This Image Sensor Makes It Virtually Impossible To Blow Highlights

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Researchers at the German Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart have developed an image sensor that makes it almost impossible to blow highlights with.

What this image sensor does, is using “self resetting pixels“, i.e. pixels that don’t clip when they get saturated but instead starts over and counts the times it has started over. From the research paper’s abstract:

Conventional CMOS image sensors with a linear transfer characteristic only have a limited dynamic range (DR) of about 60–70 dB. To extend the dynamic range considerably, the already successfully demonstrated concept of a linear self-reset pixel was employed in this work. With the self-reset concept the limit of the maximum analyzable photo generated charge (Qmax) during the exposure time is extended to a multiple of the saturation charge of the photo diode (Qsat) by asynchronous self-resets of the photo diode. Additionally, the remaining charge at the end of the exposure time is evaluated to increase the resolution of the opto-electronic conversion. Thus we achieved pixels with a DR of more than 120 dB combined with an improved low light sensitivity using a pinned photodiode.

In other words: you don’t have to worry about your exposure in order to save highlights in your image. Instead, you can set the best exposure for your subject and safely snap knowing that no highlights will be blown out.

This image sensor is a prototype and likely far from going into production. Never the less, it’s a technological innovation that sooner or later will be featured on image sensors.

The full paper “Realization and opto-electronic Characterization of linear Self-Reset Pixel Cells for a high dynamic CMOS Image Sensor” by Stefan Hirsch, Markus Strobel, Wolfram Klingler, Jan Dirk Schulze Spüntrup, Zili Yu, and Joachim N. Burghartz, is available here.

Let’s hope it’s something Canon will research too.

[via Image Sensors World]

Preliminary, Non Scientific Tests Suggest Canon’s New 32MP Sensor Improves On Dynamic Range

Canon Eos 90d Canon Aps-c Firmware Dynamic Range
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It seems Canon’s claim they managed to improve dynamic range while raising the resolution of their latest APS-C sensor is not wrong.

Fred Miranda forum user cgarcia did some tests with sample images from DPReview to compare dynamic range figures of the new Canon EOS 90D (32MP) and the Canon EOS 80D (24MP).

Canon EOS 90D – ISO 100:

  • DR at 32MP: 12.468
  • DR at 8MP: 13.480 (+1.012)
  • read noise: 2.80125

Canon EOS 80D – ISO 100:

  • DR at 24MP: 12.435 EV
  • DR at 8MP: 13.2343 (+0.7993)
  • read noise: 2.86601

As you can see, there is a small improvement over the EOS 80D.

cgarcia also learned that the dynamic range improves much more at higher ISO settings (compared to the EOS 80D). The image below shows that a higher ISO settings the DR of the EOS 90D improves continously.

Dynamic range comparison between Canon EOS 90D and Canon EOS 80D at different ISO settings (image © cgarcia)

These figures look pretty good. However, keep in mind this is a non scientific test. To be sure we have to wait for further analysis of the performance of Canon’s new 32MP APS-C sensor. Never the less, it appears Canon managed to deliver a quite amazing image sensor.

Canon’s new 32MP APS-C sensor is featured on the brand new Canon EOS 90D and Canon EOS M6 Mark II.

Canon EOS 90D:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon EOS M6 Mark II:

America: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA
Europe & UK: Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon IT, Canon IT, WEX Photographic, Canon FR, Canon UK, Canon DE

Canon Develops A New CMOS Sensor With High Dynamic Range and Able To Shoot Images In Harsh Settings

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Canon press release:

Canon Announces Development of New CMOS Sensor with High Dynamic Range and Ability to Capture Images Under Harsh Conditions

MELVILLE, NY, June 20, 2019 – The high demands of complex lighting and harsh environments require sensors capable of delivering high-dynamic range (HDR) and high-image quality in adverse temperature conditions. To answer this application need, Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, is pleased to announce that its parent company Canon Inc. is pursuing development of the 3U3MRXSAAC, a 2.8-megapixel, 1/2.32-inch CMOS sensor ideal for HDR imaging.

“As Canon evolves in the sensor market, we are dedicated to utilizing our expertise to develop products built to meet current growing market trends,” said Kazuto Ogawa, president and chief operating officer, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “The 3U3MRXSAAC CMOS sensor under development reflects the continuation of our business strategy that leverages the high-quality imaging technology Canon is able to achieve.”

The 3U3MRXSAAC CMOS sensor being developed will be equipped with an HDR drive function that can achieve a wide range of 120 dB at low noise levels. This HDR function will reflect a greater ability to extract usable information even when there is a substantial difference between the lightest and darkest parts of an image. Even during normal drive operation, the sensor can achieve a dynamic range of 75 dB—greater than the sensors on many conventional digital cameras. 

Additionally, the 3U3MRXSAAC CMOS sensor will also be capable of operating in environments with extreme temperatures ranging from -40 degrees Celsius to 105 degrees Celsius. Typically, in high-temperature conditions, the increase in dark current noise (noise that occurs due to heat, even when no light reaches the sensor) can affect the quality of the image. However, the 3U3MRXSAAC CMOS sensor will be equipped with functionality that helps correct black levels (the luminance level of the darkest portion of an image) in real-time to help maintain high image quality. 

With a diagonal size of 1/2.32 inches (7.75 mm), the 3U3MRXSAAC CMOS sensor will feature approximately 2.8 million effective pixels (1936 x 1456), a pixel size of 3.2 μm x 3.2 μm and a frame rate of up to 60 fps (30 fps during HDR drive operation). The sensor will be compatible with the MIPI CSI-2 interface used by consumer-oriented cameras for a wide variety of purposes.

For more information on Canon sensors, please visit canon-cmos-sensors.com.

Industry News: Samsung Announces 64MP Smartphons Sensor With 21fps

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The industry is scared by the increasing popularity of smartphones, and for a good reason. The technology evolves at a fast pace.

Now Samsung announced a new, 64MP sensor for smartphones doing 21fps. You can already get smartphones with sensors around 40MP (as the excellent Huawei P30 Pro, which seems to be gold standard for smartphone photography for the time being), and it seems the next generation of smartphones might raise the resolution to 64MP. As crazy as it sounds (at least to me) this is the future, along with computational photography algorithms getting always better. Why should people buy a dedicated camera when

Samsung press release:

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced two new 0.8-micrometer (μm) pixel image sensors – the 64-megapixel (Mp) Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 and 48Mp ISOCELL Bright GM2. With the addition, Samsung expands its 0.8μm image sensor lineup, the smallest pixel size currently available in the market, from existing 20Mp to ultra-high 64Mp resolutions.

“Over the past few years, mobile phone cameras have become the main instrument for recording and sharing our everyday moments,” said Yongin Park, executive vice president of sensor business at Samsung Electronics. “With more pixels and advanced pixel technologies, Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 and GM2 will bring a new level of photography to today’s sleekest mobile devices that will enhance and help change the way we record our daily lives.”

ISOCELL Bright GW1 is a 64Mp image sensor that features the highest resolution in Samsung’s 0.8μm-pixel image sensor lineup. With pixel-merging Tetracell technology** and remosaic algorithm***, GW1 can produce bright 16Mp images in low-light environments and highly-detailed 64Mp shots in brighter settings. To take pictures resembling the way the human eye perceives its surroundings in a mixed light environment, GW1 supports real-time high dynamic range (HDR) of up to 100-decibels (dB) that provides richer hues. In comparison, the dynamic range of a conventional image sensor is at around 60dB, while that of the human eye is typically considered to be around 120dB.

GW1 is equipped with a Dual Conversion Gain (DCG) that converts the received light into an electric signal according to the illumination of the environment. This allows the sensor to optimize its full well capacity (FWC), utilizing the collected light more efficiently especially in bright environments. Sharper results can be delivered through Super PD, a high-performance phase detection auto-focus technology, and full HD recording at 480 frames-per-second (fps) is supported for smooth cinematic slow motion videos.

ISOCELL Bright GM2 is a 48Mp image sensor that also adopts Tetracell technology in low-light environments and a remosaic algorithm in well-lit settings, bringing highly-detailed pictures with natural and vivid colors. GM2, like GW1, adopts DCG as well for added performance and Super PD for fast autofocus.

Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 and GM2 are currently sampling and are expected to be in mass production in the second half of this year.

[via Image Sensors World]

Canon Might Have a 63MP Full Frame Image Sensor On Their Agenda, Leaked Document Suggests

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An apparently legit Canon document describing a full frame image sensor with a resolution of 63MP leaked over the web.

The 35MM63MXSCD named CMOS sensor has Dual Pixel AF, shoots around 5fps, and is made with a 300nm manufacturing process.

We expect Canon to announce a high resolution EOS R camera in Q4 2019. Could this be the sensor Canon will feature in their upcoming high resolution EOS R camera? Hard to say. It might be but it might also well be one of Canon’s super-specialised image sensors, maybe even a prototype that never went into production.

The sensor in the leaked document seems at first glance to be the sensor rumored for the high res EOS R model, although the latest rumor we got was talking about a 75MP sensor. We tend to believe this sensor has nothing to do with the upcoming high resolution EOS R camera.

More about Canon’s special purpose sensors can be learned here.

What is you opinion?

[via EOSHD Forum]

Industry News: Sony Develops A Stacked Global Shutter Sensor With Back-Illuminated Pixel

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Sony press release:

Sony Develops a Stacked CMOS Image Sensor Technology Using Sony’s Proprietary Global Shutter Function with Back-Illuminated Pixel Structure to Deliver Both High Imaging Performance and Miniaturization

Improves Productivity of Industrial Equipment for Smartification

Tokyo, Japan — Sony Corporation announced today that it has succeed in developing Pregius S, a stacked CMOS image sensor technology that employs Sony’s proprietary global shutter function with back-illuminated pixel structure to deliver both distortion-free, high imaging performance and miniaturization. The new sensor technology is intended for industrial equipment used in fields such as manufacturing, inspection, and logistics that require higher precision and higher processing speeds, in light of the trends in industrial advancement including factory smartification and automation.

Sony will introduce the new technology at Vision China Shanghai 2019 starting on March 20, 2019.

Conventional CMOS image sensors equipped with global shutter function temporarily store charge signals in the memory area located next to the photodiode to resolve image distortion (focal plane distortion) caused by the time shift due to the row-by-row readout. In front-illuminated CMOS image sensors, there is a wiring layer on the silicon substrate forming the photodiode, and with such a structure, the benefit is that it is easy to form a light shield for protecting the charge signal temporarily stored in the memory area from leaked light. For this reason, conventional CMOS image sensors with global shutter function have adopted a front-illuminated pixel structure. However, the wiring on top of the photodiode hinders the incident light, which creates an issue when attempting to miniaturize the pixels.

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In response to this, Sony has developed a proprietary pixel structure that achieves the global shutter function on a back-illuminated structure that has superior sensitivity characteristics, thereby resolving the issue of miniaturization. Normally, when pixels are miniaturized, the sensitivity and saturation characteristics deteriorate, but the new Sony technology enables a reduction in pixel size to 2.74 μm while maintaining performance of those characteristic, thereby achieving about 1.7 times higher resolution than conventional front-illuminated CMOS image sensors.*1 This makes it possible to measure and inspect objects in a wider area and with higher accuracy in manufacturing, inspection, logistics and other applications. Moreover, thanks to the high degree of freedom of the wiring layout of back-illuminated pixel structures, a high speed of about 2.4 times that of conventional*1 can be achieved, thereby contributing to significant productivity improvement, including shorter measurement and inspection process times. In addition, the sensor’s stacked structure makes it possible to mount various signal processing circuits, whereby it is possible to realize smart functions such as signal processing only for the necessary part of the measurement and inspection images in a smaller size compared to conventional sensors.*1 That, in turn, makes it possible to reduce the load of the subsequent processing and reduce the amount of data to be held on to, thereby contributing to the realization of highly efficient, energy-saving systems.

Going forward, Sony will work to develop products equipped with this stacked CMOS image sensor employing its proprietary global shutter function with back-illuminated pixel structure for various industrial applications and intelligent transportation systems, including development of derivatives for signal processing circuits to be mounted. Sony plans to start shipping sample units in the summer of 2019 or later.

Main Features

1) Proprietary global shutter function with back-illuminated pixel structure delivers both distortion-free high imaging performance and miniaturization

Sony developed a proprietary pixel structure that achieves a global shutter function on a back-illuminated structure that has superior sensitivity characteristics, delivering both high imaging performance and miniaturization. By miniaturizing the pixel size from the conventional*1 3.45 μm to 2.74 μm while maintaining sensitivity and saturation characteristics, Sony has achieved about 1.7 times higher resolution than the conventional front-illuminated 12 megapixels*2 CMOS image sensor,*1 thereby making it possible to perform measurement and inspection in a wider area and at a higher accuracy. Moreover, thanks to the high degree of freedom of the wiring layout of the back-illuminated pixel structure, it is possible to deliver high-speed performance of about 2.4 times that of the conventional technology*1, thereby contributing to significant productivity improvement such as shorter measurement and inspection process times.

2) Miniaturization and high functionality made possible with a stacked structure

The sensor’s stacked structure makes it possible to mount various signal processing circuits, thereby contributing to miniaturization and enhanced functions for CMOS image sensors. Incorporating the data optimization functions (smart ROI, self-trigger, compression processing, compositing, etc.) that extracts only necessary information from the image data, it is possible to reduce the load of the subsequent processing and reduce the amount of data to be held onto while achieving a smaller package compared to conventional sensors,*1 thereby contributing to the realization of highly efficient, energy-saving systems.

Going forward, Sony will leverage the technology of Pregius S to further enhance and expand functions for new industries, including development of derivatives for signal processing circuits to be mounted.

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