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Sensors & Digital Capture

CMOS Sensor

A sensor type in which each photosite has its own amplifier and the charge is converted to voltage at the pixel itself.

In depth

Because conversion happens in parallel across the whole array rather than through a single output channel, CMOS sensors read out fast, use little power and can integrate additional circuitry such as phase-detect pixels and on-chip converters. Early versions were noisier than CCDs; the technology has since overtaken them on essentially every measure.

Examples in practice

Every current stills and video camera uses CMOS, which is what makes 20 fps bursts and 8K video practical.