The CCD Array
5.1 The CCD Array
The TC215 is a full-frame charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor that provides very-high-resolution image acquisition for image processing applications such as robotics vision, medical x-ray analysis, and metrology.
The image format of the sensor measures 12.0 mm horizontally by 12.2 mm vertically; the image area diagonal is 17.2 mm. The image area contains 1017 active lines with 1000 active pixels per line. Six additional dark reference lines give a total of 1024 lines in the image area, and twenty-four additional dark reference pixels per line give a total of 1024 pixels per horizontal line. The pixels are 12 mm square and form precise rows and columns, horizontally and vertically, allowing precise image geometry measurements.
The CCD is a solid-state device, which requires no external adjustment or regular maintenance. Unlike a conventional pickup tube, there are no electromagnetic alignment routines to be observed because there is no electron beam involved.
The full-frame image sensor should be used with a shutter or with strobed illumination to prevent smearing of the image during readout. After image capture (integration time), the readout is accomplished by transferring the charge one line at a time into two serial registers, each of which contains 512 data elements and 12 dummy elements. The typical pixel rate is 20 mega-pixels per second using both serial registers. Operating the TC215 at the typical data rate of one field per frame generates video at a continuous 15 frames per second in the TV mode of operation.
5-2 | CCD Circuit Description |