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Do video cameras have the image sensors cameras have?

I really don't know what I'm talking about, so if the answer was explained, I would really appreciate it.

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    \$\begingroup\$ While some questions about video cameras are on topic here, we try to have them answer this question "Can I use this information in still photography?", if they do not answer that, then they are probably off topic here. See the FAQ for more info photo.stackexchange.com/faq \$\endgroup\$
    – dpollitt
    Dec 23, 2011 at 19:40
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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 to what dpollit says. Arguably, this question has a the between-the-lines aspect of "so, if they are the same, can I use them in still photography?" \$\endgroup\$
    – mattdm
    Dec 23, 2011 at 19:46

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Yes. Digital video cameras use these sensors, usually CCDs but CMOS too. These are the same designs use for still cameras but with less pixels, since even HD footage only needs 2 MP. For HD cameras, the shape of the sensor is often different to match the 16:9 aspect of widescreen footage.

The major difference you will encounter are cameras labelled as 3 CCD. Again this is the same type of sensor but there are 3 of them, one for each of red, green and blue. Special prisms are used to divide incoming light and reflect it towards each sensor. On a conventional digital camera, colors are almost always divided between adjacent pixels using a Bayer filter. There are some Sigma cameras which use special Foveon sensors which capture different colors in layers instead.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ +1 great answer. I don't have edit privileges, so please change "One a conventional digital camera..." to "On a conventional... \$\endgroup\$
    – wizlog
    Dec 23, 2011 at 20:19

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