A semiconductor image-sensing device that (a) is usually in the form of a plane rectangular matrix of microscopic, individual sensing elements, each of which corresponds to an image pixel, (b) is placed at the focal plane of an optical imaging system, and (c) converts the optical image into electrical signals which represent the information contained within each pixel, and which may be extracted sequentially and stored or otherwise processed in digital form for the purpose of transmitting or storing a digital representation of the optical image. Note: CCDs are commonly used as image sensors in professional and consumer television cameras and camcorders, and as image sensors in digital still cameras.