Although the Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) imaging chip is the standard in today's video and digital cameras, things may change during the coming year. The CCD chip is being challenged by a competing device, the CMOS ("C-moss") chip.

CMOS is the most widely used type of integrated circuit for memory and digital processing, virtually everything in computers is CMOS based. The economies of scale and production of CMOS devices are the main reasons why computer prices have continued to drop during the past few years. If a device or an instrument has a microprocessor in it, chances are it includes CMOS technology..