Patent ID: 7697038
Filing Date: 2010-04-13
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An imaging apparatus comprising: an image sensing unit in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are arranged on an image sensing plane; and a control unit, wherein the control unit has a first mode in which image signals of each of the M lines in a first photoelectric conversion element group arranged in a first region of the image sensing plane are read out from the image sensing unit; and a second mode in which image signals of each of the N lines in a second photoelectric conversion element group arranged in a second region that is smaller than the first region of the image sensing plane are read out from the image sensing unit, wherein M is an integer greater than N, and N is an integer less than M and greater than or equal to 1; and performing control to cause a horizontal period of the second mode to be N/M of that of the first mode, wherein the horizontal period of the first mode is a period from the start of image signal readout of a predetermined line to the start of the image signal readout of a next predetermined line, and the horizontal period of the second mode is a period from the start of image signal readout of a predetermined line to the start of the image signal readout of a next predetermined line.