Product category:
Optoelectronic Sensors, Switches and Receivers
News Release from: Planet82 | Subject: Colour SMPD
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 09 January 2007
Novel colour imaging device needs no
flash
VGA-colour single carrier modulation photodetector is the world's first, full-colour high-sensitivity imaging chip for taking pictures or video in the dark - without a flash.
Planet82 has launched its VGA-colour single carrier modulation photodetector (SMPD), the world's first, full-colour high-sensitivity imaging chip for taking pictures or video in the dark - without a flash The new colour SMPD combines the clear image quality, high sensitivity and wide dynamic range of existing imaging technology with powerful nanotechnology, making it 2000x more light-sensitive and 50% smaller than traditional CMOS and CCD sensors
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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With SMPD sensors, manufacturers can cost-effectively build a new generation of digital cameras, mobile phones, surveillance cameras and, night vision- and rear view-sensing cars that take clearer, crisper images in low-light situations without the distortion or energy-drain of a flash.
Planet82 is showcasing the latest advances in its SMPD technologies, including a black and white, full-colour VGA and 2Mpixel colour sensors at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2007, Sands Convention centre, Innovations Plus Booth 70600.
Until the SMPD, communications and security companies, and automobile makers had to manufacture devices with a high-powered light source such as an LED flash to capture images in low-light situations.
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Like the black and white SMPD launched at CES 2006, the colour SMPD takes clearer images than a flash-based device, making it the ultimate replacement for existing CCD, CMOS and flash technologies.
"Whether its capturing memories, auto-parking a car or taking surveillance video, today's business and consumer markets are demanding more capabilities from digital devices than a flash can handle", said Dr Hoon Kim, Chief Technology Officer for Planet82 and Director of the Nano Scale Quantum Devices Research Centre at the Korea Electronics Institute (KETI).
"By replacing flash with the SMPD's slim design, manufacturers can produce next-generation electronics that offer higher image quality, energy-efficiency and cost-savings regardless of light conditions and without the distortion or battery drain of a flash".
By leveraging the power of nanotechnology, the SMPD takes advantage of the latest advances in nanoscience.
At the nano level, technology can be developed at an ultra-small scale where particles are approximately 10,000 times smaller than a single human hair.
The nano tech design enables the SMPD to capture pictures in near darkness, the point at which human eyes can barely distinguish images.
Unlike photodiode-based CMOS and CCD technologies, which require millions of photoelectrons per pixel unit to create an image, the SMPD is able to react to tiny amounts of photons in light levels less than 1 lux, the equivalent of the light from one candle a metre away.
The SMPD's high sensitivity to light enables it to out perform CCD- and CMOS-based devices, enabling it to sense light wavelengths into the infra-red band.
The SMPD's unique pixel structure increases its dynamic range so that it is highly sensitive, up to 35kV/lux-s, enabling it to capture low-light pictures at higher frame rates of 30 frame/s.
The SMPD's small chip size and traditional CMOS manufacturing process make it cost-effective and easy for device makers to mass produce.
According to The National Science Foundation (NSF), the annual nanotechnology market will reach $1 trillion by 2015, at which time nearly half of all new products will incorporate nanotechnology.
Currently, Planet82 is working to develop a partnership for the mass production of the SMPD.
Planet82 is currently conducting tests for a number of SMPD-based applications, including those for closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, mobile phones, digital still cameras, and night-vision and rear-view sensing automobiles.
The SMPD is also ideally suited for new applications in healthcare, the military and environmental industries.
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