Patent ID: 7241984

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: a plurality of pixel sections disposed in a two-dimensional pattern, each pixel section including a photoelectric conversion member, a semiconductor region holding a signal transferred from the photoelectric conversion member, a transfer switch transferring the signal of the photoelectric conversion member to the semiconductor region, and a reading member reading a signal of the semiconductor region; a plurality of vertical output lines, each vertical output line provided for a plurality of pixel sections disposed in a vertical direction for successively outputting signals of the pixel sections; at least one horizontal output line successively outputting signals of the plurality of vertical output lines; a driving circuit configured to drive the reading member in a pixel section to successively read a saturation signal leaked from the photoelectric conversion member in the pixel section to the semiconductor region, during a charging period of photoelectric charge in the photoelectric conversion member in the pixel section, and a photoelectric conversion signal generated from the photoelectric conversion member in the pixel section, in which both the saturation signal and the photoelectric conversion signal of the pixel section are read out via the same path of the vertical output line and the horizontal output line; and a signal processing circuit configured to form a pixel of an image based on the saturation signal and the photoelectric conversion signal from the pixel section.