Patent ID: 8233071

Claim:
An image sensor having a plurality of pixels and a driving device which drives the plurality of pixels, wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a photo-electric conversion device adapted to generate electric charge according to an amount of incident light; an amplification transistor adapted to amplify and output a signal corresponding to an amount of the electric charge; a first storage device adapted to temporarily store the electric charge generated in the photo-electric conversion device; a second storage device adapted to temporarily store the electric charge generated in the photo-electric conversion device, wherein the second storage device arranged opposite to the photo-electric conversion device and the first storage device with respect to thea vertical output line; a first transferring device adapted to transfer the electric charge from the photo-electric conversion device to the first storage device; and a second transferring device adapted to transfer the electric charge from the first storage device to the second storage device or from the second storage device to the first storage device, wherein the plurality of pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional manner, and the driving device drives the plurality of pixels to simultaneously perform transfer operation of the electric charge to the second storage device by the second transferring device for the plurality of pixels and to perform output operation of the signal from the amplification transistor to the vertical output line for each row.