CCD - Charge-Coupled Device sensors are very flexible and allow you to adjust the signal reading process. In general, the smaller the pixels, the higher the resolution, but also the smaller the dynamic range. The basic modification is Binning, or joining adjacent pixels on the sensor so that they behave as a single pixel. Binning is a feature that allows a virtual increase in pixel size, which can be used in CCD sensors for several reasons - it reduces the number of imaging elements, hence the resolution, but increases the dynamic range of the associated pixels, speeds up the information readout (higher frame rate) and improves the SNR due to reduction of read noise. Pixels can be binned in multiples of 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 8x8 and in the horizontal direction, as well as in the vertical direction, and in more modern camera types there is the possibility of asymmetric binning, where the user can choose any combination of vertical and horizontal binning for a selected area of the chip.
