Derating CCD detectors

Derating against what? Poor illumination? Vibration? Temperature? Trying to image a guy in a striped purple suit?

I'm guessing radiation.

Of course radiation has to be considered during the design with additional margin. (Action for the manufacturer of the CCD to provide a radiation tolerant design)

But I mean derating of operational (electrical) parameters: For analog circuits you have to derate e.g. power consumption (mostly this is done by limiting bandwidth); for digital circuits e.g. the clock/data rates are derated.

What shall I do with CCDs?

Oh, you're trying to compensate for the "How much of a liar is the guy writing the data sheet" factor. Varies by manufacturer and your skill as an engineer.

"Ian, you ignorant slut." ;-)

Derate what? In general, various factors can be reduced, to mitigate the effects of external conditions, or to increase reliability. Run a power transistor at lower temperature than the absolute limit, and it'll last longer. Run a CPU at a lower clock rate, and voltage, and it'll produce less heat. .... There are various meanings of 'derate'.

I read in sci.electronics.design that Ian Stirling wrote (in ) about 'Derating CCD detectors', on Thu, 24 Mar 2005:

Technician 1 --> Technician 2. (8-O(