What is an EX-View CCD camera, What's good or bad about it?
"EX-View" is a sensitivity-enhancement technology developed by SONY to improve light sensitivity of its CCD by a factor of two for visible light and a factor of four for near-infrared wavelengths.
Rugged CCTV has Ex-View capable cameras - ask an Engineer!
EX-View is a proprietary SONY technology in which the P/N junction of each photodiode in the CCD matrix is specially fabricated to have much better photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. In addition, each photodiode (representing one pixel in an image) has a microscopic lens fabricated over it to better capture and focus light onto the active semiconductor junction. This results in an improvement in light sensitivity of 2 times for visible light and 4 times for near-infrared (800 ~ 900 nm) compared to the conventional CCD versions offered by SONY. The lux rating of the EX-View CCD is two times better than the premium SONY “Super HAD” CCD for both visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
What is Super HAD CCD camera?
Super HAD CCD is a trademark of Sony Corporation. The Super HAD CCD is a version of Sony's high performance CCD HAD (Hole-Accumulation Diode) sensor with sharply improved sensitivity by the incorporation of a new semiconductor technology developed by Sony Corporation.
Most Rugged CCTV cameras come with SONY SUPER HAD CCD's!!!

Efforts for more pixels and smaller size for CCD have resulted in a smaller aperture area of sensor, presenting the problem of lower sensitivity. To improve this, a lens has been provided on the top of the sensor for focusing, which increases the virtual aperture area of the sensor for higher sensitivity. That is what is called the on-chip micro-lens. Sony, the first to adopt it for the CCD image sensor, has thus successfully achieved higher sensitivity.
This "Super HAD CCD" optimizes the shape of on-chip micro-lenses in order to minimize the invalid area between micro-lenses on each pixel, which thereby minimizes the lost incident light. By doing so our product has been improved the sensitivity per unit of area, despite reducing the unit pixels.
Why is an IR Cut Filter in Color Cameras necessary?
An IR filter, or IR cut filter - is a color filter blocking the infrared light. There are several good reasons for using an IR-cut filter. Using a color camera to achieve realistic colors in white light requires an IR-cut filter. The color spectrum seen by the human eye is quite limited compared to the spectrum seen by a CCD camera. Especially, in the near infrared region of the spectrum the difference in sensitivity is significant. This is important to know since many light sources, including the sun, emit infrared light. A CCD color camera in daylight without an IR-cut filter will therefore see a significant amount of infrared light resulting in strange colors. Another reason for using an IR-cut filter is the limited color correction for many lenses. It is difficult to design imaging optics covering both the visible spectrum and the near infrared spectrum at the same time. Therefore, many lenses have different depth of focus for the visible and the infrared spectrum. Anyway, the IR-cut filter cuts away a significant amount of the overall collected light and thereby affects the sensitivity in a negative way. In general, color cameras are one factor less sensitive compared to monochrome (depending on the CCD chip). This is primarily due to the IR-cut filter.
What is a CMOS camera. What is it different from a CCD camera?
CMOS sensor is a kind of sensor that is normally 10 times less sensitive than a CCD sensor.
As human eye can see an object under 1 lux illumination (full moon night ). CCD sensors normally will see better or as good as the human eye in the range of 0.1 ~3 lux and are 3 to 10 times more sensitive then a CMOS sensor.
What is an Infrared (IR)LED ?
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits visible light when an electric current passes through it. The light is not particularly bright, but in most LEDs it is monochromatic, occurring at a single wavelength. The output from an LED can range from red (at a wavelength of approximately 700 nanometers) to blue-violet (about 400 nanometers). Some LEDs emit infrared (IR) energy (830 nanometers or longer); such a device is known as an infrared-emitting diode (IRED).

An LED or IRED consists of two elements of processed material called P-type semiconductors and N-type semiconductors. These two elements are placed in direct contact, forming a region called the P-N junction. In this respect, the LED or IRED resembles most other diode types, but there are important differences. The LED or IRED has a transparent package, allowing visible or IR energy to pass through. Also, the LED or IRED has a large PN-junction area whose shape is tailored to the application.

Benefits of LEDs and IREDs, compared with incandescent and fluorescent illuminating devices, include:
- Low power requirement: Most types can be operated with battery power supplies.
- High efficiency: Most of the power supplied to an LED or IRED is
- converted into radiation in the desired form, with minimal heat production.
- Long life: When properly installed, an LED or IRED can function for decades.
How do mechanical day and night cameras work?
These cameras incorporate IR cut filters which automatically move over the CCD sensor for daytime(color) usuage, to prevent IR light to the CCD. At night time, the filter will be removed automatically to bring in IR right to the CCD, and maximize the low light sensitivity with black and white image.
What are Wide Dynamic Range (WDR) Cameras?
Wide Dynamic Range(WDR) Technology uses two shutter speeds in alternative video fields, high and normal, and combines these two fields into one frame. It allows every detail to be captured accurately even if one portion is bright while other portions are dark. As a result, combined fields yield a frame of high quality images. Below is a comparison of camera technologies with its video images of Regular, Backlight Compensation (BLC), and Wide Dynamic Range.