A charge-coupled device, or CCD, is by far the most common image capture mechanism used for industries that require high-quality image data. Since its invention at AT&T Bell Labs by George E. Smith and Willard Boyle in 1969, the CCD has become a vital piece of technology for digital imaging, particularly in professional, scientific, and medical applications where clarity is crucial.
One major rival to CCD image sensors, however, is complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor, or CMOS, image sensors. Patented by Fairchild Semiconductor employee Frank Wanlass in 1963, CMOS technology is perhaps best known for producing active-pixel sensors, or APSs, that are found in many commercial imaging applications, from cell phone cameras to web cameras to most digital pocket cameras made after 2010. For this reason, CMOS technology is typically less expensive than CCD technology, as CMOS cameras are cheaper to manufacture. On the other hand, CCD cameras tend to produce higher-quality images with less “rolling shutter” effect, or skewed imaging, than the CMOS alternative.