Minolta Company, Ltd.

Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha

Kenji Takada

Yoshio Hagihara

Shigehiro Miyatake

Satoshi Nakamura

Kouichi Ishida

Yoshihiro Hamakawa

Jun Hasegawa

Hiroaki Okamoto

Sadafusa Tsuji

Yasuhiro Nanba

Keiichi Nomura

Yasushi Kusaka

Yoshitaka Shibata

Kouichi Sameshima

In a solid-state image-sensing device, after completion of image sensing by individual pixels, in each pixel, a signal &#x3c6;VRB fed to a capacitor Cconnected to the gate of a first MOS transistor Tis turned to a high level to make it easy for a negative electric charge to flow into the MOS transistor T. This permits quick recombination of the positive electric charges accumulated at the drain and gate of the MOS transistor T, at the gate of a MOS transistor T, at the anode of a photodiode, and in a capacitor C, and thereby makes quick resetting possible.

Solid-state logarithmic image sensing device

In a solid-state image-sensing device, when image sensing is performed, in each pixel, MOS transistors Tand Tare turned on and a MOS transistor Tis turned off so that a MOS transistor Toperates in a subthreshold region. When resetting is preformed, in each pixel, the MOS transistors Tand Tare turned off and the MOS transistor Tis turned on so that the gate voltage of the MOS transistor Tis kept constant. In this state, the MOS transistor Tis brought first into a conducting state and then, by turning a signal &#x3c6;VPS to a high level, into a cut-off state. This permits a signal proportional to the threshold value of the MOS transistor Tto be output as compensation data.

Image-sensing apparatus

A solid-state image-sensing device has a photosensitive element that produces an electric signal commensurate with the amount of light incident thereon, a transistor of which the first electrode and the control electrode are connected to one electrode of the photosensitive element, and a resetting portion for resetting the transistor by feeding a predetermined pulse signal to the second electrode of the transistor. The resetting portion resets the transistor in such a way as to inhibit the transistor from operating in a subthreshold region when the amount of light incident on the photosensitive element is below a predetermined level.

Solid-state image sensing device

A solid-state, two-dimensional image sensing device having a matrix of pixels each of which employs a photosensor that generates a photocurrent and a MOS circuit which outputs a signal proportional to the logarithm of the integral over time of the photocurrent. The sensor includes an integration control switching device so that all pixels in the array have equal integration time. The sensor integrates the signal for each pixel for a period of time and stores the integrated signal in a pixel signal storage location. To read out the stored signal each pixel includes an amplifier to increase the signal during read out. The sensor further accumulates signal in either a MOS transistor pn-junction or a secondary pixel storage location during a time that the integrated pixel signal is being read out so that image information can be collected continuously even while the integrated pixel signal for each pixel is being read.

Image pickup device with integral amplification

A solid-state, two-dimensional image sensing device having a matrix of pixels each of which employs a photosensor that generates a photocurrent and a MOS circuit which outputs a signal proportional to the logarithm of the integral over time of the photocurrent. The sensor includes an integration control switching device so that all pixels in the array have equal integration time. The sensor integrates the signal for each pixel for a period of time and stores the integrated signal in a pixel signal storage location. The sensor further accumulates signal in a MOS transistor pn-junction during a time that the integrated pixel signal is being read out so image information can be collected continuously even while the integrated pixel signal for each pixel is being read.

Solid-state image pickup device

Solid-state image pickup device with integration and amplification

In an image-sensing apparatus, the shading data acquired when uniform light is shone on a sensor is stored in a memory , and the temperature T0 of the sensor detected by a temperature detector at that time is stored in a calculation circuit . During image shooting, the temperature T of the sensor is detected by the temperature detector so as to calculate the temperature ratio T/T0 of this temperature to the temperature T0 stored in the calculation circuit . Then, a temperature compensation circuit multiplies the shading data for the pixels that output image data by T/T0. A correction calculation circuit (COR) subtracts the shading data thus multiplied by T/T0 from the image data, and thereby the unevenness in sensitivity among the pixels of the sensor is corrected.

Solid-state image-sensing apparatus with temperature correction and method of calibrating the same

A solid state image sensing device provided with a gamma correction circuit which corrects a logarithmically converted value derived from the logarithmic conversion of individual pixel data output from individual photoelectric conversion elements, thereby easily correcting discrepancies and differences in the gamma characteristics of the individual pixels of a photoelectric conversion element which converts a light signal to an electrical signal.

Solid state image sensing device and image sensing method

A solid state image sensing device having a semiconductor substrate, a first diffusion region of a positive or negative conductive type provided on the semiconductor substrate, a plurality of second diffusion regions each of which is an opposite conductive type relative to the first diffusion region and is provided in the first diffusion region, and a semiconductor thin layer provided on at least the second diffusion regions.

Method for manufacturing a solid state image sensing device

Solid state image sensing device

In an image sensing device, a photodiode is connected to a drain of a MOS transistor. The drain is connected to a gate of the MOS transistor via a resistor. The MOS transistor operates in a subthreshold region to output a signal being logarithmically proportional to the intensity of incident light to the photodiode.

Solid-state image sensing apparatus

A charge coupled device includes shift registers, a common transfer electrode, and a floating and diffusion layer. Clock pulses are applied to the common transfer electrode. In response to the clock pulses, the common transfer electrode outputs signal charges to the floating and diffusion layer at a time when the shift registers are not being driven. Therefore, there is no output voltage level difference between the different shift registers.

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Itami, Japan

Kenji Takada