Image Sensors

CCD and CMOS are two types of image sensors commonly used in modern digital cameras. They both use arrays of silicon pixels to detect light.

Charge-coupled device (CCD)

• commonly seen in professional photography and telescopes

• expensive

• mostly global shutter (all pixels exposed to light at the same time)

• less visual noise and distortion

Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)

• commonly seen in small-scale devices like mobile phone

• inexpensive

• mostly rolling shutter (pixels exposed to light line-by-line)

• noisy