camera device

Abstract

The present invention provides an imaging device, which includes an imaging unit and a correction unit. The imaging unit is composed of a pixel array and a readout control unit. A plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix in the pixel array. A transfer transistor for transferring to the drift diffusion region, an amplification transistor for outputting a pixel signal corresponding to the charge stored in the drift diffusion region, and a reset transistor for resetting the charge stored in the drift diffusion region, the readout control section controls the first readout Switch with the second readout control to perform readout. The first readout control controls the reset transistor to be turned off before exposure, and reads out pixel signals from a part of the row of the pixel array. The pixel signals are read out from the array, and the correction unit corrects the pixel signals read out by the second readout control based on the pixel signals read out by the first readout control.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to imaging devices. Background technique [0002] A general electronic camera is equipped with a solid-state imaging element such as a CCD sensor or a CMOS sensor. For example, in the case of a CMOS sensor, charges accumulated by pixels arranged in a matrix on the light receiving surface in response to incident light are converted from charge to voltage by pixel amplifiers and read out to vertical signal lines for each row. And, the signal read from each pixel is read to the outside of the CMOS sensor via a column amplifier, a CDS circuit (correlated double sampling circuit), a horizontal output circuit, and an output amplifier. However, the signal read from the CMOS sensor includes noise components inherent in the row direction, such as fixed pattern noise components and dark shading components. Therefore, in order to remove these noise components, a technique of correcting image data read from the CMOS sensor after exp...

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Problems solved by technology

[0003] However, in order to shorten the acquisition time of correction data, a method of acquiring correction data only from a part of lines in one screen is adopted. In this case, pixel amplifiers of the lines for which correction data Since pixel amplifiers have different operating points, when used in an area where the input and output characteristics of the pixel amplifier are non-linear, there is a problem that the signal level between lines will vary, which may impair the image quality of the captured image.

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