Patent ID: 8072521

Claim:
A solid-state imaging device comprising: a pixel array unit comprising pixels in a two-dimensional matrix with columns and rows, each pixel comprising a photoelectric converter which generates a signal relating to light incident thereon, the pixel array unit making signals available for read-out in parallel on a multiple-column basis; control means for performing window cutting in which a set of the signals are read from a set of the pixels in a specific area in the pixel array unit on a column-address basis; output lines selectively coupled to the columns of the pixel array unit for receiving the signals transferred thereto from the pixels in the pixel array unit, the set of the signals from a set of columns which are transferred in parallel to the output lines at the same time being a multiple-column unit; and selection means for, when the window cutting is performed by the control means such that the window cutting overlaps with the multiple-column unit, holding the signals read from the pixels in a present column-address unit in tandem with the signals read from the pixels in a preceding column-address unit, selecting consecutive signals on the multiple-column basis from the thus held signals of the present column-address unit and the preceding column-address unit and outputting the selected consecutive signals, wherein, the present column-address unit comprises a second multiple-column unit of signals most recently transferred from the pixel array unit, and the preceding column-address unit comprises a first multiple-column unit of signals next most recently transferred from the pixel array unit.