The Science Behind Camera Sensors

This interesting (yet highly technical) video by John P. Hess from Filmmaker IQ looks at the way camera sensors work and the science behind the and image capture in general.

If you always wanted to know how an image is created and you are not afraid to get technical this video is for you. Hess start with a bit of history, talking about the way image on a piece of film was created and than goes on to describe the move to digital starting from the basic principals and moving on to CCD’s and later on to modern day CMOS sensors (each with their respective advantages and disadvantages).

Now, you can trust us that the actual details are even more complex than those that Hess explains in this video (especially for modern day sensors which in some cases include technologies such as back-light illumination, bayer filter and others), but understanding these relatively basic concepts will give you a rough idea of the inner workings of modern sensor technology.

If you are looking for a (much) more basic explanation – we have a number of other videos here on LensVid that can help you including “Image Sensors Explained in 6 Min” by Linus Sebastian as well as other aspect of sensor technology such as “The Basics of Sensor Size” and “How a Pixel Gets its Color“.

You can find more photography related technology videos on our photo-tech section here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

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