Here's a simple question. On a 1/3" CCD, what is 1/3 of an inch?

Is it the width, the height or the diagonal?

Steve Siegel,
Miami

Actually it's none of the above. It's a nominal size (based on diagonal measurement) that really has little to do with 1/3".1/3" CCD's have a 6mm diagonal. See the following:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0210/02100402sensorsizes.asp
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32416

A straightforward and very helpful answer. I never would have found that. Thanks a lot.

Steve

Boyd, you 'da man!!!!! Thanks!! (Never knew what or why, just used it as a measurement standard; don't we all?????)

Glad I could help. This is a topic which always baffled me as well. The interesting thing which may or may not be clear from that article is that the vacuum tubes which are the basis of these sizes only went down to about 1/2". There never was a 1/3" or 1/4" vacuum tube. So as companies developed these smaller CCD's they could call them pretty much anything they wanted since there was no precedent. It's handy to be able to make up your own standards....