# Charge-Coupled Device An electronic device for converting light into electrical signals, invented by Willard Boyle and George Smith at [[wiki/Bell Labs|Bell Labs]] in 1969, earning them the 2009 [[wiki/Nobel Prize|Nobel Prize]] in Physics. CCDs became the foundation of digital photography and imaging technology. Referenced in [[articles/Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power|Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power]].