Patent ID: 8896735

Claim:
A solid-state imaging device comprising: a pixel unit in which a plurality of pixels are arranged in groups and form a matrix pattern, each of the groups including two or more pixels that share a floating diffusion portion; and a driving unit that reads a pixel signal from each of the groups included in the pixel unit, wherein the driving unit controls two or more read-out modes, wherein at least one of the read-out modes simultaneously reads the pixel signal from each of the two or more pixels in each of the groups and for each group adds the pixel signals on the floating diffusion portion, wherein n (here, n is an integer that is equal to or greater than four) pixels are formed in each of the groups, the n pixels are classified into M (here, M is an integer that is equal to or greater than two) groups, and photosensitivity conditions or exposure time conditions of the pixels included in each of the groups are set to be the same, and wherein the driving unit performs read-out at a speed that is (n/M) times a speed of a normal read-out mode of the two or more read-out modes in a predetermined period of (M/n) frame.