#743 Basics: How Image Sensors Work

Episode 743
A description of the 3T pixel used in CMOS imagers
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[herbertsusmann]

The first digital "camera" I ever had was a 3rd party board for my Apple 2. It consisted of a dynamic RAM chip with a quartz window so light could get at the chip. The RAM chip was on the end of a 2 foot long ribbon cable and a standard camera lens was used to focus light onto the RAM chip. The Apple 2 would write all 1's to the RAM chip and then wait a few 10's of ms or so. It would then read out the entire RAM chip. The memory cells that had enough light striking them would read back 0's. The light bled off the charge on the RAM memory cells. The ones with not so much light would still read back 1's. Thus you got an image that consisted of each pixel either being white or black. Extremely bad resolution but it did work! I think I even still have that board around here somewhere.

[BigWolf]

Thanks for this video not alot of people talk about this part of how pixels sensors work. It's all about light filters, and not what happens to the light once it gets to the sensor. All people ever say is that it works. This is definitely the more interesting part of pixel sensors.

[BJcanal]

I was just looking for this info, That's why I stick your channel!! Thank you!!

[Kashif_Javaid]

What happened to the capacitor that was in parallel with photodiode in your second schematic?

[ec]

Thank you very much for going to the basics and explain the principle.

[hahasimpsons]

Loved it! Super simple and easy to finish your sentences, as you break it all down super simple, for those of us still using crayons. lol

[aduedc]

I would replace photo diode, with photo FET. Then you probably do not need reset or source follower, the photo FET itself could be used as source follower. So could have two transistor ( photo FET and the other select FET) and no diode, no reset, and no source follower. Check out photo FET, they use it for high frequency microwave amplifiers and oscillators, embedded with its own transmission line. Also, you are probably using direct band-gap semiconductors, the process engineer instead of grinding, could do filp-chip, or process both side of the die. one side photo element with color filter and the other side part of the signal processor chip.

[BilalHeuser]

This is very interesting and explained really well.
I'm not sure if a scanner works in the same camera does, because scanning a page or photo with a scanner takes longer than a camera.
Do the photo sensors in scanner work much in the same way?

[schwachmatxyz]

I appreciate this fundamental description.
The kind of image sensor you are describing is an APS (active pixel sensor), i assume.
In real I think the reset circuitry works inversly, but for your amazing presentation it would make no difference in understanding to not complicate it more as neccessary.
Reading photodiodes is highly linear if you convert the photocurrent in short circuit (10 or more decades, more than 32 bit). How linear can this APSs be?
And in some cataloges, especialy for spectrometers, there are CCD sensors mounted.
From datasheets of CCDs I know that their dynamic is only about 7 or 8-bits.
Why are CCDs nevertheless used?

[manueljenkin]

This was a very good presentation. Thank you very much.

One suggestion though, I wouldn’t call anything of biological systems (especially not the sense systems) to be junk. (4:20) All of them have a purpose, that constitutes a holistic system.

[MaxParadiz]

Thank you a lot for the detailed explanation!

One question.... Why is this a CMOS sensor and not an NMOS sensor? Where do the PMOS transistors come in? I see that M1, M2, and M3 are all NMOS.

[VandalIO]

Why can’t we use class AB amplifier instead of a single fet

[dukebozikowski]

Could you do a video on image capture after the sensor? How it does this for video?

[jacobliu]

Great! How do you think of the novel one-transistor active sensor? many technical papers introduce the 1t-APS, while is there any 1T-APS used in a real camera?

[jdmccorful]

Interesting, now I have some understandable knowledge of pixels' operation. Thankyou!

[videolabguy]

You wouldn't happen to have the datasheet for the RCA SID504 would you?

[aryaprincess]

Your hands are all over the images that we were supposed to see.

[riccardo]

Beautiful video, but I don't think that the story of the octopus is true. Actually they have eyes similar to the human eyes.
Thanks for sharing

[islamicworld]

Really bad explanation man, wasted my time on this.

[suhaimiseliman]

I 🤔 I SHOULD CHOOSE A MATERIAL THAT CAN CONVERT FREQUENCY TO VOLTAGE ON IT'S SURFACE.
REFERRING TO COLOR SPECTRUM ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE FREQUENCY RANGE.
HOPEFULLY THE SPECTRUM IS CORRECT & COMPLETE..🫣😎🥳😁