Patent ID: 8618589

Claim:
A method for driving a solid-state imaging device including pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array with rows and columns, with a signal line provided in each column, each pixel including a photoelectric conversion element and a group of transistors for selectively transferring signal charges from the photoelectric conversion element to the signal line and for resetting a floating diffusion of the pixel, the group of transistors including a reset transistor connected between the floating diffusion and a drain driving wire connected to a drain of the reset transistor, the reset transistor controlling a potential of the floating diffusion, the method comprising the steps of: before a pixel has an operating period, (a) fixing a potential of the signal line to an intermediate potential between a relatively higher first power-supply potential and a relatively lower second power-supply potential; and after the pixel operating period, returning a potential of the drain driving wire from an inactive level to an active level, wherein, the signal line is coupled to the intermediate potential by means of a transistor other than transistors within transistor groups of pixels along the column, and a threshold voltage of the reset transistor is set to be lower than a threshold voltage of a transistor used in a peripheral circuit for the pixel array.