Does a CCD get hot or use lots of power?
CCDs do not get hot. People constantly talk about how hot CCDs get, or how much power they use, citing those as major advantages of CMOS. This is a misconception. The CCD uses the least power of any major component of the camera. The display lighting, CPU, shutter mechanism, auto focus mechanism, and memory all use much more power. Look at the Sony ICX413AQ CCD used in the Nikon D100. It operates on 15V, and draws 7mA at 15V. That’s 105mW, 1/10 watt. For a device that size, you cannot feel 1/10 watt of heat. I you touched the CCD, you wouldn’t be able to tell if it were on or off.
