PURPOSE: To increase rapidly a dynamic range by revising the electrode constitution of vertical transfer register to provide one potential well to N sets of photoelectric conversion elements of a solid-state image pickup element and using a memory to reconstitute the signal into a signal compatible with a television format.

CONSTITUTION: First layer electrodes 26-1,... and 2nd layer electrodes 25-1,... receive 8 electrode wirings supplied externally and receive octal phase clocks at maximum. Thus, number of electrodes to form one potential well in always storage state is 4 and a double charge for vertical transfer register is obtained in comparison with the case of 4-phase clock. Since the resolution in the vertical direction by one transfer is halved, 2:1 interlacing is applied twice per field and the charge readout from the photoelectric conversion elements and outputs from all the elements are executed within one field.