Canon develops 120-megapixel CMOS sensor

8/25/2010 10:09 AM EDT

It will be interesting to know kind of novel storage media, advanced image stability technique and image processing power will be required for this huge 120 megapixel sensor. Also, they should also make compatible display device with equal good resolution. I am wondering what are typical applications in commercial realm for this high resolution CCD sensors.

8/25/2010 10:20 AM EDT

Now that's a lot of pixels. This sounds to me like a logistical nightmare for a photographer. Not sure if it's targetted at consumer applications. Even shooting 10Mpixel raw, the storage (and to some extent, processing) is signficant if you are going through a few hundred pics. I'd like to see more dynamic range (and of course, sensitivity) rather than more pixels. The general wisdom of past was that CCD sensors have better dynamic range. At this point, I doubt that anyone is shipping CCD's in their digital cameras. ITO bandwidth, 9.5 frames per second at 100+ mpixels is impressive.

8/25/2010 4:04 PM EDT

Also novel will be the amount of pre/post processing on board the camera that will be needed to render images. The battery issue would be painful. In any event consumer quality photo are not going to want this (I don't even think many wedding photographers would). Maybe scientific apps?

8/25/2010 4:06 PM EDT

I am wondering if they are aiming for the 3D / 2D markets? This would make an interesting base device for simultaneously capturing multiple images on the larger die / pixel area. I wonder also if they are planning on multiple high speed IOs to support the needed bandwidth? I was wondering what is driving the 9.5 fps number? The modified read circuit timing hints at pixel access and internal data transfers hindering speeds.

8/25/2010 4:18 PM EDT

Wow that's a big resolution. it will be interesting to see the application. I would like to know how they handle signal issues. Its definitely a boon for consumers as long as its ok for the pockets!!

8/25/2010 10:13 PM EDT

I am hobby photographer too..I find it difficult to shoot in RAW mode with just 8.3MP because it consumes lot of space. I cant imagine having one cam with 120MP :)..cant imagine size of one pic.

8/26/2010 2:19 AM EDT

Though this is great, I am wondering what kind of commercial photography a 120-Megapixel camera could be used! The image would be out-sized and would take huge memory. But the way the technology is advancing everyday, I don't think it will take more than a couple of years or three to find its place in the stores.

8/26/2010 8:23 AM EDT

This is a remarkable achievement and will be a great resource for both still and video when extremely high definition is required. The challenge, for cameras of all resolutions, is to ensure users know how to select the correct resolution for their photography. Most users just use the default resolution. When 120 Megapixels are available per image, the correct resolution (typically much lower) must be selected. It is time to simplify selection of resolution on digital cameras (digging through nested menus is not very user friendly).

8/26/2010 3:28 PM EDT

Heck. A few observations. What's this thing for? Many commenters have noted that even modest size images in the two digit megapixel range take lots of resources: what does this sensor need? The resolution sounds great: it is comparable to a piece of 4 by 5 film. But I have a feeling that shooting 4 by 5 film, doing the wet processing, and then scanning what I want may take less time than manipulating a 120 Mp image on anything like an ordinary computer. Don't get me wrong: I think it will applications tomorrow, niche applications perhaps, but applications. But this is going to cost an arm and a leg, and then the camera and lenses to feed the sensor array will be a bit more of a fortune. For a while, those of us who are merely semi-pro photographers will merely have to sit and watch what Canon does with this design. By the way, it's useful to remember that all of the pixels in wet chemistry photography are handled at once. True, it's in a slow chemical bath, but it's not going to be fast to mess with 120 million 24 bit words. (No one needs to tell me that manipulating an image in a darkroom is like pulling teeth compared to Photoshop... I've been there.)

8/26/2010 4:08 PM EDT

I can't see that it would have much of a consumer application at this point. But I guess it would remove the need to actually aim or zoom in your camera at something specific, just hold your camera in the direction of your subject, take the image, and enlarge the subject portion using image editing software.

8/26/2010 4:52 PM EDT

I would be curious to see if this would allow us to make automated diagnoses of skin cancers. We would have storage resources in medicine that are not currently available in a portable format. Of course, it may be all going away with Obama care.

8/28/2010 7:55 AM EDT

This sounds silly on several levels. 1) 2.2 um pixels lack the "speed" that professional photographers usually expect (though it is the standard for current low-end point and shoots, and cell phone camera), and 2) this is likely beyond the resolving power of all but the most exacting of lenses. Who are they aiming this at?

8/28/2010 11:50 AM EDT

It is great, now you can blow up an APS image to large format or even a poster and still beat the resolution of a film, no need to buy extremely expensive camera and Lens. A Hasselblad large format camera, which has 60M pixels, itself cost more than $40K, let alone the lens. This mean you can make a wall sized poster to decorate your home using an Canon1000D? and Canon EF lens with vivid details.

8/29/2010 7:24 PM EDT

I would love to have this amount of resolution, but as one commentor, seliz said, you wouldn't want it at the expense of sensitivity and color depth.

Also, like Bob L., I wonder just how fast (or even possible) it would be to load and manipulate in a program like PS or Gimp on a typical home computer? I guess yet another reason to upgrade the ol' PC in a few years. :-)

Still, like pixies said, it will bring digital photography to the pro standards of large format photography. Incredible!

9/9/2011 12:36 PM EDT

Put this sensor in a satellite and you could go well beyond resolving a license plate. Perhaps, as "Dr. Phil" says, one could resolve skin cancers via satellite or a street view camera, but I guess Dr. Phil's knee-jerk political statements mean we will never get to use this chip. (What do politics have to do with the technology? Leave it off a technical chat board.)