US Patent 7199351 Solid state image sensing apparatus with output level controller

A solid state image sensing apparatus having: an image pickup device including; a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type, a well of a second conductivity type formed in the semiconductor substrate, charge accumulation regions of the first conductivity type formed in the well, and an overflow drain terminal electrically connected to the semiconductor substrate for controlling a potential barrier formed by the well; an amplifier for amplifying an output from the image pickup device; a sensitivity setter for setting a photographic sensitivity; and an output level controller for changing a saturation amount of charge accumulated in the charge accumulation region by changing the bias voltage applied to the overflow drain terminal in accordance with a set sensitivity.