Introduction

doi:10.1117/3.2524677.ch1

Introduction

Book: CMOS/CCD Sensors and Camera Systems, Second Edition

Author(s): Gerald C. Holst, Terrence S. Lomheim

Published: 2011

https://doi.org/10.1117/3.2524677.ch1

Author Affiliations +

Abstract

Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) were invented by Boyle and Smith in 1970. Since then, considerable literature has been written on CCD physics, fabrication, and operation. However, the array does not create an image by itself. It requires an optical system to image the scene onto the array’s photosensitive area. The array requires a bias and clock signals. Its output is a series of analog pulses that represent the scene intensity at a series of discrete locations. While the photodetection process is analog, an analog-to-digital converter (either on-chip or off-chip) provides digital video.