The photosensitive region includes a first impurity region and a second impurity region having a higher impurity concentration than that of the first impurity region. The photosensitive region includes one end positioned away from the transfer section in the second direction and another end positioned closer to the transfer section in the second direction. A shape of the second impurity region in plan view is line-symmetric with respect to a center line of the photosensitive region along the second direction. A width of the second impurity region in the first direction increases in a transfer direction from the one end to the other end. An increase rate of the width of the second impurity region in each of sections, obtained by dividing the photosensitive region into n sections in the second direction, becomes gradually higher in the transfer direction. Here, n is an integer of two or more.

A method of binning charges in a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor is described. The frequency at which an HCCD in the CCD image sensor is clocked may be a multiple of the frequency at which a summing element coupled to the end of the HCCD is clocked, such that charges may be binned at a gate within the HCCD or at the summing element before being read out. The clock signal for the summing element may have a 50% duty cycle in order to provide additional time for charge to flow across an output gate to a floating diffusion node in an output stage of the CCD image sensor. For cases where the HCCD clock frequency is more than twice the summing element clock frequency, charges may be binned at the summing element. Otherwise, charges may be binned at another gate within the HCCD.

An imaging device includes: a controller which generates a light emission signal and an exposure signal; a light source unit which emits light in response to the light emission signal; an imager which obtains an amount of exposure to reflected light at the timing according to the exposure signal; and a signal processor which outputs a distance image and a luminance image according to calculation based on a signal amount of an imaging signal received from the imager. The imager is configured so that a pixel which performs exposure for obtaining signals of the distance image and a pixel which performs exposure for obtaining signals of the luminance image are the same. The light source unit emits light according to the timing indicated by the light emission signal generated at the controller, also in a period in which the imager performs the exposure for obtaining signals of the luminance image.

A distance-measuring imaging device includes: a drive control unit; a light source unit; an image processing unit including light receiving units and charge reading units arranged one-to-one; and an image processing unit. The charge reading units are arranged partly at the left side of corresponding ones of the light receiving units and partly at the right side of corresponding ones of the same. In each of a period in which the exposure is performed when the exposure control signal is received after a first delay time since when the light emission control signal is received and a period in which the exposure is performed when the exposure control signal is received after a second delay time longer than the first delay time, since when the light emission control signal is received, the left-side charge reading units read charge leftward, and the right-side charge reading units read charge rightward.

A pixel array uses two sets of pixels to provide accurate exposure control. One set of pixels provide continuous output signals for automatic light control (ALC) as the other set integrates and captures an image. ALC pixels allow monitoring of multiple pixels of an array to obtain sample data indicating the amount of light reaching the array, while allowing the other pixels to provide proper image data. A small percentage of the pixels in an array is replaced with ALC pixels and the array has two reset lines for each row; one line controls the reset for the image capture pixels while the other line controls the reset for the ALC pixels. In the columns, at least one extra control signal is used for the sampling of the reset level for the ALC pixels, which happens later than the sampling of the reset level for the image capture pixels.

A multimode interline charge coupled device having an array of light sensitive pixels, each configured to accumulate photocharge responsive to light incident on the pixel, and a controller configured to allocate a first portion of the pixels to accumulate photocharge responsive to light from a scene during a plurality of exposure periods and allocate a second portion of the pixels to store photocharge accumulated by pixels in the first portion to provide a plurality of images of the scene greater than two.

An electronic endoscope system has an image sensor driver configured to read one line's worth of image-pixel signals in order; at least four line memories configured to store one line's worth of image-pixel signals, respectively; and an interpolation processor that interpolates image-pixel signals of interpolated scanning lines to generate an enlarged image. The interpolation processor generates one line's worth of interpolated image-pixel signals based on image-pixel signals that are stored in the line memories. The image sensor driver reading one line's worth of image-pixel signals intermittently, and the interpolation processor suspends a writing of image-pixel signals that are stored in the line memories in accordance to a suspension of the outputting of the one line's worth of image-pixel signals from the image sensor.

A pixel array uses two sets of pixels to provide accurate exposure control. One set of pixels provide continuous output signals for automatic light control (ALC) as the other set integrates and captures an image. ALC pixels allow monitoring of multiple pixels of an array to obtain sample data indicating the amount of light reaching the array, while allowing the other pixels to provide proper image data. A small percentage of the pixels in an array is replaced with ALC pixels and the array has two reset lines for each row; one line controls the reset for the image capture pixels while the other line controls the reset for the ALC pixels. In the columns, at least one extra control signal is used for the sampling of the reset level for the ALC pixels, which happens later than the sampling of the reset level for the image capture pixels.

To control an excess bias to an appropriate value in a light detection device. A solid-state image sensor includes a photodiode, a resistor, and a control circuit. In this solid-state image sensor, the photodiode photoelectrically converts incident light and outputs a photocurrent. Furthermore, in the solid-state image sensor, the resistor is connected to a cathode of the photodiode. Furthermore, in the solid-state image sensor, the control circuit supplies a lower potential to an anode of the photodiode as a potential of the cathode of when the photocurrent flows through the resistor is higher.

A method of clocking an image sensor which eliminates well bounce effects caused by global current flow in large image sensors during frame readout and line transfer is described. During charge transfer operations in which voltages are applied to VCCD gate contacts that are adjacent to the photodiodes, a compensating voltage may be applied to the lightshield that is associated with, and at least partially formed over the photodiode. Depending on polarity, the compensating lightshield pulse allows holes to locally flow from under the VCCD gates to the photodiode P+ pinning region or vice-versa, and in such a manner to eliminate the global flow of hole current. Lightshields may also be biased during electronic shuttering operations.