With many uses for a camera these days, more and more people wonder what camera is the best. Upon starting their research, they stumble upon many different terms like the shutter, the image sensor, number of pixels, aspect ratio and many more. Most of these terms you are familiar with, but many people still do not know much about image sensors. As you start researching them, you may discover that image sensors come in two main types, called the CCD sensors and CMOS sensors. CMOS sensors (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) can be usually found in your everyday cameras, while CCD sensor technology (charge-coupled devices) can be found in the more professional cameras. However, CCD sensor technology has become a bit cheaper over the years, and is therefore available to more people. One of the best traits of CCD sensor technology is the fact that it delivers extremely high quality images.
A short history of the CCD sensor
CCD sensor technology came into being in the late sixties of the twentieth century in the labs of AT&T Bell Labs. They listed several possible uses for their new invention, and one of them was an imaging device. As years passed, many companies became interested in the device, so they started development programs on it, and so the CCD sensor technology started its quick development. In 2006 Boyle and Smith, the inventors of the CCD sensor technology, were awarded the National Academy of Engineering Charles Stark Draper Prize and in 2009 they were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for their work.
How does CCD sensor technology work?
CCD sensor technology converts light into digital data, and the process involving the CCD sensor chip being exposed to light. The chip holds this light in form of an electrical charge in each photo sensor. The charges get converted to voltage and then into digital information. The CCD sensor technology delivers high quality images with minimal noise or distortion because every single pixel is processed separately, so the other pixels are focused on reacting to the light exposure. We hope that you now understand a bit more on CCD sensor technology and how does it work, because many of us use it every day, but we don’t quite understand what it does and how it does it.
Where it’s used?
CCD sensor technology is usually used by professionals, or so it was until some years back. The main disadvantage of CCD sensor technology a few years back was its cost. The alternative to CCD sensors, CMOS sensors, has a lower cost because they are made through a simpler and less costly process. They also have a disadvantageous side to them, though – images recorded with such sensors have a lower quality and they don’t perform very well for images taken in low light conditions. In conclusion, however, CCD sensor technology has cut down production cost a little so that these sensors are available to a wider public now.
