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CMOS

This is how your camera’s sensor sees the world

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The humble image sensor. They are so ubiquitous these days that there are literally billions of them out there. Many of us rely on them either to create an income and to document family vacations or the daily goings on in our lives. But how many of us know how they actually work? How do they “see” light? Or colour?

In this video, Asianometry does a very deep dive into image sensors, taking a look at their initial origins and seeing how they’ve developed over time into the sensors we have at our disposal today. Whether they’re in our cameras, our phones or the webcams in our laptops, it’s impossible to escape them.

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Panasonic has finally developed its 8K organic global shutter OPF CMOS sensor

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This has been a saga and a half. Way back in February 2018, Panasonic announced an organic 8K global shutter CMOS sensor. Later that year, they announced the first camera containing this sensor. Although, they didn’t really announce them. Neither the sensor nor the camera actually existed. It wasn’t until September 2019 that we were finally told what was going on when they made a development announcement for the sensor.

A prototype camera was spotted at a show in Japan in November 2021, but there was still no information on availability or prices. Now, though, it seems that Panasonic has finally, officially, fully developed the sensor, according to a new announcement this month. Do they finally have an 8K camera on the way?

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Canon’s new HDR sensor shoots multiple images simultaneously for over 24 stops of dynamic range

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Canon has developed a new 12.6-megapixel CMOS sensor designed primarily for monitoring and industrial applications. What’s special about this sensor is that it shoots multiple exposures simultaneously each time it takes a photo to maximise dynamic range.It’s a 1-inch backside-illuminated sensor, that overcomes the limitations of existing sensor technology by splitting the image up into 736 areas.

Each of these different areas automatically determines the best exposure range for that part of the image, allowing it to shoot high and low-exposure shots simultaneously. These are then brought together in the final result, allowing it to have a massive dynamic range of 148 decibels. With one stop of light equating to 6.02dB, this means an overall dynamic range of around 24.6 stops.

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Nikon patents “sensor and camera” – is it that weird square 4K 1,000FPS BSI CMOS from 2021?

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Nikon has been granted a new patent entitled “Image Sensor and Electronic Camera”. It was accepted at the end of December but filed back in April 2021. The filing may be related to that strange 4K 17.8-megapixel 1,000FPS CMOS sensor announced back in February 2021, although YM Cinema reports that it’s not explicitly mentioned in the patent. In fact, the patent doesn’t seem to give that much away at all.

While Nikon appears to have patented the design, Nikon doesn’t actually make sensors. They make equipment for making sensors but not the sensors themselves. Most Nikon DSLR and mirrorless cameras over the years have contained sensors designed by Nikon but manufactured by other companies, such as Sony, Toshiba and TowerJazz. I wouldn’t expect that to change now.

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Canon has a new 19-megapixel global shutter full-frame CMOS sensor to be released in 2023

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Canon has announced that they’ve developed a 19-megapixel global shutter full-frame CMOS sensor. There are four different models of the same LI5030S sensor in colour, black and white, colour/near-infrared and full spectrum, all capable of shooting full resolution at up to 58 frames per second. Canon says that the new sensor will be ready to go on sale in January 2023.

But don’t get too getting too excited just yet. It looks like we probably won’t be seeing this come in an EOS R mirrorless camera. At least, not anytime soon. At the moment, it appears that this sensor is targeted more towards scientific and industrial use, rather than photographic. Use cases where being able to see full unwarped and undistorted images shot in rapid succession is often mission-critical.

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It’s confirmed: Nikon Z9 sensor is made by Sony

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I know some of you must have been on the edge of your seats for this little piece of news, but now we know. After much speculation, it’s been confirmed that the Nikon Z9‘s image sensor is manufactured by none other than Sony.

The SonyAlphaRumors website published the news today, saying “the Nikon Z9 sensor is not only manufactured by Sony but also part of Sony’s patent authorization.” Interesting!

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Camera containing Panasonic’s 8K global shutter organic CMOS sensor spotted at exhibition in Japan

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This 8K organic CMOS sensor from Panasonic seems to be turning into the Duke Nukem of sensors. Basically, vapourware. Every so often, a box with “8K” written on the side of it seems to be trotted out to some show or other, with a promise that it’ll be getting released soon and then it never seems to actually happen.

The sensor was first announced in February 2018, boasting an 8K 60fps global shutter. In October 2018 they said it was coming in Autumn 2019 – where we just heard about its development. It didn’t get announced as being available. Well, now it’s been spotted again at the 4K/8K Video Technology Exhibition in Japan.

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This new Micro Four Thirds global shutter sensor shoots 4K at up to 2,000fps

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Well, this is pretty cool. Sensor manufacturer Gpixel has developed a new 4/3″ (22.9mm) CMOS sensor that shoots 4K video at a whopping 2,000 frames per second. With a resolution of 4608 x 2176 pixels, the sensor also features a global shutter, meaning that it captures the entire image field at once – goodbye rolling shutter artifacts!

The sensor is Micro Four Thirds-ish in size, but it’s not quite what we’re used to. MFT consumer sensors are around 18×13.5mm. The Gpixel GSPRING 4510 is a little wider and a little shorter at 20.74×9.9mm. But, for super widescreen stuff, like 2.35:1, it would work out pretty perfectly. That being said, it’s not its intended use.

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Sony takes us on a tour of its CMOS sensor design facility in Osaka

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Tours of factories and facilities are always quite popular to see. We’ve seen quite a few over the years, too covering things like lens and camera construction. Occasionally it’s photography and filmmaking accessories and sometimes even making film. Sometimes, though, as is the case here, we get to see the philosophy of the facility itself.

Sony has posted up a peek inside its Osaka Office. It’s a facility dedicated to CMOS sensor development and was designed by the engineers who work there in order to maximise comfort, communication and productivity. Opened in April 2020, the Osaka Office is the home of Sony Semiconductor Solutions, focusing on designing the CMOS sensors and running Sony’s Imaging and Sensing Solutions business.

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Sony unleashes world’s largest and highest resolution 128-megapixel global shutter CMOS sensor

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Sony has announced their Sony’s newest huge CMOS sensor, the Sony IMX661 with a global shutter and whopping 127.68-megapixel resolution. It’s said to be both the world’s highest-resolution and the world’s physically largest global shutter CMOS sensor with a diagonal measurement of 56.73mm – for comparison, your typical “full-frame” sensor is around 43.2mm.

But just as impressive as its size and resolution is its speed, which Sony says is up to 21.8 frames per second. And just a reminder, this is a global shutter sensor. It uses Sony’s Pregius technology, which enables it to capture scenes without the usual “jello effect” typically associated with rolling shutter CMOS sensors.

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