Solid-state imaging device having a counting unit and a comparison unit with switchable frequency band characteristics and imaging apparatus having the same

摘要

A solid-state imaging device includes the following. Pixels arranged in matrix converts received light into signal voltage. A column AD conversion unit, which includes a comparison unit and an up-down counting unit, converts signal voltage to digital signal. The comparison unit compares a value of signal voltage to a gradually changing value of reference signal voltage. The up-down counting unit counts, by one of down-counting and up-counting, a time period until the comparison result is reversed if the signal voltage is of a base signal component of each pixel at reset level, and counts, by an other of down-counting and up-counting, the time period if the signal voltage is of a superimposed signal component in which the base signal component is superimposed on a pixel signal component corresponding to an amount of light received by the pixel. The comparison unit has switchable kinds of frequency band characteristics.

主权项

1. A solid-state imaging device comprising:
a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, each of the pixels converting received light into a signal voltage; and a column Analog-to-Digital (AD) conversion unit configured to convert the signal voltage to a digital signal, wherein the column AD conversion unit includes: a comparison unit configured to determine, as a comparison result, which is greater between a value of the signal voltage and a gradually changing value of a reference signal voltage; an up-down counting unit configured to (i) count, by one of down-counting and up-counting, a time period until the comparison result of the comparison unit is reversed if the signal voltage is a voltage of a base signal component of each of the pixels at a reset level, and (ii) count, by an other of the down-counting and the up-counting, a time period until the comparison result of the comparison unit is reversed if the signal voltage is a voltage of a superimposed signal component in which the base signal component is superimposed on a pixel signal component corresponding to an amount of light received by the each of the pixels, and the comparison unit has plural kinds of frequency band characteristics which are switchable.