Patent ID: 8564707

Claim:
A Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) image sensor, comprising: a linear array of photodetectors, wherein the linear array of photodetectors includes a plurality of photodetectors arranged into a plurality of sub-arrays disposed along an axis and each sub-array includes two or more photodetectors; an output channel connected to each sub-array of photodetectors with each output channel including a horizontal shift register and an output structure connected to the horizontal shift register in a linear arrangement such that a path of charge transfer through the horizontal shift register and the output structure is substantially linear, wherein each successive output channel is disposed on an alternate side of the axis and each horizontal shift register includes a plurality of shift register elements with one shift register element associated with each photodetector in a respective sub-array, and wherein one or more additional shift register elements are included in each horizontal shift register; and a dark reference pixel spaced from the linear array of photodetectors and electrically connected to the one or more additional shift register elements in each horizontal shift register.