The typical consumer digital camera offers 10 to 12 megapixels. Pro cameras tend to top out at about twice that – 24 megaixels or so, like this Nikon:
24 megapixels apparently isn’t enough however. Now there is an 80 megapixel camera from a company named Phase One:
According to this article…
Phase One pushes ahead with 80-megapixel sensor
All three use new CCD (charge-coupled device) sensors. They’re built by Dalsa, which has become a favored supplier in the medium-format realm
… and this article indicates it is a bit pricey at $44,000. But that perhaps means that in 5 years it will cost $440 and we will all need one.
The LCD in the previous video is also special, with more than a million pixels.
Is this the best there is? Maybe not. This video demonstrates a 120 megapixel sensor:
This press release covers the new sensor from Canon:
TOKYO, August 24, 2010—Canon Inc. announced today that it has successfully developed an APS-H-size*1 CMOS image sensor that delivers an image resolution of approximately 120 megapixels (13,280 x 9,184 pixels), the world’s highest level*2 of resolution for its size.
Compared with Canon’s highest-resolution commercial CMOS sensor of the same size, comprising approximately 16.1 million pixels, the newly developed sensor features a pixel count that, at approximately 120 million pixels, is nearly 7.5 times larger and offers a 2.4-fold improvement in resolution.*3
With CMOS sensors, while high-speed readout for high pixel counts is achieved through parallel processing, an increase in parallel-processing signal counts can result in such problems as signal delays and minor deviations in timing. By modifying the method employed to control the readout circuit timing, Canon successfully achieved the high-speed readout of sensor signals. As a result, the new CMOS sensor makes possible a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second, supporting the continuous shooting of ultra-high-resolution images.
Canon’s newly developed CMOS sensor also incorporates a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) video output capability. The sensor can output Full HD video from any approximately one-sixtieth-sized section of its total surface area.
Images captured with Canon’s newly developed approximately 120-megapixel CMOS image sensor, even when cropped or digitally magnified, maintain higher levels of definition and clarity than ever before. Additionally, the sensor enables image confirmation across a wide image area, with Full HD video viewing of a select portion of the overall frame.
See also: How the Casio EX-F1 works
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Filed under: BrainStuff Tagged: cameras, CCD, CMOS, digital cameras, film, image sensors
