Electronic apparatus and driving method therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10044947-B2
Application number	US-201615152349-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	Jun 21, 2011
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

An electronic apparatus includes: a pixel array section in which pixels including photoelectric conversion sections that generate signal charges corresponding to amounts of light, charge accumulation sections that receive the signal charges from the corresponding photoelectric conversion sections and that are shared thereby, and pixel transistors that read out the signal charges generated by the corresponding photoelectric conversion sections and that are shared thereby are two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix; a solid-state image capture device including a scanner that can drive the pixels so that exposure periods of all of the pixels are simultaneously started, that can drive the pixels so that the exposure periods of all of the pixels are simultaneously ended, and that sequentially selects and scans the pixels in readout periods; and a mechanical shutter that determines an end of the exposure periods for still-image shooting.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a solid-state device including
a pixel array unit including pixels two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix form, the pixels respectively including a photoelectric conversion unit that generates a signal charge according to an amount of light, a charge accumulation unit that receives the signal charge from the photoelectric conversion unit and is shared between a plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and a plurality of pixel transistors each of which reads the signal charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit and is shared between the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and
a scanning circuit capable of driving the pixels during an exposure period in a manner that the exposure period concurrently begins for all of the pixels, capable of driving the pixels in a manner that the exposure period also concurrently terminates for all of the pixels, and configured to selectively scan the pixels in order during a reading period; and

a mechanical shutter configured to decide when the exposure period terminates in capturing a still image,
wherein, in capturing a moving image, the scanning circuit is configured to drive the pixels during the exposure period in a manner that the exposure period for a first frame begins before the reading period for a second frame immediately preceding the first frame terminates, the reading period including a first readout for a signal level followed by a second readout for a reset level,
wherein the plurality of photoelectric conversion units that share the pixel transistors are configured to photoelectrically convert light of a same color,
wherein columns including pixels for photoelectrically converting green light and columns on which pixels for photoelectrically converting red light and pixels for photoelectrically converting blue light are arranged in a column direction, are alternately arranged on the pixel array unit,
wherein the charge accumulation unit is shared between two pixels of a same color adjacent to each other in the column direction,
wherein the pixels respectively include, for each of the photoelectric conversion units, a temporary charge retaining unit between the photoelectric conversion unit and the charge accumulation unit,
wherein the signal charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit is transferred to the temporary charge retaining unit, and a signal charge exceeding a saturation charge amount of the temporary charge retaining unit is transferred to the charge accumulation unit after the exposure period terminates, and
wherein a signal charge accumulated by the charge accumulation unit is read as a high-illuminance signal, and a signal charge accumulated by the temporary charge retaining unit is read as a low-illuminance signal when the signal charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit is read for each pixel.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical shutter is closed to terminate the exposure period in capturing the still image.

3. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical shutter is not employed in capturing the moving image.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the scanning circuit is configured to sequentially scan the pixels row by row during the reading period.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the scanning circuit is configured to scan arbitrary pixels pixel by pixel during the reading period.

6. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pixel transistors includes a reset transistor, an amplification transistor, and a selection transistor.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6 , wherein the charge accumulation unit is directly connected to a gate of the amplification transistor.

8. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of pixel transistors is a plurality of NMOS transistors.

9. A method for driving an electronic device, the electronic device including
a solid-state imaging device including
a pixel array unit including pixels two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix form, the pixels including a photoelectric conversion unit that generates a signal charge according to an amount of light, a plurality of pixel transistors each of which transfers and reads the signal charge accumulated by the photoelectric conversion unit, and a charge accumulation unit that is shared between the plurality of photoelectric conversion units, and
a scanning circuit capable of driving the pixels during an exposure period in a manner that the exposure period concurrently begins for all of the pixels, and capable of driving the pixels in a manner that the exposure period also concurrently terminates for all of the pixels, and configured to selectively scan the pixels in order during a reading period, the scanning circuit configured to, in capturing a moving image, drive the pixels during the exposure period in a manner that the exposure period for a first frame begins before the reading period for a second frame immediately preceding the first frame terminates, the reading period including a first readout for a signal level followed by a second readout for a reset level, and
a mechanical shutter configured to decide when the exposure period terminates in capturing a still image, the method comprising:
configuring the plurality of photoelectric conversion units to photoelectrically convert light of a same color, the plurality of photoelectric conversion units sharing the charge accumulation unit,
alternately arranging columns including pixels for photoelectrically converting green light and columns on which pixels for photoelectrically converting red light and pixels for photoelectrically converting blue light are arranged in a column direction on the pixel array unit,
sharing the charge accumulation unit between two pixels of a same color adjacent to each other in the column direction,
concurrently beginning an exposure period for all of the pixels in capturing a moving image by discharging the signal charge accumulated by the photoelectric conversion unit, concurrently terminating the exposure period for all of the pixels by transferring the signal charge generated and accumulated by the photoelectric conversion unit during the exposure period to the charge accumulation unit, and concurrently reading a signal charge of a pixel of a same color that shares the charge accumulation unit, and
concurrently beginning the exposure period for all of the pixels in capturing a still image by discharging the signal charge accumulated by the photoelectric conversion unit, and concurrently terminating the exposure period for all of the pixels by closing the mechanical shutter,
wherein the pixels respectively include, for each pixel, a temporary charge retaining unit between the photoelectric conversion unit and the charge accumulation unit,
wherein the signal charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit is transferred to the temporary charge retaining unit, and a signal charge exceeding a saturation charge amount of the temporary charge retaining unit is transferred to the charge accumulation unit after the exposure period terminates, and
wherein a signal charge accumulated by the charge accumulation unit is read as a high-illuminance signal, and a signal charge accumulated by the temporary charge retaining unit is read as a low-illuminance signal when the signal charge generated by the photoelectric conversion unit is read for each pixel.

10. The method for driving the electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the mechanical shutter is closed to terminate the exposure period in capturing the still image.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Mabuchi Keiji

Classifications

• H04N25/134

  based on three different wavelength filter elements · CPC title

• H04N25/531

  by controlling rolling shutters in CMOS SSIS · CPC title

• H04N25/42 Primary

  by switching between different modes of operation using different resolutions or aspect ratios, e.g. switching between interlaced and non-interlaced mode · CPC title

• H04N25/713

  Transfer or readout registers; Split readout registers or multiple readout registers · CPC title

• H04N25/778

  comprising amplifiers shared between a plurality of pixels, i.e. at least one part of the amplifier must be on the sensor array itself · CPC title