Rolling Shutter vs. Global Shutter: CCD and CMOS Sensor Architecture and Readout Modes

Two image sensor types widely used in cameras for microscopy are scientific grade Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) and scientific Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductors (CMOS or sCMOS). There are a number of similarities between the two technologies, but one major distinction is the way each sensor reads the signal accumulated at a given pixel. This technical note explains how the differences in readout modes impact the exposure timing, illumination, and triggering of cameras and light sources in microscopy experiments.