Patent ID: 6410898
Filing Date: 2002-06-25
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A photosensitive device comprising:addressing conductors; read conductors; a plurality of photosensitive cells arranged as a matrix, wherein the addressing conductors and the read conductors intersect between the cells of the matrix, each cell is connected to one of the addressing conductors and to one of the read conductors, and each cell includes: a photosensitive diode connected to the one read conductor, and configured to generate a current in response to an illumination, and a switching diode connected to the one addressing conductor, and configured to allow a fraction of the generated current to flow to the one read conductor and to the one addressing conductor, wherein the photosensitive diode and the switching diode share a common point; addressing circuit directly connected to the addressing conductors; charge-reading means connected to the read conductors for reading charges that accumulated in selected cells during the illumination; first measuring means for measuring during the illumination an information element representative of a sum of the current flowing in the addressing conductors, wherein the addressing conductors include a pre-selected subset of addressing conductors, the addressing conductors of said subset being held to an in idle potential during the illumination in order to quantify the amount of illumination received by cells connected to the subset of addressing conductors so as to extract information pertaining to the illumination in real time; and second means for measuring during the illumination an information element representative of a sum of the current flowing in the read conductors, wherein the read conductors include a pre-selected subset of read conductors, the read conductors of said subset being held to a predetermined potential during the illumination in order to quantify the amount of illumination received by cells connected to the subset of read conductors so as to extract information pertaining to the illumination in real time.