Q+A CENTER

Customers trying to decide between CMOS and CCD need to consider a number of questions.

"We have those conversations all the time as customers come to us with different needs," says Antonio Ciccarelli, Worldwide Marketing Manager CCD Image Sensor Business, Image Sensor Solutions at Kodak. "One way it's different: resolutions, frame rate, specs? What about packaging? How is it set in the housing? What kind of glass is used to cover the sensor? Do they want coatings to cut reflection? Do they want bare silicon because they're working with fiber optics? We really work to understand those needs."

What's coming up down the road? Perhaps, Benamati says, you may see CMOS and CCD cohabitate. On the CCD side, the capabilities are more on sensitivity and dynamic range. They could meet in the same home security system, some sensors on the inside, others on the outside.

"From the camera designer's perspective, they're different technologies," he adds. "Consumers, they don't care. Other than people who are techies, consumers are looking for images, high quality and high dynamic range. You can equate it to wireless. The technical [aspects] might be different, but they're doing the same things."