[[File:Absorption-X3.svg|right|thumb|200px|Foveon's scheme of vertical filtering for color sensing]]
There are several main types of color image sensors, differing by the type of color-separation mechanism:
* '''Integral color sensors'''<ref>{{Cite bookconference <!-- Citation bot no -->|last=Dillon |first=Peter |title=1976 International Electron Devices Meeting |chapter=Integral color filter arrays for solid state imagers |date=Dec 1976 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1478779 |journalconference=Technical Digest International Electron Device Meeting (IEDM), Washington, DC, Dec 1976 |pages=400–403 |doi=10.1109/IEDM.1976.189067 |s2cid=35103154 |via=IEEE}}</ref> use a [[color filter array]] fabricated on top of a single monochrome CCD or CMOS image sensor. The most common color filter array pattern, the [[Bayer pattern]], uses a checkerboard arrangement of two green pixels for each red and blue pixel, although many other color filter patterns have been developed, including patterns using cyan, magenta, yellow, and white pixels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Parulski |first=Kenneth |date=August 1985 |title=Color Filters and Processing Alternatives for One-chip Cameras |journal=IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=32 |issue=8 |pages=1381–1389 |doi=10.1109/T-ED.1985.22133 |bibcode=1985ITED...32.1381P |s2cid=9008653 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1484879}}</ref> Integral color sensors were initially manufactured by transferring colored dyes through photoresist windows onto a polymer receiving layer coated on top of a monochrome CCD sensor.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dillon |first=Peter |date=February 1978 |title=Fabrication and performance of color filter arrays for solid-state imagers |journal=IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=97–101 |doi=10.1109/T-ED.1978.19045 |bibcode=1978ITED...25...97D |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1479439}}</ref> Since each pixel provides only a single color (such as green), the "missing" color values (such as red and blue) for the pixel are interpolated using neighboring pixels.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dillon |first=Peter |date=February 1978 |title=Color imaging system using a single CCD area array |journal=IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=102–107 |doi=10.1109/T-ED.1978.19046 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1479440}}</ref> This processing is also referred to as [[demosaicing]] or de-bayering.
* '''[[Foveon X3 sensor]]''', using an array of layered pixel sensors, separating light via the inherent wavelength-dependent absorption property of silicon, such that every ___location senses all three color channels. This method is similar to how color film for photography works.
* '''[[Three-CCD camera|3CCD]]''', using three discrete image sensors, with the color separation done by a [[dichroic prism]]. The dichroic elements provide a sharper color separation, thus improving color quality. Because each sensor is equally sensitive within its [[passband]], and at full resolution, 3-CCD sensors produce better color quality and better low light performance. 3-CCD sensors produce a full [[Chroma subsampling|4:4:4]] signal, which is preferred in [[television broadcasting]], [[video editing]] and [[chroma key]] visual effects.
