Solid state image pickup device

In a solid state image pickup unit for producing an image with a solid state image sensor having first and second field photosensitive picture elements while controlling an exposure time by an optical shutter provided to open or close the optical path of incident light, the improvement characterized in that, immediately before transferring to a vertical shift register signal charges obtained in each of the photosensitive elements of said image sensor and reading out said signal charges, said shutter is opened so that any preceding unrequired charges remaining in said vertical shift register are swept away, and after said shutter is closed, the signal charges are read out via said vertical shift register.

A solid state image pickup unit comprising a solid state image sensor with first and second photosensitive field elements with means to control a charge storage period and an optical shutter capable of opening and closing the optical path of incident light irradiated to said image sensor, wherein said shutter is kept open and is closed during a portion of a charge storage period of said image sensor so that the effective exposure time is controlled, and the signal charges from said fist and second field elements are simultaneously exposed and are read out from said image sensor with the shutter closed, said image pickup unit characterized in that the charge storage period of said solid state image sensor is preset to have a fixed length, and an aperture stop or a shutter speed is controlled automatically in response to the signal charges obtained during the charge storage period prior to said effective exposure time.

A solid state image sensor comprising first and second photosensitive first and second field elements alternately arranged in a matrix, a plurality of bilateral first shift registers mounted parallel to each other to shift charges from said first and second field elements, a plurality of transfer gates between said first and second field elements and said first plurality of shift registers to shift charges thereto, an output shift register connected to first ends of said first plurality of shift registers, a charge absorbing region connected to second ends of said first plurality of shift registers, an optical shutter for opening and closing the optical path of light to control the exposure on said first and second photosensitive elements, means for controlling said shutter, a shutter actuator connected to said means for controlling said shutter such that said first and second photosensitive elements are simultaneously exposed with the shutter open, and means for controlling said transfer gates, said plurality of bilateral shift registers and said output shift register so that charges from said first and second field photosensitive elements are sequentially transferred to said bilateral shift registers and are sequentially read out when said shutter is closed.