IMAGE PICKUP ELEMENT AND IMAGE PICKUP APPARATUS

• US 20160261814A1
• Filed: 03/04/2016
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Ueda, Toshiharu, Okado, Teruyuki
• Granted Patent: US 9,871,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/0006 Arrays G02B3/02, G02B5/188 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 5/201 in the form of arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 7/34 using different areas in a pupil plane
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/667 Camera operation mode switching, e.g. between still and video, sport and normal or high- and low-resolution modes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/672 based on the phase difference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/134 based on three different wavelength filter elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/704 Pixels specially adapted for focusing, e.g. phase difference pixel sets
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/75 Circuitry for providing, modifying or processing image signals from the pixel array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 25/78 Readout circuits for addressed sensors, e.g. output amplifiers or A/D converters

Abstract

In an image pickup element, a plurality of unit pixels constituted by one micro lens and a photodiode arranged underneath the micro lens are arranged in rows and columns. The image pickup element includes first unit pixels in which a plurality of photodiodes are arranged underneath one micro lens, second unit pixels different from the first unit pixels, m first output lines per column from which signals of the first unit pixels are output, and n second output lines per column from which signals of the second unit pixels are output.

Claims

1. An image pickup element comprising:

a pixel array in which a plurality of first unit pixels each including M photoelectric conversion units (M is a natural number higher than or equal to

     2) and a plurality of second unit pixels each including N photoelectric conversion units (N is a natural number lower than M) are arranged in rows and columns;

a first column output line arranged for each column of the pixel array from which signals of the first unit pixels are output; and

a second column output line that is different from the first column output line and arranged for each column of the pixel array from which signals of the second unit pixels are output,

wherein the number of the second column output lines per column is lower than the number of the first column output lines per column.

2. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein the first unit pixels and the second unit pixels are alternately arranged in a row direction and a column direction in the pixel array.

3. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein each of the first unit pixels and the second unit pixels includes one micro lens.

4. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein the pixel array includes color filters regularly arranged, and the first unit pixel and the second unit pixel include color filters having different spectral transmittance.

5. The image pickup element according to claim 4,

wherein the first unit pixel includes the color filter through which green light transmits the most.

6. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein each of the first unit pixels separately outputs signals of the M photoelectric conversion units.

7. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein each of the first unit pixels mixes and outputs signals of the M photoelectric conversion units and also outputs part of the signals of the M photoelectric conversion units.

8. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein a pixel signal output from each of the first unit pixels is used to perform phase difference detection.

9. The image pickup element according to claim 1,

wherein a pixel signal output from each of the first unit pixels and the second unit pixels is used to perform image generation.

10. An image pickup apparatus comprising:

the image pickup element according to claim 1;

an image processing unit configured to apply predetermined image processing to pixel signals output from the image pickup element; and

a control unit configured to control the image pickup element and the image processing unit.