the CCD it the thing that converts the optical image into electrical signals which represent the information contained within each pixel. uaually bigger=better. If you have a Small CCD(like in the Minolta) you lose some of the picture quality, even if you have more MP. So MP is not the only thing you should be looking at. But if you want a compat camera, then that means that the CCd will be fairly smaller then a "non compact" camera.