Patent ID: 8173476

Claim:
A driving method of an image pickup device comprising a photoelectric conversion element converting light into charges, a transfer gate that transfers the converted charges to a floating node, a first transistor that resets the voltage of the floating node, a plurality of signal lines, a second transistor connected to one of the signal lines to output a signal based on a voltage of the floating node, and a clipping circuit capable of clipping a voltage of the signal line connected to the second transistor, wherein said driving method comprises steps of: clipping, by the clipping circuit, a voltage of the signal line connected to the second transistor at a first voltage according to a signal from a unit that controls the operation of the clipping circuit, during at least a part of a reset signal reading out period for reading out the signal based on the voltage of the floating node upon resetting of the floating node with the first transistor; and clipping, by the clipping circuit, a voltage of the signal line connected to the second transistor at a second voltage different from the first voltage according to a signal from the unit, during at least a part of a photoelectric conversion signal reading out period for reading out the signal based on the voltage of the floating node upon transferring the converted charges from the photoelectric conversion element to the floating node by the transfer gate.