Quicker Camera Chips With Global Shutter Coming

[Canon Rumors Guy]

A <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/optoelectronics/a-highres-camera-that-captures-1-million-frames-per-second">report at IEEE</a> on quicker global shutter equipped sensors has come out and it appears Canon is going forward fairly aggressively in this space.</p>
<p>While some companies are working towards the quickest frame rates possible, Canon is putting their emphasis on image quality at lower frame rates.</p>
<blockquote><p>Separately, researchers from Canon’s device technology development headquarters in Kanagawa, Japan, reported memory-related improvements for high-definition image sensors that could be used to cover sporting events or in surveillance drones. While the Tohoku group is working on ultrahigh speed, the Canon group aims to improve the image quality of high-definition global shutter cameras operating at much lower frame rates of about 30 to 120 per second.</p>
<p>Like the Tohoku University chip, the Canon sensor closely integrates analog memory with sensors. In the Canon chip, each pixel in the 4046 by 2496 array has its own built in charge-based memory cell.</p></blockquote>
<p>You can read the<a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/optoelectronics/a-highres-camera-that-captures-1-million-frames-per-second"> full article here</a>.</p>
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[Jan]

Would be great if this makes it as soon as possible to all Canon DSLRs...

(damn. which if-clause do I have to use here?)

 

[Jopa]

Would be great if this makes it as soon as possible to all Canon DSLRs...

(damn. which if-clause do I have to use here?)

Yep, and maybe we'll see a new 5ds (II) with a 120mpx sensor and 6fps in 2017?

 

[StudentOfLight]

Would be great if this makes it as soon as possible to all Canon DSLRs...

(damn. which if-clause do I have to use here?)

Yep, and maybe we'll see a new 5ds (II) with a 120mpx sensor and 6fps in 2017?

The 100-120MP sensor will likely only come to market in 2020.

FYI Canon Expos preview technology which Canon envisions bringing to market in 5 years time. Since the 120MP dev announcement was at Canon Expo 2015, it points to 2020. In subsequent interviews Canon reps mentioned speeding up development cycles, but moving from 5 years to 2 years is an unrealistic expectation. One could perhaps be optimistic for a late 2018 update, but I don't see anything ultra res launching in 2017, especially since neither Nikon nor Sony have exceeded the resolution of the 5DsR let alone exceeding it by a significantly large enough margin that will steer people away from the Canon option. Nikon will likely update the D800-series next year and will probably have a slight resolution lead for a couple of years, no biggie.

 

[Sator]

The 100-120MP sensor will likely only come to market in 2020.

FYI Canon Expos preview technology which Canon envisions bringing to market in 5 years time. Since the 120MP dev announcement was at Canon Expo 2015, it points to 2020. In subsequent interviews Canon reps mentioned speeding up development cycles, but moving from 5 years to 2 years is an unrealistic expectation. One could perhaps be optimistic for a late 2018 update, but I don't see anything ultra res launching in 2017...

The development of the 120MP sensor was officially announced by Canon way back in 2010:

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/news/120_megapixel_apsh_format_cmos_sensor.do

The development of this stacked sensor (it is beyond the resolution limits of a Bayer sensor, hence why it is said to be "approximately 120MP" when converted to Bayer equivalent terms) has thus already been considerably delayed. At Photokina 2016, Canon displayed a working prototype with a 120MP sensor in a 5D body, hinting at the possibility that it is now close to becoming a production model. It would certainly make sense for a 5Ds line of "studio" ersatz medium format camera like this to have a global shutter in lieu of a central shutter. In fact, global shutters will render central "leaf" shutters technologically obsolete. The Fuji-Panasonic consortium are expected to get global shutters into production models around 2018 (the real reason the Fuji GFX 50s omits a central shutter), so if Canon get their global shutter into a 5D production model in late 2017, they would only have just beaten them to it. Sony announced the Pregius global shutter CMOS sensor in 2014, and while it is unknown when this will feature in a 35mm format production camera model, the race is definitely on. However, Sony's global shutter models only have a maximum resolution of 12MP, raising doubts as to the feasibility of a 120MP global shutter CMOS sensor.

September 2010

Canon has announced it has successfully developed an APS-H-size CMOS sensor that delivers an image resolution of approximately 120 megapixels (13,280x9184 pixels) the world’s highest level of resolution for its size.

Compared with Canon’s highest resolution commercial CMOS sensor of the same size (the 16.1 million pixel sensor that's in the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV DSLR) the newly developed sensor features a pixel count that, at approximately 120 million pixels, is said to be nearly 7.5 times larger and offers a 2.4-fold improvement in resolution.

With CMOS sensors, while high-speed readout for high pixel counts is achieved through parallel processing, an increase in parallel-processing signal counts can result in such problems as signal delays and minor deviations in timing. By modifying the method employed to control the readout circuit timing, Canon successfully achieved the high-speed readout of sensor signals. As a result, the new CMOS sensor makes possible a maximum output speed of approximately 9.5 frames per second, supporting the continuous shooting of ultra-high-resolution images.

Canon’s newly developed CMOS sensor also incorporates a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) video output capability. The sensor can output Full HD video from any approximately 1/60th-sized section of its total surface area.

At 202x205mm, the newly developed CMOS sensor is among the largest chips that can be produced from a 12-inch (300mm) wafer, and is approximately 40 times the size of Canon’s largest commercial CMOS sensor (the 21.1 megapixel full frame CMOS sensor that's in the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS 5D Mark II DSLRs).

In the past, enlarging the size of the sensor resulted in an increase in the amount of time required between the receiving and transmission of data signals, which posed a challenge to achieving high-speed readout. Canon has solved this problem through an innovative circuit design, making this massive video-compatible CMOS sensor possible. Additionally, by ensuring the cleanest of cleanroom environments during the production process, the sensor minimises image imperfections and dust.

Because the increased size of the new CMOS sensor allows more light to be gathered, it enables shooting in low-light environments. The sensor makes possible the image capture in 1/100th the amount of light required by a 35mm full frame CMOS sensor, facilitating the shooting of 60 frames per second video with a mere 0.3 lux of illumination (approximately half the brightness of a moonlit night). Potential applications for the new high-sensitivity CMOS sensor include the video recording of stars in the night sky and nocturnal animal behaviour.

2020 would more likely be the timeline the 250MP sensor, whose development was announced in 2015, is ready to enter into production:

http://www.canon.com/news/2015/sep07e.html

TOKYO, September 7, 2015—Canon Inc. announced today that it has developed an APS-H-size (approx. 29.2 x 20.2 mm) CMOS sensor incorporating approximately 250 million pixels (19,580 x 12,600 pixels), the world's highest number of pixels1 for a CMOS sensor smaller than the size of a 35 mm full-frame sensor.

 

[AvTvM]

don't be stupid Canon, bring it on ... FF MILC camera series with global shutter sensor. For me and millions of others. Thanks.

 

[3kramd5]

I hope such tech makes it to consumer still cams rather than just expensive video rigs.

 

[StudentOfLight]

I believe that the 2010 120MP APS-H sensor R&D fed into in powershot cameras in subsequent years as there was no opportunity to release an APS-H camera after Canon unified the 1-series APS-H sports cameras with the 1-series full frame cameras.

The 120MP sensor mentioned at Canon EXPO 2015 was not designated as APS-H (most likely full frame)
http://www.canon-europe.com/about_us/press_centre/press_releases/consumer_news/digital_cinema/next_generation_imaging.aspx

 

[rrcphoto]

Since the 120MP dev announcement was at Canon Expo 2015, it points to 2020. In subsequent interviews Canon reps mentioned speeding up development cycles, but moving from 5 years to 2 years is an unrealistic expectation.

actually canon's development cycles are 3 years are so or less. in canon's 1D Mark III whitepaper, they stated it took 3 years from concept to release for the 1D Mark III.

I doubt any other camera will take as long as a 1 series body for canon.

also at the time of announcement, it was already in development.

2017 or early 2018 is a pretty realistic target.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've attended conferences and submitted papers, and the technology is generally limited to what is already publicly known and does not tell you anything as to what is seriously under development. That kind of information is very proprietary. Each paper submitted is carefully reviewed within the company to make sure no sensitive information is presented.

I would expect that the actual state of the art is well advanced over what is being presented, and probably uses a different technique. Canon is ultra secretive.