Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba

Kawasaki Kaisha Toshiba

Tadashi Sugiki

Nobuo Nakamura

Yoshitaka Egawa

Yukio Endo

Shinji Ohsawa

Yoriko Tanaka

Shinichi Yamaguchi

Yasuo Takemura

Masanobu Kimura

Hiroaki Kotaki

Takashi Terui

Yukinori Ando

An image pickup apparatus comprising an array of unit cells, vertical signal lines, and a control circuit. The unit cells are arranged in rows and columns. Each unit cell has a light-receiving device for receiving light and generating an electric charge corresponding to the light, a charge-accumulating section for accumulating the electric charge generated by the light-receiving device, a transfer device for transferring the electric charge from the light-receiving device to the charge-accumulating section, and a charge-limiting device for limiting the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section. The vertical signal lines extend along the columns of unit cells, respectively, each for receiving a electric data item corresponding to the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section of any unit cell of the associated column. The control circuit controls each of the unit cells, causing the charge-limiting device to limit the charge generated by the light-receiving device during a first period and transferred to the charge-accumulating section through the transfer device. The charge generated by the light-receiving device during a second period following the first period and transferred to the charge-accumulating section through the transfer device is added to the electric charge accumulated in the charge-accumulating section.

Amplification type image pickup apparatus and method of controlling the amplification type image pickup apparatus

When average color data indicates blue, the blue component is reduced from the average color data. A line is drawn diagonally from that point downward to the left at 45&#xb0; on the coordinate system. The intersection between this line and the abscissa is estimated as the color of the light source. When average color data indicates green close to cyan, the cyan component is reduced from the average color data. A broken line is drawn diagonally from that point upward to the left at 45&#xb0; on the coordinate system, and the intersection between this broken line and the abscissa is obtained. In this case, the value of the abscissa of estimated light source color is set to 0.

Illumination light color estimating method of obtaining white balance and image sensing apparatus

An electronic still camera for determining photographing conditions from output of the solid-state imaging device by the preparative photographing operation prior to actual photographing operation and generating an actual photographing image from an output signal of the solid-state imaging device based on the photographing conditions, characterized by that the electronic camera has the solid-state imaging device, the means for reducing the read-out rate of a image signal from the solid-state imaging device at the actual photographing operation lower than the read-out rate of a image signal from the solid-state imaging device at the preparative photographing operation, and the band-width changing means for reducing the signal passing band-width at the actual photographing operation narrower than the signal passing band-width at the preparative photographing operation in the image signal path from the solid-state imaging device.

Electronic still camera

An area-isolation type solid-state image pickup device is such that an image pickup area is formed on an element formation surface of a semiconductor chip in a way to correspond to an optical image configuration of a subject, the semiconductor chip serving as an image pickup element, and an element drive circuit area and signal processing circuit area formed on a section other than the image pickup area. By doing so it is possible to fully utilize elements on an element formation surface of a semiconductor chip without ruining the element and hence to improve an efficiency with which a semiconductor device is manufactured.

Area isolation type solid-state image pickup device for increasing the usage of the element formation surface of a semiconductor chip

The elimination of noise can be positively achieved by a simpler arrangement. For this reason, a capacitor holds a difference between a level at a first time point of an input signal and a reference potential of a given level. A capacitor holds a difference between a level at a second time point of the input signal and a threshold value of an inverter serving as a comparator. The first and second capacitors are switched to a series-connected state. With a combined voltage of holding voltages on the first and second capacitors as an input-side voltage to the inverter, a reference voltage Vref varies as a bias through the input-side voltage. When the output of the inverter is inverted during a portion of a time in which the reference voltage varies, a controller enables the holding of a measurement value corresponding to the reference voltage, the measurement value being used as a variation corresponding to the input signal.

Noise cancelling circuit for pixel signals and an image pickup device

A circuit for driving a capacitive load uses a plurality of driving signals with different phases including a quiescent time, and a driving time having a driving duration and an other time. An inductance element is connected across the driving terminals of the capacitive load, and a switch circuit is provided between a driving voltage source and the capacitive load. During the quiescent time, the switch circuit is closed to make the driving voltages the same potential, minimizing energy loss since no current flows during the quiescent time. During the driving time, the switch circuit is closed for a predetermined driving duration to clamp a sine wave around the peaks of the waveform, and the switch circuit is open during the other time when the sine wave is not at any of its peaks.

Low power capacitive load driving circuit

A method of driving a solid-state imaging device having photoelectric converting elements arranged in rows and columns, charge-transferring stages associated with the photoelectric converting elements and arranged in rows and columns, and horizontal transfer registers. During the period of each even-numbered field, these components of the device are driven, such that the pixel charges are transferred from the photoelectric converting elements to the associated charge-transferring stages, and then to the horizontal transfer registers. During the period of each odd-numbered field, the components of the device are driven, such that the pixel charges accumulated in any odd-numbered row of the stages are transferred to the charge-transferring stages of the preceding odd-numbered row, thus jumping over those pixel charges in the elements of the preceding even-numbered row, and are then transferred to the horizontal transfer registers.

Method for driving solid-state imaging device having a two-pixel

The mirror image generator for composite signals with chroma inversion includes a first step of orthogonally modulating first and second color difference signals by first and second subcarriers where the subcarriers have 0.degree. and 270.degree. phases with respect to a 90.degree. reference phase; a second step of digitalizing the orthogonal modulation signals; a third step of writing the digitalized orthogonal modulation signals into 2 one horizontal period memories in a predetermined address sequence; and a fourth step of processing a phase transition order of the orthogonal modulation signals resulting in a different phase transition order in which the orthogonal modulation signals are read out of the horizontal period memory such that for a first predetermined amount of data, both the write address sequence and the read address sequence are the same with respect to each other, and for a second predetermined amount of data, the read address sequence is in reverse order from the write address sequence, and for a third predetermined amount of data, both the write and read address sequences are the same with respect to each other.

Mirror image generator for composite signals with chroma inversion

The horizontal transfer register of a CCD image sensor has a final stage electrode which is independent of other electrodes of the horizontal transfer register. To eliminate flickering in a video picture, the operation of the horizontal transfer register is stopped for a given period of time during which field shifting is effected. The final stage electrode is driven by continuous pulses even when the operation of the horizontal transfer register is stopped during field shifting, thereby eliminating black level variations from an image sensor output.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Tadashi Sugiki