PURPOSE: To prevent the picture quality of a reproduced screen from being deteriorated due to defect of an image pickup element, by converting an output corresponding to an output based on a failure of a solid-state image pickup element into white on the screen.

CONSTITUTION: A solid-state image pickup element 15 such as primary dimension CCD image sensor is controlled with the timing of a timing generating circuit 16 receiving an output of an oscillator 17 and reads picture information (not shown). This read signal is given to a comparator 22 via an amplifier 18 and a sample hole circuit 19, shared into signals of white and black level according to the criteria determined with resistors 20 and 21 and outputted. A P-ROM25 stores addresses corresponding to defective bits of the element 15, and when a counter 24 counting the timing signal gives an output corresponding to this address, the P-ROM25 turns on a transistor 26 and brings the output of a comparator 22 compulsively into a white level output.