Patent · US Expired

Image sensor

US7755364B2 · kind B2 · utility

1Cited by
10References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateDec 19, 2003
Grant dateJul 13, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 20, 2026

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/77
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An image sensor has a plurality of pixels, each pixel having a photodiode (12), a voltage amplifier (16) having gain greater than 1 and a sampling capacitor (18) charged by the voltage amplifier. In this arrangement, each pixel provides gain through voltage amplification. This enables the sampling capacitor (18) to be kept to a low size, so that the pixel circuitry occupies the smallest possible space, thereby enabling large aperture pixels to be formed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.