In a solid-state imaging apparatus, if the total read out time of all pixels is shortened when effective pixels are thinned out without thinning out OB pixels, then the rows have different reset time periods, and the problem of uneven charge accumulation time periods arises. An improvement by the present invention is that, if no signals are read out from a part of the rows in an effective pixel region to skip the rows, then the time period in which the rows to be skipped are selected is made shorter than that in which the rows from which signals are read out are selected, and the pixels in the optical black pixel region and those in the effective pixel region are driven by the drive pulses of patterns different from each other.