9. Assessment and expectations

Three types of photosensor are used to achieve high frame rates in digital imaging: CCD, CMOS and hybrid sensors (CCD with in-situ storage and uCMOS). While CCD sensors are limited to a few hundred images per second (fps) at full resolution, CMOS sensors can reach 25,000 fps at the megapixel level, and border on the million fps mark at decimated resolution. These sensors are generally equipped with a large on-board memory (tens to hundreds of gigabytes). To achieve several million images per second at full resolution, hybrid sensors have been developed, but the available storage memory is limited to a few hundred images, physically close to the sensitive area where the image is formed.

Spectrally, rapid color image acquisition is mainly achieved by placing a matrix of colored filters (red, green, blue) on conventional structures. Three "black and white" pixels are...