Patent ID: 7554594
Filing Date: 2009-06-30
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. A solid-state image pickup apparatus comprising: an image sensor for transducing light incident on an image sensing surface, which has a plurality of pixels arranged in rows and columns, to electric signal charges on a pixel-by-pixel basis, shifting the signal charges on the rows transferred from said image sensing surface in a horizontal direction along a horizontal transfer path, concentrating the signal charges at a local portion, and transferring the concentrated signal charges to an output circuit, which converts the concentrated signal charges to an electric signal; an analog signal processor and an analog-to-digital converter for converting the electric signal to a digital image signal; and a signal processor for executing digital signal processing on the digital image signal; said signal processor comprising: a transfer remainder analyzer for analyzing a local remainder representative of an amount of signal charges left untransferred at the local portion and an all-stage transfer remainder representative of signal charges left untransferred in all stages of said horizontal transfer path; a horizontal transfer remainder calculator for calculating, based on the local remainder, a local horizontal transfer remainder with respect to signal charge transfer at the local portion, and calculating, based on the all-stage transfer remainder, a mean horizontal transfer remainder with respect to signal charge transfer in the all stages of said horizontal transfer path; a correction amount calculator for calculating, based on the local horizontal transfer remainder and the mean horizontal transfer remainder, a transfer efficiency correction amount for each position of said horizontal transfer path in the horizontal direction; and a horizontal transfer efficiency corrector for correcting individual image data, included in the digital image signal and representative of an image picked up, with the transfer efficiency correction amounts corresponding in position in the horizontal direction thereto.