Patent ID: 7944496

Claim:
A driving method for driving a charge-coupled device type solid-state imaging device including: a first pixel group that has a plurality of pixels arrayed and formed in a two-dimensional array on a surface portion of a semiconductor substrate; a second pixel group that (i) has a plurality of pixels arrayed and formed in a two-dimensional array on the surface portion of the semiconductor substrate in an area that overlaps the first pixel group and (ii) has the plurality of pixels at slipped positions with respect to the respective pixels of the first pixel group; a plurality of vertical charge transfer paths that extend along pixel columns and are provided for the respective pixel columns, the pixel columns which (i) have the plurality of pixels of the first pixel group and the plurality of pixels of the second pixel group and (ii) extend in a vertical direction; a horizontal charge transfer path formed along end parts in the transfer direction of the plurality of the vertical charge transfer paths; and an output amplifier that (i) is provided at the output end portion of the horizontal charge transfer path and (ii) outputs, as taken image data, voltage value signals responsive to the amount of electric charge of transferred signals, the driving method comprising: controlling, when taking dynamic images without a mechanical shutter, exposure time of the first pixel group and exposure time of the second pixel group separately by an electronic shutter function and by timings of reading pulses applied to transfer electrodes which concurrently functions as reading electrodes and which are included in the vertical charge transfer paths; causing the vertical charge transfer paths to hold, until the reading pulses are applied to the second pixel group, signal charges read from the respective pixels of the first pixel group to which the reading pulses are applied beforehand of the first pixel group and the second pixel group; transferring the signal charges read from the first pixel group and signal charges read from the second pixel group together on the vertical charge transfer paths; and outputting the signal charges read from the first pixel group and the signal charges read from the second pixel group together from the output amplifier.