Patent ID: 6707499
Filing Date: 2004-03-16
Classification: H01L,H04N

Abstract:
A method of driving a solid-state imaging device comprising a plurality of light receiving members arranged in a matrix in horizontal and vertical directions, a plurality of columns of vertical CCD registers associated with said lighting receiving members for reading signal charges received from said plurality of light receiving members to transfer signal charges in the vertical direction, and a row of horizontal CCD registers disposed at one end of each column of said plurality of vertical CCD registers to transfer the signal charges received from said plurality of columns of vertical CCD registers to an output circuit member, said method comprising:a first step of receiving the signal charges from an object by said plurality of light receiving members, wherein the period of time taken in said first step is Cs; a second step of sending a reading pulse to read out signal charges from all of said plurality of light receiving members simultaneously and independently to said plurality of vertical CCD registers at a beginning of a blanking period; a third step of receiving the signal charges by said plurality of light receiving members for a period of time; a fourth step of sending a reading pulse to read out the signal charges from all of said plurality of light receiving members simultaneously and independently added to said plurality of vertical CCD registers in a successive interval of a BLK period; a fifth step of repeating the third step and the fourth step several times, wherein the number of said times is determined by a capable exposure time T1, said capable exposure time T1 is smaller than an equation of (nâˆ’1)Ã—Cs, where n is a ratio of a charge capacity of one of said CCD registers to a charge capacity of one of said light receiving members; a sixth step of transferring forward the signal charges in said plurality of vertical CCD registers to said horizontal CCD registers; and a seventh step of transferring the signal charges in said horizontal CCD registers to said output circuit member.