Patent ID: 7791524
Filing Date: 2010-09-07
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising: a plurality of pixel circuits arranged in a matrix, each of which performs photoelectric conversion on a received light; and an AD conversion unit configured to convert a signal voltage into a digital signal represented as a plurality of bits, the signal voltage being a resultant of the photoelectric conversion, wherein said AD conversion unit includes: a reference voltage generation unit configured to generate a plurality of reference voltages within a possible range for the signal voltage, each of the reference voltages being different from each other; a most significant bit conversion unit configured to identify, from among a plurality of voltage sections, a voltage section that includes the signal voltage, and to determine a result of the identification as a value of a most significant bit of the digital signal, each of the voltage sections having a corresponding one of the reference voltages as a base point; and a least significant bit conversion unit configured to convert a difference voltage into a least significant bit of the digital signal, the difference voltage indicating a difference between the signal voltage and the reference voltage that is the base point of the identified voltage section.