> more area = more photons. It is law of phisics

This is true. It's the reason why the cameras usually used for broadcast video will usually have larger sensor than the ones we can buy for home or prosumer use.

It is true that advances in electronics, specifically in the low noise signal amplifiers and analog to digital converters have allowed more usable gain, thus smaller sensors appear to be more sensitive. But there is a limit to that, which is being approached noways with CCDs. The limit is noise. Even though your average Handycam can capture video at 7 lux, the quality of a broadcast camera at 7 lux will be like the quality of the Handycam in full daylight. At 7 lux most small single sensor cameras will exhibit high levels of noise, cameras with multiple sensors will show less noise and the cameras with multiple large sensor (i.e. 2/3") will show almost no noise at all.

Didnt really think of that...
 

Yeah didnt ever think that but your right,

makes a lot of cents

ccd's harder to produce than silicon chips

smaller ccd's+cpu for gain correction cheaper then big cdd's

and offcourse big ccd's+cpu gain correction=$10,000+ equip

Re: Didnt really think of that...
 

it is hard to integrate individual amplifiers in CCDs. It is done in CMOS and one of the uses is to increase a better dinamic range. Other use to reduce noise.

Everything is relative but I predict that prosumer cameras with 3CCD will go away and if they stay it's only for marketing reasons. All the pro photocamera don't have 3 CCD, results are asthonishing.

The Panavision movie camera uses only 1 CCD:

http://tinyurl.com/5glds

All this advantage of 3 CCD is really a bit funny.

Gabriele

add on... 1ccd NAB 2005
 

CAN SOMEONE MAKE IT???

a prosumer 1ccd monster with xlr and a high quality color prism

3ccd might be a marketing thing... but how do so many people get duped?

why can't a pana or sony or canon come with a 1ccd big bad cam

***NAB 2005 PRIDE AND JOY***

*THE CANON PANASONIC SONY HYBRID*

2.3" SONY cmos chip with
a high quality CANON glass prism for color

CANON 24x optical zoom + canon wide + tele adaptors

MATSUSHITA(HITACHI) 80gig 2.5" harddrive
+ wifi wireless G built in

SONY 5" lcd and lithium battery system for power

packed into a PANASONIC DVX type body with XLR inputs

with an isreali vegitarian leather KATA bag

$6999 M.S.R.P.

"why can't a pana or sony or canon come with a 1ccd big bad cam"

No one at this point in time will attempt to market from this angle. The masses are far to focused on three chip hype for the last 6 years. Marketing suicide. Thank god for JVC for showing that one chip is possible. It will take the perfect, and I mean PERFECT cam to ever make 1ccd a market dominating product. Even then it will be a massive up-hill battle.

Actually JVC demonstrated that --at least at a small size and price-- the single-sensor concept for video is not there yet. Sensitivity and noise were really bad with their first HDV-type camera.

The only way single-sensor will work well is with LARGE sensors, and those are still expensive, for similar reasons that large LCD panels are expensive. The larger area makes for a higher chance of dead pixels, so to get a good 35mm CCD or CMOS the manufacturer needs to make and discard a large number of units, hence the exponentially higher cost related to size.

Yes, many digicams have large sensors, but they are SLOW, most digicams cannot go past 10 fps. And even slow sensors are expensive at large sizes. The Canon digicam with the 35mm-sized chip is a good example. They are slow because the photo market needs much higher resolution than the video market, and it takes time to process a frame with all those pixels.

The sensors required for good, fast 1920x1080 video do exist, but are not yet made in quantities that bring their price down to prosumer levels. Pretty soon the offerings will probably exist but be expensive. Actually they already do but are far from the prosumer pricing we would all want. Time will fix that. But by the time it is fixed, we will all want something else, like chaotic optics or 120p or 4k or who knows what. It is just human nature, to want more and more.

So what does a professional do? Learns how to work with the available technology, pushes it to the limit and saves money for the upgrade, or rents on a project by project basis.

Things that make you go hmmm
 

I definately agree that 3CCD's aren't needed anymore. Most of my experience is with the Jyhd10, however recently I've been shooting with my XL2. I did a controlled shoot the other day, and I was blown away with the results from the JVC. I actually had to do color correction on the Canon in post. Granted I'm way more familiar with the JVC, the XL2 is a way better camera to use, but I wish (at times) that it shot as nice as the JVC. I'm sure as I get more and more familiar with XL2 my opinions might change. For a camera (JYHD10) that has taken alot of abuse, it never stops amazing me. I scrinch when I say this, but if you know how to use it and can put up with it's many inperfections it actually holds it's own with the DVX100a and Xl2. Once I get some hosting space I will post samples.

3 CCDs cameras are not needed right now or in the future. In the world of high-end High Definition, the Arriflex D-20 hybrid camera is a reality. It can record film or video. It only uses a single 6 megapixel CMOS sensor. It can shoot in 35mm, super 35 or High Definition.

So the fact that high end cameras are already using only ONE CHIP is a reality right now.

Not only this, but this advanced camera is also made future proof. Arriflex designed this camera to never get obsolete so fast. When a more advanced CMOS chip is available, let's say a 25 MP, with more resolution, better chrominance, more latitude, etc., you do not need to upgrade the camera. Just remove the old chip and insert the new one. Fantastico !!!

Read more here:

http://www.arri.com/prod/cam/d_20/d_20.htm