Hybrid CCD-CMOS Camera Adapted for Forming Images of Moving Scenes

A camera comprising:

• an imaging array comprising a plurality of CMOS pixel sensors organized as a plurality of columns and rows, said columns being characterized by a column direction, each pixel sensor generating a charge in response to an exposure to part of an image, said imaging array receiving an image that moves across said imaging array in said column direction;
• a plurality of CCD shift registers, one such CCD shift register corresponding to each of said columns, each CMOS pixel sensor comprising a first transfer gate that transfers charge accumulated in said pixel sensor to a corresponding cell in said CCD shift register;
• and
• a controller that controls said CCD shift registers such that charge stored in a first cell in a CCD shift register is moved to a second cell in said CCD shift register where said charge is combined with charge accumulated by said pixel sensor that is connected to said second cell, said combined charge being a measure of light leaving a common location in said moving image.