# Image sensor

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Device that converts images into electronic signals

"Image capture" redirects here. For the software, see [Image Capture](/source/Image_Capture).

An **image sensor** or **imager** is a [sensor](/source/Sensor) used for [imaging](/source/Imaging). It detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable [attenuation](/source/Attenuation) of light [waves](/source/Wave) (as they [pass through](/source/Refraction) or [reflect off](/source/Reflection_(physics)) objects) into [signals](/source/Signal_(electrical_engineering)), small bursts of [current](/source/Electric_current) that convey the information. The waves can be light or other [electromagnetic radiation](/source/Electromagnetic_radiation). Image sensors are used in [electronic](/source/Electronics) imaging devices of both [analog](/source/Analogue_electronics) and [digital](/source/Digital_electronics) types, which include [digital cameras](/source/Digital_camera), [camera modules](/source/Camera_module), [camera phones](/source/Camera_phones), [optical mouse](/source/Optical_mouse) devices, [medical imaging](/source/Medical_imaging) equipment, [night vision](/source/Night_vision) equipment such as [thermal imaging](/source/Thermography) devices, [radar](/source/Radar), [sonar](/source/Sonar), and others. As [technology changes](/source/Technological_change), electronic and [digital imaging](/source/Digital_imaging) tends to replace chemical and analog imaging.

The two main types of electronic image sensors are the [charge-coupled device](/source/Charge-coupled_device) (CCD) and the [active-pixel sensor](/source/Active-pixel_sensor) ([CMOS](/source/CMOS) sensor). Both CCD and CMOS sensors are based on [metal–oxide–semiconductor](/source/Metal%E2%80%93oxide%E2%80%93semiconductor) (MOS) technology, with CCDs based on [MOS capacitors](/source/MOS_capacitor) and CMOS sensors based on [MOSFET](/source/MOSFET) (MOS field-effect transistor) [amplifiers](/source/Amplifiers). Analog sensors for invisible radiation tend to involve [vacuum tubes](/source/Vacuum_tube) of various kinds, while digital sensors include [flat-panel detectors](/source/Flat-panel_detector).

## Comparison between CCD and CMOS sensors

A micrograph of the corner of the photosensor array of a [webcam](/source/Webcam) digital camera

Image sensor (upper left) on the motherboard of a Nikon Coolpix L2 6 MP

The two main types of [digital image](/source/Digital_image) sensors are the [charge-coupled device](/source/Charge-coupled_device) (CCD) and the [active-pixel sensor](/source/Active-pixel_sensor) (CMOS sensor), [fabricated](/source/Semiconductor_device_fabrication) in [complementary MOS](/source/Complementary_MOS) (CMOS) or [N-type](/source/N-type_semiconductor) MOS ([NMOS](/source/NMOS_logic) or [Live MOS](/source/Live_MOS)) technologies. Both CCD and CMOS sensors are based on the [MOS technology](/source/MOS_technology),[1] with [MOS capacitors](/source/MOS_capacitor) being the building blocks of a CCD,[2] and [MOSFET](/source/MOSFET) amplifiers being the building blocks of a CMOS sensor.[3][4]

Cameras integrated in small consumer products generally use CMOS sensors, which are usually cheaper and have lower power consumption in battery powered devices than CCDs.[5] CCD sensors are used for high end broadcast quality video cameras, and CMOS sensors dominate in still photography and consumer goods where overall cost is a major concern. Both types of sensor accomplish the same task of capturing light and converting it into electrical signals.

Each cell of a [CCD](/source/Charge-coupled_device) image sensor is an analog device, a [pinned photodiode](/source/Pinned_photodiode).[6] When light strikes the chip it is held as a small electrical charge in each photodiode. The charges in the line of pixels nearest to the (one or more) output amplifiers are amplified and output, then each line of pixels shifts its charges one line closer to the amplifiers, filling the empty line closest to the amplifiers. This process is then repeated until all the lines of pixels have had their charge amplified and output.[7]

A CMOS image sensor has an amplifier for each pixel compared to the few amplifiers of a CCD. This results in less area for the capture of photons than a CCD, but this problem has been overcome by using microlenses in front of each photodiode, which focus light into the photodiode that would have otherwise hit the amplifier and not been detected.[7] Some CMOS imaging sensors also use [back-side illumination](/source/Back-illuminated_sensor) to increase the number of photons that hit the photodiode.[8] CMOS sensors can potentially be implemented with fewer components, use less power, and/or provide faster readout than CCD sensors.[9] They are also less vulnerable to static electricity discharges.

Another design, a hybrid CCD/CMOS architecture (sold under the name "[sCMOS](/source/SCMOS)") consists of CMOS readout integrated circuits (ROICs) that are bump bonded to a CCD imaging substrate – a technology that was developed for infrared [staring arrays](/source/Staring_array) and has been adapted to silicon-based detector technology.[10] Another approach is to utilize the very fine dimensions available in modern CMOS technology to implement a CCD like structure entirely in CMOS technology: such structures can be achieved by separating individual poly-silicon gates by a very small gap; though still a product of research hybrid sensors can potentially harness the benefits of both CCD and CMOS imagers.[11]

## Performance

See also: [EMVA1288](/source/EMVA1288)

There are many parameters that can be used to evaluate the performance of an image sensor, including [dynamic range](/source/Dynamic_range), [signal-to-noise ratio](/source/Signal-to-noise_ratio), and low-light sensitivity. For sensors of comparable types, the signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range improve as the [size](/source/Image_sensor_format#Sensor_size) increases. It is because in a given integration (exposure) time, more photons hit the pixel with larger area.

## Exposure-time control

[Exposure time](/source/Exposure_time) of image sensors is generally controlled by either a conventional mechanical [shutter](/source/Shutter_(photography)), as in film cameras, or by an [electronic shutter](/source/Electronic_shutter). Electronic shuttering can be "global," in which case the entire image sensor area's accumulation of photoelectrons starts and stops simultaneously, or "rolling" in which case the exposure interval of each row immediately precedes that row's readout, in a process that "rolls" across the image frame (typically from top to bottom in landscape format). Global electronic shuttering is less common, as it requires "storage" circuits to hold charge from the end of the exposure interval until the readout process gets there, typically a few milliseconds later.[12]

## Color separation

Bayer pattern on sensor

Foveon's scheme of vertical filtering for color sensing

There are several main types of color image sensors, differing by the type of color-separation mechanism:

- **Integral color sensors**[13] use a [color filter array](/source/Color_filter_array) fabricated on top of a single monochrome CCD or CMOS image sensor. The most common color filter array pattern, the [Bayer pattern](/source/Bayer_pattern), uses a checkerboard arrangement of two green pixels for each red and blue pixel, although many other color filter patterns have been developed, including patterns using cyan, magenta, yellow, and white pixels.[14] Integral color sensors were initially manufactured by transferring colored dyes through photoresist windows onto a polymer receiving layer coated on top of a monochrome CCD sensor.[15] Since each pixel provides only a single color (such as green), the "missing" color values (such as red and blue) for the pixel are interpolated using neighboring pixels.[16] This processing is also referred to as [demosaicing](/source/Demosaicing) or de-bayering.

- **[Foveon X3 sensor](/source/Foveon_X3_sensor)**, using an array of layered pixel sensors, separating light via the inherent wavelength-dependent absorption property of silicon, such that every location senses all three color channels. This method is similar to how color film for photography works.

- **[3CCD](/source/Three-CCD_camera)**, using three discrete image sensors, with the color separation done by a [dichroic prism](/source/Dichroic_prism). The dichroic elements provide a sharper color separation, thus improving color quality. Because each sensor is equally sensitive within its [passband](/source/Passband), and at full resolution, 3-CCD sensors produce better color quality and better low light performance. 3-CCD sensors produce a full [4:4:4](/source/Chroma_subsampling) signal, which is preferred in [television broadcasting](/source/Television_broadcasting), [video editing](/source/Video_editing) and [chroma key](/source/Chroma_key) visual effects.

## Specialty sensors

Infrared view of the [Orion Nebula](/source/Orion_Nebula) taken by [ESO](/source/ESO)'s HAWK-I, a cryogenic wide-field imager[17]

Special sensors are used in various applications such as creation of [multi-spectral images](/source/Multi-spectral_image), [video laryngoscopes](/source/Laryngoscopy), [gamma cameras](/source/Gamma_camera), [Flat-panel detectors](/source/Flat-panel_detector) and other [sensor arrays](/source/Sensor_array) for [x-rays](/source/X-ray), [microbolometer](/source/Microbolometer) arrays in [thermography](/source/Thermography), and other highly sensitive arrays for [astronomy](/source/Astronomy).[18]

While in general, digital cameras use a flat sensor, Sony prototyped a curved sensor in 2014 to reduce/eliminate [Petzval field curvature](/source/Petzval_field_curvature) that occurs with a flat sensor. Use of a curved sensor allows a shorter and smaller diameter of the lens with reduced elements and components with greater aperture and reduced light fall-off at the edge of the photo.[19]

## History

See also: [Digital imaging](/source/Digital_imaging)

Early analog sensors for visible light were [video camera tubes](/source/Video_camera_tube). They date back to the 1930s, and several types were developed up until the 1980s. By the early 1990s, they had been replaced by modern [solid-state](/source/Solid-state_electronic) CCD image sensors.[20]

The basis for modern solid-state image sensors is MOS technology,[21][22] which originates from the invention of the MOSFET by [Mohamed M. Atalla](/source/Mohamed_M._Atalla) and [Dawon Kahng](/source/Dawon_Kahng) at [Bell Labs](/source/Bell_Labs) in 1959.[23] Later research on MOS technology led to the development of solid-state [semiconductor](/source/Semiconductor) image sensors, including the [charge-coupled device](/source/Charge-coupled_device) (CCD) and later the [active-pixel sensor](/source/Active-pixel_sensor) ([CMOS](/source/CMOS) sensor).[21][22]

The [passive-pixel sensor](/source/Passive-pixel_sensor) (PPS) was the precursor to the active-pixel sensor (APS).[4] A PPS consists of passive pixels which are read out without [amplification](/source/Amplifier), with each pixel consisting of a photodiode and a [MOSFET](/source/MOSFET) switch.[24] It is a type of [photodiode array](/source/Photodiode_array), with pixels containing a [p-n junction](/source/P-n_junction), integrated [capacitor](/source/Capacitor), and MOSFETs as selection [transistors](/source/Transistors). A photodiode array was proposed by G. Weckler in 1968.[3] This was the basis for the PPS.[4] These early photodiode arrays were complex and impractical, requiring selection transistors to be fabricated within each pixel, along with [on-chip](/source/Integrated_circuit) [multiplexer](/source/Multiplexer) circuits. The [noise](/source/Noise_(electronics)) of photodiode arrays was also a limitation to performance, as the photodiode readout [bus](/source/Memory_bus) capacitance resulted in increased noise level. [Correlated double sampling](/source/Correlated_double_sampling) (CDS) could also not be used with a photodiode array without external [memory](/source/Computer_memory).[3]

In June 2022, Samsung Electronics announced that it had created a 200 million pixel image sensor. The 200MP ISOCELL HP3 has 0.56 micrometer pixels with Samsung reporting that previous sensors had 0.64 micrometer pixels, a 12% decrease since 2019. The new sensor contains 200 million pixels in a 1-by-1.4-inch (25 by 36 mm) lens.[25]

### Charge-coupled device

Main article: [Charge-coupled device](/source/Charge-coupled_device)

The [charge-coupled device](/source/Charge-coupled_device) (CCD) was invented by [Willard S. Boyle](/source/Willard_S._Boyle) and [George E. Smith](/source/George_E._Smith) at Bell Labs in 1969.[26] While researching MOS technology, they realized that an electric charge was the analogy of the magnetic bubble and that it could be stored on a tiny [MOS capacitor](/source/MOS_capacitor). As it was fairly straightforward to [fabricate](/source/Semiconductor_device_fabrication) a series of MOS capacitors in a row, they connected a suitable voltage to them so that the charge could be stepped along from one to the next.[21] The CCD is a semiconductor circuit that was later used in the first [digital video cameras](/source/Digital_video_camera) for [television broadcasting](/source/Television_broadcasting).[27]

Early CCD sensors suffered from [shutter lag](/source/Shutter_lag). This was largely resolved with the invention of the [pinned photodiode](/source/Pinned_photodiode) (PPD).[4] It was invented by [Nobukazu Teranishi](/source/Nobukazu_Teranishi), Hiromitsu Shiraki and Yasuo Ishihara at [NEC](/source/NEC) in 1980.[4][28] It was a [photodetector](/source/Photodetector) structure with low lag, low [noise](/source/Noise_(electronics)), high [quantum efficiency](/source/Quantum_efficiency) and low [dark current](/source/Dark_current_(physics)).[4] In 1987, the PPD began to be incorporated into most CCD devices, becoming a fixture in [consumer electronic](/source/Consumer_electronic) [video cameras](/source/Video_cameras) and then [digital still cameras](/source/Digital_still_camera). Since then, the PPD has been used in nearly all CCD sensors and then CMOS sensors.[4]

### Active-pixel sensor

Main article: [Active-pixel sensor](/source/Active-pixel_sensor)

The [NMOS](/source/NMOS_logic) [active-pixel sensor](/source/Active-pixel_sensor) (APS) was invented by [Olympus](/source/Olympus_Corporation) in Japan during the mid-1980s. This was enabled by advances in MOS [semiconductor device fabrication](/source/Semiconductor_device_fabrication), with [MOSFET scaling](/source/MOSFET_scaling) reaching smaller [micron and then sub-micron](/source/List_of_semiconductor_scale_examples) levels.[3][29] The first NMOS APS was fabricated by Tsutomu Nakamura's team at Olympus in 1985.[30] The [CMOS](/source/CMOS) active-pixel sensor (CMOS sensor) was later improved by a group of scientists at the [NASA](/source/NASA) [Jet Propulsion Laboratory](/source/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory) in 1993.[4] By 2007, sales of CMOS sensors had surpassed CCD sensors.[31] By the 2010s, CMOS sensors largely displaced CCD sensors in all new applications.

### Other image sensors

The first commercial [digital camera](/source/Digital_camera), the [Cromemco Cyclops](/source/Cromemco_Cyclops) in 1975, used a 32×32 MOS image sensor. It was a modified MOS dynamic [RAM](/source/Random-access_memory) ([DRAM](/source/Dynamic_random-access_memory)) [memory chip](/source/Memory_chip).[32]

MOS image sensors are widely used in [optical mouse](/source/Optical_mouse) technology. The first optical mouse, invented by [Richard F. Lyon](/source/Richard_F._Lyon) at [Xerox](/source/Xerox) in 1980, used a [5 μm](/source/6_%CE%BCm_process) [NMOS](/source/NMOS_logic) [integrated circuit](/source/Integrated_circuit) sensor chip.[33][34] Since the first commercial optical mouse, the [IntelliMouse](/source/IntelliMouse) introduced in 1999, most optical mouse devices use CMOS sensors.[35]

In February 2018, researchers at [Dartmouth College](/source/Dartmouth_College) announced a new image sensing technology that the researchers call QIS, for Quanta Image Sensor. Instead of pixels, QIS chips have what the researchers call "jots." Each jot can detect a single particle of light, called a [photon](/source/Photon).[36]

## See also

- [List of sensors used in digital cameras](/source/List_of_sensors_used_in_digital_cameras)

- [Contact image sensor](/source/Contact_image_sensor) (CIS)

- [Electro-optical sensor](/source/Electro-optical_sensor)

- [Video camera tube](/source/Video_camera_tube), used before image sensors for video

- [Semiconductor detector](/source/Semiconductor_detector)

- [Fill factor](/source/Fill_factor_(image_sensor))

- [Full-frame digital SLR](/source/Full-frame_digital_SLR)

- [Image resolution](/source/Image_resolution)

- [Image sensor format](/source/Image_sensor_format), the sizes and shapes of common image sensors

- [Color filter array](/source/Color_filter_array), mosaic of tiny color filters over color image sensors

- [Sensitometry](/source/Sensitometry), the scientific study of light-sensitive materials

- [History of television](/source/History_of_television), the development of electronic imaging technology since the 1880s

- [List of large sensor interchangeable-lens video cameras](/source/List_of_large_sensor_interchangeable-lens_video_cameras)

- [Oversampled binary image sensor](/source/Oversampled_binary_image_sensor)

- [Computer vision](/source/Computer_vision)

- [Push broom scanner](/source/Push_broom_scanner)

- [Whisk broom scanner](/source/Whisk_broom_scanner)

## References

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1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** Musburger, Robert B.; Ogden, Michael R. (2014). [*Single-Camera Video Production*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tqPcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64). [CRC Press](/source/CRC_Press). p. 64. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781136778445](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781136778445).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Williams_21-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Williams_21-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Williams_21-2) Williams, J. B. (2017). [*The Electronics Revolution: Inventing the Future*](https://books.google.com/books?id=v4QlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA245). Springer. pp. 245–8. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783319490885](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783319490885).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ohta_22-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ohta_22-1) Ohta, Jun (2017). [*Smart CMOS Image Sensors and Applications*](https://books.google.com/books?id=_7NLzflrTrcC&pg=PA2). [CRC Press](/source/CRC_Press). p. 2. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781420019155](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781420019155).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-computerhistory_23-0)** ["1960: Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) Transistor Demonstrated"](https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/metal-oxide-semiconductor-mos-transistor-demonstrated/). *The Silicon Engine*. [Computer History Museum](/source/Computer_History_Museum). Retrieved August 31, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Kozlowski_24-0)** Kozlowski, L. J.; Luo, J.; Kleinhans, W. E.; Liu, T. (14 September 1998). Pain, Bedabrata; Lomheim, Terrence S. (eds.). ["Comparison of passive and active pixel schemes for CMOS visible imagers"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268189518). *Infrared Readout Electronics IV*. **3360**. International Society for Optics and Photonics: 101–110. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1998SPIE.3360..101K](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1998SPIE.3360..101K). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1117/12.584474](https://doi.org/10.1117%2F12.584474). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [123351913](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:123351913).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Web, Desk (2022-06-25). ["Samsung Electronics releases a sensor with 200 million pixels"](https://www.bolnews.com/pakistan/2022/06/samsung-electronics-releases-a-sensor-with-200-million-pixels/). *BOL News*. Retrieved 2022-06-25. {{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: |first= has generic name ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#generic_name))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** Janesick, James R. (2001). [*Scientific charge-coupled devices*](https://books.google.com/books?id=3GyE4SWytn4C&pg=PA3). SPIE Press. pp. 3–4. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8194-3698-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8194-3698-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Boyle, William S; Smith, George E. (1970). "Charge Coupled Semiconductor Devices". *Bell Syst. Tech. J*. **49** (4): 587–593. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1970BSTJ...49..587B](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1970BSTJ...49..587B). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1002/j.1538-7305.1970.tb01790.x](https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fj.1538-7305.1970.tb01790.x).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** [U.S. Patent 4,484,210: Solid-state imaging device having a reduced image lag](https://patents.google.com/patent/US4484210)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** [Fossum, Eric R.](/source/Eric_Fossum) (2007). ["Active Pixel Sensors"](https://web.archive.org/web/20190309065505/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f510/d40cfe0556392bb2d34981f7158327dec169.pdf) (PDF). *[Semantic Scholar](/source/Semantic_Scholar)*. [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [18831792](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:18831792). Archived from [the original](http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f510/d40cfe0556392bb2d34981f7158327dec169.pdf) (PDF) on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Matsumoto, Kazuya; et al. (1985). "A new MOS phototransistor operating in a non-destructive readout mode". *Japanese Journal of Applied Physics*. **24** (5A): L323. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1985JaJAP..24L.323M](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1985JaJAP..24L.323M). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1143/JJAP.24.L323](https://doi.org/10.1143%2FJJAP.24.L323). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [108450116](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:108450116).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** ["CMOS Image Sensor Sales Stay on Record-Breaking Pace"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180508064442/http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/CMOS-Image-Sensor-Sales-Stay-On-RecordBreaking-Pace). *IC Insights*. May 8, 2018. Archived from the original on May 8, 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hackaday_32-0)** Benchoff, Brian (17 April 2016). ["Building the First Digital Camera"](http://hackaday.com/2016/04/17/building-the-first-digital-camera/). *[Hackaday](/source/Hackaday)*. Retrieved 30 April 2016. the Cyclops was the first digital camera

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Springer_33-0)** [Lyon, Richard F.](/source/Richard_F._Lyon) (2014). ["The Optical Mouse: Early Biomimetic Embedded Vision"](https://books.google.com/books?id=p_GbBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3). *Advances in Embedded Computer Vision*. Springer. pp. 3–22 (3). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9783319093871](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783319093871).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-VLSI_Systems_and_Computations_34-0)** [Lyon, Richard F.](/source/Richard_F._Lyon) (August 1981). ["The Optical Mouse, and an Architectural Methodology for Smart Digital Sensors"](http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/xerox/parc/techReports/VLSI-81-1_The_Optical_Mouse.pdf) (PDF). In H. T. Kung; Robert F. Sproull; Guy L. Steele (eds.). *VLSI Systems and Computations*. Computer Science Press. pp. 1–19. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/978-3-642-68402-9_1](https://doi.org/10.1007%2F978-3-642-68402-9_1). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-642-68404-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-642-68404-3). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [60722329](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:60722329).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Brain, Marshall; Carmack, Carmen (24 April 2000). ["How Computer Mice Work"](https://computer.howstuffworks.com/mouse4.htm). *[HowStuffWorks](/source/HowStuffWorks)*. Retrieved 9 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-36)** ["Super Sensitive Sensor Sees What You Can't"](https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/02/13/585149644/super-sensitive-sensor-sees-what-you-cant). *npr.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180324010947/https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2018/02/13/585149644/super-sensitive-sensor-sees-what-you-cant) from the original on 24 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

## External links

- [Digital Camera Sensor Performance Summary](http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/digital.sensor.performance.summary/) by Roger Clark

- Clark, Roger. ["Does Pixel Size Matter?"](https://clarkvision.com/articles/does.pixel.size.matter/). *clarkvision.com*. (with graphical buckets and rainwater analogies)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Image sensor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.