Canon has announced the development of an astonishing new 250-megapixel image sensor.
The new sensor is an APS-H CMOS sensor, which works out to approximately 29.2 x 20.2mm in size. This enables it to cram in 250 million pixels, which Canon says is “the world’s highest number of pixels for a CMOS sensor smaller than the size of a 35 mm full-frame sensor.”
Those are the figures, but it’s what these stats enable the new sensor to capture that’s really impressive.
According to Canon, this new image sensor will enable a camera to capture shots of such fidelity that you’ll be able to distinguish the lettering on the side of a plane in images taken from 18km away.
Simply increasing the megapixel count on a sensor causes its own set of problems, such as signal delays and timing issues, but Canon claims that this new sensor signal achieves readout speeds of 1.25 billion pixels per second. Apparently, advancements in circuit miniaturisation and enhanced signal-processing technology are to thank for this.
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In addition, Canon’s new sensor can capture ultra-high-pixel-count video that’s 30 times the resolution of 4K at 5fps. This would enable the cropping and magnification of video images with no discernible drop in detail.
Canon says that it is considering applying this new technology to surveillance and crime prevention fields, as well as other industrial tools, which suggests that it’s not quite ready for the consumer camera field just yet.
Check out our Sony Cybershot hands-on video:
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.