CCD Sensor
A sensor type in which charge is shifted across the chip to a single output amplifier for conversion.
In depth
Reading every pixel through one amplifier gives excellent uniformity and very low fixed-pattern noise, which is why CCDs dominated early digital and are still used in some scientific imaging. The same architecture makes them slow and power-hungry, and vulnerable to smear when a bright source overloads a column during transfer.
Examples in practice
Early medium-format digital backs used CCDs, prized for their tonality but limited to base ISO and slow capture.