Imaging device and imaging system
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorKeisuke Ota
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An imaging device includes a plurality of pixels each including a plurality of avalanche photodiodes, a setting unit configured to set the plurality of avalanche photodiodes to an active state or an inactive state separately, and a counter circuit that counts and outputs number of photons determined by the avalanche photodiode(s) set to the active state out of the plurality of avalanche photodiodes, wherein the imaging device is configured to change the number of avalanche photodiodes set to the active state out of the plurality of avalanche photodiodes in accordance with brightness of an object.
Claims18
A photoelectric conversion device comprising:
- a first substrate including a plurality of avalanche photodiodes;
- and
- a second substrate including a setting circuit configured to separately set the plurality of avalanche photodiodes to an active state or an inactive state,
- wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are stacked,
- wherein the photoelectric conversion device is configured to change the number of avalanche photodiodes set to the active state out of the plurality of avalanche photodiodes, and
- wherein the number of avalanche photodiodes set to the active state in a dark situation is larger than the number of avalanche photodiodes set to the active state in a bright situation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.