© 2016 Thorlabs Scientific Imaging
2 Camera Basics
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2.3 Sensor
Sensor sizes
Micro lenses
Color filter (Bayer filter)
Hot pixels
Shutter methods
Line scan mode
2.3.1 Sensor Sizes
The size of a digital camera sensor is usually specified in inches. However, the specified value
does not indicate the actual size of the active sensor area. The sensor size specifications date
back to the formerly used tube systems: The curvature of the imaging surface of the camera tube
caused distortions to the display, reducing the usable capture area of a 1” tube to a rectangle with
a diagonal of 16 mm.
With the introduction of the semiconductor sensor technology, the dimensional specifications were
taken over from tube systems. For this reason, a sensor whose active area diagonal measures
16 mm is specified as a 1-inch sensor. The following illustrations show the most common sensor
sizes. The diameter in inch multiplied with 2/3 equals approximately the actual sensitiv area in
millimeters.
Common sensor sizes (in inch)
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