Our video cameras are piece of technology and at the heart of it is the
CCD(charge coupled device) imager chip. A CCD consists of several hundred
thousand individual picture elements (pixels) on a tiny 1/2", 1/3", or
1/4" chip. Each pixel responds to light falling on it by storing a tiny
charge of electricity. The pixels are arranged on a precise grid, with
vertical and horizontal transfer registers carrying the signals to the
camera's video processing circuitry. This transfer of signals occurs
sixty times per second.
The CCD camera's electronic shutter is not really
a moving shutter, but a clever piece of signal processing. Under low
light conditions, the CCD is allowed to gather signal for the full 1/60th
of a second. Under brighter lighting conditions, the video processing
chip automatically responds by reading the CCD and then immediately
"early purging" it, resulting in precise control over the video level.
Even at a shutter speed of 1/100,000 of a second, the CCD camera is still
delivering 60 images per second, but each image is gathered over a much
shorter period of time.
It doesn't end with the CCD...the image is
constantly monitored and optimized by advanced on board signal processing
circuitry. The end result is a fantastic picture, with no fiddling, no
adjustments, and best of all, unbelievable reliability.
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