Patent ID: 8803993

Claim:
A solid-state imaging device comprising: a pixel section formed by a matrix-like array of a plurality of pixels performing photoelectric conversion; and a pixel signal readout section configured to read out signals from the pixel section in units for reading, each unit for reading comprising multiple ones of the plurality of pixels, wherein the pixel signal readout section includes a column-parallel type ADC group formed by a plurality of analog-digital converters (ADCs) for performing A-D conversion of signals read out from the pixel section, and a signal processing system configured to set initial offset values for the respective conversion ranges of the ADCs, wherein, the pixel signal readout section is configured to automatically determine an optimal initial offset value based on a test value and to iteratively adjust the test value by, in each iteration: obtaining digital reset values for a group of the plurality of pixels by performing A-D conversion of pixel reset levels of the group, obtaining an average reset value for the iteration by averaging the digital reset values of the group, automatically adjusting the test value based on the average reset value for the iteration such that the average reset value of a next iteration approaches a predetermined target value.