Sony Corporation

Seishin Asato

Masatoshi Sase

Hidehiko Teshirogi

Akira Matsui

Kenji Tanaka

Takuya Chiba

Hisashi Kurebayashi

Naoki Hayashi

Yutaka Yoneda

Ryota Kosakai

Kazuhide Yokota

Toshitaka Yoshihiro

Tomoki Numata

Masaya Nakatani

Koji Okumoto

Chihiro Motono

A solid-state imaging device having: (a) a pixel array with an oblique pixel pattern in which pixels are obliquely disposed, an odd-numbered row vertical signal line in an odd-numbered row vertical signal line group being connected to each column of odd-numbered row pixels and an even-numbered row vertical signal line in an even-numbered row vertical signal line group being connected to each column of even-numbered row pixels; (b) a row selector for separately selecting an odd-numbered row and an even-numbered row of the oblique pixel pattern; (c) an odd-numbered row column processing circuit group including column processing circuits and connected to the odd-numbered row vertical signal line group, for adding signals of the odd-numbered row pixels between columns; (d) an even-numbered row column processing circuit group including column processing circuits and connected to the even-numbered row vertical signal line group, for adding signals of the even-numbered row pixels in pixel columns; and (d) a column selector for selecting the column processing circuits of the odd-numbered row column processing circuit group and the column processing circuits of the even-numbered row column processing circuit group.

Drive method for solid-state imaging device, solid-state imaging device, and imaging apparatus

The invention aims at providing communication timing changing method and device which are capable of changing timing of communication for setting control parameters used to determine operations of analog devices in the analog devices, respectively, over to another one not impeding any of the operation of the analog devices. An interface decoder decodes a control parameter communication signal outputted from a CPU, converts the resulting signal into control parameters, and preserves the resulting control parameters in a register. Interface encoders perform timing management based on a synchronous signal received from a synchronous signal generating circuit, read out the control parameters to be set in analog devices such as an image sensor driving circuit, a sample and hold circuit, and an ADC from a register, and communicate with the analog devices at good timing during a blanking period to set the control parameters in the analog devices, respectively.

Communication timing changing method and device

A drive method for a solid-state imaging device having an oblique pixel pattern includes the steps of: adding, separately for an odd-numbered row and an even-numbered row, x pixels in the horizontal direction and y pixels in the vertical direction, the x pixels and the y pixels having the same color, in an area having adjacent n pixels in the horizontal direction and adjacent n pixels in the vertical direction, where n is an odd number of three or greater and n&#x2267;x&#x2267;y; and repeatedly adding the x pixels and the y pixels while shifting the n&#xd7;n area by m pixels in the vertical or horizontal direction, where m is an odd number of three or greater. The n&#xd7;n area of odd-numbered rows is displaced from that of even-numbered rows by m pixels in the oblique direction in the oblique pixel pattern.

The video camera apparatus obtains a still image sensing signal with high image quality in a progressive scan mode and is capable of recording onto a recording medium by a recording means which performs recording operation corresponding to an interlace scan mode. An image sensing signal read from a CCD image sensorin the interlace scan mode is recorded directly onto a recording medium by a recording/reproducing sectionthrough a camera signal processing circuit, while an image sensing signal read from the CCD image sensorin the progressive scan mode is converted into an interlace scan signal and is then recorded onto a recording medium by the recording/reproducing section

Video camera apparatus using an image sensor

Video camera apparatus

An imaging apparatus can obtain a high quality still picture imaging signal in the all pixels read out mode and output it by means of an output processing means adapted to the interlaced read out mode. The imaging signal read out from a CCD image sensor in the interlaced read out mode is directly supplied to a DV recording/reproducing processing section by way of a camera signal processing circuit . The imaging signal read out from said CCD image sensor in the apparatus is converted into an interlaced signal by a scan conversion section A, which is then supplied to the DV recording/reproducing processing section

Imaging apparatus

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Chiba, Japan

Seishin Asato