I've seen this and never thought to ask . . . what are they an Inch fraction of? Is there a Global CCD that IS 1" square?

Grazie

[ Dear Ken - Please put where you think best .. . Thanks, Grazie ]

We were just discussing this over in the XL2 forum.

The Name designations refer back to vacuum tubes that were used in cameras before the CCD chip was introduced.

So, a 1/3 inch chip is not actually 1/3 of an inch in size, but gives you the same image area as a 1/3 inch tube would have (if there were such a thing as a 1/3 inch tube).

Check out this explanation on Edmund Optics site:


Section 4.3 CCD Sensor Size (http://www.edmundoptics.com/TechSupport/DisplayArticle.cfm?articleid=290#4.3)

Hope that helps.

Luis

Here's a list (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18972&highlight=chip+sizes) of various chip sizes I put together last year.

Luis, terrific graphical explanation .. . well understood. The valve thing is cute!

Jeff, very simple table to understand - great!

Grazie