Patent ID: 8878256

Claim:
An image sensor comprising: two or more pixel sub-arrays each comprising at least one output structure for conversion of charge to voltage, at least one of the sub-arrays comprising: a region of active pixels each comprising (i) a photo-sensitive region (PSR) for converting light into electrical charge and (ii) a vertical channel for transferring charge from the PSR, electrically and directly connected to and positioned below the region of active pixels, a slanted region of dark pixels each (i) comprising a vertical channel for transferring charge and (ii) shielded from incident light, electrically and directly connected to and positioned below the slanted region of dark pixels, an unslanted region of dark pixels each (i) comprising a vertical channel for transferring charge and (ii) shielded from incident light, electrically and directly connected to and positioned below the unslanted region of dark pixels, a horizontal CCD (HCCD), and electrically connected to the HCCD, an output structure for conversion of charge to voltage, wherein (i) a direction of charge transfer in the vertical channels within the dark pixels in the slanted region is not parallel to a direction of charge transfer in the vertical channels within the active pixels, and (ii) a direction of charge transfer in the vertical channels within the dark pixels of the unslanted region is substantially parallel to the direction of charge transfer in the vertical channels within the active pixels.