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US 7,598,478 B2Granted
Image pickup device having a light shield element
AssigneeKonica Minolta Holdings, Inc.
InventorsTakashi Morimoto, Naoki Kubo, Kouichi Ishida, Satoru Hirose, Takeshi Endo
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An image pickup device wherein the range in the amount of incident light (dynamic range) for obtaining an appropriate image can be expanded, and shutter and aperture functions are provided. A light shielding element for light shielding a photoelectric conversion section and an actuator for driving the light shielding element are provided on the pixel of the image pickup device using the MEMS technology, and the amount of light shielding is controlled for each pixel, whereby the dynamic range is expanded, and shutter and aperture functions are also provided.
Claims16
An image pickup device, comprising:
- a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally and used for imaging, each of which has a photoelectric conversion section;
- a light shielding device, the light shielding device including:
- a light shielding element which variably shields all or a part of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels to be used for image pickup from incident light, the light shielding element having at least one side which is shorter than a pixel pitch of the plurality of pixels, and
- a light shield drive section which moves the light shielding element on the photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- an incident light detection section which detects the amount of the incident light entering into each of the plurality of pixels.
3 more elements
An image pickup device, comprising:
- a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally and used for imaging, each of which has a photoelectric conversion section;
- a light shielding device, the light shielding device including:
- a light shielding element which variably shields all or a part of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels to be used for image pickup from incident light, the light shielding element having at least one side which is shorter than a pixel pitch of the plurality of pixels, and
- a light shield drive section which moves the light shielding element on the photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding factor storing section for storing a light shielding factor which is the amount of light to be blocked by the light shielding device.
3 more elements
An image pickup unit, comprising:
- an image pickup device, the image pickup device including:
- a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally and used for imaging, each of which has a photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding device, the light shielding device including:
- a light shielding element which variably shields all or a part of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels to be used for image pickup from incident light, the light shielding element having at least one side which is shorter than a pixel pitch of the plurality of pixels, and
- a light shield drive section which moves the light shielding element on the photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding control section which controls the light shield drive section to control variably the amount of light shielding of the light shielding device.
5 more elements
An image pickup unit, comprising:
- an image pickup device, the image pickup device including:
- a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally and used for imaging, each of which has a photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding device, the light shielding device including:
- a light shielding element which variably shields all or a part of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels to be used for image pickup from incident light, the light shielding element having at least one side which is shorter than a pixel pitch of the plurality of pixels, and
- a light shield drive section which moves the light shielding element on the photoelectric conversion section;
- a light shielding factor calculation section which has a first calculation mode in which the amount of light shielding of light to be blocked by the light shielding device is calculated based on a photoelectric conversion output of the photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding control section which controls the light shield drive section to control the amount of light shielding of the light shielding device based on a calculation result of the light shielding factor calculation section.
6 more elements
An image pickup device, comprising:
- a plurality of pixels arranged two-dimensionally, each of which has a photoelectric conversion section;
- and
- a light shielding device, said light shielding device including
- a light shielding element configured to shield a variable portion, ranging from zero to one-hundred percent, of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels so that the variable portion of the photoelectric conversion section of each of the plurality of pixels may be simultaneously shielded from incident light during image pickup and
- a light shield drive section which moves the light shielding element on the photoelectric conversion section.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.