The production of simple and rugged photon‐counting detector arrays has been made possible by recent improvements in the performance of the microchannel array plate (MCP) and by the parallel development of compatible electronic readout systems. The construction of proximity‐focused MCP arrays of novel design in which photometric information from (n×m) picture elements is read out with a total of (n+m) amplifier and discriminator circuits is described. Results obtained with a breadboard (32×32) ‐element array employing 64 charge‐sensitive amplifiers are presented, and the application of systems of this type in spectrometers and cameras for use with ground‐based telescopes and on orbiting spacecraft discussed.