Patent ID: 7795570

Claim:
A device having a self-scanned photodiode array wherein charge from individual pixels is switched from each pixel sequentially onto at least one output video line after a predetermined exposure time (t 0 ) comprising: at least one light source; at least one sample cell having means for receiving light from said at least one light source; a photo-diode array having pixels for collecting light transmitted through said at least one sample cell, wherein the intensity of said light may vary across the spatial extent of the array; means for reading said pixels; means for skipping the reading of selected pixels for one or more additional exposure times t 0 allowing said selected pixels to be exposed for specified integer multiples (M) of said predetermined exposure time t 0 , thereby allowing said selected pixels receiving less light to accumulate additional charge before being read out and thereby reducing the number of read cycles and improving the signal-to-noise ratio.