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[[File:Ov6920-01.jpg|thumb|Different Sizes of [[Omnivision]] CMOS sensors An OV7910 (1/3") and three OV6920 (1/18") sensors, both types with [[composite video]] ([[NTSC]]) outputs.]]
Sensor sizes are expressed in inches notation because at the time of the popularization of digital image sensors they were used to replace [[video camera tube]]s. The common 1" outside diameter circular video camera tubes have a rectangular photo sensitive area about {{val|16|u=mm}} on the diagonal, so a digital sensor with a {{val|16|u=mm}} diagonal size is a 1" video tube equivalent. The name of a 1" digital sensor should more accurately be read as "one inch video camera tube equivalent" sensor. Current digital image sensor size descriptors are the video camera tube equivalency size, not the actual size of the sensor. For example, a 1" sensor has a diagonal measurement of {{val|16|u=mm}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Making (some) sense out of sensor sizes|url=http://www.dpreview.com/news/2002/10/7/sensorsizes|work=Digital Photography Review|access-date=29 June 2012|author=Staff|date=7 October 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Image Sensor Format |url=http://www.spotimaging.com/resources/glossary/image-sensor-format.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326051941/http://www.spotimaging.com/resources/glossary/image-sensor-format.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 March 2015 |work=Imaging Glossary Terms and Definitions |publisher=SPOT IMAGING SOLUTIONS |access-date=3 June 2015 |author=Staff }}</ref>
[[File:Apple and Samsung image sensor sizes.png|alt=The increasing image sensor sizes used in smartphones plotted|thumb|The development of different format image sensors in the main cameras of smartphones]]
Sizes are often expressed as a fraction of an inch, with a one in the numerator, and a decimal number in the denominator. For example, 1/2.5 converts to 2/5 as a [[Fraction (mathematics)#Simple fraction|simple fraction]], or 0.4 as a decimal number. This "inch" system gives a result approximately 1.5 times the length of the diagonal of the sensor. This "[[optical format]]" measure goes back to the way image sizes of video cameras used until the late 1980s were expressed, referring to the outside diameter of the glass envelope of the [[video camera tube]]. [[David Pogue]] of ''The New York Times'' states that "the actual sensor size is much smaller than what the camera companies publish – about one-third smaller." For example, a camera advertising a 1/2.7" sensor does not have a sensor with a diagonal of {{cvt|0.37|in|mm}}; instead, the diagonal is closer to {{cvt|0.26|in|mm}}.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/23/technology/personaltech/23pogue.html?ref=technology | work=The New York Times | first=David | last=Pogue | title=Small Cameras With Big Sensors, and How to Compare Them | date=2010-12-22}}</ref><ref name="dpreview-sensor-sizes" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dpreview.com/articles/8095816568/sensorsizes|title=Making (Some) sense out of sensor sizes}}</ref> Instead of "formats", these sensor sizes are often called ''types'', as in "1/2-inch-type CCD."
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