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Amcfarl
And also the noise will be much reduced due to RMS summing. Sounds an excellent ...
DrQuine
Eureka! The article makes much more sense once the photograph at the end ...
Startup claims array camera for mobiles
Dylan McGrath
2/9/2011 4:01 AM EST
SAN FRANCISCO—Pelican Imaging Corp., a venture-backed developer of computational imaging, said Wednesday (Feb. 9) it has developed what the company calls the first prototype array camera for mobile devices.
Pelican Imaging (Mountain View, Calif.) said it has developed a computational camera array architecture and fundamental intellectual property with 12 pending patent applications in array optics, sensors and image reconstruction algorithms. The company claims that its camera improves upon image and video quality while allowing for thinner smartphones.
Pelican said the camera would also enable new applications, introducing features such as 3-D depth, gesture control and the ability for users to interact with the image before and after capturing the shot.
The company has yet to announce the availability of any products based on the camera array. The company said it currently has a working prototype.
Pelican also announced the members of its technical advisory board, comprised of three experts in computational imaging: Stanford University professor Marc Levoy, Columbia University professor Shree K. Nayar and Bedabrata Pain, CEO of technology consulting firm Edict Inc.
"What Pelican has developed represents a paradigm shift in imaging and video that has the potential to overcome many of the inherent limitations of mobile cameras," said Nayar, in a statement.
Pelican, founded in 2008, is backed by venture capital investors including Globespan Capital Partners, Granite Ventures, InterWest Partners and IQT.
Pelican Imaging (Mountain View, Calif.) said it has developed a computational camera array architecture and fundamental intellectual property with 12 pending patent applications in array optics, sensors and image reconstruction algorithms. The company claims that its camera improves upon image and video quality while allowing for thinner smartphones.
Pelican said the camera would also enable new applications, introducing features such as 3-D depth, gesture control and the ability for users to interact with the image before and after capturing the shot.
The company has yet to announce the availability of any products based on the camera array. The company said it currently has a working prototype.
Pelican also announced the members of its technical advisory board, comprised of three experts in computational imaging: Stanford University professor Marc Levoy, Columbia University professor Shree K. Nayar and Bedabrata Pain, CEO of technology consulting firm Edict Inc.
"What Pelican has developed represents a paradigm shift in imaging and video that has the potential to overcome many of the inherent limitations of mobile cameras," said Nayar, in a statement.
Pelican, founded in 2008, is backed by venture capital investors including Globespan Capital Partners, Granite Ventures, InterWest Partners and IQT.
Concept drawing of smartphones with Pelican's camera array.
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DrQuine
2/9/2011 7:26 AM EST
This is a great teaser and the cameras sound like they have great potential. However, not yet enough information to understand the technology... Pelican's patents must be recent filings (less than 18 months) since I don't see them as pending applications. Even the term "array camera" is unclear in this context: how would the basic camera hardware differ from current mobile phone camera technology? Combined with the growing Instagram application, these new imaging capabilities could be a hit.
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selinz
2/9/2011 2:42 PM EST
My preference would be to have better, larger sensors and optics on board in improve the current picture quality. Light sensitivty and optics, thank you...
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DrQuine
2/9/2011 3:09 PM EST
Eureka! The article makes much more sense once the photograph at the end uploaded (on a return visit) indicating that this is an "array camera" as in an array of small cameras which can be computationally combined to improve quality and depth perception while also allowing for a thinner phone. [I guess all cameras are some kind of array: linear array, 2D array, etc.] Maybe the reason my internet is so "fast" is that it cheats by selectively leaving out essential images.
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Amcfarl
2/10/2011 6:24 AM EST
And also the noise will be much reduced due to RMS summing. Sounds an excellent idea
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