Must Read: Little Printer: Meet the palm-sized, werewolf-spotting, cheeky face of the internet of things

Topic: Hardware

70-megapixel sensor paves the way for ultra high-resolution digital cameras

Summary: Think that the 8-megapixel camera inside the iPhone 5 is amazing? Belgium-based CMOSIS have developed a high-resolution CMOS image sensor capable of capturing 10,000 by 7,096 pixels.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

(Source: CMOSIS)

Think that the 8-megapixel camera inside the iPhone 5 is amazing? Or maybe you've splashed out more than $3,000 for a 36-3-megapixel Nikon D800E and you're feeling rather pleased with that. Well, in the words of Bachman–Turner Overdrive, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Belgium-based CMOSIS have developed an image sensor that blows away the competition. The CHR70M is a high-resolution CMOS image sensor that can capture an amazing 10,000 by 7,096 pixels, making it a 79-megapixel part. The sensor is a full-sized 35mm part, unlike the cropped sensors found in some cameras, such as the Canon 7D, and is capable of capturing up to three frames per second at full resolution.

The sensor itself is a marvel of engineering, with each diode pixel measuring only 3.1 by 3.1 micrometers, with every pair of diode pixels hooked up to a transistor. The sensor features either analog outputs, each running at 30MHz.

(Source: CMOSIS)

There are sensors that can boast higher resolution — the Leaf Aptus-II 12 featured an 80-megapixel sensor — but this sensor is much more sensitive and faster than any previously available.

High-resolution sensors become more and more important as the media industry begins to embrace technologies such as 4K resolution, and this technology will undoubtedly trickle down into consumer-oriented devices such as digital cameras and smartphones.

Topic: Hardware

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

Talkback

7 comments
Log in or register to join the discussion

  • Pixel size

    if sensor size is small, but many pixel there. it is difficult to produce good images. we can not put too many pixel on small sensor. search for discussion at dpreview and you will know
    Utomo Prawiro
    Reply Vote

  • What are the applications for this?

    Will we see it in high end cameras soon? Or is this something that does not translate into consumer devices very well?
    mrefuman
    Reply Vote

  • Great now I need a 128TB phone! Not.

    Wonder how long it will take for this to actually find a useful niche.
    Johnny Vegas
    Reply Vote

  • cleaning the sensor

    Great Article! New technologies present new challenges - I would like to know how does one clean the sensor (even if sealed) and as a photographer maintain the investment? A speck of dust may span a huge quantity of pixels or may create defective pixels - or maybe a mechanical issue with a small splatter of oil from a DSLR mirror? The existing software for processing probably doesn't exist yet - help!
    stephen.shipley@...
    Reply Vote

  • 79 Mpx?

    "making it a 79-megapixel part"? .. more like 70,96 Mpx

    And resolution is not everything - I've got a 16.2 Mpx Nikon D5100 - and the primary reason why I chose it over many others, was the native very low noise up to high ISOs.
    Combine that with a nice lens, and you can suddenly do many things with your camera, which others with higher resolution / smaller pixel size sensors and cheap dark lenses can just dream of.
    jkr123
    Reply Vote

  • meh

    Diffraction is going to limit what you can do with such small photosites. I'd rather see them work on improving dynamic range instead of this pixel madness.
    frylock
    Reply Vote

  • 12MP

    I find my 12MP Nikon D700 (full frame) is more than enough for me. A 70MP sensor isn't going to give me better quality, especially if we continue to use current lenses. You'll just end up with more pixels to allow somewhat better cropping.

    My other 3 Nikon bodies use CCD sensors of 6MP or 10MP and though not absolutely brilliant for low-light, sufficient for my day to day use, far better than CMOS sensors -- YMMV.
    sip01
    Reply Vote
CNET Join | Log In | Privacy | Cookies Close