Which device converts reflected light into a digital file in a 2D scanner?

A Charge Coupled Device (CCD) is a type of image sensor that is commonly found in 2D scanners. It functions by converting the reflected light from the scanned document into electrical signals, which are then processed to create a digital representation of the image. The CCD technology is crucial for capturing high-quality images, as it translates the intensity of light that hits each pixel into a corresponding digital value, effectively creating a digital file of the scanned document.

This ability to transform light into digital data is what makes the CCD central to the operation of most flatbed scanners and other imaging devices. Other components, such as those found in laser scanners or OCR devices, serve different purposes altogether. A flatbed scanner, while reliant on a CCD, is a complete device that includes the scanner mechanism and is not a separate component like a CCD. An optical character recognition device focuses on interpreting text from images rather than converting light directly into a digital format. Therefore, the role of converting reflected light into a digital file is specifically associated with the CCD in this context.