Bell Labs creates lensless single-pixel camera
Published Jun 4, 2013
|
dpreview staff
Scientists at Bell Labs have built a prototype camera that uses no lens and a single-pixel sensor. This rather counter-intuitive idea is based around a grid of small apertures that each direct light rays from different parts of the scene to the sensor, and can be opened and closed independently. Using a technique called 'compressive sensing', the sensor makes a series of measurements with different combinations of open apertures, and uses this data to reconstruct the scene in front of the camera. Because there's no lens to focus the resultant image has infinite depth of field, rather like a pinhole camera.
 |
 |
| This is the principle of the lensless camera. An aperture array directs light rays from different parts of the subject to a single sensor. |
This is Bell Labs' prototype camera. The white assembly is the aperture array, and the black box (appropriately) contains the sensor and electronics. |
 |
 |
| Here's the image of the stack of books shown above, a 302 x 217 pixel file created using 16384 individual measurements. |
Luckily the lensless single-pixel camera can still be used to take pictures of cats. As long as they're asleep, anyway. |
Don't necessarily expect to find this technology coming to a camera near you soon, though. The single pixel design means that a series of measurements has to be made to generate the final image, and the higher the number of measurements, the higher the image quality.
The prototype camera used a 302 x 217 aperture array to produce a 65534 pixel file, which required 8192 or 16384 measurements to make a reasonable quality image (which even then wouldn't stand up to serious pixel-peeping). Scale this up to 12MP - towards the low end of the scale by modern camera standards - and you'd need to make several million measurements to construct an image. As you can imagine, this doesn't make for a quick-shooting action camera - it only works for still life subjects. Meanwhile, zooming would require moving the entire aperture assembly back and forwards relative to the sensor.
Click here for a link to download the original paper (from Cornell University Library)
(via engadget)
|
|
|
|
|
Oct 14, 2014
|
Aug 24, 2014
|
Jun 1, 2014
|
May 26, 2014
|
No Nikon camera we've tested to date balances stills and video capture as well as the Nikon Z7. Though autofocus is less reliable than the D850, Nikon's first full-frame mirrorless gets enough right to earn our recommendation.
Nikon's Coolpix P1000 has moved the zoom needle from 'absurd' to 'ludicrous,' with an equivalent focal length of 24-3000mm. While it's great for lunar and still wildlife photography, we found that it's not suited for much else.
As a stills camera the Fujifilm X-T3 is a pleasant update to one of our favorite APS-C cameras, significantly improving the autofocus. If you're interested in stills and video, though, it's knockout.
The Nikon Z7 is slated as a mirrorless equivalent to the D850, but it can't subject track with the same reliability as its DSLR counterpart. AF performance is otherwise good, except in low light where hunting can lead to missed shots.
The Canon EOS R is the first full frame mirrorless camera to use the new RF mount. We're well underway putting it through our range of standard tests – take a look at how it compares to the competition and our thoughts on using it so far.
What's the best camera for under $500? These entry level cameras should be easy to use, offer good image quality and easily connect with a smartphone for sharing. In this buying guide we've rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing less than $500 and recommended the best.
Whether you've grown tired of what came with your DSLR, or want to start photographing different subjects, a new lens is probably in order. We've selected our favorite lenses for Sony mirrorlses cameras in several categories to make your decisions easier.
Whether you've grown tired of what came with your DSLR, or want to start photographing different subjects, a new lens is probably in order. We've selected our favorite lenses for Canon DSLRs in several categories to make your decisions easier.
Whether you've grown tired of what came with your DSLR, or want to start photographing different subjects, a new lens is probably in order. We've selected our favorite lenses for Nikon DSLRs in several categories to make your decisions easier.
What’s the best camera for less than $1000? The best cameras for under $1000 should have good ergonomics and controls, great image quality and be capture high-quality video. In this buying guide we’ve rounded up all the current interchangeable lens cameras costing under $1000 and recommended the best.
Comments