SonyPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 6/10

Sony patents camera sensor that adjusts brightness automatically

Sony describes a camera sensor design that uses a separate circuit to constantly monitor incoming light. This circuit sends a signal to the main pixel to adjust how it processes the image, helping capture both bright and dark areas clearly.

Why it mattersThis could lead to better photos in tricky lighting conditions, like a sunny day with deep shadows, by making the sensor react faster to changes in brightness.

In the filing’s own words

A radiation sensitive circuit continuously converts a first photocurrent generated by incident radiation into a pixel voltage signal VPR and outputs a gain control signal VGC based on a voltage level of the pixel voltage signal VPR. An active pixel circuit integrates a second photocurrent generated by incident radiation in an exposure period and converts a resulting electric charge into a pixel output voltage VSL at a conversion gain controllable by the gain control signal VGC.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A solid-state imaging device, comprising: a radiation sensitive circuit configured to continuously convert a first photocurrent generated by incident radiation into a pixel voltage signal and outputs a gain control signal based on a voltage level of the pixel voltage signal; and an active pixel circuit configured to integrate a second photocurrent generated by incident radiation in an exposure period and convert a resulting electric charge into a pixel output voltage at a conversion gain controllable by the gain control signal.

Facts

Company: Sony (Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation)
Official title: HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE SOLID-STATE IMAGING DEVICE
Publication number: US20260270581A1
Application number: 19165596
Filed: Mar 13, 2024
Published: Sep 10, 2026
Inventors: 1
Claims: 15

Classified under

H04N 25/573 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/47 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/51 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/707 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/77 Electricity & electronicsH04N 25/78 Electricity & electronics

Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.