Patent ID: 7456890

Claim:
An imaging device comprising: a semiconductor chip; a plurality of photosensors formed on the semiconductor chip into a two-dimensional array in the vertical-line direction and the horizontal-line direction; a vertical transfer register and a horizontal transfer register for transferring an imaging signal read-out from the photosensors to an output; synchronous pulse signal generating means for generating a synchronous pulse signal for notifying a subsequent circuit about a pulse timing of the imaging signal at the output; and horizontal line selection means which selects a horizontal line for signal processing by temporally filtering the synchronous pulse signal based on an externally input control signal and outputting a filtered synchronous pulse signal, thereby designating an active pixel region to be processed in a subsequent circuit to determine automatic camera settings for capturing a subsequent image; wherein said horizontal line selection means, by temporally filtering the synchronous pulse signal, causes only a subset of the imaging signals at the output to be processed by the subsequent circuit as a result of the filtered synchronous pulse signal containing a reduced number of the synchronous pulses; and wherein said horizontal line selection means comprises a counter circuit that counts a number of clock cycles passing during the assertion period of the externally input control signal prior to image read out and stores the count as determinative of the number of horizontal lines to select or skip during image read out by temporally filtering the synchronous pulse signal.