Patent ID: 7719578

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: image pickup means for outputting image pickup results through activation of a driving circuit; data compressing means for compressing the image pickup results output by said image pickup means before outputting the compressed image pickup results; and controlling means for varying the charge storage time or the frame period of said image pickup means or the processing time of said data compressing means in accordance with the processing time required by said data compressing means for compressing the image pickup results, wherein the image pickup means includes a light receiving area having photoelectric conversion devices laid out in a matrix pattern, the light receiving area being connected to the data compressing means or the driving circuit by a wiring layer formed opposite the light receiving area, and the image pickup results output by the image pickup means include pixels output based on a sequence in which the data compressing means processes the pixels, the pixels being in units of blocks arrayed horizontally and vertically.