Solid-state image pickup device and solid-state image pickup system

A solid-state image pickup system that has a solid-state image pickup device comprising:

• a first pixel having a first photodiode which causes a first signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a first microlens that is formed above the first photodiode;
• a second pixel having a second photodiode which causes a second signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a second microlens which is formed above the second photodiode and is smaller than the first microlens, and further having a sensitivity of 1/n times of the first pixel and a photoelectric conversion period of n times of the first pixel;
• an output circuit outputting a differential signal of a difference between a first detection signal based on a charge amount of the first signal charge and a second detection signal based on a charge amount of the second signal charge;
• and
• an image forming unit forming an image based on the differential signal that is output from the output circuit, wherein
• the solid-state image pickup system causes the output circuit to output zero as the differential signal, based on the first detection signal and the second detection signal becoming equal to each other, if the light is reflection light that is reflected by a stationary subject, and
• detects movement of a subject, based on the first detection signal and the second detection signal becoming different from each other, by causing the output circuit to output a differential value between both detection signals as the differential signal, and by causing the image forming unit to form an image based on the differential value, if the light is reflection light that is reflected by the subject that moves.

A solid-state image pickup device comprising:

• a first pixel having a first photodiode which causes a first signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a first microlens that is formed above the first photodiode;
• a second pixel having a second photodiode which causes a second signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a second microlens which is formed above the second photodiode and is smaller than the first microlens, and further having a sensitivity of 1/n times of the first pixel;
• an output circuit outputting a signal based on a charge amount of the first signal charge and a charge amount of the second signal charge;
• and
• a control unit controlling an operation of the output circuit, by supplying a mode switching signal to the output circuit, wherein
• the output circuit outputs the signal, based on a sum of or a difference between a charge amount of the first signal charge and a charge amount of the second signal charge, based on the mode switching signal.

A solid-state image pickup system that has a solid-state image pickup device comprising:

• a first pixel having a first photodiode which causes a first signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a first microlens that is formed above the first photodiode;
• a second pixel having a second photodiode which causes a second signal charge to be generated by receiving light and by photoelectrically converting the light, and a second microlens which is formed above the second photodiode and is smaller than the first microlens, and further having a sensitivity of 1/n times of the first pixel;
• an output circuit outputting a signal based on a charge amount of the first signal charge and a charge amount of the second signal charge;
• a control unit that controlling an operation of the output circuit, by supplying a mode switching signal to the output circuit;
• and
• an image forming unit forming an image based on the signal that is output from the output circuit, wherein
• the solid-sate image pickup system cause the output circuit to output zero as the signal, based on the first detection signal based on a charge amount of the first signal charge and the second detection signal based on a charge amount of the second signal charge becoming equal to each other, if the output circuit receives the movement detection mode signal from the control unit as the mode switching signal and if the light is reflection light that is reflected by a stationary subject,
• the solid-sate image pickup system cause the output circuit to output a differential value between the first detection signal and the second detection signal as the signal, and detects movement of a subject by the image forming unit forming an image based on the differential value, based on the first detection signal and the second detection signal becoming different, if the output circuit receives the movement detection mode signal from the control unit as the mode switching signal and if the light is reflection light that is reflected by the subject that moves,
• the solid-sate image pickup system cause the output circuit to output the signal, based on a sum of a charge amount of the first signal charge and a charge amount of the second signal charge, and cause the image forming unit to form and output the image based on the signal based on the sum, if the output circuit receives the wide dynamic range mode signal from the control unit as the mode switching signal.