Nikon UK contacted us today to tell us about a new design of stacked CMOS sensor that the company has been working on.
Said to offer a pixel count of around 17.8Mp, the new sensor is capable of capturing 4K x 4K images at up to 1000fps (frames per second) with very wide dynamic range.
Nikon has given the dynamic range figure in dB and I’ve spent the last half an hour so trying to get my head around the conversion, but I think it’s in excess of 30EV. Wow!
Of course what’s really interesting, is what is Nikon’s intended application of the new sensor design?
Here’s the full quote from Nikon
“At the recent International Solid-State Virtual Circuits Conference, Nikon introduced a significant development in stacked CMOS sensor technology.
This new sensor designed by Nikon not only offers superior 4K resolution, but it simultaneously achieves a wide dynamic range and high-speed shooting.
In combining these features, it represents the world’s highest levels of image sensor performance.
This new stacked CMOS image sensor uses a fine-pitch wafer level wire connection technology consistent with the 2.7 um pixel size. Also, it has a total pixel count of approximately 17.8 megapixels that realizes 4K × 4K high-resolution imaging of 1,000 frames per second and 110-dB high dynamic range (HDR) characteristics.
This is one of the widest dynamic ranges in the industry. As an optical instrument manufacturer, Nikon is also engaged in research and development of cutting-edge image sensor technology. These efforts build upon Nikon’s optical technology, precision measurement / manufacturing technology, and material technology”.