Endoscope aparatus with priority-based driving control on identifiable plural connections

An endoscope apparatus, comprising:

• a plurality of connection portions to which an endoscope can be connected, respectively;
• a priority setting portion that, when a plurality of endoscopes are connected to the plurality of connection portions, sets a drive priority for selecting one endoscope to supply a drive signal to, wherein the drive priority is a kind priority that corresponds to a kind of the endoscope;
• a drive portion that supplies a drive signal to one endoscope;
• and
• a drive control portion that controls so that the drive portion supplies the drive signal only to any one endoscope based on the drive priority;
• an identification portion that identifies the kind based on a resistance value of a specific resistance that differs according to a kind of the endoscope that is arranged in the endoscope, and that is detected by cancelling a contact resistance in the connection portion, wherein the identification portion comprises;
• an ID signal line and a ground line to which the endoscope is connected through the connection portion, wherein the specific resistance electrically connects the ID signal line and the ground line;
• a bypass circuit forming portion capable of forming a bypass circuit that short-circuits the specific resistance;
• and
• a reference resistance of a predetermined resistance value, wherein a predetermined voltage is applied to the reference resistance and the specific resistance that are serially connected through the ID signal line, and detects a resistance value of the specific resistance based on a partial voltage of the reference resistance, and also detects a resistance value of the specific resistance by cancelling the contact resistance by detecting a contact resistance in the connection portion of the ID signal line based on a partial voltage of the reference resistance when the bypass circuit is formed.