Patent ID: 8525094

Claim:
A photoelectric conversion circuit having a photodiode which has a cathode connected to a positive side of a power supply and which receives incident light and emits a current corresponding to the intensity from an anode side and an inverting amplifier which includes an operational amplifier having a non-inverting input terminal grounded and a first resistor connected between an output terminal and an inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier and which outputs a voltage whose absolute value is equal to a product of an output current of the photodiode and a resistance value of the first resistor, the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier being connected to the anode of the photodiode, comprising; a second resistor which has a smaller resistance value than the first resistor and which is inserted between the positive side of the power supply and the cathode of the photodiode; a differential amplifier which outputs a voltage whose absolute value is being equal to a potential difference between both ends of the second resistor; and a diode which has an anode connected to a connection point between the anode of the photodiode and the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier and a cathode grounded and which, when the output current of the photodiode has not reached a level which saturates an output of the inverting amplifier, changes to a non-conductive state since a voltage of the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier is lower than a forward voltage drop unique to the diode and, when the output current of the photodiode reaches the level which saturates the output of the inverting amplifier, changes to a conductive state since the voltage of the inverting input terminal of the operational amplifier is higher than the forward voltage drop so that the output current of the photodiode is bypassed.