Patent ID: 8836823

Claim:
An image pickup sensor comprising: an effective pixel region in which pixels for obtaining image pickup signals used as a picked-up image are arranged; first and second reference pixel regions in which pixels for obtaining reference signals for the image pickup signals are arranged, which are disposed adjacent to opposing sides of said effective pixel region, and wherein said first and second reference pixel regions are not adjacent to each other; a holding unit adapted to hold the image pickup signals obtained from said effective pixel region and the reference signals obtained from said first and second reference pixel regions, the image pickup signals and the reference signals vertically scanned on a row-by-row basis; and a horizontal scanning unit adapted to horizontally scan the image pickup signals and the reference signals held by said holding unit, wherein said horizontal scanning unit horizontally scans the reference signals obtained from said first reference pixel region held by said holding unit, then horizontally scans the reference signals obtained from said second reference pixel region held by said holding unit, then horizontally scans the image pickup signals obtained from said effective pixel region held by said holding unit.