FAST FRAME RATE SENSOR READOUT

Prior art electronic cameras that use solid state area image sensors are generally limited to operation at frame rates less than about 120 frames per second. Such frame rates are limited, principally, by the maximum data rate at which solid state sensors may be operated. The present invention provides methods and apparatus for readout of an area image sensor at greatly increased frame rates, doing so by formatting the sensor into blocks of photosite rows for purposes of readout, and by modifying the method of sensor readout in a manner compatible with such format.