PHOTOELECTRIC CONVERSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DRIVING THE SAME

To provide a technique to advance an exposure control function in a photoelectric conversion device including a function to count the number of incident photons.SOLUTION: A photoelectric conversion device has a photoelectric conversion unit that outputs pulse signals in response to incidence of photons, a signal processing unit that is connected with the photoelectric conversion unit and counts the number of pulse signals, and a control unit that controls the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit has a first count processing unit and a second count processing unit arranged parallel to each other. The control unit is configured to set an active period and a non-active period to each of the first count processing unit and the second count processing unit. A period during which the first count processing unit is active includes a first period during which the second count processing unit is active and a second period during which the second count processing unit is not active.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2 【課題】入射する光子を計数する機能を備えた光電変換装置において、露光制御の高機能化を実現するための技術を提供する。【解決手段】光電変換装置は、光子の入射に応じてパルス信号を出力する光電変換部と、光電変換部に接続され、パルス信号を計数する信号処理部と、信号処理部を制御する制御部と、を有する。信号処理部は、並列に配された第１の計数処理部及び第２の計数処理部を有する。制御部は、第１の計数処理部及び第２の計数処理部の各々に対し、アクティブな期間と非アクティブな期間とを設定するように構成されている。第１の計数処理部がアクティブな期間は、第２の計数処理部がアクティブな第１の期間と、第２の計数処理部が非アクティブな第２の期間と、を含む。【選択図】図２