Imaging Sensor SNR Calculator

Calculate signal-to-noise ratio for CCD, CMOS, and EMCCD imaging sensors with binning support.

Scientific imaging sensors convert photons to electrons via the photoelectric effect, but the conversion is imperfect and noisy. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) quantifies how well signal stands above the noise floor. This tool computes SNR for CCD, CMOS, and EMCCD sensors from the four primary noise sources — shot noise (Poisson), read noise, dark current noise, and, for EMCCD, excess noise factor. Pixel binning combines adjacent pixels to trade spatial resolution for improved SNR at low light levels. Use this tool when selecting a sensor for a specific photon budget or when optimizing exposure settings and binning for a given SNR target.

Sensor Parameters
Signal
Detected signal (S)
90.00e⁻
Noise Breakdown
Shot noise (signal + dark)
9.49e⁻
Dark charge
0.010e⁻
Read noise contribution
3.00e⁻
Total noise
9.95e⁻
Signal-to-Noise Ratio
SNR (linear)
9.04
SNR (dB)
19.13dB
Dominant regime
Shot-noise limited
Abridged Optics — Imaging Sensor SNR Calculator v1.0SNR = S/√(S + I_d·t + σ_r²). EMCCD: F = √2 excess noise, σ_r,eff = σ_r/G.

All information, equations, and calculations have been compiled and verified to the best of our ability. For mission-critical applications, we recommend independent verification of all values. If you find an error, please let us know.