Patent ID: 7414652

Claim:
An image sensor comprising a matrix of solid-state light sensor elements, each of which represents a unit pixel and is capable of reading out in a time series sensor signals of respective pixels by sequentially selecting pixel lines one by one and sequentially selecting sensor signals one by one in a selected pixel line, characterized in that each of the pixel lines is evenly divided into a plurality of blocks with each block composed of a specified number of pixels, a first scanning means is provided for sequentially reading out pixel sensor signals on a block-by-block basis starting from a first block, a buffer means is provided for temporally storing pixel sensor signals of a readout block, a second scanning means is provided for sequentially reading out pixel sensor signals on a pixel-by-pixel basis from a selected block and a bias circuit is provided for converting a pixel sensor signal scanned by the first scanning means into a voltage value by using a reference resistance with a bias voltage applied thereto, wherein the first scanning means comprises a pixel selecting circuit ( 2 ) for providing signals for sequentially selecting pixels on the line-by-line basis and a switch circuit ( 3 ) for outputting sensor signals according to the pixel selecting signals from the pixel selecting circuit, and the second scanning means comprises a pixel selecting circuit ( 7 ) for providing a signal for sequentially selecting pixels on the block-by-block basis and a switch circuit ( 8 ) for outputting sensor signals according to the pixel selecting signals from the pixel selecting circuit.