Patent ID: 7701620

Claim:
An image pickup device comprising: a solid-state image pickup element having a pixel part including pixels uniformly arrayed in a matrix of lines and columns, an effective pixel area to be irradiated with light, and a light-shielded pixel area where irradiation of light is shielded, a vertical scanning circuit that controls control electrodes of pixels arranged in identical one of the lines and connected in common by a vertical selection line, a horizontal scanning circuit that controls control electrodes of vertical signal lines connected in common to main electrodes of pixels arranged in identical one of columns, to sequentially output pixel signals in units of lines to horizontal signal lines, the pixel signals being outputted through the vertical signal lines, and an output circuit that outputs pixel signals from the horizontal signal lines; control means for controlling the solid-state image pickup element such that the pixel signals outputted from the pixels arranged in the light-shielded pixel area or the pixel signals outputted from the pixels arranged in the effective pixel area are outputted from the output circuit; control signal generating means for generating a predetermined control signal; noise component detecting means for detecting noise contained in the pixel signals from the light-shielded pixel area, that are outputted from the output circuit under control of the control means, based on the control signal generated by the control signal generating means; and noise correcting means for correcting noise contained in the pixel signals from the effective pixel area, which are outputted from the output circuit under control of the control means, based on a noise component detected by the noise component detecting means, wherein the control signal generating means generates different control signals at predetermined timing.