Electronic apparatus and driving method therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016255287-A1
Application number	US-201615152349-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 11, 2016
Priority date	Jun 21, 2011
Publication date	Sep 1, 2016
Grant date	—

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 on which pixels are two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix form, the pixels each 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 unit 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; and
a mechanical shutter configured to decide when the exposure period terminates in capturing a still image, 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 two by two in a column direction are alternately arranged on the pixels, and wherein the charge accumulation unit is shared between two pixels of a same color adjacent to each other in the column direction.

2 . The electronic device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the pixels each include, for each of the photoelectric conversion units, a temporary charge retaining unit between the photoelectric conversion unit and the charge accumulation unit, and 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 when the exposure period terminates.

3 . A method for driving an electronic device, the electronic device including
a solid-state imaging device including
a pixel array unit on which pixels are 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 unit 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, 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 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 two by two in a column direction on the pixels, 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.

4 . The method for driving the electronic device according to claim 3 ,
wherein the pixels each 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 the signal charge accumulated by the charge accumulation unit is read as a high-illuminance signal, and the signal charge accumulated by the temporary charge retaining unit is read as a low-illuminance signal when the signal charge is read for each pixel.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Mabuchi Keiji

Classifications

• H04N25/70

  SSIS architectures; Circuits associated therewith · 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

• H04N25/134

  based on three different wavelength filter elements · CPC title

• H04N25/46 Primary

  by combining or binning pixels · CPC title