Sony Corporation

Junichi Inutsuka

Ken Koseki

Yoshiaki Inada

Masaru Kikuchi

Yuuki Yamagata

Nozomu Takatori

Akari Tajima

Tomohiro Takahashi

Takahisa Ueno

Hiroki Ui

Yasuaki Hisamatsu

Yuichiro Araki

Takumi Kajihara

Kouzo Adachi

An integrating A/D converter includes: a comparator comparing an input voltage to a reference voltage having a ramp waveform, a voltage value of which linearly varies with time; a higher-order bit counter starting operation or stopping operation triggered by inversion of an output signal of the comparator and outputting higher order bits by performing counting in a cycle of a clock signal; and a time-to-digital converter latching phase information of the clock signal corresponding to plural signals obtained by delaying an output signal of the comparator and decoding the latched values to output lower order bits having higher resolution than the clock cycle.

Integrating A/D converter, integrating A/D conversion method, solid-state imaging device and camera system

A solid-state imaging device includes: a pixel unit in which a plurality of pixels that perform photoelectric conversion are arranged in the form of a matrix; a pixel signal reading unit performing reading of a pixel signal in a signal line from the pixel unit in the unit of plural pixels, and performing column signal processing with respect to an input signal; and an evaluation pattern generation unit receiving a control signal and a signal line interception signal and generating a pseudo-evaluation pattern according to the control signal.

Solid-state imaging device and camera system

A solid-state imaging including a comparing circuit, an inverting circuit, and a masking circuit, and that performs column parallel AD conversion processing of analog pixel signals output from a plurality of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix form. The comparing circuit outputs a difference signal obtained by comparing each of the pixel signals outputted from the pixels with a reference signal having a ramp waveform. The inverting circuit inverts a logic of the difference signal outputted from the comparing circuit. The masking circuit masks an output of an output signal of the inverting circuit to a circuit in a subsequent stage during an input offset canceling period in which the comparing circuit cancels an input offset between the pixel signal and the reference signal.

Solid-state imaging device, driving control method thereof, and imaging apparatus

A solid-state imaging apparatus includes a comparator for comparing a pixel signal obtained by a pixel section and a reference signal the value of which varies in a stepwise manner, an analog-digital converter for outputting, as a digital value, the amount of time when the pixel signal and the reference signal change levels by the comparator; a reset signal generator for generating a reset signal that triggers a reset operation to be input to the comparator in order to adjust the reference in the analog-digital converter, and a waveform processor provided between the reset signal generator and the comparator for increasing the degree of dullness of a waveform of the reset signal.

Solid-state imaging apparatus and imaging apparatus

A solid-state imaging apparatus includes comparing means for comparing a pixel signal obtained by a pixel section and a reference signal the value of which varies in a stepwise manner, analog-digital converting means for outputting, as a digital value, the amount of time when the pixel signal and the reference signal change levels by the comparing means, reset signal generating means for generating a reset signal that triggers a reset operation to be input to the comparing means in order to adjust the reference in the analog-digital converting means, and waveform processing means provided between the reset signal generating means and the comparing means for increasing the degree of dullness of a waveform of the reset signal.

A solid-state image pickup device includes a pixel array section including a plurality of unit pixels, a reference signal production section configured to generate a reference signal and output a detection value, a comparison section configured to compare a reset level upon resetting, a counter configured to start a counting action and continue the counting action to measure a comparison time period in order to obtain count values corresponding to the reset level and the signal level, a detection section configured to retain a result of the comparison of said comparison section when the reset level reaches the detection value as a result of the detection of a black sun phenomenon for a fixed period of time, and a prevention section configured to prevent a black sun phenomenon based on a result of the detection of said detection section.

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Nagasaki, Japan

Junichi Inutsuka