3CMOS

3CMOS is a camera sensor architecture that uses three separate CMOS image sensors to capture the red, green, and blue color channels of a scene. Light is divided optically, typically with a dichroic prism or beam-splitter, so that each sensor records its own grayscale image corresponding to one color. This approach serves as a multi-sensor alternative to single-sensor CMOS cameras that rely on a color filter array.

In operation, the outputs from the three sensors are synchronized and combined by the camera’s processing pipeline to form a full-color image. Because color information is captured by dedicated sensors, 3CMOS can reduce color interpolation artifacts associated with demosaicing and may offer improved color fidelity and saturation compared with single-sensor Bayer-based designs. However, these potential benefits come with trade-offs: increased optical complexity, light loss per optical path, stricter sensor alignment requirements, and higher cost and power consumption.

Typical applications include broadcast and professional video cameras, as well as some consumer camcorders marketed as 3CMOS or three-chip CMOS systems. The approach parallels older three-CCD systems but uses CMOS sensors instead of charge-coupled devices. In recent years, advances in single-sensor CMOS technology, color science, and computational imaging have diminished the prevalence of 3CMOS in consumer products, though the architecture remains relevant in certain professional contexts where precise color separation and component-level calibration are valued.