where a and
are constants and
is the (radial) frequency at which the signal is transferred from the CCD chip
to the "outside world." At very low readout rates (
<
min)
the noise has a 1/
character. Readout noise can be reduced to manageable levels by appropriate
readout rates and proper electronics. At very low signal levels (see eq. ),
however, readout noise can still become a significant component in the overall
SNR .