If sensor technology is your cup of tea, then you’ll want to hear about this.
Forza Silicon, known for manufacturing CMOS sensors for a range of applications, including within the automotive, broadcasting and medical fields, has created a new sensor capable of shooting over 1,100 fps.
In a recently published technical paper, the company shared the design of a 4K sensor, ForzaFAST581, which “supports video capture at up to 1141 fps at 12 bits and 1694 fps at 8 bits at full resolution.”
Designed for industrial imaging and machine vision, according to the technical document, the sensor will enable capturing “fast-moving subjects with high temporal resolution and minimal distortion”.
Put into context, shooting footage at 1,100 fps enables you to turn 1 second of real-time action into 40 seconds of clear, distortion-free slow-motion video.
Key to capturing such a crazy number of frames per second is the global shutter design, which activates all pixels at once, as opposed to a rolling shutter, which activates pixels line by line, sometimes leading to distortion, otherwise known as motion blur.
Until fairly recently, rolling shutters were the design of choice for all types of imaging systems. However, in the 2010s, manufacturers such as Sony began to roll out sensors featuring global shutters for industrial cameras and, recently, the Japanese camera giant released a trio boasting 105MP resolution.
Global shutter sensors are now beginning to make their way into commercial cameras. In fact, it was also Sony that released the first full frame mirrorless model with a global shutter: the Sony A9 III, in 2023.
The IMX810AQL sensor in the A9 III can capture a mighty 120 fps, which is more than enough for commercial photography, but it doesn’t come close to the ForzaFAST581. Although, these sensors have entirely different purposes.
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