Image sensor and method for driving the same
US6346696B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 14, 1999 |
| Grant date | Feb 12, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 14, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04N25/78
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An image sensor and a method for driving a pixel array in the image sensor are to prevent unnecessary power consumption by controlling transistors contained in a unit pixel. The unit pixel contains a transfer transistor, a reset transistor, a drive transistor and a select transistor. Under a correlated double sampling, within a predetermined period after the reset transistor is turned off, the select transistor is turned on to output a reset voltage level transferred from a voltage source as a unit pixel output signal through the drive transistor. As a result, the voltage source is not directly coupled to an output of the unit pixel to thereby effectively reduce unwanted power consumption and enhance the resulted picture quality.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.