On December 15, Canon announced the development of a new sensor that can also shoot color images in high image quality in dark environments. Mass production will begin in the second half of 2022 and will be equipped with security monitoring for in-house production. In addition to surveillance cameras, it is expected to be used in a wide range of fields such as autonomous driving and medical treatment.
Canon has developed the world's tallest 3.2-megapixel SPAD sensor
Canon's new development is a light receiving element called a SPAD (single photon avalanche diode) image sensor, which is the highest in the world at 3.2 million pixels. The pixels have been increased by more than 3 times. At the International Conference on Electronic Components (IEDM), which opened in the United States on December 11, the paper on the results of this study was adopted in a special category called "Late News". It is reported that this category is a paper that reflects the most cutting-edge technology, and the proportion of papers adopted is less than 1%, and the competition rate is very high.
The new sensors will be mass-produced at the Kawasaki plant starting in the second half of 2022 and will be equipped with security monitoring for Canon production. Current mobile phones and cameras are mainly equipped with CMOS sensors to receive light based on the photon to send signals, and SPAD sensors use a technology called "Photon counting", which can amplify a photon entering the sensor into a large number of electrons, and can also detect objects in weak light. Even in dark environments without stars, it is possible to capture clear images at 3.2 megapixels.
SPAD sensors also feature 3D image sensors that measure the distance from the object based on the return time of the reflected light from the object for three-dimensional spatial capture. Applications such as the LiDAR, a high-performance sensor that is indispensable for autonomous driving, are highly anticipated, and Canon plans to actively sell it to other companies.
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