image sensor

Sony launches IMX661 127.68 Megapixel Image Sensor with Global Shutter Function

Leave a Comment / News, Product, Tech News / By Annasha

This week Sony has broken big news for the launch of a large-format CMOS Image Sensor that will come with a global shutter function. Sony has revealed the specifications and features of the product and the name of this image sensor is IMX661. According to Sony, the newly released image sensor has the highest effective pixel count in the entire industry. It is one of its first kind and the product will be starting to ship from April of this year.

Sony IMX661 Image Sensor

Sony IMX661 has the highest effective pixel count of 127.68 megapixels and this sensor will provide nearly 10 times larger optical sizes than a typical 1.1-type image sensor (Gadgets 360). The new image sensor is developed based on Sony’s Pregius technology. Pregius is defined as Sony’s global shutter pixel technology which is further based on Sony’s low-noise CCD structure.

The company claims that one of the best features of IMX661 is that it can capture moving objects much more effectively without causing distortion. Sony image sensor is designed in such a way that it is capable of four times faster image readout speeds as compared to any other typical CMOS image sensor. So, let’s have a detailed look at all the specifications and features of the Sony IMX661 image.

Major Improvements

The advent of the digital era and especially the AI revolution has increased the demand for CMOS image sensors exponentially. Today, in various fields across any industry, image sensors are of much importance as a part of industrial equipment. Sony via its newly launched IMX661 aims to solve many complicated challenges across many industries where image sensors are of much importance.

The new image sensor is a combination of Sony’s Pregius technology along with a 3.6-type large optical size. These are the two main technologies when combined together will deliver a high pixel count and distortion-free images of moving objects. The image sensor also captures highly efficient images using a wide viewing angle along with no motion distortion in a single operation.

Sony IMX661 delivers a high level of performance in terms of image processing and this image sensor also has improved precision for recognition. So, in the fields of crime detection, Sony IMX661 will help hugely in facial recognition with a plus point of the distortion-free image. Not to mention that Sony IMX661 is a boon for all wildlife photographers out there for whom one of the most important things is capturing moving subjects sharply.

Specifications of Sony IMX661

Sony IMX661 will be available in two colors, namely, black and white. The unit cell size of the product is 3.45 X 3.45 micrometer. This large-format CMOS image sensor has a diagonal optical size of 56.73mm. Sony said the sensor is the best option for using in wide-area monitoring and aerial photography. This brings us to one of the most important features of this image sensor, i.e., high resolution with extreme precision images.

Sony IMX661 is also rolling out with improved image readout speed to offset the increased signal processing volume (Gadgets 360). The new sensor is capable of delivering a frame rate of 12.9 fps for 14 bit, 19.6 fps for 12 bit, and 21.8 fps for 10 bit. Sony IMX661 also has improved AD converter processing functionality without increasing the product size. This is mainly due to Sony’s original configuration of the chip-on-wafer process.

To make the output interface faster, Sony has also embedded Scalable Low Voltage Signaling with Embedded Clock which has comparatively high-speed interface standards. Some of the other included features in the Sony IMX661 that are especially helpful in industrial equipment include trigger synchronization, Region of Interest (RoI) gradation compression, multi-exposure, pixel binning readout, etc.

Availability of Sony IMX661

Though the company is launching the IMX661 image sensor for industrial equipment, Sony might embed the high pixel count feature in consumer products as well. The product will start shipping in April 2021. The basic colors of the model will be either black or white, specifications of other colors are not provided in detail yet.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Eric Fossum : The Inventor of Active Pixel Sensor

Leave a Comment / Founder, Inspiration, Product, Story, Tech Story / By Annasha

Due to the high demand for mobile phones and digital camera, the production and development of image sensors have become an integral part of existing technology. And, among all the image sensors developed till date, active-pixel sensor (APS) is the widely used one, especially CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) APS. These image sensors are extensively used in smartphone cameras, digital pocket cameras, digital single-lens reflex cameras, and probably, in every other present-day camera you can name.

The history of these image sensors goes back to 1985 when Tsutomu Nakamura started working on the charge modulation device active pixel sensor. But it was Eric Fossum, who brought a giant wave of development in this field. So, next time you take out that pocket camera to take photographs, it’s Fossum you should be thankful for.

Early Life and Education of Eric Fossum

Born into a family in Simsbury, Connecticut, Fossum went to a local public school. From a very tender age, he developed an interest in science and engineering. So he spent the Saturdays at Talcott Mountain Science Center in Avon CT. In 1979, he graduated from Trinity College with a B.S in physics and engineering, followed by receiving his PhD in electrical engineering, in 1984 from Yale University.

Fossum’s Academic Career, Research and Invention

After receiving his PhD, Fossum joined Columbia University as a professor in 1984. During his time at the university, he, along with his students, researched on CCD (charge-coupled device) focal-plane image processing and high-speed III-C CCDs. In 1990, Fossum joined the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California Institute of Technology and continued his research on the image sensor field. There he developed a modified version of the image sensor with intra-pixel charge transfer and un-pixel amplifier with more modifications and additional features. While he was working in the laboratory, Daniel Goldin, the then NASA-Administrator, wanted something faster, better and cheaper for the space missions. This led Eric Fossum to come up with CMOS APS, which today is incorporated in phone cameras, DSLRs, medical equipment, and automotive safety systems, etc.

According to Fossum, the growth in technology during the early 1990s was at a very slow rate, which led him to establish Photo bit Corporation along with his then-wife, Sabrina Kemeny, to develop and commercialize APS technology at a faster rate. In 1996, he joined the board as chairman and also as the chief scientist. In 2000, Fossum became the CEO of the company, which after a year came under the acquisition of Micron Technology. Even after the acquisition, he remained the part of the company and was named a Senior Micron Fellow. But in 2003, Fossum left Micron. In 2005, he joined at SiWave Inc. as the CEO and worked with the company for two years.

Eric Fossum, in 1986, founded the IEEE workshop on CCDS, which was later renamed as International Image Sensor Workshop.

He also had a sheer interest in robotics, and hence, he partially sponsored the Trinity College Fire-Fighting Robot Contest in 2007. In 2010, Fossum joined the Thayer School of Engineering to teach and conduct research on Quanta Image Sensor and also to coordinate the PhD Innovation Program.

Achievements

Throughout Fossum’s academic career, he had been a recipient of ample of awards. His was in 1984, which was the Yale’s Becton Prize. In the same year, he was honoured with the IBM Faculty Development Award. He also received the National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1986, and within the next decade, he bagged NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. And, this is just a mere preview of his glorious achievements.

Recently, in 2017, Fossum was honoured with Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which is probably the biggest prize for an engineer. It’s a cash prize of £1 million, generally given to the engineers for inventing something which is globally beneficial.

Life after Retirement

Fossum founded Photobit in 1996 followed by another company Siimple within few years. But, he stepped down from every position, and finally, retired from his business life in 2010. He then moved to New Hampshire.

He was quite happy with his decision to leave his entrepreneurial life because he decided to embrace the retired life and pursue teaching. And thus, he joined Thayer School of Engineering to stay active in the journey of innovation and contribute to the technology as far as he can.