Patent ID: 6947087

Claim:
A solid state imaging device comprising: an imaging region including unit cells arranged in a matrix of rows and columns to provide a plurality of pixel rows, each of said unit cells having photoelectric conversion means for photoelectrically converting incident light, applied to pixels, to store signal charges, readout means for reading out stored signal charges to a detection node, and amplifying means for amplifying the readout signal; a readout voltage switching circuit configured to set a readout driving signal, applied to said readout means, to one of a plurality of voltages different to one another according to internal control, and to set a voltage of said readout driving signal, corresponding to said readout pulse for a dynamic range increase, to a lower voltage than a voltage of a readout driving signal corresponding to a usual readout pulse; and a pulse production circuit including a vertical shift register configured to sequentially generate pulses for a dynamic range control, based on an external input pulse for said dynamic range control.