From: | gurth <gurth@******.NL> |
---|---|
Subject: | New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip (fwd) |
Date: | Tue, 27 Jun 1995 16:28:13 +0200 |
> From jmcotton@*****.net Tue Jun 20 20:34:54 1995
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 14:34:41 -0400 (EDT)
> From: Joseph Cotton <jmcotton@*****.net>
> To: Jakko Westerbeke <gurth@******.nl>
> Subject: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip (fwd)
> Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950620143158.21038A-100000@********.nando.net>
> Mime-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
>
>
> Hey, guy, I thought this might be of interest to the SR list, since
> it could be the forerunner of the cameras & stuff in ShadowRun. If
> you agree, forward it to the list (I haven't been subscribed in ages).
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 13:32:50 -0400
> From: NASA HQ Public Affairs Office <NASANews@****.osf.hq.nasa.gov>
> To: press-release-net@*******.hq.nasa.gov
> Subject: New Imaging Sensor Shrinks Cameras to the Size of a Chip
>
> Jim Cast
> Headquarters, Washington, DC June 20, 1995
> (Phone: 202/358-1779)
>
> Jim Doyle
> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
> (Phone: 818/354-5011)
>
> RELEASE: 95-98
>
> NEW IMAGING SENSOR SHRINKS CAMERAS TO THE SIZE OF A CHIP
>
> A new imaging sensor -- virtually a camera on a chip --
> is in development for NASA's space program and under
> consideration by several major companies for licensing.
>
> The technology makes possible an imaging system that is
> smaller and cheaper than current state-of-the-art electronic
> imaging systems but comparable in performance, according to
> Dr. Eric Fossum, who led the team to develop the Active Pixel
> Sensor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA.
>
> Fossum said the new technology is a considerable leap
> beyond the current state of the art electronic sensors --
> charge-coupled devices or CCDs. "It is a second generation
> solid state imaging technology," he said.
>
> JPL has signed a technology cooperation agreement with
> AT&T Bell Laboratories. Several other companies, both large
> and small, are seeking licensing agreements to commercialize
> the technology.
>
> Charge-coupled devices were developed by the Bell
> Laboratories in the early 1970s and have been used mostly in
> video camcorders and spacecraft. The solid-state devices led
> to relatively low-cost, compact imaging systems compared to
> Vidicons and other tube technology. The charge-coupled
> devices also have advanced as the microelectronics industry
> has improved its quality and fabrication techniques.
>
> Charge-coupled devices with a million pixels, or picture
> elements, are expensive to make, costing about $1,000 per
> million pixels when made for low-volume applications. Active
> Pixel Sensors, by contrast, are made within mainstream
> microelectronics technology -- the way chips for many other
> applications are made -- which can potentially reduce the cost
> to under $200 per million pixels, according to Fossum.
>
> The technology used to develop the Active Pixel Sensor is
> called complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, or CMOS. That
> technology, according to Fossum, is backed by an enormous
> worldwide research and development workforce and large amounts
> of capital investment. CMOS is used for nearly all
> microprocessors and memory chips. The cost of manufacturing a
> CMOS image sensor is currently about three times less than
> that of a CCD image sensor.
>
> The CMOS Active Pixel Sensor was developed at JPL's
> Center for Space Microelectronic Technology for space
> applications in which it has several advantages over CCDs,
> including a requirement for less power and less susceptibility
> to radiation damage in space.
>
> Other applications, Fossum said, include personal
> computer visual communications, high-definition television,
> electronic still cameras, laboratory-based cameras, medical
> instruments, nuclear instruments, toys, automotive
> applications and space-based surveillance systems.
>
> The use of complementary metal-oxide semiconductors for
> the new sensors presents an additional opportunity for
> reducing imaging costs, power and size and improving
> reliability. The Active Pixel Image Sensor can be a single-
> chip camera system. It can communicate directly with a
> microprocessor or computer and allows for reduced component count.
>
> -end-
>
> EDITOR'S NOTE: A black and white image is available to news
> media representatives by calling the Broadcast & Imaging
> Branch at 202/358-1900. The NASA photo number is: 95-H-340.
>
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>
>
--
gurth@******.nl