Patent ID: 8159547

Claim:
An image pickup device comprising: photodetecting means that has a plurality of pixels arranged in an array form and outputs an electric charge generated according to an incident light amount in the pixel; charge transfer means provided for the photodetecting means along one of the arrangement directions of the plurality of pixels and having N (N is an integer equal to or more than 2) segmental charge transfer sections divided in terms of the arrangement direction; A/D converting means that converts signals by electric charges outputted from the photodetecting means via the charge transfer means to digital data signals; digital signal processing means that carries out a signal processing to the data signals outputted from the A/D converting means, each segmental charge transfer section transfers electric charges from pixels present in a predetermined photodetecting region of the photodetecting means in an output direction and outputs from an output end, and the digital signal processing means carries out, to a correction target of a data signal outputted first in a signal array from the segmental charge transfer section, a data correction by use of a plurality of correcting data signals including at least one of a first correcting data signal and a second correcting data signal while setting another predetermined data signal included in the signal array as the first correcting data signal, and a predetermined data signal included in another signal array from a segmental charge transfer section adjacent to an output end side of the segmental charge transfer section as the second correcting data signal, and the digital signal processing means has M (M is an integer equal to or more than 2) digital signal processors each configured to receive signal arrays from the segmental charge transfer sections; and data storing means for temporarily storing the data signals outputted from the A/D converting means, or a data selector circuit for providing data signals outputted from the A/D converting means to a corresponding digital signal processor, either the data storing means or the data selector holding a predetermined data signal and providing the predetermined data signal to another one of the digital signal processors as the correcting data signal, and either the data storing means or the data selector being provided between the A/D converting means and the digital signal processing means, wherein each digital signal processor is configured to receive the second correcting data signal included in a signal array from a segmental charge transfer section that is associated with an adjacent digital signal processor, the second correcting data signal being a processing target of the adjacent digital signal processor, via either the data storing means or the data selector circuit, in addition to the signal arrays from the segmental change transfer section that is associated with the digital signal processor.