IMAGE SENSORS are the most fundamental components of Digital Imaging. CCD and CMOS Image Sensors are available in AREA and LINE scan. Sensors are available as off the shelf Standard products and also as custom made for specific application need including machine vision applications. The soul of a digital camera is its sensor—to determine image size, resolution, low-light performance, depth of field, dynamic range, lenses, and even the camera’s physical size, the sensor is key. An image sensor is a solid-state device, the part of the camera’s hardware that captures light and converts what we see as an image. Camera’s sensor determines how good your images look and how large you can scale them or print them. Image quality depends not only on the size of the sensor, but also on how many millions of pixels (light-sensitive photons) fit on it, and the size of those pixels. Sensor types The most common types of sensors are CCD (charged coupled device) and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semicond uctor). CCD is one of the oldest image-capture technologies for digital cameras and has long offered superior image quality compared with CMOS sensors, with better dynamic range and noise control. Although CCD is still prevalent in budget compact models, its basic construction and greater power consumption have for the large part prompted camera manufacturers to replace it with CMOS alternatives. CMOS has been considered an inferior competitor to CCD, but today’s CMOS sensors have been upgraded to match and even transcend the CCD standard. With more built-in functionality than CCDs, CMOS sensors work more efficiently, require less power, and perform better for high-speed burst modes. CMOS sensors are available as AREA sensors and Line Sensors. Area sensors have a square or a rectangular array to capture a full frame. Line Sensors are available as single line, dual line, trilinear, Quad linear and TDI. Sensors manufacturers determine the cameras to be produced in the world for any type of applications from commercial mobile to high end security to Machine Vision to Scientific to space/defence/astron omy applications. Sensors are made by manufacturers in different grades as commercial, Security and Surveillance, Machine Vision, Scientific and space grade etc. Sensors are available as Monochrome or with filters for color or line scan with specific bands and more bands as hyperspectral etc. Teledyne Imaging - is a notable sensor manufacturing company with DALSA and e2v under their belt who can make Low cost Sensors for barcode kind of applications Machine Vision applications to space grade and earth observatory applications. CCD and CMOS Area scan sensors, CMOS Line sensors, EMCCD sensors are available to develop application specific cameras and embedded systems.