Patent US5933188A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US5933188A
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Photoelectric conversion apparatus and method with reset
Assignee: Canon Inc
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Filing: 1995-10-18
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Granted: 1999-08-03
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Expires: 2015-10-18
Abstract
Abstract There is provided a photoelectric conversion apparatus capable of obtaining a high S/N ratio and subtracting an unnecessary component of the pixel output without using a memory. For this purpose, in a photoelectric conversion apparatus including plural photoelectric conversion pixels for converting light into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal onto signal output lines, the input of an amplifier is capacitively coupled to the signal output line of a photoelectric conversion pixel, and the output of the amplifier is connected to the signal output line through a switch. The amplifier is constituted by an emitter follower, a source follower, or an operational amplifier.
Inventors
- 👤 Mahito Shinohara
- 👤 Isamu Ueno
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 17:12
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N25/00; H04N25/70; H04N25/76; H04N25/50; H04N25/51; H04N25/7795
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim
47 words
A photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising: a photoelectric conversion element; and reset setting means for setting said photoelectric conversion element to a reset level by using an inverted output of an output of said photoelectric conversion element, wherein said reset level is the level of said inverted output.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
47 words
A photoelectric conversion apparatus comprising: a photoelectric conversion element; and reset setting means for setting said photoelectric conversion element to a reset level by using an inverted output of an output of said photoelectric conversion element, wherein said reset level is the level of said inverted output.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
69 words
A photoelectric conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said photoelectric conversion element is for converting light into an electrical signal and outputting the electrical signal onto a signal output line through a photoelectric conversion output portion, and further comprising processing means connected to said signal output line of said photoelectric conversion element, wherein an output portion of said processing means is connected to said photoelectric conversion output portion.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
23 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said processing means is one of an emitter follower, a source follower, and an operational amplifier.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a switch for controlling an input potential is connected to said input section of said processing means.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said photoelectric conversion pixel includes a base of a bipolar transistor and a pixel capacitance.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
99 words
A photoelectric conversion apparatus including a photoelectric conversion pixel for accumulating carriers generated by an optical signal in a control electrode of a transistor and outputting an output corresponding to the optical signal from a main electrode of said transistor, comprising: amplifier means having a negative gain connected to an output line of each pixel of said photoelectric conversion pixel, connecting means for connecting an output from said amplifier means and said output line of the pixel, and means for resetting said control electrode of the pixel of said transistor with respect to an output from said amplifier means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
99 words
A photoelectric conversion apparatus including a photoelectric conversion pixel for accumulating carriers generated by an optical signal in a control electrode of a transistor and outputting an output corresponding to the optical signal from a main electrode of said transistor, comprising: amplifier means having a negative gain connected to an output line of each pixel of said photoelectric conversion pixel, connecting means for connecting an output from said amplifier means and said output line of the pixel, and means for resetting said control electrode of the pixel of said transistor with respect to an output from said amplifier means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said amplifier is one of an emitter follower, a source follower, and an operational amplifier.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said connecting means comprises a MOS transistor controlled by a negative feedback pulse.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
60 words
A solid-state image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, processing means connected to output terminals of said plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, switching means for connecting an output from said processing means to the output terminals of said photoelectric conversion elements, and means for resetting said photoelectric conversion elements to an output voltage from said processing means.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
60 words
A solid-state image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, processing means connected to output terminals of said plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, switching means for connecting an output from said processing means to the output terminals of said photoelectric conversion elements, and means for resetting said photoelectric conversion elements to an output voltage from said processing means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said photoelectric conversion element accumulates carriers upon reception of an optical energy on said control electrode of said transistor and outputs a signal based on the carriers accumulated from a main electrode region of said transistor.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
14 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said switching means comprises a MOS transistor.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
An apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said resetting means includes means for resetting a control region of said photoelectric conversion element.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
16 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control region includes a base of a transistor.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
16 words
An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said control region includes a gate of a transistor.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
73 words
A solid-state image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a clamp capacitance and switching means which are connected to a column output line of each of said photoelectric conversion elements, resetting means for resetting said photoelectric conversion elements for connecting an output terminal of said clamp capacitance to an output terminal of said switching means, and transfer means for transferring an output from said switching means to an output line.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
73 words
A solid-state image pickup apparatus comprising a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, a clamp capacitance and switching means which are connected to a column output line of each of said photoelectric conversion elements, resetting means for resetting said photoelectric conversion elements for connecting an output terminal of said clamp capacitance to an output terminal of said switching means, and transfer means for transferring an output from said switching means to an output line.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
55 words
An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said transfer means comprises an accumulation capacitance for accumulating a charge from said photoelectric conversion element through said switching means, and transfer switching means for time-serially transferring the charge of said accumulation capacitance onto said output line in accordance with a timing signal from a horizontal scanning circuit.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said photoelectric conversion element is a bipolar or static induction photoelectric conversion element.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of driving a solid-state image pickup apparatus having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, processing means arranged at output terminals of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and switching means for connecting one of at least two outputs from the processing means to an output terminal of the photoelectric conversion element, the other of the outputs from the processing means being a pixel signal output, comprising a resetting step for resetting the photoelectric conversion elements in accordance with output voltages from the processing means, and a step for turning off the switching means after said resetting step to output the pixel signal.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
104 words
A method of driving a solid-state image pickup apparatus having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, processing means arranged at output terminals of the plurality of photoelectric conversion elements, and switching means for connecting one of at least two outputs from the processing means to an output terminal of the photoelectric conversion element, the other of the outputs from the processing means being a pixel signal output, comprising a resetting step for resetting the photoelectric conversion elements in accordance with output voltages from the processing means, and a step for turning off the switching means after said resetting step to output the pixel signal.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said photoelectric conversion element accumulates carriers generated upon reception on an optical energy in a control electrode of said transistor and outputs a signal on the basis of the accumulated carriers from a main electrode region of said transistor.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method according to claim 18, wherein said processing means transfers an output from said photoelectric conversion element to an accumulation capacitance to connect a charge of said accumulation capacitance to said switching means and output the pixel signal.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
20 words
An method according to claim 18, wherein said resetting step includes resetting a control region of the photoelectric conversion element.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 21, wherein the control region includes a base of a transistor.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
16 words
A method according to claim 22, wherein the control region includes a gate of a transistor.
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| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-08-02 | 2003-02-01 | 2003-08-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-08-02 | 2007-02-01 | 2007-08-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
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