Image sensing apparatus and control method therefor
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorMakiko Saito
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Abstract
An image sensing apparatus comprises: a pixel unit; a generator that generates and outputs a plurality of reference signals having different slopes from each other that increase in proportion to elapsation of time; a selector that selects one of the plurality of reference signals; and an analog-to-digital converter that converts an analog signal outputted from the pixel unit of an image sensor to a digital signal using the reference signal selected by the selector, wherein the generator generates the plurality of reference signals in parallel, and in a case where an analog signal of a reset level is outputted from the pixel unit, the selector changes the reference signal selected from the plurality of reference signals each time the selected reference signal exceeds the analog signal.
Claims10
An image sensing apparatus comprising:
- a pixel unit;
- a generator that generates and outputs a plurality of reference signals having different slopes from each other that increase in proportion to elapsation of time;
- a selector that selects one of the plurality of reference signals;
- and
- an analog-to-digital converter that converts an analog signal outputted from the pixel unit to a digital signal using the reference signal selected by the selector,
- wherein the generator generates the plurality of reference signals in parallel, and
- in a case where an analog signal of a reset level is outputted from the pixel unit, the selector changes the reference signal selected from the plurality of reference signals each time the selected reference signal exceeds the analog signal.
An image sensing apparatus comprising:
- a pixel unit;
- a generator that generates and outputs a reference signal having a slope that increases in proportion to elapsation of time;
- an amplifier that amplifies an analog signal outputted from the pixel unit by one of a plurality of gains;
- and
- an analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog signal amplified by the amplifier to a digital signal using the reference signal,
- wherein, in a case where an analog signal of a reset level is outputted from the pixel unit, the amplifier changes the gain used for the amplification each time the selected reference signal exceeds the amplified analog signal of the reset level.
A control method for an image sensing apparatus that comprises a pixel unit;
- a generator capable of generating and outputting a plurality of reference signals having different slopes from each other that increase in proportion to elapsation of time, a selector that selects one of the plurality of reference signals, and an analog-to-digital converter that converts an analog signal outputted from the pixel unit to a digital signal using the reference signal selected by the selector, the method comprising, in a case where an analog signal of a reset level is outputted from the pixel unit,
- generating the plurality of reference signals in parallel;
- changing a reference signal selected from the plurality of reference signals;
- and
- converting the analog signal of the reset level to a digital signal using each of the selected reference signals,
- wherein the reference signal is changed each time the selected reference signal exceeds the analog signal.
A control method for an image sensing apparatus that comprises a pixel unit;
- a generator that generates and outputs a reference signal having a slope that increases in proportion to elapsation of time, an amplifier that amplifies an analog signal outputted from the pixel unit by one of a plurality of gains, and an analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog signal amplified by the amplifier to a digital signal using the reference signal, the method comprising,
- in a case where an analog signal of a reset level is outputted from the pixel unit, changing the gain used for the amplification each time the selected reference signal exceeds the amplified analog signal of the reset level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.