Night time photography is going to get a lot more colorful if Canon’s latest image sensor turns out to be as good as it sounds.
According to Nikkei Asia, Canon has developed a new image sensor that’s capable of capturing high-quality color photos in the dark. Where as digital cameras typically used a CMOS sensor, Canon opted for a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) instead. A SPAD amplifies a single photon, allowing it to capture a high amount of detail with only one-tenth of the brightness required by more typical image sensors.
The sensor is thought to be the world’s densest, due to the fact it includes 3.2 million pixels for a very high degree of image clarity. Canon intends to start mass-producing the new sensor in the second half of 2022 at a factory in Kawasaki. Production should ramp up quickly as the same manufacturing technology used for CMOS can be utilized for SPAD. The two types of sensor are also thought to cost roughly the same to produce.
As well as being used in the company’s security cameras, Canon believes the SPAD sensor is a good solution for autonomous vehicles. The promise of high-quality color photographs in the dark means Canon will see interest from a whole range of different industries. However, Nikkei Asia believes Canon won’t have the market to itself as both Panasonic and Sony are planning to have their own SPAD sensors ready for production next year.
