Patent ID: 7643077

Claim:
A photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising: a photoelectric conversion circuit section wherein a plurality of pixels are arranged, each of said pixels including a photoelectric conversion element for converting light into an electric charge and a switching element for outputting an electric signal based on the electric charge, and wherein the photoelectric conversion circuit section outputs the electric signals one row by one row in parallel from the pixels; a driving circuit section for controlling a turning on of the switching elements one row by one row; and a reading circuit section including a sample and hold unit for sampling and holding the electric signals outputted in parallel, and a reading switch for reading sequentially as a serial signal the electric signals outputted in parallel and sampled and held by the sample and hold unit, wherein the reading circuit section performs the reading for one row of the pixels while the driving circuit section performs the turning on of the switching elements of the other row, wherein the photoelectric conversion circuit section outputs in parallel the electric signals one row by one row through a plurality of signal wires, the sample and hold unit includes capacitors each provided per each of the signal wires, and a transfer switch for transferring the electric signals outputted in parallel to the capacitors, and a time period during which the reading circuit section performs the reading for one row of the pixels is within another time period after the sampling and holding of the electric signals outputted in parallel of the one row of the pixels by the reading circuit section until the next sampling and holding of the electric signals outputted in parallel of the next row of the pixels by the reading circuit section, wherein the reading circuit section includes at least one analog amplifier disposed between signal wires and the transfer switch, and wherein the reading circuit section further includes a capacitor disposed between the at least one analog amplifier and the transfer switch and being connected in series to an output terminal of the at least one analog amplifier, a reset switch for reset of the capacitor and a resistor connected between the capacitor and the reset switch.