Nomura, Hitoshi;

Solid state image pickup apparatus

A solid-state image pickup device which enables an improvement in the S/N ratio of the video signal. The solid-state image pickup device has a current sample-and-hold means which stores either a current signal consisting of a first component which is responsive to the sum of the incident light and the dark output from a plurality of pixels at separate times or a current signal consisting of a second component which is responsive to the dark output, and a means for the purpose of sequentially reading out, to a horizontal read line, only a current signal consisting of a component that is responsive to the amount of incident light, this being obtained by means of a subsequent subtraction performed between the other of the first-component and second-component current signals and the current signal which has already been stored in the current sample-and-hold means.

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What is claimed is:

1. A solid-state image pickup device comprising:

a plurality of pixels which are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix in row and column directions, and each of which converts an electrical charge responsive to incident light to a voltage signal and outputs said signal;

a plurality of first read lines for scanning pixels belonging to each column sequentially in the column direction so as to sequentially extract voltage signals from said pixels, each of said first read lines scanning each pixel belonging to same row substantially simultaneously;

a second read line for scanning said first read lines in the row direction so as to extract a time series of voltage signals from each row of said pixels;

a plurality of first storage portions respectively provided for said plurality of first read lines, each of which stores a voltage signal which is output from the corresponding pixel to which said first corresponding read line is connected when the pixel is scanned, said first storage portion being provided for each of said first read lines;

a plurality of first switching portions respectively provided for said plurality of first read lines, each of which is connected to each of said corresponding first storage portions, and each of which controls the storage and resetting operations of said corresponding first storage portion;

a plurality of voltage-to-current conversion portions respectively provided for said plurality of first read lines, by sequentially controlling said corresponding first switching portion and each pixel in each row, each making each of said pixels output, at different times, a first voltage signal which corresponds to the sum of output corresponding to an amount of incident light and a dark output, and second voltage signal which corresponds to the dark output, and for making said first storage portion store one of said first and second voltage signals, said voltage-to-current conversion portion converting the voltage signal which is obtained from a subtraction and corresponds to the amount of the incident light into a current signal, said subtraction being performed between the other of said first and second voltage signals and the voltage signal which has already been stored in said first storage portion, after which said voltage-to-current conversion portion outputs said current signal; and

a plurality of second switching portions respectively provided between said corresponding voltage-to-current conversion portions and said second read line.

2. A solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein each of said second switching portions sequentially reads the current signal output from said corresponding voltage-to-current conversion portion to said second read line.

3. A solid-state image pickup device according to claim 1, wherein each of said pixels comprises:

a photoelectric conversion element which generates and stores an electrical charge which is responsive to the incident light;

an amplifying element which generates a voltage signal which is responsive to an electrical charge that is received by its control region;

a transfer control element for selectively transferring the electrical charge which is stored by said photoelectric conversion element to the control region of said amplifying element; and

a resetting element for selectively initializing the electrical charge which is received by the control region of said amplifying element.