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Posts Tagged ‘sensor’

Sensor Without Blown Highlights May Be the Future of Photography

17 Oct

The post Sensor Without Blown Highlights May Be the Future of Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

 

Sensor Without Blown Highlights May Be the Future of PhotographyHow would you like to never blow a highlight again?

Most photographers would jump at the chance, which is why a recent paper published by German researchers has generated such excitement.

The paper discusses a new image sensor that researchers successfully built, one that offers the potential for avoiding all blown highlights.

Currently, CMOS sensors work by way of pixel cell photodiodes. You hit the shutter button, exposing the sensor to light. Each pixel cell has a photodiode, which receives light waves and converts them into a current. This current is then measured by the camera and ultimately turned into an image file.

But here’s the thing:

The pixels in our cameras can reach a point of saturation. Once a certain amount of light hits a photodiode, that individual pixel cell stops processing light waves. And it creates a blown-out, completely white spot. When this happens many times during the same exposure, you end up with blown highlights.

Yet the researchers on this new project have found a way to get around this.

Imagine a pixel. Once it’s fully saturated, it can’t measure any more light.

Unless it can reset itself, going back to zero, so it’s ready to process light once more.

That’s what these researchers developed. They created “self-reset” pixels, which go back to zero upon becoming saturated. But the initial data isn’t lost; instead, it’s recorded by the pixel, so that the camera gets an accurate reading of the amount of light in the scene.

The final image, theoretically, would retain detail in every highlight, even when light levels are extremely high.

Now, while researchers have already created an experimental sensor with self-reset pixels, it will be some time before this invention is incorporated into electronics (if it’s incorporated at all). However, if this line of research does pan out, photography will be utterly transformed. It will suddenly be possible to stop thinking about exposure when shooting in good light. All you have to do is overexpose, and your images will turn out just fine. You’ll instead be able to focus entirely on other aspects of photography: color, composition, lighting, and more.

What do you think about this new invention? Would you like to see cameras that don’t blow out highlights? Or do you think it would make photography too easy? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Sensor Without Blown Highlights May Be the Future of Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.


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Sony has announced it’s reorganizing and renaming its image sensor business

30 Sep

Sony has announced it’s reorganizing its image sensor business and giving new titles to various management positions tomorrow, October 1, 2019.

In a press release, Sony notes its ‘Imaging & Sensing Solutions’ is being reorganized to ‘Corporate IS Department.’ Sony has also streamlined its research and development (R&D) organizations by combining the divisions within each of the three R&D organizations: Application Technology Development, System and Platform Technology Development, and Fundamental Technology Research and development.

The section of the press release detailing the ‘Organizational Reforms’ within Sony’s image sensor business.

With the reorganized structure comes new titles for multiple division heads and Senior Vice President Makoto Toyoda.

The section of the press release detailing the ‘Personnel Appointments’ within Sony’s image sensor business.

No answer is given as to why the changes are being made and what they could mean for consumers, but it’s something we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Compare leading 1″ sensor compacts with our studio scene comparison tool

27 Sep

The current crop of 1″ sensor compacts offer varied lens ranges and a suite of attractive features fit for an unobtrusive, carry-everywhere camera. We’ve just added the Canon G7 X Mark III to our studio test scene comparison, making possible to compare the likes of Sony’s latest RX100-series cameras against Canon’s latest entries in the advanced compact market. See for yourself how they stack up against each other.

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Note: As of September 26th 2019 the skintone targets in our test scene have been removed and replaced temporarily by fresh prints drawn from our archive. Of the four cameras in this widget, only the Canon G7 X Mark III was shot after this change. As such, these targets should provide an accurate way of assessing the G7 X III’s color response, but should not be used to compare it against previously-tested cameras. This is an interim measure, and we’re working on a permanent solution.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Sony details specs for a 47MP MFT sensor capable of recording 8K30p video

27 Sep

Sony has released a document detailing the specifications for a 47-megapixel Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor capable of shooting up to 8K video up to 30 frames per second (fps).

The sensor, known as IMX492LQJ (there’s also a monochrome IMX492LLJ version), is listed as ‘a diagonal 23.1 mm (Type 1.4) CMOS image sensor with a color square pixel array and approximately 47.08 M effective pixels.’ According to the features list, the sensor features 12-bit A/D conversion, has a 2.315 micrometer (?m) pixel size and offers a variable-speed electronic shutter function.

As the above specifications note, the sensor can capture, in 10-bit mode with a 17:9 crop, 8K video (8192 × 4320 pixels) at up to 30 fps when paired with an SLVS-EC output interface. This resolution is exactly double the 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) resolution of the 17:9 crop mode on the Panasonic GH5S.

Decreased power consumption is also noted, which should help extend the battery life of any camera it’s used in (or at least make up for a fragment of the increased processing power that will be required to handle all of the data).

It’s worth noting that although Sony lists the applications for this sensor as ‘Surveillance, FA cameras and Industrial cameras,’ the IMX299 inside Panasonic’s GH5S was labeled as such as well.

We could speculate whether or not this will be available on the next-generation MFT camera from Panasonic or Olympus, but the reality of it is we have no idea and won’t until any such camera is released—and maybe not even then.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung announces 43.7MP ISOCELL Slim GH1 mobile sensor with 0.7?m pixels

24 Sep

Samsung has announced its tiniest camera sensor to date, the ISOCELL Slim GH1.

Designed specifically for ‘slim full-display devices,’ the pixels measure just 0.7 micrometers (?m) each for a total 43.7-megapixels (7,968 x 5,480 pixels) of resolution. As its name suggests, the ISOCELL Slim GH1 uses Samsung’s ISOCELL Plus technology, which uses pixel isolation to minimize color cross-talk, an issue that becomes more problematic the smaller pixels get.

Samsung also notes the ISOCELL Slim GH1 offers its Tetracell technology, which uses pixel-merging methods to give the sensor ‘light sensitivity equivalent to that of a 1.4?m-pixel image sensor.’

The ISOCELL Slim GH1 is capable of recording 4K video at up to 60 frames per second by using Samsung’s Tetracell technology to downsample the footage down to 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, a resolution that covers the standard resolution of 4K video (3,840 x 2,160 pixels). It also features phase detection autofocus, real-time HDR capabilities and gyro-based electronic image stabilization (EIS).

Samsung says it will start production of the ISOCELL Slim GH1 by the end of the year, meaning we probably won’t see it inside any devices until 2020. Based on the ‘Slim’ nomanclature and the mention of ‘selfie’ in the press release, it’s likely this particular sensor will be used as a front-facing camera, although it’s certainly not limited to such implementations.

Press release:

Samsung Introduces Industry’s First 0.7?m-pixel Mobile Image Sensor

Samsung ISOCELL Slim GH1 offers 43.7 megapixels in an extremely compact package, ideal for slim full-display smartphones

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced the industry’s first 0.7-micrometer (?m)-pixel image sensor, the 43.7-megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Slim GH1. Thanks to advanced ISOELL Plus technology, the new ultra-high-resolution GH1 image sensor embraces 43.7-million 0.7?m-sized pixels in a super-small package, providing the optimum solution for slim full-display devices.

“Samsung has been stepping up in pixel technology innovation from the industry’s first 1.0?m-pixel image sensor, to most recently, 0.8?m ultra-high-resolution sensors at 64Mp and 108Mp,” said Yongin Park, executive vice president of the sensor business at Samsung Electronics. “We are pleased to deliver yet another breakthrough with the industry’s first 0.7?m pixel image sensor, the ISOCELL Slim GH1 that will enable sleeker and more streamlined designs as well as excellent imaging experiences in tomorrow’s smartphones.”

The ISOCELL Slim GH1 is the industry’s first mobile image sensor to adopt the smallest pixel size in the industry at 0.7?m. By utilizing ISOCELL Plus, Samsung’s latest pixel isolation technology that minimizes color cross-talk and optical loss, the tiny 0.7?m pixels are able to absorb sufficient light information to produce bright and vivid photographs. In low-light environments, the GH1 makes use of pixel-merging Tetracell technology that enables higher light sensitivity equivalent to that of a 1.4?m-pixel image sensor.

For video recording at 4K (3,840×2,160) resolutions, the ISOCELL Slim GH1, with a high resolution of 7,968×5,480, is able to take 4K videos with minimum loss in field of view (FoV), while most high-resolution image sensors crop or scale down full image resolutions that result in a reduced FoV. Using Tetracell technology, the GH1 is converted down to 3,984×2,740, a resolution that snugly covers the 4K (3,840×2,160) resolution, allowing users to capture more detailed backgrounds when recording high-resolution videos or selfies at 60T frames per second (fps).

For sharper photographs and video, the GH1 supports a gyro-based electronic image stabilization (EIS) and a high-performing phase detection auto-focus technology, Super PD, allowing fast and accurate autofocus. In addition, the real-time high dynamic range (HDR) feature delivers more balanced exposure and richer color even in mixed-light environments.

The Samsung ISOCELL Slim GH1 is expected to be in mass production by the end of this year.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Rumor: The Olympus E-M5 III to be launched October 17th, use same 20MP sensor as E-M1 II

24 Sep

According to the most recent report from 4/3 Rumors, Olympus’ next camera, presumed to be the E-M5 III, will be announced on October 17, 2019, and feature the same 20-megapixel sensor that’s inside the E-M1 II.

In its report, 4/3 Rumors breaks down the summary of the rumored information it’s received thus far saying with ’99 percent’ certainty that the announcement will be made on October 17, 2019, and with ’80 percent’ certainty, the new camera will feature the same 20MP 121 cross-type phase-detection sensor as the E-M1 II.

The report also states with ’90 percent’ certainty the new camera will come with a new processor that should, in theory, result in better image quality despite using the same sensor. Other details in the report say with ’60 percent’ certainty that the camera will have a ‘lighter, more plasticky but still weather-sealed body’ and use the same BLS-50 battery also used by the Olympus PEN and E-M10 cameras.

If this information does end up holding true, the E-M5 III is shaping up to be an incremental improvement rather than a revolutionary advancement.

Update (September 23, 2019): Corrected to reflect the 20MP sensor the rumored E-M5 III will be based on is in fact the E-M1 II, not the E-M5 II.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Magicbooster Pro launched for 6K Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera to emulate full frame sensor

20 Aug

LucAdapters has launched a crowd funding campaign to develop a focal reducer for the newly announced Super 35mm 6K cinema camera from Blackmagic Design. The reducer will allow users to mount full frame lenses on the camera with only a slight crop, thus emulating the look of a camera with a full frame sensor.

The company has history with this kind of adapter and currently makes a reducer for the Ursa Mini called Magicbooster Pro, and has in the past made a full-frame adapter for the Samsung NX1. This new model will be called Magicbooster Pocket 6K and will combine the benefits of a 1 stop increase in effective aperture as well as decreasing the crop factor of the 6K area of the camera’s Super 35mm sensor from 1.5x to 1.1x. This allows full frame lenses to practically maintain their intended angle of view when recording 6K footage, with a 50mm lens acting like a 55mm with the reducer instead of like a 75mm without it.

Here’s a video made with the current Magicbooster, shot on Blackmagic Ursa mini 4.6K by PILOTMOVIES.

The Magicbooster Pocket 6K will be fully compatible with all of Canon’s EF lenses according to LucAdapters, but not EF-S models. The Magicbooster fits inside the camera’s throat leaving the mount untouched, and replaces some internal parts of the camera itself in doing so. The unit comprises a small barrel with lens elements at the end. It screws into the camera with the magnifying lens sitting directly in front of the camera’s sensor and behind the IR filter.

Buyers will receive a replacement UV-IR cut filter that the company claims is better than that which is shipped with the camera. Such a degree of installation is required that it isn’t the sort of adapter that can be attached and unattached in a couple of seconds, but it also means there’s no need to add and remove the adapter every time you have to change a lens.

LucAdapter says the Magicbooster Pocket 6K will ship in November this year, and will cost from €499 (approx. $ 550). For more information see the LucAdapters Magicbooster Pocket 6K Kickstarter campaign.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Samsung officially unveils 108MP ISOCELL Bright HMX mobile camera sensor

13 Aug

Samsung has officially announced the 108-megapixel camera sensor first teased by Chinese company Xiaomi last week. The new Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile camera sensor that offers more than 100 megapixels, exceeding the company’s recently announced 64MP sensor. Samsung says the ISOCELL Bright HMX is the fruit of a ’close collaboration’ with Xiaomi.

The ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile sensor to feature a 1/1.33″ size, according to Samsung, which says its Tetracell tech enables the HMX to ‘imitate big-pixel sensors’ for better quality 27MP images.

The 1/1.33″ format equates to around 9.6 x 7.2mm, which is around 40% smaller than a 1″-type sensor, but nearly 3 times larger than the 1/2.5″-type chips in the many of smartphones. The Tetracell design, much like Sony’s ‘Quad Bayer’ technology, places four pixels under each color of its color filter, making it easy to combine pixels to give better performance at 1/4 resolution, but also means additional processing needs to be done to attempt to replicate what a standard Bayer sensor would capture, if it had 108 megapixels.

Samsung’s ‘Tetracell’ tech makes low light (and, potentially, HDR) images easier to produce, but means processing is required to attempt to recreate what a standard Bayer sensor would have produced.

The sensor will be paired with what Samsung calls its Smart-ISO ‘mechanism,’ which it says toggles between a high ISO in darker environments and a low ISO in bright settings. This sounds like it may be describing a chip with more than one gain mode. Samsung claims this increases pixel saturation and the promise of ‘vivid photographs.’ The new HMX supports recording video at up to 6K 6016 x 3384 at 30fps.

Talking about the new product is Xiaomi President Lin Bin, who said:

‘We are very pleased that picture resolutions previously available only in a few top-tier DSLR cameras can now be designed into smartphones. As we continue our partnership, we anticipate bringing not only new mobile camera experiences but also a platform through which our users can create unique content.’

The company hasn’t yet revealed what those ‘new mobile camera experiences’ will be. Samsung plans to start mass-producing the ISOCELL Bright HMX in August.

Samsung Takes Mobile Photography to the Next Level with Industry’s First 108Mp Image Sensor for Smartphones

Samsung’s partnership with Xiaomi brings innovation to mobile cameras with new ISOCELL Bright HMX

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced 108 megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX, the first mobile image sensor in the industry to go beyond 100 million pixels. With the latest addition, Samsung will expand its 0.8?m image sensor offerings from its recently announced ultra-high 64Mp to 108Mp, a resolution equivalent to that of a high-end DSLR camera. Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX is a one-of-a-kind mobile image sensor and is the result of close collaboration between Xiaomi Corp. and Samsung.

With over 100 million effective pixels enabling extremely sharp photographs rich in detail, the ISOCELL Bright HMX also produces exceptional photos even in extreme lighting conditions. Being the first mobile image sensor to adopt a large 1/1.33-inch size, the HMX can absorb more light in low-lit settings than smaller sensors and its pixel-merging Tetracell technology allows the sensor to imitate big-pixel sensors, producing brighter 27Mp images. In bright environments, the Smart-ISO, a mechanism that intelligently selects the level of amplifier gains according to the illumination of the environment for optimal light-to-electric signal conversion, switches to a low ISO to improve pixel saturation and produce vivid photographs. The mechanism uses a high ISO in darker settings that helps reduce noise, resulting in clearer pictures. For advanced filming, the HMX supports video recording without losses in field-of-view at resolutions up to 6K (6016 x 3384) 30-frames-per-second (fps).

“For ISOCELL Bright HMX, Xiaomi and Samsung have worked closely together from the early conceptual stage to production that has resulted in a groundbreaking 108Mp image sensor. We are very pleased that picture resolutions previously available only in a few top-tier DSLR cameras can now be designed into smartphones,” said Lin Bin, co-founder and president of Xiaomi. “As we continue our partnership, we anticipate bringing not only new mobile camera experiences but also a platform through which our users can create unique content.”

“Samsung is continuously pushing for innovations in pixel and logic technologies to engineer our ISOCELL image sensors to capture the world as close to how our eyes perceive them,” said Yongin Park, executive vice president of sensor business at Samsung Electronics. “Through close collaboration with Xiaomi, ISOCELL Bright HMX is the first mobile image sensor to pack over 100 million pixels and delivers unparalleled color reproduction and stunning detail with advanced Tetracell and ISOCELL Plus technology.”

Mass production for Samsung ISOCELL Bright HMX will begin later this month.

* Samsung first announced its ISOCELL technology in 2013, which reduces color-cross talk between pixels by placing a physical barrier, allowing small-sized pixels to achieve higher color fidelity. Based on this technology, Samsung introduced the industry’s first 1.0um-pixel image sensor in 2015 and 0.9-pixel sensor in 2017. In June 2018, Samsung introduced an upgraded pixel isolation technology, the ISOCELL Plus

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Xiaomi teases future Mi smartphone with 108MP Samsung camera sensor

07 Aug

Xiaomi, the company often called the ‘Apple of China,’ has announced plans to pack a 108MP Samsung ISOCELL camera sensor into an upcoming Mi series smartphone model. The plan was teased by the company during the Xiaomi Future Image Technology Communication Conference in Beijing earlier today.

Xiaomi’s conference largely revolved around the Samsung ISOCELL GW1, a 64MP camera sensor that, based on Xiaomi’s past teases, is expected to launch in a future Redmi smartphone. The GW1 sensor is viewed as the next step up from the 48MP sensor found in a number of existing phone models, including the Redmi Note 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro.

In addition to detailing the 64MP sensor, Xiaomi announced that it will be the first company to use a Samsung 108MP ISOCELL 12032 x 9024 image sensor in a smartphone. The company didn’t reveal which model will pack the camera, but Ice Universe, a credible leaker on Twitter, claims the 108MP sensor will be available in the Xiaomi Mi Mix 4 model.

Samsung hasn’t released any information about this 108MP camera sensor at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Modular 5K Octopus Camera supports swapping in different sensor modules

02 Jul

Octopus Cinema has introduced Octopus Camera, an open source, upgradable, programmable and mostly-modular prototype cinema camera powered by Linux. The model features a replaceable image sensor, enabling users to toggle 4K and 5K sensor modules with both color and monochrome options.

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Big hand small cinema camera… . . #smallcamera

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The Octopus Camera rig features an Intel NUC processing board that can be removed and upgraded by the user when newer hardware becomes available. This modular functionality extends to the camera’s sensor; the model supports multiple imaging modules from XIMEA, including native monochrome, full-frame, 35mm and global shutter.

According to Octopus Cinema, the camera’s out-of-the-box functionality will include 4K lossless compressed 12-bit raw footage in CinemaDNG format, but there will also be a higher bitrate 900Mbit 10-bit HEVC option. Users with other needs will be able to add other recording formats from third-party libraries using an SDK.

The camera measures 110 x 110 x 110mm (4.3 x 4.3 x 4.3in) and weighs 900g (1.98lbs). The model has a CNC milled aluminum chassis and a glass white finish. Imaging and processing specs pertain to the sensor modules and Intel board included in the camera.

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Preview of the prototype touchscreen interface for the OCTOPUSCAMERA . . #userinterface #userinterfacedesign #cameraapp #uidesign

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The device is powered by an 8-core Intel i7-8650U CPU and features 16GB of RAM upgradable to 32GB, two HDMI ports, four USB 3.0 ports, SATA III, and it is capable of write speeds up to 350MB/s. When used with a 5K full-frame imaging module, the rig can shoot at up to 5K 48fps 10-bit HEVC or 12-bit lossy raw video.

The company hasn’t provided any information on pricing or availability, stating only that Octopus Camera will arrive in summer 2020.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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