What does "3 CCD" mean?
3 CCD refers to a feature that is rapidly becoming more and more common amongst digital imaging devices; it is the arrangement of three independant CCDs behind a prism which separates the light into its red, green, and blue components: each component strikes a separate CCD thus eliminating color pollution which is a common cause of image quality loss in signle CCD based devices.
Here is a little ASCII picture:
/\ ------ Red ---> *** (Red CCD)
--- Light from Image ---> / \ ------ Blue --> *** (Blue CCD)
/____\ ---- Green --> *** (Green CCD)
Prism
The prism is either mounted in the lens or in the body.
Cameras that Contain 3 CCD Imaging Systems: