For a few years now InVisage has been working on a new kind of smartphone image sensor that claims to offer higher dynamic range and zero rolling shutter than the chips currently found in mobile devices. It appears the technology is now at a stage where its benefits can be demonstrated, and for this purpose InVisage has commissioned a short movie called Prix. The short has been shot entirely on a prototype device using InVisage's QuantumFilm technology, which consists of a photosensitive nano-coating that works in a different way from the usual silicon. According to its inventors, it has a 'higher photosensitivity and electron sensitivity per pixel'. This means it has tonal characteristics that are closer to film than a digital sensor and reacts fast enough to allow for the use of a global rather than rolling shutter.
The movie below was shot in challenging conditions, with many bright, high-contrast scenes and fast moving objects. The footage looks surprisingly good for a smartphone camera but at this point it's difficult to tell how much of that is down to sensor technology and how much to professional level editing.
InVisage puts the slight softness of the footage down to the hardware's prototype status but it's fair to say that the technology appears to have the potential to improve current smartphone video technology. We are looking forward to more news from InVisage and would be interested to see how the more established sensor makers react to the introduction of this new technology.
Well, mucking about with quantum dots is cool anyway.
So what it was 9 years - some stuff seems to be difficult to do.
I wouldn't be surprised if the devil is in more than a few details on projects like this.
But so what if you're not impressed. So what if it even turns out a flop for camera phones, maybe its perfectly usable to create a Tricorder instead.
Making an amateur movie as a demo was probably not the best choice. Shooting footage in varied locations and lighting with someone from the company narrating why shots come out the way they do and what's good about them and where they still working on it would have made more sense.
Via Wikipedia, a little more on what QuantumFilm actually is:
"QuantumFilm Technology places a layer of semiconducting crystals - called quantum dots - on top of the [sensor] chip, which allows the chip to absorb more light, place more pixels in a smaller space, and create sharper images.
Using quantum dots is more efficient at capturing light than traditional silicon-based image sensor chips (capturing 90-95% of the light that hits it), giving the sensors higher sensitivity in low light as well as higher resolution. And while traditional image sensors read an image from top to bottom (which can create a blurred image when the subject is moving), quantum dots detect the entire image at the same moment, reducing the chance for distortion."
I bet the established makers are crying into their piles of cash. They assume they are invincible but it's cool innovations like this that will prove their undoing.
- "I train every free moment of every day, which is why I'm currently out riding a bike." - Apparently people still use the "your face" insult in 2015. - "A true RC racer must be a champion, in the field, and in his right lung." - Headphones and microphones are necessary for controlling Radio Controlled cars. - Seat belts and eye protection are necessary too. RC racing is a very dangerous sport. - RC car catches fire but the haystack it crashes into doesn't. - "Bill's secret jammer" is written in bold text on Bill's secret jammer. - Jason was drinking fruit juice out of a milk carton. - Cars assigned numbers 46 and 57 in a race with 8 racers. - Microphones routinely switch between the left and right sides of their faces. - "Hurry Jason, even though we were clearly disqualified, we can still do this!" - Attatching a 9v battery to an Xbox controller turns it into a jammer.
Not the best example to showcase the tech, but the difference in DR is hugely noticeable. Also the absence of rolling shutter is a big deal. Current tech is way outdated and has been long due for a change. To those saying 'New tech that looks like 20 year old video??!!'... yeah, film emulsions from decades ago still beat most digital solutions with regards to highlight control and other characteristics. Deal with it.
Bring back the 80s! Seriously? Why create a film if you don't have a budget to buy a $500 dedicated camera that can produce 10x better quality than this?
at first I thought I had a 'stuck' pixel, but the artifact went away when the scene changed. Then another came up and popped in & out during a few quick edit scenes. That one looked like dirt on the sensor. Perhaps some scenes actually had 'stuck' pixels on the sensor. Nice resolution, but I never shot any movie film that looks like this, even with drive-thru photo booth processing! Kodachrome always turned out nice, Agfa sometimes looked somehow 'metallic'.
Huhhh... so much ''high technology'' for almost 2 decades to simulate an ''abandoned'' film look ... and just can't make as good.. I am here to laugh...
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