Patent ID: 6373600
Filing Date: 2002-04-16
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
A light-receiving element unit comprising:a light-receiving element for converting received light to electricity and outputting analog data corresponding to amplitude of the light; an image data outputting unit for receiving the analog data from said light-receiving element, converting the analog data to digital data and outputting the digital data as image data; wherein said image data outputting unit comprises: an A/D converter for converting the analog data received from said light-receiving element to digital data; a storage unit for storing therein reference data used for determining whether an image data is to be generated or not; a determining unit for receiving the digital data from said A/D converter, computing a difference between the digital data and the reference data stored in said storage unit, and determining, when an absolute value of the difference is equal to or more than a preset threshold value for the difference, that the digital data is to be used for generation of the image data; an image data generating unit for generating image data, when it is determined by said determining unit that the digital data is to be used for generation of the image data; and a reference data updating unit for updating, when it is determined by the determining unit that the digital data is to be used for generation of the image data, the reference data with this digital data.