Patent ID: 11937006
Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 14:
15. A photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising:
a plurality of pixels including a photodiode configured to perform avalanche multiplication; and
a signal processing circuit configured to generate a signal that is based on photons detected by the photodiode,
wherein the signal processing circuit includes a control circuit, a counter, and an illuminance determination circuit,
wherein the control circuit is connected to the photodiode and a generation circuit configured to generate a pulse signal, and controls a state between a first state in which one node of the photodiode is not electrically connected to a predetermined potential and a second state in which the one node is electrically connected to the predetermined potential, in accordance with the pulse signal,
wherein the counter counts a number of periods in which avalanche multiplication occurs, among a plurality of periods in the first state,
wherein the illuminance determination circuit determines whether a count value of the counter has reached a threshold value, and
wherein the signal processing circuit includes a unit or circuit configured to set an oscillation start timing of the pulse signal in accordance with a result of determination performed by the illuminance determination circuit.