Answer to Question #87664 in Electricity and Magnetism for Shivam Nishad

Question

Explain the structure of a CCD camera. How are colour signals obtained using a
CCD camera?

Answer 1

A CCD (charge-coupled device) camera captures and stores images in digital memory. Lens, ICR (IR-cut) switching module, image sensor (CCD), digital image encoder, compressin algorithm progressing module are the principal elements of a CCD camera. A digital camera records images using a photosensitive cell called a charge-couple device (CCD). A CCD is a thin layer of silicon divided into a multitude of small squares known as “pixels”. Each pixel is separated from the next by thin insulators. When light strikes a pixel, however, the silicon produces an electric charge, and the greater the amount of light, the greater the charge. When the exposure is finished, the camera’s microprocessor reads the charge on the pixels, row by row, and transforms the information into a digital image. The electrons are then "stored" in their individual cells until the analog-to-digital converter unloads the array, counts the electrons, and reassembles them into the "big picture" that is sent to your computer.

There are red, green and blue pixels, just like the human eye has cone cells that are sensitive to red, green and blue light. Each pixel has a coloured filter on top of it so that only light that is the colour of the filter can pass through. The pixel below the filter then records the intensity of the light. As we know which pixels have which filter, we can then determine the intensity of red, green and blue light at any point on the CCD.