Patent ID: 7622699

Claim:
A solid-state image pickup device, comprising: a pixel array portion constituted by arranging unit pixels each including a photoelectric conversion element, a transfer transistor for transferring signal charges obtained through photoelectric conversion in said photoelectric conversion element to a floating diffusion capacitor, a reset transistor connected between said floating diffusion capacitor and an output node, a capacitive element having a minuter capacitance than that of said floating diffusion capacitor, said capacitive element being connected between said floating diffusion capacitor and said output node, and an amplification transistor for reading out a voltage signal obtained through conversion in said capacitive element; a dummy pixel having characteristics equal to those of said unit pixel, said dummy pixel being provided every pixel column of said pixel array portion; a differential circuit composed of said unit pixel and said dummy pixel; reset voltage supplying means for supplying a reset voltage to said reset transistor through said output node, said reset voltage supplying means being adapted to adjust a voltage value of the reset voltage; and a common phase feedback circuit for controlling a current source for said differential circuit so that a center of a difference between differential outputs from said differential circuit becomes a control voltage adjusted by an external voltage source after completion of a reset operation by said reset transistor.