The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 16, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 23, 2006
Image sensor using auto-calibrated ramp signal for improved image quality and driving method thereof
Seog-heon Ham, Suwon-si, KR;
Gunhee Han, Goyang-si, KR;
Dong-myung Lee, Seoul, KR;
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Suwon-Si, KR;
Abstract
An image sensor comprises an active pixel sensor (APS) array, a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a ramp signal generator. The APS array includes a plurality of pixels arranged in a two-dimensional matrix, wherein the APS array generates a reset signal and an image signal for each selected column of the APS array. The first ADC includes a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit array comprising CDS circuits that are arranged for each column of the APS array, wherein the first ADC generates a digital code from a signal corresponding to the difference between the reset signal and the image signal which are generated by the CDS circuit using a ramp signal. The ramp signal generator generates the ramp signal, wherein a second ADC receives a feedback of the generated ramp signal and generates a feedback reference code, and wherein the ramp signal generator calibrates the ramp signal based on a comparison using the feedback reference code.