Patent ID: 8212907

Claim:
An imaging-device driving unit, the imaging-device driving unit driving an imaging device, the imaging device having a plurality of pixels and a charge-transfer channel, the pixels generating signal charges according to amounts of received light, the charge-transfer channel reading out the signal charges from the pixels and transferring the signal charges at a speed according to a frequency of a channel-driving signal, the imaging device having a single photographing mode and a continuous photographing mode, the imaging-device driving unit comprising: a signal generator that generates and transfers one of a normal transfer signal, a first discharge signal and a second discharge signal, to the imaging device, the normal transfer signal being the channel-driving signal with a frequency that is determined for transferring the signal charges, the first discharge signal being the channel-driving signal with a frequency that is determined for discharging an electrical charge remaining in the charge-transfer channel and greater than the frequency of the normal transfer signal, the second discharge signal being the channel-driving signal with a frequency that is determined for discharging an electrical charge remaining in the charge transfer channel and which is greater than the frequency of the first discharge signal; a detector that detects a remaining power, the remaining power being the power remaining in a battery, the battery supplying the power to drive the imaging device; and a controller that orders the signal generator to generate the first discharge signal when the imaging device is in the single photographing mode or when the imaging device is in the continuous photographing mode and the remaining power is less than a predetermined threshold, and orders the signal generator to generate the second discharge signal when the imaging device is in the continuous photographing mode and the remaining power is greater than the predetermined threshold.