IMAGING APPARATUS AND IMAGING SYSTEM
First Claim
1. An imaging apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of pixels each of which includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion units,wherein each of the plurality of pixels outputs a first signal based on charge generated by one of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units,wherein the imaging apparatus includesa first step of adding first signals of a plurality of pixels which have a same row address and consecutive column addresses,a second step of adding first signals which have the same row address and consecutive column addresses, anda third step of adding first signals which have the same row address and consecutive column addresses,wherein row addresses of the plurality of pixels having the signals added to one another in the first step are the same as row addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step, and column addresses of the plurality of pixels having the signals added to one another in the first step are different from column addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step,wherein the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the first step are different from row addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, a portion of a range of column addresses having the signals added to one another in the first step overlaps with a portion of a range of column addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, and the other portions do not overlap with each other, andwherein the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step are different from the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, a portion of the range of the column addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step overlaps with a portion of the range of the column addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, and the other portions do not overlap with each other.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Ones of row addresses and column addresses of pixels in a first group are the same as those of a second group. A range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses of the first group excludes that of the second group. A range of the others of row addresses and column addresses is included in a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses of the first and second groups. A portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses of the first group overlaps with that of the third group, and the other portion of the range of the first group does not overlap with that of the third group. Intra-group addition signals of the first, second, and third groups are obtained.
24 Citations
11 Claims
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1. An imaging apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of pixels each of which includes a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, wherein each of the plurality of pixels outputs a first signal based on charge generated by one of the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, wherein the imaging apparatus includes a first step of adding first signals of a plurality of pixels which have a same row address and consecutive column addresses, a second step of adding first signals which have the same row address and consecutive column addresses, and a third step of adding first signals which have the same row address and consecutive column addresses, wherein row addresses of the plurality of pixels having the signals added to one another in the first step are the same as row addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step, and column addresses of the plurality of pixels having the signals added to one another in the first step are different from column addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step, wherein the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the first step are different from row addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, a portion of a range of column addresses having the signals added to one another in the first step overlaps with a portion of a range of column addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, and the other portions do not overlap with each other, and wherein the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step are different from the row addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, a portion of the range of the column addresses having the signals added to one another in the second step overlaps with a portion of the range of the column addresses having the signals added to one another in the third step, and the other portions do not overlap with each other.
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2. An imaging apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein each of the plurality of pixels has a plurality of photoelectric conversion units each of which generates charge, wherein each of the plurality of pixels outputs a first signal based on the generated charge, wherein the imaging apparatus includes a first group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, a second group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, and a third group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, wherein values of ones of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the first group are all the same as values of corresponding ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group, and a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group excludes a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group, wherein values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group are different from values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group overlaps with a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group does not overlap with the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group overlaps with the portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group does not overlap with the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and wherein the imaging apparatus further includes a signal processor which generates a first intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the first group to one another, a second intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the second group to one another, and a third intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the third group to one another. - View Dependent Claims (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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4. An imaging apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, wherein each of the plurality of pixels has a plurality of photoelectric conversion units each of which generates charge, wherein each of the plurality of pixels outputs a first signal based on the generated charge, wherein the imaging apparatus includes a first group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have a same row address or a same column address, a second group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, and a third group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, wherein values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the first group are all the same as values of corresponding ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group, and a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group excludes a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group, wherein values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the first group are different from values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses in the third group, wherein the range of the values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group is included in the range of the values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group and the plurality of pixels included in the second group, wherein the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group does not overlap with the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group does not overlap with the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein the imaging apparatus does not output the first signals based on pixels which have row addresses and column addresses which are the same as the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses in the first group and which are included in the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses in the third group, and wherein the imaging apparatus further includes a signal processor which generates a first intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals of the plurality of pixels included in the first group to one another, a second intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the second group to one another, and a third intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the third group to one another.
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11. An imaging system comprising:
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an imaging apparatus including a plurality of pixels arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each of the plurality of pixels including a plurality of photoelectric conversion units which generate charge; and a signal processor, wherein each of the plurality of pixels outputs a first signal based on the generated charge, wherein the imaging apparatus includes a first group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have a same row address or a same column address, a second group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, and a third group including a number of the plurality of pixels which are adjacent to one another and which have the same row address or the same column address, wherein values of ones of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the first group are all the same as values of corresponding ones of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the second group, and a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the first group excludes a range of values of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses of the plurality of pixels included in the second group, wherein values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group are different from values of the ones of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group overlaps with a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the first group does not overlap with the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, wherein a portion of a range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group overlaps with the portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the second group does not overlap with the other portion of the range of the others of the row addresses and the column addresses included in the third group, and wherein the signal processor generates a first intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals of the plurality of pixels included in the first group to one another, a second intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the second group to one another, and a third intra-group addition signal obtained by adding signals based on the first signals included in the third group to one another.
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Specification