US 5,966,174 A · Signal processing circuit and method for driving a solid state imaging device using plural reading operations per image scanning time

Abstract

A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a solid-state imaging device and a signal processing circuit. The solid-state imaging device includes: a plurality of photoelectric converting sections provided with color filters having different spectroscopic characteristics, and each converting light incident thereon into a charge and accumulating the charge, and a plurality of vertical charge transfer sections for vertically transferring the charge read from each of the photoelectric converting sections. A plurality of reading operations to read the charges accumulated in the photoelectric converting sections to the plurality of the vertical charge transfer sections are performed within a time duration for scanning an image for one image plane, and the charges read from the photoelectric converting sections are transferred through the vertical charge transfer section separately for each of the reading operations. The signal processing circuit includes: a plurality of color separation circuits each for performing color separation of signals based on the charges read by the plurality of reading operations and transferred separately; and a synthesis circuit for synthesizing the signals sent by the color separation circuits and outputting the resultant signal.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method of driving an imaging device including a plurality of photoelectric converting sections and a charge transfer unit including a plurality of vertical charge transfer sections configured to transfer a plurality of charges read from each of the photoelectric converting sections to a plurality of receiving elements, the method comprising the steps of:

performing a first reading operation for providing a first charge accumulated in at least one photoelectric converting section to one of the vertical charge transfer sections;
performing a second reading operation for providing a second charge accumulated in at least one photoelectric converting section to another of the charge transfer sections, wherein the first and second charges remain within the respective vertical charge transfer sections at the same time, and
transferring the first charge provided by the first reading operation and second charge provided by the second reading operation from the charge transfer sections to the receiving elements substantially simultaneously without transferring the first and second charges between the first reading operation and the second reading operation, wherein the first charge is transferred separately from the second charge to the receiving elements.

A solid-state imaging device comprising:

a plurality of photoelectric converting sections;
and
charge transfer means, including a plurality of vertical charge transfer sections, for transferring a plurality of charges read from each of the photoelectric converting sections to a plurality of receiving elements,
wherein a first reading operation is performed for providing a first charge accumulated in at least one photoelectric converting section to the charge transfer means, a second reading operation is performed for providing a second charge accumulated in the at least one photoelectric converting section to the charge transfer means, the first and second charges remain separate within the charge transfer means, the first and second charges each held in a respective one of said vertical charge transfer sections simultaneously,
and wherein the first charge provided by the first reading operation and the second charge provided by the second reading operation are transferred from the charge transfer means to the receiving elements substantially simultaneously without transferring the first and second charges between the first reading operation and the second reading operation, the first charge is transferred separately from the second charge to the receiving elements.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Signal processing circuit and method for driving a solid state imaging device using plural reading operations per image scanning time

Life of this patent

Signal processing circuit and method for driving a solid state imaging device using plural reading operations per image scanning time

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims18