silicon is the very most common base material, but any material that can be 'grown' with very high purity and then 'doped/mixed' with another material which turns it FROM either a conductor (most usual) or insulator into a material that will 'release/generate' electrons when struck by energy known as 'photons' (light) can be used as a 'camera' sensor-a semiconductor-neither a normal conductor nor insulator-but can be made to conduct electrons in a controlled manner.
the efficiency of the electron release from photon bombardment is the Quantum Efficiency-QE-this can be changed/engineered but generally effects the spectrum of sensitivity to light - changes sensitivity to red,green,blue, so a specific QE is chosen for the specific purpose.
the QE is modified to get a 'workable' RGB sensitivity response similar to Human eyes-it could be very different if desired.
a pixel is a light sensitive receptor for photons.
lens and color filters guide and filter respectively the light hitting the pixel material.
CMOS - the most common sensor technology (but not only) is Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor.
the pc processor you are using is CMOS, as is nearly 100% of camera sensors and electronics within, and many other electronic things.
Answer: so NO there is no difference of a normal tv video sensor (although normally 1/3" or 2/3" size, some use 3 such sensors, 1 for each color for increased sensistivity) vs the camera sensors we use.
No the ONLY difference seems is the lens, many tv cams will have a 20-40x or even much greater zoom lens.
i recently noted a Canon tv cam used in Formula 1 race, it had a 20x zoom and was a 4kHD cam, on a tripod next to track and photographer was swinging it as cars past by @ 200mph, was ~2'x4' or so, likely 30lbs and cost $10,000+.
tv cams are a totally different breed from our small cams but same sensor tech.
why not email a few tv stations or even a network hq and ask if their on most of the time video cams suffer sensor failures ?
i would imagine that ooodles of videocams have had lots of long hours since the change to HD, but now some may be changing to 4k cams.
OR has there been a masters/phd thesis about or that includes this concept ?
me, i always worried more about shutter failure or dropping into water than sensor 'wear out' !
tom lowe (i think is name) wore out several 5d bodies doing a timelapse on the first ever 4kHD movie in 2012. he also used 4k camcorders for some work i believe.
TimeScapes-2012.
http://timescapes.org/4k/about_the_movie.aspx
I read somewhere, long ago, that video 'hurts' your sensor, as that it wears out faster.
is this true?
(There is a debate going on about Canon not having the video-options others brands offer. There must be some thought on Canon-side wether or not to imåplement this features. Maybe this is one of the reasons)
I don't know if videocamera-sensor are built using the same material and technology as photocamera-sensors are made.
My gut feeling says it doens;t, else everyone would start photograhping with a goPro Cam. but I can be wrong.
