Reduced size image pickup apparatus retaining image quality

摘要

An image pickup apparatus for photographing an image, includes: a photoelectric converter to convert incident light an electric charge and accumulate the electric charge, a transfer element to transfer the electric charge accumulated in the photoelectric converter, a converter to convert the electric charge in the photoelectric converter transferred via the transfer element into a voltage, a reset element to reset potentials of the converter, and an amplifier to amplify a voltage converted by the converter to generate a pixel signal and output the pixel signal to a read signal line for reading the pixel signal. A plurality of the photoelectric converter and the transfer element are disposed at least in a horizontal direction share the amplifier and the read signal line.

主权项

1. An imaging device comprising:
a first common unit including:
a first plurality of photoelectric conversion elements including a first photoelectric conversion element configured to output a first pixel signal, anda first plurality of pixel transistors coupled to the first photoelectric conversion element; a second common unit adjacent to the first common unit, the second common unit including:
a second plurality of photoelectric conversion elements including a second photoelectric conversion element configured to output a second pixel signal, anda second plurality of pixel transistors coupled to the second photoelectric conversion elements; a reference voltage generation circuit configured to output a reference signal; and an analog to digital (A/D) conversion unit coupled to the first common unit and the second common unit, the A/D conversion unit including:
a comparator configured to receive the first pixel signal, the second pixel signal, and the reference signal and output a determination signal,a counter configured to receive a signal based on the determination signal, andswitching circuitry coupled to the comparator, wherein the switching circuitry is coupled to a first memory and a second memory.