125 Million Pixel Camera for Ultra-High Resolution

Stemmer Imaging now supplies specialized monochrome and color cameras which can provide ultra-high resolution using standard lens technology. Measuring just 55 x 55 x 84.5 mm, the CVC Ultra 125 MP CL monochrome and CVC Ultra 45 MP CL color cameras offer a resolution of up to 125 and 45 million pixels respectively using pixel shift technology. This ultra-high resolution is ideal for many scientific applications.

Since the camera is based on a 5 MP image sensor, it can be used in conjunction with a 5 MP lens even in ultra-high resolution mode. There is no need for ultra-high resolution lens optics. The ultra-high imaging resolution is achieved by using a piezo element to shift the sensor by fractions of a pixel both horizontally and vertically in quick succession. This allows a sequence of images to be captured which are then interpolated into the high resolution image on a host PC.

The color version is particularly versatile. By using the sensor as a standard imager, the field of interest can be quickly located before switching to ultra-high resolution mode. In addition, by setting the pixel shift to be one pixel rather than a fraction of a pixel, the camera can operate at the sensors 5 MP resolution to provide full RGB output for each pixel without color fringing. In this mode the camera gives performance equivalent to a 3-CCD device from a single sensor.

The monochrome version offers a frame rate of 0.516 images per second at the full resolution of 125 million pixels. Faster rates of 1.43 images per second can be achieved at 45 MP resolution and 15 images/s at 5 MP resolution. The color version also has a frame rate of 1.43 fps at 45 M resolution and 3.12 images/s in the true RGB mode.

The image data is transferred to the PC via CameraLink Base at 8 or 10 Bits. To facilitate easy integration and to generate high-resolution images Stemmer Imaging provides sample applications with source code for Teledyne DALSA X64-CL and Xcelera-CL PX4 image capture cards, but can advise on the use of other frame grabbers.