Data acquisition by imaging detectors

Imaging sensors convert radiative energy into an electrical signal and such sensors are available that cover the wide spectrum from gamma rays to the infrared. They accumulate an electrical signal during the exposure time and convert all the signals of an array of detectors into a time-serial analog or digital data stream. The dominate and most successful devices to perform this task are charge coupled devices (CCD). However directly addressable imaging sensors on the basis of CMOS fabrication technology are becoming more and more promising because the image acquisition, digitalization and preprocessing can be integrated on a single chip; hence yielding very fast frame rates. This chapter provides a comprehensive survey of the available imaging sensors, details the parameters that control their performance and gives practical tips to select the best camera for different imaging tasks.