Patent · US Active

Image sensors and color filter arrays for charge summing and interlaced readout modes

US8350940B2 · kind B2 · utility

44Cited by
14References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJun 8, 2009
Grant dateJan 8, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateNov 23, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N25/46
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Image sensors and color filter arrays for in-pixel charge summing and interlaced readout modes may be provided. An image sensor that supports charge summing and interlaced readout modes may include an array of pixels with pairs of adjacent green, red, and blue light-sensitive pixels. An image sensor may implement an in-pixel charge summing readout mode in which charges from pairs of pixels are summed onto a common node and then read out from the common node. An image sensor may implement an interlaced readout mode in which image data is read out from alternating rows of the image sensor. An image sensor may use a shared readout scheme in which a group of four pixels is formed from two pairs of commonly-colored pixels. The four pixels may share circuitry such as a reset transistor, a buffer transistor, and a row select transistor and may connect to a single readout line.

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