Granted Patent B2

US 12,647,694 · App. 18/437,708 · Granted Jun 2, 2026

Inventors: Makiko Saito (Tokyo, JP); Hideaki Takada (Kanagawa, JP)

Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA

H04N25/671H04N25/77

Abstract

Claims (155)

1 . A photoelectric conversion device comprising:

a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form, the plurality of pixels including an effective pixel that outputs a signal corresponding to incident light and a light-shielded pixel having a light-shielding member;

a calculation unit that calculates a correction value based on a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel; and

a correction unit that corrects a pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value,

wherein a pixel row of the pixel array includes a first light-shielded pixel, a second light-shielded pixel, and the effective pixel,

wherein the calculation unit calculates the correction value using different parameters for each of the first light-shielded pixel and the second light-shielded pixel in the pixel row, and

wherein the correction unit corrects an offset of the pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value.

2 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 1 , wherein the pixel row includes:

a pixel region having the first light-shielded pixels; and

a pixel region having the second light-shielded pixels.

3 . A photoelectric conversion system comprising:

the photoelectric conversion device according to claim 1 ; and

a signal processing device that processes an image signal output from the photoelectric conversion device.

4 . A photoelectric conversion device comprising:

a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form, the plurality of pixels including an effective pixel that outputs a signal corresponding to incident light and a light-shielded pixel having a light-shielding member;

a calculation unit that calculates a correction value based on a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel; and

a correction unit that corrects a pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value,

wherein a pixel row of the pixel array includes a first light-shielded pixel, a second light-shielded pixel, and the effective pixel,

wherein the calculation unit calculates the correction value using different parameters for each of the first light-shielded pixel and the second light-shielded pixel in the pixel row, and

wherein the correction unit sequentially inputs the pixel values of the light-shielded pixels included in the pixel row, and updates the correction value using each light-shielded pixel.

5 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 4 ,

wherein the calculation unit updates, based on a pixel value of the second light-shielded pixel, the correction value calculated based a pixel value of the first light-shielded pixel, and

wherein the correction unit corrects the pixel value of the effective pixel included in the pixel row using the updated correction value.

6 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 4 ,

wherein a pixel value of the second light-shielded pixel is input to the calculation unit after inputting a pixel value of the first light-shielded pixel, and

wherein a pixel value of the effective pixel is input to the correction unit after inputting the pixel value of the second light-shielded pixel to the calculation unit.

7 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6 ,

wherein the parameter is an attenuation factor to attenuate a difference between the updated correction value and the correction value before the update, and

wherein the attenuation factor for the second light-shielded pixel used to update the correction value is greater than the attenuation factor for the first light-shielded pixel used to update the correction value.

8 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6 , wherein the calculation unit does not update the correction value using the light-shielded pixel in a case where a pixel value of said light-shielded pixel exceeds an absolute value of a predetermined threshold value.

9 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 8 ,

wherein the parameter is the threshold value, and

wherein an absolute value of the threshold value for the second light-shielded pixel is smaller than an absolute value of the threshold value for the first light-shielded pixel.

10 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 6 ,

wherein a correction value Sc(x) is calculated based on the following equations:

Sc

⁡

(

x

)

=

Sc

⁡

(

x

-

1

)

+

S

⁢

d

×

A

;

and

Sd

=

D

⁡

(

x

)

-

Dt

-

Sc

⁡

(

x

-

1

)

,

where:

D(x) is a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel in an x-th column of the pixel row;

Sc(x) is a correction value for the light-shielded pixel in the x-th column;

Sc(x−1) is a correction value for the light-shielded pixel in a (x−1)-th column;

Dt is a target pixel value;

A is a coefficient corresponding to the parameter; and

Sd is a difference value.

11 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 10 ,

wherein the parameter is the coefficient A, and

wherein the coefficient A in a case where the light-shielded pixel in the x-th column is the first light-shielded pixel is greater than the coefficient A in a case where the light-shielded pixel in the x-th column is the second light-shielded pixel.

12 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 11 , wherein, in a case where the light-shielded pixels are arranged from an x1-th column to an x2-th column in the pixel row, the coefficient A for the light-shielded pixel in the x-th column is calculated based on the following equation:

A

=

(

x

⁢

2

-

x

)

/

(

x

⁢

2

-

x

⁢

1

)

.

13 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 10 , wherein the calculation unit does not update the correction value using the light-shielded pixel in a case where an absolute value of the difference value exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

14 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 13 ,

wherein the parameter is the threshold value, and

wherein the threshold value for the second light-shielded pixel is smaller than the threshold value for the first light-shielded pixel.

15 . The photoelectric conversion device according to claim 14 , wherein, in a case where the light-shielded pixels are arranged from an x1-th column to an x2-th column in the pixel row and a greatest value of the threshold value is represented as b, a coefficient B for the light-shielded pixel in the x-th column is calculated based on the following equation:

B

=

b

×

(

x

⁢

2

-

x

)

/

(

x

⁢

2

-

x

⁢

1

)

.

16 . A photoelectric conversion system comprising:

the photoelectric conversion device according to claim 4 ; and

a signal processing device that processes an image signal output from the photoelectric conversion device.

17 . A photoelectric conversion system comprising:

a photoelectric conversion device; and

a signal processing device that processes an image signal output from the photoelectric conversion device,

wherein the photoelectric conversion device comprises:

a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form, the plurality of pixels including an effective pixel that outputs a signal corresponding to incident light and a light-shielded pixel having a light-shielding member;

a calculation unit that calculates a correction value based on a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel; and

a correction unit that corrects a pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value,

wherein a pixel row of the pixel array includes a first light-shielded pixel, a second light-shielded pixel, and the effective pixel,

wherein the calculation unit calculates the correction value using different parameters for each of the first light-shielded pixel and the second light-shielded pixel in the pixel row, and

wherein the signal processing device processes the respective image signals generated in the multiple photoelectric conversion devices, and obtains information of a distance from the photoelectric conversion device to a subject.

18 . A method of processing a signal output from a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form, the plurality of pixels including an effective pixel outputting a signal corresponding to incident light and a light-shielded pixel having a light-shielding member, a pixel row of the pixel array including a first light-shielded pixel, a second light-shielded pixel, and the effective pixel, the method comprising:

calculating a correction value based on a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel; and

correcting a pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value,

wherein the calculating includes calculating the correction value using different parameters for each of the first light-shielded pixel and the second light-shielded pixel in the pixel row, and

wherein the correcting includes correcting an offset of the pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value.

19 . A method of processing a signal output from a pixel array including a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix form, the plurality of pixels including an effective pixel outputting a signal corresponding to incident light and a light-shielded pixel having a light-shielding member, a pixel row of the pixel array including a first light-shielded pixel, a second light-shielded pixel, and the effective pixel, the method comprising:

calculating a correction value based on a pixel value of the light-shielded pixel; and

correcting a pixel value of the effective pixel based on the correction value,

wherein the calculating includes calculating the correction value using different parameters for each of the first light-shielded pixel and the second light-shielded pixel in the pixel row, and

wherein the correcting includes sequentially inputting the pixel values of the light-shielded pixels included in the pixel row, and updates the correction value using each light-shielded pixel.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (19)