeding a predetermined charge amount as a first signal charge; and a pixel driving unit setting the first transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the second transfer gate to a conducting state, transfer the first signal charge to the floating diffusion region, set the second transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the first transfer gate to a conducting state, and transfer the accumulated charge to the charge holding region as a second signal charge. | 12-27-2012 |
20130002917 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, DRIVING METHOD THEREOF AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state image capturing apparatus including: a pixel array unit including two-dimensionally arranged pixels each including a photoelectric conversion unit, a transfer transistor that transfers charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit, and a charge discharging transistor that selectively discharges the charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion unit; and a driving unit that performs driving for reading signals from each pixel of the pixel array unit, and drives the charge discharging transistor by using a signal for the driving. | 01-03-2013 |
20130201376 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND DRIVING METHOD AS WELL AS ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device includes first and second sets of pixels. The first pixels have light reception elements and a discharging unit that discharges charge corresponding to light received by the first pixels. The second pixels have corresponding light reception elements but are covered with a light shielding film. Signals stored in the second light reception elements are read to a next stage when the discharging units corresponding to the first light reception elements are enabled. | 08-08-2013 |
20140009656 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND CAMERA SYSTEM - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array section including a plurality of pixels, a pixel drive line controlling driving the pixels in each row, a signal line reading an analog signal of the pixels in each column, a pixel drive unit driving the pixels to perform a readout through the pixel drive line, and a readout circuit capable of converting the analog signal into a digital signal. At least the number of pixel drive lines or the number of signal lines is more than one, and the pixels of each pixel group are connected to different lines of either the pixel drive lines or the signal lines. The pixel drive unit sequentially drives the pixels in the pixel group at shifted timings, and the readout circuit includes an analog-to-digital converter sequentially receiving analog signals from the pixel group and sequentially converting the analog signals into digital signals. | 01-09-2014 |
20140015012 | SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE, DRIVING METHOD OF THE SOLID STATE IMAGING DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT - A solid state imaging device including multiple unit pixels including a photoelectric converter generating electrical charge in accordance with incident light quantity and accumulating the charge, a first transfer gate transferring the accumulated charge, a charge holding region holding the transferred charge, a second transfer gate transferring the held charge, and a floating diffusion region converting the transferred charge into voltage; an intermediate charge transfer unit transferring, to the charge holding region, a charge exceeding a predetermined charge amount as a first signal charge; and a pixel driving unit setting the first transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the second transfer gate to a conducting state, transfer the first signal charge to the floating diffusion region, set the second transfer gate to a non-conducting state, set the first transfer gate to a conducting state, and transfer the accumulated charge to the charge holding region as a second signal charge. | 01-16-2014 |
20140036123 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR A SOLID-STATE IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array section that has at least one pixel with a photoelectric conversion unit and a charge detection unit. A driving section is configured to read out a signal of the pixel, a first portion of said signal being based on signal charge, a second portion of said signal being based on a reset potential. A signal processing section is configured to read out the first portion of the signal as a reference voltage, with the reference voltage being adjusted to cause the first and second portions of the signal to be within an input voltage range. | 02-06-2014 |
20140049675 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, DRIVING METHOD, AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE - There is provided a solid-state imaging device including a pixel array section having a plurality of unit pixels two-dimensionally arranged therein, the unit pixels including at least a photoelectric conversion section, a charge holding section, a transfer section, and a reset section, and a drive control section which controls driving of the unit pixels in a manner that a voltage as a signal level and a voltage as a reset level are each read out serially per row. The drive control section controls readout of the voltage of the charge holding section in accordance with initialization of the charge holding section performed by the reset section before the charge transfer by the transfer section. | 02-20-2014 |
20140166856 | DA CONVERTER, SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, DRIVING METHOD OF SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - Disclosed is a digital-analog converter including a current generation section, a current source transistor bias voltage keeping section, a cascade transistor group switch section, and a conversion section. The current generation section has at least one current source transistor group including a plurality of current source transistors and generates an output current based on a value of a digital input signal. The current source transistor bias voltage keeping section has a plurality of cascade transistor groups each including cascade transistors connected in series to the current source transistors and keeps bias voltages of the current source transistors constant. The cascade transistor group switch section selects one of the plurality of cascade transistor groups. The conversion section performs current-voltage conversion of the output current supplied via the selected cascade transistor group. | 06-19-2014 |
20140319323 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING ELEMENT, DRIVING METHOD, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging element including: a plurality of unit pixels each having a photoelectric conversion part, a transfer part that transfers a charge generated by the photoelectric conversion part to a predetermined region, and a draining part that drains a charge in the predetermined region; a light shielding film being formed under an interconnect layer in the unit pixels and shield, from light, substantially the whole surface of the plurality of unit pixels except a light receiving part of the photoelectric conversion part; and a voltage controller controlling a voltage applied to the light shielding film. The voltage controller sets the voltage applied to the light shielding film to a first voltage in charge draining by the draining part and sets the voltage applied to the light shielding film to a second voltage higher than the first voltage in charge transfer by the transfer part. | 10-30-2014 |
20140362264 | SOLID-STATE IMAGE CAPTURING APPARATUS, DRIVING METHOD THEREOF AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device, with (a) a pixel array unit including two-dimensionally arranged pixels each including (i) a photoelectric conversion element, (ii) a select transistor configured to perform pixel selection, and (iii) a charge discharging transistor configured to selectively discharge the charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element; and (b) driving circuitry operable to drive reading of output signals from the pixels of the pixel array unit, for each pixel the driving circuitry driving the charge discharging transistor using a select transistor driving signal | 12-11-2014 |
20140368709 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME, AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEM INCLUDING THE DEVICE - A solid-state imaging device includes: a unit pixel including a photoelectric conversion section, an impurity-diffusion region capable of temporarily accumulating or holding electric charges generated by the photoelectric conversion section, and a reset transistor resetting the impurity-diffusion region by a voltage of a voltage-supply line, and having an impurity concentration such that at least the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region becomes a depletion state; and a drive circuit changing the voltage of the voltage-supply line from a first voltage lower than a depletion potential of the reset transistor side of the impurity-diffusion region to a second voltage higher than the depletion potential while the reset transistor is on. | 12-18-2014 |
20150022703 | SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, SIGNAL PROCESSING DEVICE AND SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD FOR SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE, AND IMAGING APPARATUS - A solid-state imaging device includes a pixel array unit in which unit pixels are arranged in a matrix shape and a signal processing circuit that obtains a first video signal and performs processing for combining the first and second video signals. The signal processing circuit includes judging means that judges whether a pixel of interest in the pixel array unit is a pixel to be saturated during an exposure period, calculating means that sets the pixel of interest as a correction pixel and calculates a correction amount on the basis of a luminance value of the second video signal of a peripheral pixel of the correction pixel, and correcting means that applies the correction amount to a luminance value of the first video signal of the correction pixel to thereby correct a noise signal amount due to photo-charges leaking from the peripheral pixel into the correction pixel. | 01-22-2015 |