Canon sets world record with new 250-megapixel camera sensor

By Lorraine Caballero, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Canon has set a new world record by developing a 250-megapixel camera sensor with a resolution of 19,580 x 12,600.

The Japanese camera maker has announced the 250-megapixel APS-H CMOSensor that has the ability to recognize even the lettering on an airplane's side at an 18-kilometer distance. The sensor trumps the resolution of 4K by 30 times at five frames per second, according to BGR.

APS-H is used on the Canon DSLR EOS-1D lineup and is bigger than APS-C. Despite its massive pixel count, Canon says the new sensor has good noise performance. Its readout speed is 1.25 billion pixels per second, the report relays.

However, the new sensor will most likely not be integrated into smartphones or even commercially sold cameras; rather, it could be used in surveillance systems, crime prevention tools, industrial equipment, instruments with ultra-high resolution, and other apps with specialized functions, BBC News reports.

Canon explained that it had to solve several technical problems to make the sensor function well, such as the signal and timing problems during data reading. The Japanese firm said the readout speed demanded a faster signal processing to make sure that the photo taking was done well.

For Dr. Konstantin Stefanov, a professor at the Open University's Center for Electronic Imaging, getting the 250-megapixel sensor to work was an "impressive" achievement. However, he questioned the usefulness of the gadget.

"Sensors can be made bigger, but the question is why you would want them to be bigger, because as they get bigger you have more and more problems," BBC quotes Dr. Stefanov. "Their large size means you can only read them once every few seconds, so they are only good for specialized applications such as astronomy or surveillance."

Dr. Stefanov said big sensors were not that necessary because smaller sensors "just have better optics." Increasing the pixel number is not the only way to improve photo or video quality, he added.