IMAGING DEVICE THAT PREVENTS LOSS OF SHADOW DETAIL

• Main Authors: MURAKAMI MASASHI, MASUYAMA MASAYUKI, MATSUNAGA YOSHIYUKI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 12.05.2011
• Subjects: ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION

An imaging device outputs brightness information according to an amount of incident light and includes: an imaging unit that includes a plurality of unit cells arranged one dimensionally or two-dimensionally, each unit cell including a photoelectric conversion part that generates a first output voltage in a reset state and a second output voltage according to an amount of incident light, and each unit cell generating a reset voltage that corresponds to the first output voltage and a read voltage that corresponds to the second output voltage; and an output unit operable to output, in relation to each unit cell, brightness information indicating a difference between the reset voltage and the read voltage when normal light is incident to the imaging device and the read voltage is in a predetermined range, and brightness information indicating high brightness when strong light is incident to the imaging device and the read voltage is not in the predetermined range.