[JBrunner]

Found this;

Quote:
The Hubble Space Telescope has two kinds of instruments: (1) imagers, which take pictures; and (2) spectrographs, which analyze light. Imagers are electronic detectors called charge -- coupled devices (CCD's). The CCD's convert light into electronic signals, which an on -- board computer records and sends to the ground.

CCD's are analog devices, as are the chips in D cameras. The D part happens in a converter. Un-digitized output contains the most information, but it has to be managed, and that usually involves a computer.

I have a very expensive video camera that makes very good looking pictures that uses CCD's but is fully analog. It is completely possible for an imaging device to be fully electronic, but not be digital. Many people don't realize this. Hubble may be an example of that- the digitizing may take place on the ground. IDK for sure, but it would make sense to have the most unaltered information available, and the highest resolution of anything is always analog.