JP2017011767A5

JP2017011767A5 -

Info

Publication number: JP2017011767A5
Application number: JP2016203763A
Authority: JP
Filing date: 2016-10-17
Publication date: 2017-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 2032-02-17

Description

上記課題を解決する本発明の一の側面は、複数行および複数列に渡って配され、各々が電荷を生成する複数の光電変換部と、複数行および複数列に渡って配され、前記電荷に基づく信号をデジタル信号にＡＤ変換する複数のＡＤ変換部と、制御部とを有する光電変換装置であって、前記制御部は、前記ＡＤ変換で生成される前記デジタル信号のビット数を変更することによって、前記ＡＤ変換における、前記デジタル信号の１ビットに対応する、前記電荷に基づく信号量を変更することを特徴とする光電変換装置である。 One aspect of the present invention that solves the above-described problems is a plurality of photoelectric conversion units that are arranged over a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each of which generates a charge, a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, and the charge A photoelectric conversion device having a plurality of AD conversion units that AD convert a signal based on the digital signal into a digital signal, and the control unit changes the number of bits of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion Thus , in the AD conversion, the signal amount based on the electric charge corresponding to one bit of the digital signal is changed .

Claims

A plurality of photoelectric conversion units arranged over a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each generating a charge;
A plurality of AD converters arranged over a plurality of rows and columns and AD-converting the signal based on the charge into a digital signal;
A photoelectric conversion device having a control unit,
The control unit changes a signal amount based on the electric charge corresponding to one bit of the digital signal in the AD conversion by changing a bit number of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion. A featured photoelectric conversion device.

The photoelectric conversion unit generates the charge in each of a first period and a second period,
As a digital signal based on the charge generated in the first period, the AD conversion unit generates a digital signal having a predetermined number of bits,
2. The photoelectric conversion according to claim 1, wherein the AD conversion unit generates a digital signal having a number of bits different from the predetermined number of bits as a digital signal based on the charge generated in the second period. apparatus.

The photoelectric conversion device further includes a counter that generates a count value by performing an elapsed time counting operation, and outputs the count value to the plurality of AD conversion units,
The number of bits of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion by the control unit is changed by changing a change amount of the count value per unit time. Photoelectric conversion device.

The said control part performs the change of the signal amount based on the said electric charge corresponding to 1 bit of the said digital signal in the said AD conversion by changing the speed | rate of the said count operation | movement. The photoelectric conversion device described.

The counter generates the count value using a clock signal input to the counter,
The photoelectric conversion apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the speed of the counting operation is changed by changing a frequency of the clock signal.

The AD converter generates the digital signal having a first number of bits,
The control unit reduces the signal amount based on the electric charge corresponding to one bit of the digital signal in the AD conversion smaller than that at the time of generating the digital signal of the first number of bits. Changing the number of bits to a second number of bits larger than the first number of bits is performed according to a result of subject discrimination using the digital signal of the first number of bits. Item 6. The photoelectric conversion device according to any one of Items 1 to 5.

The determination is whether the subject includes a moving object, and
When the determination result indicates that the moving subject is included in the subject, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6.

The determination is whether the subject includes a face, and
When the result of the determination indicates that the subject includes a face, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6.

The determination is whether or not the subject includes a human body,
When the result of the determination indicates that the subject includes a human body, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal generated by the AD conversion unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6.

10. The photoelectric conversion apparatus according to claim 6, wherein edge detection of the subject is performed using the digital signal having the first number of bits. 11.

The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6, wherein the first number of bits is one.

A plurality of photoelectric conversion units arranged over a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each generating a charge;
A plurality of digital signal output units arranged over a plurality of rows and columns and outputting a digital signal based on the charge;
A photoelectric conversion device having a control unit,
The control unit causes the digital signal output unit to output the digital signal having a first number of bits,
The control unit changes the number of bits of the digital signal output from the digital signal output unit to a second number of bits larger than the first number of bits. A photoelectric conversion device that performs the determination based on a result of subject discrimination using a signal.

The determination is whether the subject includes a moving object, and
When the determination result indicates that the moving object is included in the subject, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal output from the digital signal output unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 12, which is characterized by:

The determination is whether the subject includes a face, and
When the determination result indicates that the subject includes a face, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal output by the digital signal output unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 12, which is characterized by:

The determination is whether or not the subject includes a human body,
When the result of the determination indicates that the subject includes a human body, the control unit sets the number of bits of the digital signal output from the digital signal output unit as the second number of bits. The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 12, which is characterized by:

The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 12, wherein the first number of bits is one.

17. The photoelectric conversion apparatus according to claim 12, wherein edge detection of an object is performed using the digital signal having the first number of bits.

18. The edge detection of an object is performed by obtaining a difference between the digital signals based on the charges of the photoelectric conversion units of adjacent pixels of the plurality of pixels. Item 1. The photoelectric conversion device according to item 1.

An imaging system comprising: the photoelectric conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 18; and a video signal processing unit that processes a signal output from the photoelectric conversion device to generate image data. .

18. A photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6, a video signal processing unit that processes a signal output from the photoelectric conversion device to generate image data, and a detection unit that performs the determination. An imaging system characterized by that.