Ccd imagers with pixels at least thirty microns long in the direction of

Abstract

CCD imagers with pixels at least thirty microns long in the direction of charge transfer have their image registers forward clocked with at least five phases. The length of gate electrodes under which barrier are induced during image integration does not exceed the five to ten microns associated with acceptably low grain. Image integration takes place without applying voltages for inducing potential energy barrier to adjacent gate electrodes in the image register. These measures permit video signals with acceptably low grain to be obtained from these large-pixel images, solving a longstanding problem in the art.