A technique for producing electronic video signals representative of color images of a scene includes use of a regular CCD for the color channel and a back-thinned CCD for a luminance channel; a technique for deriving blue and reconstructing full resolution R, G, B from full resolution white and a red and green checkerboard pattern; and a technique for deriving an automatic gain control signal using an unshielded white area on the CCD to obtain a white reference.