Patent ID: 7995122

Claim:
A solid-state image capturing device, comprising: a pixel array arranged in a row direction and a column direction orthogonal thereto; a vertical register having a plurality of transfer electrodes used to read signal charges that are generated in respective pixels when the respective pixels receive light, the vertical register that sequentially transfers the signal charges in the column direction upon receipt of a transfer pulse; a horizontal register that receives the signal charges transferred by the vertical register and transfers the signal charges in a horizontal direction; a smear drain structure that is placed slightly apart from the vertical register, wherein the vertical register and the smear drain structure are disposed on one side of the horizontal register in the column direction; an output section that outputs the signal charges transferred by the horizontal register; a control section that generates first electronic potential wells and applies a certain transfer pulse to the plurality of transfer electrode to collect smear charges that are generated in the vertical register into the first electronic potential wells, wherein the control section causes the vertical register and the smear drain structure to transfer the first electronic potential wells, in which the smear charges are collected, to the smear drain structure, and the smear drain structure discharges the transferred smear charges, wherein the control section applies the certain transfer pulse to the plurality of transfer electrode to collect the smear charges into the first electronic potential wells before the signal charges are read from the respective pixels to the vertical register, the control section generates second electronic potential wells after the smear charges are collected into the first electronic potential wells and applies another certain transfer pulse to the transfer electrodes to transfer the signal charges from the respective pixels to the second electronic potential wells, and the first electronic potential wells and the second electronic potential wells are concurrently transferred to the horizontal register without mixing the smear charges with the signal charges.